Navy Flight Reserve Students Monument
Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture
The Navy Flight Reserve Students Monument stands among several monuments at
Aichi Gokoku Jinja, a shrine dedicated to those persons from Aichi Prefecture
who died in defense of the country. Out of the 2,525 men of the Navy's Kamikaze
Special Attack Corps who died in suicide attacks in late WWII, over one quarter
were Flight Reserve Students.
The plaque in front of the monument has the following poem:
Dedicated to spirits of many youths
Sleeping in faraway drifting clouds
November 1968
Hakuo Bereaved Families Association
A metal plaque on the right side of the wall behind the monument gives the
following information:
Summary of Navy Flight Reserve Students
(Kaigun Hiko Yobi Gakusei)
From the 1st Class in 1934, during the
Manchurian Incident, until the 15th Class in 1944, in the final stage of WWII,
and also including the Seito [1] 1st Class in 1943 and the 2nd Class in 1944,
there were 10,932 total entrants and 2,437 total war dead. They
were divided between pilots, navigators, and other specialties. The following
table lists by class the number of entrants and war dead.
|
Class |
|
Entrants |
|
War Dead |
| 1 |
|
5 |
|
0 |
| 2 |
|
14 |
|
5 |
| 3 |
|
17 |
|
1 |
| 4 |
|
12 |
|
6 |
| 5 |
|
19 |
|
9 |
| 6 |
|
26 |
|
10 |
| 7 |
|
33 |
|
24 |
| 8 |
|
43 |
|
27 |
| 9 |
|
34 |
|
22 |
| 10 |
|
98 |
|
61 |
| 11 |
|
85 |
|
68 |
| 12 |
|
61 |
|
29 |
| 13 |
|
4,726 |
|
1,605 |
| 14 |
|
1,954 |
|
395 |
| 1 - Seito |
|
1,393 |
|
159 |
| 15 |
|
1,854 |
|
16 |
| 2 - Seito |
|
558 |
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
Small statue of pilot
behind monument
|
|
|
The names of men who died from the Tokai Region, which includes Aichi, Mie,
and Gifu Prefectures, are listed by class on the wall behind the monument.
A plaque on the left side of the back wall remembers Flight Reserve Students
who died in kamikaze attacks. Below is an English translation:
Kamikaze Special Attack Corps
Among the 769 officers who died in battle as part of the Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps, 651 came from the Flight Reserve Students (information from
Combined Fleet Bulletins).
|
Class |
|
Number |
| 9 |
|
1 |
| 10 |
|
1 |
| 11 |
|
4 |
| 12 |
|
4 |
| 13 |
|
447 |
| 14 |
|
158 |
| 1 - Seito |
|
36 |
There is a pedestal to the left of the monument with an 8-inch tall statue of a pilot (see photo).
Note
1. There were two classes of Navy Yobi Seito
(translated as Reserve Students), one that entered in 1943 and one in 1944. The
only difference between Yobi Seito and Yobi Gakusei (also translated as Reserve
Students) is that the students in Yobi Seito cut their studies short and never
graduated even under the early university graduation process instituted by the
government in 1943. In contrast, those in Yobi Gakusei did graduate.
|
