Hiromichi Shinohara

1 August 1913 – 27 August 1939) was the highest-scoring fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAF). On 27 June 1939 he set a Japanese record by downing 11 planes on a single day. He was shot down and killed on 27 August 1939, having claimed 58 victories in only three months of combat. He scored all his aerial victories while flying a Nakajima Ki-27.

Early life Hiromichi Shinohara was born in August 1913 on a farm in Suzumenomiya, near Utsunomiya in the Tochigi Prefecture. After finishing his formal education he went into military service, joining the 27th Cavalry Regiment in 1931. In that capacity he took part in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and was involved in the Jiangqiao Campaign in April 1932. and was posted to Harbin in Manchukuo (Manchuria). By the end of 1938 he had climbed through the ranks, becoming a warrant officer. He was 25 years old and had six years of flying experience by the time the Nomonhan Incident (Battles of Khalkhin Gol) began in May 1939.

A Polikarpov I-16 as used in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, here with Chinese insignia. During his first combat sortie, on 27 May 1939, Shinohara, flying a Nakajima Ki-27, downed four USSR Polikarpov I-16 fighters. Only top ace of all time Erich Hartmann (11), Emil Lang (18), Hans-Joachim Marseille (17), Erich Rudorffer (13 in 17 minutes), August Lambert (17), Hubert Strassl (15), Wilhelm Batz (15), Johannes Wiese (12), Franz Schall (11 and 13) have surpassed him.

Shinohara's luck however ran out on him two months later when on 27 August 1939 he himself was shot down by USSR Polikarpov I-16 fighters after claiming three victories during a bombing escort mission. His aircraft fell in flames into Mohorehi Lake, ten kilometres south of Abdara Lake. Warrant Officer Hiromichi Shinohara was posthumously promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, having claimed 58 victories in only three months of combat—the last three in the battle that would take him down—earning him the nickname of the Richthofen of the Orient.