Satoru Anabuki

was, depending on the source, the second or third highest-scoring flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II, with 39 victories (51 claimed). There are 53 claimed victories to be found in his autobiography Soku no Kawa (see below), where his first triple kill (nos. 10-12) was mis-counted as just one (next kill was noted as no. 11).

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force career Born into a farming family in the Kagawa Prefecture, he graduated high school to take the entrance examination for the Juvenile Flying Soldier School and entered the Tokyo Army Aviation School in April 1938, graduating in March 1941 in the 6th Juvenile Soldier Course and receiving a promotion to corporal in October. He was assigned to the 3rd Company of the 50th Air Squadron, stationed on Formosa in 1941. The third B-24 claimed was reported rammed by him causing great damage to his aircraft in which he crash landed on the shoreline to be rescued three days later. In recognition of this achievement he was awarded an individual citation - at that time unprecedented for a pilot who was still alive.

In 1944, he was reassigned to Japan to be a flight instructor at the Akeno Army Flying School. He flew in the defense of the home islands. In December 1944, he was promoted to sergeant major and returned to action over the Philippines, where he claimed at least four F6F Hellcats shot down flying the Ki-84 "Hayate". Anabuki scored his last victory over Japan, a B-29.

Postwar After the war in 1950, he enlisted in the National Police Reserve before joining the Japan Self-Defense Forces when it was founded in 1954. He served as a pilot flying Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1971, subsequently joining Japan Airlines and retiring in 1984.

+Victory claims of Satoru Anubiki, data from Kill Date Flying Victim Comments 1 1941-12-22 Ki-27 P-40 Lingayen, Philippines 2 - Ki-27 unknown unknown 3 1942-02-09 Ki-27 P-40 Bataan, Philippines 4 1942-10-25 Ki-43 P-40 Chinskia?, India (modern Bangladesh) 5 1942-12-10 Ki-43 Hurricane Chittagong, India - 1942-12-15 Ki-43 Hurricane Chittagong, India (probable) 6 1942-12-20 Ki-43 Hurricane Magwe, Burma 7 1942-12-20 Ki-43 Blenheim Magwe, Burma (injured) 8 1942-12-23 Ki-43 unknown Fenny, Burma ? 9 1942-12-23 Ki-43 Blenheim Magwe, Burma (Night kill ) 10-12 1942-12-24 Ki-43 3 Hurricanes Magwe, Burma 13 1942-12-30 Ki-43 Blenheim Meiktila, Burma 14 1943-01-14 Ki-43 Hurricane Inden?, India (modern Bangladesh) 15 1943-01-16 Ki-43 P-40 Yunnan, China 16 1943-01-17 Ki-43 Hurricane Fenny, Burma ? 17-18 1943-01-19 Ki-43 2 Hurricanes Akyab, Burma 19 1943-01-24 Ki-43 Wellington Rangoon, Burma 20 1943-01-26 Ki-43 B-24 Mingaladon, Burma (first B-24 daylight kill) 21 1943-01-30 Ki-43 B-25 Toungoo, Burma 22 1943-02-28 Ki-43 Blenheim Akyab, Burma 23 1943-02-28 Ki-43 Hurricane Akyab, Burma - 1943-03-02 Ki-43 Hurricane Fenny, Burma ? (probable) 24 1943-03-24 Ki-43 B-25 Meiktila, Burma - 1943-03-29 Ki-43 Hurricane Mindon, Burma (probable) 25-26 1943-03-30 Ki-43 2 Hurricanes Mindon, Burma 27-29 1943-03-31 Ki-43 3 Hurricanes Patenga, India 30-31 1943-04-04 Ki-43 2 Hurricanes Dohazari, India - 1943-04-20 Ki-43 Hurricane Imphal, India (probable) 32 1943-04-20 Ki-43 P-36 Imphal, India 33-34 1943-04-21 Ki-43 2 P-36s Imphal, India 35 1943-04-28 Ki-43 P-40 Kunming, China 36 1943-05-04 Ki-43 Hurricane Cox's Bazar, India 37-40 1943-05-15 Ki-43 4 P-40s Kunming, China 41-42 1943-05-22 Ki-43 2 Hurricanes Chittagong, India 43-44 1943-05-29 Ki-43 1 Hurricane 1 Spitfire? Chittagong, India Ki-43 "Fubuki" retired of service with 230 hours of flying 45-48 1943-10-08 Ki-43 1 P-38, 3 B-24s Rangoon, Burma (heavily injured) flying Ki-43 "Kimikaze" 49-52 unknown Ki-84 4 Hellcats Philippines (In separated sorties) 53 unknown Ki-100 B-29 Honshu, Japan

Many of Anabuki's victory claims during the Burma Campaign have been contested by comparing them to Allied records of lost aircraft on particular occasions. In several cases, there were no records of Allied planes even operating in the area where the claims were made.