Flightpath - May 2018

protest from RAAF Intelligence and forced
General Douglas MacArthur to issue a ban
on the future publication of any information
that might identify POWs.
Who was Maeda Yoshimitsu? Born in the
Koishikawa prefecture of Tokyo on 5 May
1918,theyoungMaedahadenlistedinthe
IJN after completing two years of technical
college. As a non-commissioned officer en-
tering the Reserve Enlisted Trainee system,
he completed general training in two
months and progressed to the Flight Train-
ee Course from which he graduated in No-
vember 1941. Transferred to Sasebo Naval
Base,hedepartedNagasakiboundforTai-
wanwherehewasassignedtotheTainan
Naval Air Group. He spent more than two
months there training in combat tactics on
‘Zeros’ until flying his first two missions
over Bali on 28 February and 3 March 1942.
As previously mentioned, when Maeda first
arrivedinRabaulhewasimmediatelyhospi-
talised, suffering from bouts of vertigo and
giddiness, which he described to his inter-
rogators as “flying sickness”. He flew his
first New Guinea mission on 21 April, a
Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over Lae, with fur-
ther CAPs over Lae on 22, 23 (two), 24 (two),
25,and26April1942beforelaunchingfora
routinedawnpatrolon28April1942.Maeda
returned satisfactorily from this first CAP

of the day, however, due to the ongoing

shortage of pilots, he was also rostered for

the day’s final patrol, the final flight he

would ever make.

MaedawastransferredtothePOWCamp

at Hay in the New South Wales outback on 14

September 1942 where he was hospitalised

for a week. On 8 January 1943, he was trans-

ferred to the Cowra POW camp, then, on 5

August 1944, he participated in the famous

Cowra Breakout and took to the Australian

bushforeightdays.Helaterbecamethelast

Cowra escapee to be recaptured. Maeda

survivedthewarandwaslaterreturnedto

Japan aboard theDaikai Marusailing from

Sydney on 2 March 1946. In post-war Japan

hedeliberately‘disappeared’inaneffortto

hide his past.

After Maeda’s ‘Zero’ became an object of

curiosity for Port Moresby’s garrison, it was

crated and shipped to Brisbane, then for-

warded to Melbourne for further analysis.

Here laboratory tests were conducted on

partsofthedisassembledenginetoascer-

tain their metallurgical composition. One of

the engineers assigned to the task was Keith

Alder, who would become the Director of

the Australian Atomic Energy Commission

(now ANSTO) after the war. Unfortunately,

forAlliedintelligence,thefighterwasinno

condition to be rebuilt after bein stripped

by souvenir hunters. It was a harsh lesson

for the Technical Air Intelligence team. In

future, all crashed enemy aircraft were

guarded vigorously and the souveniring of

wrecks was forbidden by a suite of regula-

tions designed to preserve war prizes for

intelligence studies.

Schmidt’s beloved ‘DER SHCPY’ was writ-

ten off on 3 May 1943 in an accident, but

Schmidt was even less fortunate. On 26 July

1942,  he flew one of five Mitchells sent to

bomb Rabaul-based H6K4 ‘Mavis’ seaplanes

anchored offshore  Gasmata. The meagre

formation was intercepted en route and at-

tacked by nine Tainan Kokutai A6M2 ‘Ze-

ros’ of the No. 1 chutai patrolling the Buna

area. The chutai was led by Lieutenant (jg)

Jun’ichi Sasai and attacked with such feroc-

ity that the American aircrews later report-

ed that they were set upon by between 10-15

fighters. Clearly outnumbered, the Mitch-

ells jettisoned their 100 lb (45 kg) bombs

and headed for Port Moresby at full throttle.

Aboard Schmidt’s bomber was an Australi-

an, Flying Officer Edward Mobsby. The

bomber met a fiery end, leaving many wit-

nesses w ith the poi g na nt memor y of Mobsby

trying to squeeze out through the top hatch

before the Mitchell drove into the jungle.

Credit: Extracted from draft of forthcom-

in

72 |FLIGHTPATH

y gpp )

ABOVE: ‘V-110’ as stored near Port Moresby wharf.
It soon became a curiosity for the military personnel
of the town, many of who posed with the airframe
for a photo for the folks back home.

RIGHT: Maeda boards the S.S.Taroona under escort

during the late afternoon of 6 May 1942. The ship,

docked at Port Moresby’s main wharf, sailed

for Australia a few hours later.

A 3rd Bomb Group Mitchell departs Port Moresby’s 7-Mile Drome for Horn Island in
early April 1942. It would refuel at Horn before heading home to Charters Towers.