Toshio Ohta

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Toshio Ohta, Petty Officer First Class (= Ittōheisō/一等兵曹), the name is sometimes spelled "Ota", † October 21, 1942, was a Japanese fighter ace during World War II. In the summer of 1942, at the age of 22, he flew a Mitsubishi A6M Zero with the Lae-based Tainan kokutai (air group). There the young petty officer 1st class became one of the so-called 'clean up trio' of Japanese aces, along with his squadron mates Saburo Sakai and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. Ohta's first confirmed kill, of a U.S. Army Air Force P-40E Warhawk, was over New Guinea on April 11, 1942.

Transferred to Rabaul in August, Ohta was killed in a dogfight with U.S. Marine Corps F4F Wildcats over Guadalcanal on October 21, 1942, shortly after shooting down a Wildcat himself. His victorious opponent is believed to be 1st Lt. Frank C. Drury of the VMF-212 squadron. Ohta is credited with 34 victories, making him the Imperial Japanese Navy's sixth-ranking ace.

In his autobiography, Sakai described Ohta as outgoing and amiable, in contrast to the more reserved Nishizawa, saying he would have been "more at home in a nightclub" than in Lae.

[edit] References

• "Winged Samurai - Saburo Sakai and the Zero Fighter Pilots" by Henry Sakaida, Champlin Fighter Museum, 1985, ISBN 0-912173-05-X

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