Nila, Gary. Japanese Naval Aviation Uniforms and Equipment 1937-45 - Book Review

Naval Aviation News, July-August, 2003 by Peter B. Mersky

Osprey, MBI Publishing, PO Box 1, Osceola, WI 54020. 2002.64 pp. Ill. $16.95.

A new volume in Osprey's highly successful and expansive series on men-at-arms and their conflicts, this book adds to the line's esoteric but extremely valuable coverage. Little known, certainly to western readers, the subject of Japanese flight gear is of interest, especially when juxtaposed with Osprey's recent volume on U.S. Navy flight gear of the same period.

This book's presentation includes human models wearing vintage uniforms and flight gear rather than the traditional artwork. It also emphasizes the great use of enlisted aviators by the Japanese. The photographs show a vast array of insignia and paraphernalia, including personal timepieces that were usually worn suspended from the neck instead of on the wrist.

Although this volume is aimed squarely at modelers of aircraft and figurines, historians will also be fascinated by the discussion and pictures of goggles, scarves, boots and primitive flight computers, all shown in incredible detail. The computers are of particular interest and predate the hand-operated slide-and-circular computers of the pre-microchip era.

The author also has written an unusual dissertation on kamikaze units that is also interesting, but the uniquely Japanese sentiments may not go down well with American readers.

This new book is an unexpected, intimate look at a little-known aspect of the WW II flight experience and could be part of any enthusiast's or historian's library.

By Cdr. Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret.)