During their advance southwards, the Japanese had undertaken a limited air offensive against the British colony of Burma, aimed at neutralising the small RAF force based in and around the capital of Rangoon. After inflicting […]
What has become known as the Japanese ‘Centrifugal Offensive’ had delivered the Empire’s troops to the shores of Java, which was the ultimate objective of the entire strategy. Major facilities in the Philippines and at […]
As soon as the Kawanishi H6K entered service, the Imperial Japanese Navy began the search for an improved flying boat to eventually supplant the Type 96. The 13-Shi specifications called for a new flying boat […]
With Sumatra having fallen, British squadrons regrouped in western Java. The collection of fighter squadrons that had seen action in Malaya and Sumatra were re-organised – most were disbanded, and all remaining pilots and aircraft […]
Shortly after Nakajima had received orders for the Ki-43 “Hayabusa” fighter, they were asked to produce a design for a new interceptor fighter. Unusually for a Japanese fighter the need for manoeuvrability was relaxed in […]
In 1934 the RAF began to search for a replacement for the Hawker Hector in the ‘army co-operation’ role – conducting reconnaissance and artillery spotting for the British Army. The Hector was inadequate in the […]
By the beginning of February 1942 the position of Java, the most important island in the Netherlands East Indies, was looking extremely precarious. Borneo and Celebes were already in Japanese hands, and Singapore and Sumatra […]
The Mitsubishi Ki-57 started life as a design for a new airliner for Nippon Koku, the Japanese airline. It was derived from the successful Ki-21 bomber, which had impressed the airline with its ability to […]
The Curtiss-Wright CW-22 was an advanced trainer and sometime reconnaissance aircraft, developed from the company’s CW-19 and the CW-21 Demon designs. Unlike these aircraft, however, the CW-22 was a 2-seat machine. Designed as an advanced […]
The port town of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, had become the main staging base for ships and aircraft heading towards Java. Darwin’s airfields had played host to many units and replacement aircraft bound for Java and the Philippines, along what was an increasingly tenuous […]
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