Description
ULTRA RARE JAPANESE WWII COMMEMORATIVE PHOTO ALBUM FOR MOVIE “COL. KATO’S HAYABUSA FIGHTER SQUADRON”
I was fortunate to acquire this album, directly from the grandson of the veteran who was quartered in the home of the Director. This was reportedly given to him before he left for his next duty station. The film can be found on YouTube. Released March 9, 1944, it is entitled: Col. Kato’s Hayabusa Fighter Squadron / Kato Hayabusa sento-tai (1944). The album is full of outstanding original photos. These were taken at an actual Japanese fighter squadron base, using real aircraft and pilots. It is a beautiful album, truly one of a kind. The film features special effects directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, best known for his work on the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises.
Col. Kato was real, the commander of one of the most admired squadrons in the Japanese Army Air Force. The Hayabusa was the model of their fighter, different from the Navy’s more famous Zero that was mostly carrier based. Esssentially, the movie follows the squadron from Kato’s arrival to take command through the arrival of their new planes, to their sorties in the 1941-42 campaigns against Singapore and in Malayia and Burma, until Kato’s own death in late ’42.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kato_hayabusa_sento-tai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7r9Lifuhw
