Japan: Warplanes, 1939-1945: captured Allied aircraft in Japanese service

Captured Allied Aircraft in Japanese service during the Second World War

(IJAAF Photo via USAAF)

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk in Japanese markings, at Yokota Air Base in Japan. The photo was taken in front of the Base Operations building. (Andrew Shirey)

The Japanese appear to have had as many as ten flyable P-40Es. For a brief period, during 1943, a few of them were used operationally by the 50th Hiko Sentai in the defense of Rangoon. (Japanese military aviation historian  Osamu Tagaya)

(IJAAF Photo via USAAF)

After the fall of Burma, Malaya, Netherlands East Indies (NEI), and the Philippines, all types of Allied aircraft were impressed by the Japanese. Several Curtiss P-40E Warhawks were captured by the IJAAF in the Philippines and Java.

When the Japanese invaded the Netherlands East Indies, Malaya, and Burma, they captured a veritable treasure trove of Allied aircraft. A whole squadron of Dutch Buffalos was impressed at Jakarta. Several crated Douglas attack bombers (DB-7 or A-20) were captured as well at Surabaya. One was tested by the IJAAF at the Tachikawa branch test center in Singapore and another by the IJNAF at Yokosuka. Three B-17s were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. They were tested by the IJAAF Koku Gijutsu Kenkyujo (Air Technical Research Laboratory) at Tachikawa. Several Buffalos were captured and tested at Tachikawa. (Jim Lansdale)

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