WW2 Pacific Treasures – Page 9

The intact Nakajima B5N “Kate” of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea, by Rod Pearce

By Pierre Kosmidis Rod Pearce has dedicated his time and efforts finding underwater aircraft wrecks and seeking closure to the families of hundreds -if not thousands- of Missing in Action (MIA) airmen from all nations that fought during World War Two. Rod has been diving in Papua New Guinea for 40 years and is credited […]

The story of Yoshida Hisamitsu and his Zero, shot down in 1944 パイロットの調査

By Pierre Kosmidis A mystery that lasted for 68 years has been solved thanks to the research by WW2 Aviation enthusiasts. The charred remains of a Japanese Zero fighter were on a mountain slope in Palau, covered by grass. The aircraft turned out to belong to the 261 Navy Air Corps, piloted by 19-year old Yoshida […]

The New Georgia campaign, 1943

By Pierre Kosmidis Photos by: William C. Shrout, LIFE Collections The New Georgia Campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied strategy in the South Pacific. The campaign took place in […]

August 8, 1942: Japanese aerial assault on the U.S. fleet at Guadalcanal and Tulagi

By Pierre Kosmidis On the 7th August 1942, just eight months since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the United States started its island campaign in the Pacific – the U.S marines landed on the South Solomon islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Florida. The landings themselves were unopposed and the Japanese who had been holding […]

Found and fully restored! The A6M5 Zero 43-188 shot down on June 19, 1944 浜松基地

By Pierre Kosmidis A Mitsubishi A6M5a Zeke Model 52ko Serial Number 4685 Tail Number 43-188 is currently exhibited at Hamamatsu Air Base 浜松基地 in Japan, after being fully restored. According to research conducted by Pacific Wrecks, this aircraft flew its last mission on June 19, 1944, the first day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea […]

Rod Pearce and his Odyssey in Papua New Guinea for WW2 Wrecks

By Pierre Kosmidis Rod Pearce has dedicated his time and efforts finding underwater aircraft wrecks and seeking closure to the families of hundreds -if not thousands- of Missing in Action (MIA) airmen from all nations that fought during World War Two. READ THE FIRST PART HERE Here is the second part of his very interesting […]

FOUND! The Japanese “flying swallow”

Digging for the forgotten soldiers of Peleliu island

By Pierre Kosmidis Peleliu, an island in the Pacific Ocean, where fierce battles were fought between Americans and Japanese in 1944 during World War II, amounted to approximately 12,000 killed soldiers, out of which 1,800 were Americans and the rest Japanese. In view of the official visit of the Japanese emperor in Palau in April […]

The “razorback”: The P47D aircraft wreck of Manubada Island

By Pierre Kosmidis Michael McFadyen from Sydney, Australia has been a keen scuba diver and has visited some of the most iconic WW2 Pacific Treasures, including the I-1 Imperial Japanese Navy submarine wreck in Guadalcanal Island, the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu, the USS Aaron Ward in the Solomons, and the San Francisco Maru in Chuuk. One of […]