"Belligerent Dinah -The 17th Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai " Topic

"The 17th Independent Air (or Flying/Flight) Squadron (in Japanese Dokuritsu Hiko Dai 17 Chutai �literally Independent Air No.17 Squadron) had its origin in the 101st Independent Air Squadron established in Japan in July 1941. The unit was originally equipped with the Type 97 Headquarters Reconnaissance Aeroplane (97 Shiki Shireibu Teisatsu-ki � known as the 97 Shi-tei and usually referred to in the West as the Ki-15 'Babs'. The unit marking was a stylised bird silhouette in black or red superimposed on a broad white horizontal band across the fin and rudder. The Flight (Shotai � ���� � usually three aircraft) and aircraft number within the Flight were indicated by a coloured star on the rudder for the Flight leader and one or two diagonal stripes painted on the fin for the second and third aircraft in the flight.

Following the Doolittle raid on Japan in April 1942 the air defence capability of the homeland was urgently reviewed. The 17th Air Brigade (Hiko Dan � "�s'c) was established on 30 April 1942 to provide air defence of the Kanto sector, which included the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo-Yokohama area, Tachikawa and other vital points. The new Air Brigade comprised the 244th and 5th Air Regiments (Hiko Sentai � "�s���) both initially equipped with Type 97 fighters (Ki-27 �eNate�f), the 4th Independent Air Squadron equipped with Type 2 two-seat fighters (Ki-45 �eNick�f) and a Brigade Headquarters Reconnaissance Squadron which was to be the 101st.

In August 1942, following assignment to the HQ of the 17th Air Brigade, the 101st was formally re-designated as the No.17 Air Brigade Headquarters Reconnaissance Squadron (Dai 17 Hikodan Shireibu Teisatsu Chutai � ��17 "�s'c �i�ߕ" '�@ '���) and began operating a mix of 97 Shi-tei aircraft together with the elegant twin-engined Type 100 Headquarters Reconnaissance Aeroplane (100 Shiki Shireibu Teisatsu-ki � known as the 100 Shi-tei and usually referred to in the West as the Ki-46 �eDinah�f. The role of the unit, based at Chofu and under the command of Capt Takahiko Yasuda, was long range air defence reconnaissance for the Kanto sector, conducting continuous sector patrols of the approaches air space, reporting incursions in co-operation with coastal radar units and then tracking enemy formations to provide a running commentary on their type, number, altitude and heading to facilitate interception by fighter units. Each sector patrol was usually flown by a flight of three aircraft, one of which would be assigned to track any observed incursion by an enemy bomber formation whilst the others continued to patrol. Although an organic part of 1st Air Army the 17th Air Brigade was under the operational control of Eastern Army Command for air defence purposes. In January 1943 Capt Kitagawa who had previously served with the 81st Sentai took over command of the reconnaissance unit…"
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