Kagero Japanese Fighters in Defense of the Homeland, 1941-1944. Vol. I

By entering the war with Western powers in December 1941, Japan had only a small air force on its territory dedicated to air defense of the country. The shock of the Japanese command by the Doolittle raid of April 18, 1942 caused organizational changes in the air defense system and accelerated the process of retooling units with new types of fighters. A much more serious threat appeared in mid-June 1944 with the first B-29 raid on the home territory of the Japanese Islands. From then on, the main task of the Supreme Defense Command (Boei Soshirebu) was to defend against the devastating Japanese cities by American bombers. Volume I describes the process of shaping the Japanese air defense system from the creation of the Supreme Defense Command in July 1941, through organizational changes in the following years, preparations to repel American air raids, to air combat fought in defense of the country from June to December 1944. The main types of Japanese fighters used in air defense units were also presented.
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