Which other countries had "suicidal" aircrew in WW2?

[33k in the air]

Not for long. Japan's domestic supplies were carried mostly on interisland steamers. The submarine blockade and aerial mining program had already destroyed that. The 1946 famine would likely have ended the war whether or not the military leadership wanted it, I believe.

And the USAAF had not yet begun a campaign against the Japanese transportation network; this was set to start in September.

For what it's worth, the USSBS in its postwar examination concluded that, even absent the use of the atomic bombs and a Russian declaration of war, the Japanese would have surrendered by December 1945 at the latest, rendering a full invasion unnecessary. The Japanese position was simply untenable, and most of its public and government understood, even if they would not admit it publicly, that Japan had lost the war. The fact that the U.S. bombers could range freely over the nation was a sure sign the Japanese military had lost the ability to defend the homeland.

 

[GrauGeist]

There was evidently a saying which went "it took a brave man to not be a hero in the Soviet army" --- a reference to the fact that the Soviet Army expected its own troops to fight to the death for the motherland.

That expectation was reinforced with "Barrier Troops" comprised of mostly "Cheka" personnel behind the front lines.
Order No.227 (named "Not One Step Back") was strictly enforced...

 

[don4331]

Access to a warm water port.

A lot more is available with taking Honshu than just a warm water port. You get IJN BB/CA/CV technology. Even if it took Stalin a decade to rebuild the IJN as Russian Navy, they would be far further ahead than historic.

 

[The Basket]

The invasion was supposed to be planned for November 1945 so surrendered in December 1945 maybe too late.

The Emperor decided to surrender. If he was off his nut and fight to the very very end then even surrender in December is not likely.

 

[GrauGeist]

You had to get the "council of six" onboard, regardless of what the Emperor wanted.
Some in the cabinet were considering a negotiated peace as early as 1943, but the majority would hear none of it.

The Japanese built a strong defence to the east and south with no provisions for westward defenses, relying on the Soviet's neutrality instead.
Once the Soviets entered the war, the Kwantung Army was over-run in Manchuria and Japan's northern islands invaded within hours of the Soviets declaration.
The writing was on the wall for Japan, with no way out to force a negotiated peace as they had hoped.

 

[Hairog]

There were the Taran units in the USSR. While not exactly suicide units their tactics almost away ended in their deaths. However there was one pilot who had four successful, what could only be called, collisions.

These units willingly flew their planes into other planes or taran. Near the end of their use they were given specially reinforced planes that could, theoretically save the taran pilot but still down the target.

I did a good amount of research on this subject for my book series World War III 1946 by Harry Kellogg.

See the attached article. HERE

 

[Allan Hunter]

The crews of 617 squadron could be said to fill that criteria, though they didnt see it that way. Having already cheated the statistics to survive and become noted as good at what they were doing, they accepted a posting to a squadron that performed a lot of high risk and high loss missions, like the Dambuster raid, on the raid to sink the Tirpitz they were almost intercepted, if they had been they were dead meat, with only a rear turret and extra fuel tanks on board.

'Suicidal' is a very difficult term to define in this context. I am reminded, though, of the crews of RAF Beauforts in 1941 who were instructed to find the Bismarck and sink it. They were told at the briefing that obviously they would not have enough fuel for the return flight but that there would be some 'high speed launches' on hand to pick them up when they dropped into the Atlantic. This provoked the ironic response from one crew member who asked, "How deep will the water be at the point of ditching?" As the laughter echoed around the room another bright fellow asked "How will we get the QDM (Homing signal broadcast) when we're in the sea?" The crews then dispersed to prepare for their flight. Most took some time to write their wills as well. Fortunately the attack was canceled because some very brave men in Fairey Swordfish managed to damage the Bismarck's rudder, causing her to turn in circles and thereafter she was finished off by the Royal Navy. The Swordfish, by the way, flew so slowly that the Bismarck's mechanized guns were unable to track them effectively, and had to be aimed manually, allowing them enough time to get close enough to launch their torpedos - even if very few aircraft actually survived. This was all witnessed by my late father, who so nearly had to go on that raid (in his book: W.J. Hunter "From Coastal Command to Captivity" Pen and Sword Publishers).

Suicidal? Or devoted to duty in a cause that they believed in?

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Don't forget the italian human torpedos. Almost suicidal:

Siluro a Lenta Corsa

On Dec. 19, 1941, Italian sailors slipped three of the manned torpedos into the port of Alexandria, Egypt, with devastating results

www.historynet.com

 

[The Basket]

Kamikaze missions were not always suicidal as bad engines or finding no targets would mean RTB. Maybe doing it constantly might be seen as a bit odd but they can always put you up against a firing squad so you die somehow.

One funny story was on a British carrier after a Kamikaze they had to do cleanup and one geezer found a Japanese coin. "What is the silly sod going to do with that? Spend it in our mess?"

 

[SaparotRob]

Bad luck charm?

 

[Frog]

If suicidal, why did Kamikaze wore flight helmets ?

 

[ChrisPL]

Not pilots/airmen, but suicidal troop: Living torpedoes - Wikipedia

 

[pbehn]

'Suicidal' is a very difficult term to define in this context. I am reminded, though, of the crews of RAF Beauforts in 1941 who were instructed to find the Bismarck and sink it. They were told at the briefing that obviously they would not have enough fuel for the return flight but that there would be some 'high speed launches' on hand to pick them up when they dropped into the Atlantic. This provoked the ironic response from one crew member who asked, "How deep will the water be at the point of ditching?" As the laughter echoed around the room another bright fellow asked "How will we get the QDM (Homing signal broadcast) when we're in the sea?" The crews then dispersed to prepare for their flight. Most took some time to write their wills as well. Fortunately the attack was canceled because some very brave men in Fairey Swordfish managed to damage the Bismarck's rudder, causing her to turn in circles and thereafter she was finished off by the Royal Navy. The Swordfish, by the way, flew so slowly that the Bismarck's mechanized guns were unable to track them effectively, and had to be aimed manually, allowing them enough time to get close enough to launch their torpedos - even if very few aircraft actually survived. This was all witnessed by my late father, who so nearly had to go on that raid (in his book: W.J. Hunter "From Coastal Command to Captivity" Pen and Sword Publishers).

Suicidal? Or devoted to duty in a cause that they believed in?

It was a different age with different beliefs and way of life. My mother could explain it very easily.
Firstly, only deliberately taking your own life by your own hand is suicide. Taking your own life was a sin, giving your life for a cause was and is honourable.

She was born in a remote village in Yorkshire, her mother was born in 1898 when Victoria was still on the throne. Their remote way of life was at least 30-50 years behind city life in places like London and New York. For example she was the first child in the village to have a Christmas tree in the house, a house that didnt get running water and electricity until the war ended. She was the last of four children to two different fathers, in the space of ten years her mother married twice had four children and lost both husbands to natural causes. It was a very fatalistic "when your number is up it is up" world, most mothers who had a normal family of around 6 children saw one or two die before becoming adults, my wife is the last of six surviving children of eight that were born between 1943 and 59. During WW2 almost the same number of deaths happened with road traffic accidents in UK as happened in RAF Bomber Command.

What does this mean in aviation in the period? All civilians in a city being bombed knew they were in a lottery. All pilots, who also had a civilian life had that experience but more heightened. Approximately 10% of pilots died in training. In service some pilots died on the first mission, others were shot down many times and survived. How do you survive repeatedly being in a machine peppered by MG bullets or cannon shells other than luck or as my mother would say "Gods will". I wouldnt say suicidal, they just trusted to luck, took their chances or put their faith in God. There were aviators who survived against incredible odds of chance, like jumping out of a plane with no parachute or being trapped in a shot down plane or a plane cut in half. There were very few missions that were suicidal and none that had no risk at all.

 

[Admiral Beez]

That B-26 pilot at Midway who headed directly for Akagi, narrowly missing the carrier's bridge and Nagumo.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If suicidal, why did Kamikaze wore flight helmets ?

Why did they wear pants?

 

[Admiral Beez]

Instead of "Suicidal", perhaps say "Determined to succeed in spite of the odds"?

I imagine the men aboard HMS Acasta, Ardent and Glowworm thought their final mission was more of the former.

 

[The Basket]

HMS Rawalpindi is a good example.

A basic ocean liner v Scharnhorst and Gneisanau is not a fair contest.

We'll fight them both, they'll sink us, and that will be that. Good-bye

Is surrendering better than fighting a hopeless fight? Of course the Royal Navy tradition says no. But the lives of the men shouldn't be squandered on lost causes.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Is surrendering better than fighting a hopeless fight? Of course the Royal Navy tradition says no. But the lives of the men shouldn't be squandered on lost causes.

You have to know your opponent though. Indian Ocean raid (1944) - Wikipedia

 

[The Basket]

Even been a Japanese POW was technically not suicide as roughly 25% of British POW died in Japanese camps.

So it was survivable for some.

Been taken prisoner by the Graf Spee or some of the Hilfskreuzer would have been perfectly acceptable.

 

[Dimlee]

There were the Taran units in the USSR. While not exactly suicide units their tactics almost away ended in their deaths. However there was one pilot who had four successful, what could only be called, collisions.

These units willingly flew their planes into other planes or taran. Near the end of their use they were given specially reinforced planes that could, theoretically save the taran pilot but still down the target.

I did a good amount of research on this subject for my book series World War III 1946 by Harry Kellogg.

See the attached article. HERE

The article is interesting but it was written in 1986, a long time before the archives were opened in the USSR. It's not surprising that it contains typical myths as "in the matter of a few hours, the VVS lost 1200 aircraft".
As for the "Taran units", I never met any mention of them in any serious research of VVS written by post-Soviet authors. I assume this is just another myth.