19 Jan 1942: IJAAF: Unidentified aircraft shot down while trying to land at Mae Sot (J07Ꜳ)

19 Jan 1942: AVG P-40s patrolling Thailand discovered an IJAAF single-engine aircraft in process of landing at IJAAF-held Mae Sot Airfield and shot it down. Details are sketchy: the type of plane was not identified: four possible choices are pictured at right.1 The primary source for Japanese aircraft events in the Burma region, Hiroshi Umemoto, does not list it; Ford suggests that the aircraft was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Army (ground forces), while Umemoto only covers Imperial Japanese Army Air Force events.

References:

Shores, et al2

Monday, 19 January [1942] During this morning a trio of P-40 pilots from the AVG’s 2nd Squadron — Howard, Petach, and Layher — claimed a single-engined reconnaissance aircraft identified as an ‘Army 98’, which they engaged over Mesoht airfield. However, no Japanesse loss has been found which relate to this.

Ford3

Four . . . Tomahawks were . . . strafing the Japanese forward field at Mae Sot in Thailand. On their first pass, they saw no aircraft and satisfied themselves with shooting up a hangar. On the next go-around they met a single-engine plane attempting to land. Jim Howard, Bob Layher, and John Petach shared credit for the kill, which isn’t mentioned in Japanese accounts, perhaps because it was a Ki-51 Sonia [light bomber] attached to the ground forces.

Hammel4

19 January 1942: THAILAND: Three 2d AVG Fighter Squadron pilot down an IJA reconnaissance plane over Mesoht Airdrome.

History of the Royal Thai Air Force during the Great East Asia War5

19 January 1942
Time 1130 hrs. Four Flying Tiger P-40 aircraft attacked Mae Sot Airfield and three of the pilots, Robert Fonso Layher, John Emil Petach, and James Howard, together were credited with shooting down one Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bomber that was landing.

Umemoto6

As noted above, there is no Japanese record of this event (Ford does offer a possible explanation).

Conclusion: Choices for the downed aircraft: a Ki-54, a Ki-30, or a recon aircraft. Google expands on the last:

  • Tachikawa Ki-36 (Ida): Designated the Army Type 98 Direct Co-operation Aircraft, used for army cooperation and reconnaissance.
  • Kawasaki Ki-32 (Mary): Designated the Army Type 98 Single-Engine Light Bomber.
  • Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Dinah): Often referenced in early war reports simply as an “Army 98 reconnaissance aircraft”: Aircraft is described as single-engine; the Dinah is twin-engined.

We can assume that the pilot of the unidentified aircraft was killed in the crash.

 

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2023 Sep 09
 First published on Internet

Last Updated on 17 September 2026

  1. Ki-30 light bomber
    Ki-32 light bomber
    Ki-36 “cooperation aircraft”
    Ki-51 light bomber     (all offsite links).[↩]
  2. Shores, Cull, Izawa, Bloody Shambles Vol 1 (London: Grub Street, 2007), p 258.[↩]
  3. Dan Ford, Flying Tigers (Washington: Smithsonian, 2007), p 165.[↩]
  4. Hammel, Eric. Air War Pacific Chronology (Pacifica Military History. Kindle Edition, 1998).[↩]
  5. ประว้ติกองท้พอากาส ในสงครามมหาเอเชียบูรพา ระหว่าง พ.ศ.-๒๔๘๔-๒๔๘๘ (นครราชสีมา: สมบูรณ์การพิมพ์, พ.ศ.๒๕๖๔) [History of the Royal Thai Air Force during the Great East Asia War, 1941-1945 (Nakhon Ratchasima: Somboon Printing, 2021)], p 74 (translated).[↩]
  6. 梅本弘,ビルマ航空戦・上 (東京:大日本印刷株, 2002) [Umemoto, Hiroshi, Air War in Burma, vol 1 (Tokyo: Dai Nippon, 2002)].[↩]
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