World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseTateo Kato was born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan in 1903. While he was still young, his father Tetsuzo Kato was killed in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. He graduated from the Japanese Army Academy in 1925 and completed flight training at the Tokorozawa Flying School in 1927. In May 1927, he was assigned to the 6th Air Regiment based in Japanese-occupied Korea. In 1928, he was made a flight instructor at Tokorozawa Flying School in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In 1932, he was made the head instructor at the elite Akeno Flying School in Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan. In 1936, he was made the commanding officer of the 5th Air Regiment. After the outbreak of WW2 in Asia in Jul 1937, he was made the commanding officer of the 2nd Air Battalion, flying Ki-10 biplane fighters, at the rank of captain. On 25 Mar 1938, Kato and his executive officer First Lieutenant Kosuke Kawahara flew over the battleship at the Battle of Taierzhuang in eastern China, and the Japanese collectively claimed 12 Chinese I-15bis fighters, but Kawahara was shot down and was killed; in mourning, Kato shaved off his mustache the next day, which was something that had became part of his personality. After becoming the top-scoring Japanese Army ace in China, he returned to Japan in 1939 to attend the Army Staff College. Upon completion, he was assigned to the headquarters staff of the Japanese Army General Staff. In 1940, he was part of a group of Japanese officers led by General Hisaichi Terauchi that inspected German Air Force units in Europe. In late 1941, at the rank of major, he was given command of the 64th Air Combat Group, flying Ki-43 fighters. The group was initially based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, and it was later moved to Duong Dong airfield on Phu Quoc Island, Cochinchina, occupied French Indochina to provide support for ground troops in Burma and Malaya. The unit's first combat mission in southeast Asia was an escort mission for an air raid on Rangoon, Burma on 25 Dec 1941. Breaking from tradition, he banned keeping scores for individual pilots in an attempt to improve teamwork and avoid personal rivalries among the pilots from interfering with the war effort. In Feb 1942, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 22 May 1942, his flight engaged a flight of Blenheim bombers of No. 60 RAF over the Bay of Bengal. Flight Sergeant "Jock" McLuckie, a turret gunner on one of the Blenheim bombers, shot down Kato's Ki-43 fighter, killing him. Kato was posthumously promoted to the rank of major general and was given a special state funeral ceremony at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan in mid-Oct 1942. His name appeared in several war time propaganda campaigns after his death.

Photographs

Tateo Kato Timeline