Hiroyoshi Nishizawa

Lieutenant Junior Grade Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (西澤 広義, Nishizawa Hiroyoshi, January 27, 1920 – October 26, 1944) was an ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II.

It is possible that Nishizawa was the most successful Japanese fighter ace of the war; he personally claimed to have had 87 aerial victories at the time of his death. Some uncertainty is due to the Japanese habit of recording victories for pilots' units, rather than the individual, after 1941, as well as the often wildly-exaggerated claims of aerial kills that were frequently accepted. Some sources credit Nishizawa with over 100 victories.

Early life

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was born 27 January 1920 in a mountain village in the Nagano Prefecture, the fifth son of Mikiji and Miyoshi Nishizawa. His father was the manager of a sake brewery. Hiroyoshi graduated from higher elementary school and then began to work in a textile factory.

In June 1936, a poster caught his eye, an appeal for volunteers to join the Yokaren (flight reserve enlistee training program). Nishizawa applied and qualified as a student pilot in Class Otsu No. 7 of the Japanese Navy Air Force (JNAF). He completed his flight training course in March 1939, graduating 16th out of a class of 71. Before the war, he served with the Oita, Omura and Suzuka Kōkūtai (air groups/wings). In October 1941, he was transferred to the Chitose Kōkūtai, with the rank of petty officer 1st class.