Book Review - Desperate Sunset by Mike Yeo

Desperate Sunset is a hefty, 352 page hardback book by Mike Yeo, published by Osprey in 2019 and sub-titled 'Japan's Kamikazes Against Allied Ships, 1944-45'. It provides a comprehensive, in depth and well illustrated record of Japanese suicide attacks against Allied vessels with the contents structured as follows:-

• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Tactics and Aircraft
• Chapter 3 The Philippines
• Chapter 4 Other Theaters 
• Chapter 5 Okinawa
• Bibliography
• Index

There are photographs throughout the text, a few in colour, well chosen, clear and most of them to a reasonable size, plus maps, schematics and aircraft profiles in colour. Some of the photographs are well known but many more are not and some are quite rare in showing aircraft attacks and their often gruesome aftermath. There is a particularly fine and large photograph presented across two pages showing ground crew loading a torpedo beneath a B6N2 which offers interesting details and would make an interesting diorama. 

I counted 18 colour profiles of aircraft, both Japanese and Allied, with the Japanese aircraft illustrated by Jim Laurier and accompanied by detailed captions. Those are:-

• A6M2 'Zeke' of the Shikishima-tai, Mabalacat, Luzon, October 25, 1944. This is the well known '02-888'
• D3A2 'Val' of theTempei-tai, 2nd Kamikaze Attack Corps (Attack 102 Hikotai/701 Kokutai) Nichols Field No.1., Luzon, November1, 1944
• Ki-45 Kaic 'Nick' of the 8th Hakko-tai, Kinno-tai, Bacolod airfield, Negros, December1944
• Ki-43-III "Oscar' flown by 2Lt Joji Tanaka of the Hakko Dai-2 tai, Silay airfield, Negros, November 1944
• P1Y1 'Frances' of the1st Kusanagi-tai, Degos airfield, Mindanao, December 15 1944
• G4M2E 'Betty' (and MXY7 Ohka) of 711 Hikotai/721 Kokutai, Kanoya airfield, Kyushu, March 21, 1845
• Ki-51 'Sonia' of the Shichisei Shodo-tai, Taiping airfield, Malaya, July 1945
• B6N2 'Jill' '131-56' of the Kikusui-TenzanKokutai (formerly 131 Kokutai) Kushira airfield, Kyushu, April 6, 1945
• D3A2 'Val' リ-215 (Ri-215) of Dai 2 Seito-tai, Kanmikaze Attack Corps (Hyakurigahara Kokutai) Kokubo airfield No.2m Kyushu, April 1945
• Ki-27 'Nate' of 76th Shinbu-tai, Chiran airfield, Kyushu, April 1945
• A6M2 'Zeke' of the 5th Shichisei-tai, Kyushu, April 1945 with Genzan Ku tail code ケ-113
• Ki-43-III 'Oscar' of the 18th Shinbu-tai, Kyushu, April 1945
• B6N2 'Jill' '131-64' of the Kikusui-Tenzan Kokitai (formerly 131 Kokutai), Kanoya airfield, Kyushu, May 1945
• Ki-83 'Frank' of the 58th Shinbu-tai, Miyakonojo airfield, Kyushu, May 1945

A good representative selection of the aircraft used for special attacks by Army and Navy. There are also colour schematics showing specific attacks and damage to ships, including a colour illustration of a Type 99 No. 25 Model 1 551 lb bomb attached to an A6M5, a monochrome diagram of the bomb itself, plus a colour cutaway of an Ohka piloted rocket bomb and the view from an A6M5 cockpit whilst diving on a ship. . 

Mike does a very good job of linking identified special attack units and pilots to attacks on specific ships within the context of how difficult that can be. The text itself is full of gems of information and interest with 'pen pictures' of pilots, often very poignant and tragic, such as Hajime Fujii the 45 Shinbu-tai leader. At 30 years of age he was refused acceptance for tokko operations because he was married with two children. His wife then drowned their two daughters and killed herself. Fujii's next application to volunteer, written in his own blood, was then accepted. There was opposition to Kamikaze operations within both Japanese air forces, often bitterly expressed.

Chapter 4 is especially useful in documenting lesser known attacks away from the Pacific mayhem such as those around Formosa (now Taiwan) and South-East Asia, but it does not cover the extensive Tokko preparations in China, with attacks never implemented. 

Given the complexity of the subject a tabular listing of Army and Navy special attack units would have been useful but this data is embedded within the text. Two Model Art books provide this tabular information, albeit in Japanese language only. Model Art # 451 'Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Suicide Attack Unit' was published in 1995 and # 458 'Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force Suicide Attack Unit "Kamikaze"' was published in the same year. Desperate Sunset includes a bibliography, a list of relevant websites including this one, and a comprehensive index.

Desperate Sunset is an impressively presented hardback of interest and reference which currently retails for just under £30, and a Kindle edition is also available at less cost. Although Mike kindly offered me a review copy of the book I had already bought it! Recommended.

Image credit: Book Cover © 2019 Osprey Publishing