Lieutenant Tomoo Nakamura became the leader (
Hikōtaichō) of the
Misawa Air Group when it was formed on 10 February 1942 in
Misawa,
Japan. The group operated
Mitsubishi G4M medium bombers and was ordered to move to
Rabaul on
New Britain after the Allied landing on
Guadalcanal and
Tulagi on 7 August. On 8 August, Lieutenant Nakamura led 18 medium bombers to Rabaul, and he also brought
Vice Admiral Nishizō Tsukahara, the commander of the
11th Air Fleet. The following day, he led 17
torpedo-armed bombers to search for the enemy carriers in the vicinity of Guadalcanal. When he could not locate the carriers, he settled on attacking and sinking the destroyer
Jarvis, which was damaged during the previous day and was leaving the area. He lost two bombers in the attack. On 17 August, Lieutenant Nakamura led 25 bombers to raid the airfield at
Port Moresby on
New Guinea, which destroyed several Allied aircraft on the ground. On 26 August, he led a mixed formation of 17 bombers from Misawa and
Kisarazu Air Group to attack recently finished
Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The attack resulted in the destruction of 2,000 gallons of aviation fuel and several Allied aircraft damaged on the ground. However, in return, his formation lost two bombers to intercepting US Marine
Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters. On 11 September, he again led a raid on Henderson Field composed of 27 bombers from Misawa, Kisarazu and
Chitose Air Group and lost one bomber. On 13 September, he commanded a similar formation composed of Misawa, Kisarazu and
Kanoya Air Group bombers and attacked Taivu Point, located about 30 kilometres east of Henderson Field. This time his formation suffered the loss of two bombers. Lieutenant Nakamura's subordinates led Misawa bombers in further raids on Guadalcanal throughout October. On 1 November, he was promoted to
lieutenant commander, while Misawa Air Group was redesignated to 705th Air Group. On 11 November, Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 16 torpedo-armed bombers against the enemy ships around Guadalcanal. His formation was intercepted by 16 Wildcat and eight
Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters, while at the same time they were also met with heavy AA fire from the ships. They lost 11 bombers and the rest sustained severe damage, of which some (including Nakamura) could not reach Rabaul and had to make emergency landings at
Buin on
Bougainville. Heavy losses in this single mission prompted the commanders at Rabaul to cease further raids by medium bombers against Guadalcanal. On 28 January 1943, Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 16 torpedo-armed bombers in the
attack against enemy ships spotted near
Rennell Island. They scored no hits and in return lost one bomber. On 12 April, Lieutenant Commander Nakamura led 27 bombers against Port Moresby during
Operation I-Go. Two days later, they also participated in a raid against
Milne Bay. Nakamura was promoted to
commander at the end of the war. ==References==