19 Feb 1942 IJAAF: Ki-21 bomber crashed between Mandalay & Phitsanulok

19 February 1942: one Ki-211 in a flight of the 14th Sentai returning from a bombing mission over Mandalay crash landed as a result of a mechanical failure. The crew survived uninjured, was retrieved and returned to its home base. The location of the crash site is not provided in available sources. It could be reasonably assumed that the crash site was on smooth terrain in friendly territory; ie, most likely on a plain in Thailand. The home base for the 14th Sentai at that time is reported to have been either Nakhon Sawan2 (Google Maps link) (Shores 2:287, 02 Mar 1942) or Phitsanoluk3 (Google Maps link) (Senshi Sosho 34:607, 03 Mar 1942). Very roughly, about half of the 14th Sentai flight path between Mandalay and either Thai town was over Thailand, as traced in red on the map below. The crash site might have been anywhere along the red lines:4

  • Senshi Sosho:5

二月十九日 . . . 第四飛行団は第五十及び第十四戦隊をもって、一五〇 六マンダレー市街中央の兵営地区を攻撃し、全弾を目標 に投下し、敵機忆谨遇することなく重爆ー機が不時着し たほか無事帰還した。

Translation:

19 February [1942] The 4th Wing, with its 50th and 14th Squadrons, attacked the military district in the center of Mandalay at 1506 and dropped all its bombs on the target. With no involvement of enemy aircraft, one heavy bomber crashed, but the crew returned safely.

14th Sentai location, per Senshi Sosho, vol 34:

Map dated mid-February 1942, p 597: not shown
Map of 03 March 1942, p 607: Phitsanoluk

  • Umemoto:6

p 455, line 19:

Item Japanese English [Google translation]
Date 2月19日 19 Feb 1942
Unit 14 14th Sentai
Aircraft 九七重爆 Ki-21 Heavy Bomber
Pilot 不明 Unknown
Location マンダレ爆撃帰途 Returning from bombing of Mandalay
Shooter 事故または故障
(会敵せず)		 Mechanical breakdown
(no enemy interaction)
Details 不時着・詳細不明 Crash landing ・ details unknown
  • Shores, et al:7

p 268: . . . a detachment of the 50th Sentai moved to Chiengmai, from where the unit’s fighters escorted 14th Sentai Ki-21s to raid Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city; one bomber was forced down due to technical problems.

p 287: JAAF Order of Battle, Burma Theatre of Operations, 02 Mar 1942 [extracted]

. . . Bombers / Reconnaissance:
. . . 14th Sentai   Nakhon Sawan   11 Ki 21s

  • Ford:8

On February 19 . . . the 50th Sentai escorted the 14th Sentai heavy bombers to Mandalay, where they bombed military barracks. One bomber crashed on returning. . . .

 

Last Updated on 13 May 2026

  1. Photo: Ki-21-I “Sally” in World War Photos; my ref: \02500 Tango\_Crash sites N TH for Tango\DETAIL SHEETS\J420219 Phitsonaruk [J07C]\Ki-21 on gnd.jpg[↩]
  2. N15°40.35 E100°08.16[↩]
  3. N16°46.29 E100°16.88[↩]
  4. Map: extract from Google Maps marked up with Microsoft Publisher by author; my ref: \02500 Tango\_Crash sites N TH for Tango\DETAIL SHEETS\J420219 Phitsonaruk [J07C]\14th Sentai return flt-a.jpg[↩]
  5. 戦史叢書, 南方進攻陸軍航空作戦, Vol 34
    (東京: 防衛庁防衛研修所戦史室 (編集), 1970年)
    Senshi Sosho, Southern Army Air Operations, vol 34
    (Tokyo: Asagumo Shimbunsha, 1970), p 599[↩]
  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) [↩]
  7. Christopher Shores & Brian Cull with Yasuho Izawa, Bloody Shambles, Volume 2 (London: Grub Street, 1993), p 268[↩]
  8. Ford, Daniel, Rising Sun over Burma (Warbird Books, 2014), online (no pagination) [↩]
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