World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
30 Jun 2015 04:41:56 PM

THE JAPANESE DC-3:

The Showa/Nakajima L2D2 Tabby twin-engine transports were operated by the (IJNAF) Imperial Japanese Navy. Amazing how Douglas Aircraft
and the Japanese Government worked out a
licensing agreement to built the transport in Japan.
The US Government somewhere along the line, must have known about this deal in February 1938. What Douglas didn't know, was the one pulling the strings was the Imperial Japanese Navy. Let's face it the United States and Japan weren't buddies, but I guess like today money talks...

MADE IN JAPAN:

Twenty aircraft were bought and shipped to Japan
also the Imperial Navy paid $90,000 dollars to
Douglas for Showa and Nakajima to manufacture the aircraft and operated as a military transport.

There were Difference's between the L2D2 and the DC-3 in file photo the Tabby had three added windows all four crewmembers sat together.
Tabby was powered by 2 x Mitsubishi Kensei air cooled radial engines, a license copy of the American Pratt & Whitney R-1830. Showa built 416 aircraft and 71 built by Nakajima total of 487

AVIATION IN JAPAN:

The Douglas DC-3 was operated by Dai Nippon
Koku Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Air Transport Ltd.
Greater Japan Airways Co. Ltd. 1940) During WWII the civilian aircraft were impressed into service with the Imperial Navy wherever the
Navy operated. Aircraft surrendered in Japan were later scrapped.

ARMED TABBY:

Some L2D2's were also armed with 1 x 13mm machine gun in a dorsal turret and 2 x 7.7mm flexible machine guns.

POST WAR:

At the end of WWII the Japanese abandoned different types of aircraft throughout Southeast Asia among them were the Tabby transports. Surviving aircraft were taken over by the Nationalist Chinese, even the USAAF operated a few for a limited time and the National Aviation Airways Corp. (CNAC) operating in China.
Sources later reported that Communist forces operated the Tabby. The Tabby was also operated by the French with other ex-Japanese aircraft in Indochina.

2.  Bill says:
16 May 2016 04:00:52 PM

IN ENEMY HANDS:

Photograph shows a captured Showa L2D3 or a L2D3-L. Location Philippines, May 1945 pilots are CNAC Personnel. Aircraft captured Zamboanga airfield May 1945 it was repaired and later tested at Clark Field.
Most of the L2D transports were lost in action the survivors were abandoned and captured. No L2D transports exist today.

In 1946 the French used the L2D-2 and was
operated by French Group Transport 1/34 for operated in Indochina.