What we don’t understand about the kamikaze pilots
Young pilots on kamikaze training in 1945
Alamy/Pictorial Press
The students who volunteered as kamikaze pilots 80 summers ago did not know that their first flights would be their last – until it was too late. And only 10 per cent of their missions were successful
“Sorry about the kamikaze taxi,” sighed my friend after we emerged, shaken but intact, from a rollercoaster ride through the streets of London. She didn’t notice my double take. I’d only recently arrived in the UK and, although my English was fluent, I’d never heard “kamikaze” used to mean “reckless” or “crazy” before. In that moment, I also realised that meant the pilots themselves must be thought of as suicidal maniacs in this country.
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