JAPAN - Miho

[Bradlad]

RAF Miho, Japan.

These pictures were taken by my Granddad in 1946, he was one of the first British servicemen into Japan after the surrender, he somehow got hold of a camera and took a fair few pictures, mainly of Kure, Hiroshima and Nagasaki ( he was sent to assess the damage and dangers )

He was in the RE and a keep sportsman, his team visited RAF Miho to play the RAF at football and took these pictures:

RAF Miho Control Tower:



Hangers at Miho



Inside one of the Miho hangers:



Spitfires lined up at Miho:



Hope these are of interest.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Thanks for sharing those memories Bradlad

[REF]

Wonderful photos Bradlad. Does anyone know the history of the RAF's involvement at this base? Whats the current status of the airfield now?

[jaffa]

love the pics ive got a few ill put up
my fiancees grandad was ground crew with 17 squadron and landed at iwakuni where 17 and 11 squadron raf and 4 squadron riaf were based for a short while before they moved to their permanant base of miho
until the squadrons were disbanded.

apparantly he was with 132 but when the carrier left to transport them to japan there was a mix up with the ground crew and equipment he ended going to japan with 17 were he stayed until the squadron was disbanded

he doesnt really talk about it much but has started to reveal some amazing facts. such as when the carrier got to iwakuni the captain decided to go in with the ship fully dressed ie all the crew in their whites standing round the flight deck, he and his mates were a bit put out by the navys regs and decided to just hide.
when the carrier finally dropped anchor the captain was very upset with this and told all raf personnal "to get off his ship immediatley"

i have some pics of local landmarks including a bridge called the dragon bridge which due to the americans moving some of the stones and gravel around the bridge to help with the construction of a runway weakened it to the extent that the bridge collapsed 2 days after he was there...

i belive the carrier they arrived on was hms vengance which transported the 2 raf and 1 riaf squadron of spitfires to japan along with some grumman avengers and corsairs which due to lend lease agreements expiering were pushed over the side this fact is confirmed by an indian pilot who was on the carrier at the time..

if anybody has any imformation about miho or the raf squadrons there i would love to hear it to help me piece together the remarkable story of my fiancees grandfather...