What did a Japanese " Erk " look like ( Rabaul, 1943 - 1944 ) ?

[The Tailor]

Good afternoon everybody.

I am busy with an illustration that depicts a scene on Lakunai Airfield ( Rabaul, Island of New Britain ), between 1943 and 1944. Despite my thorough research, there is one important detail missing though :


What did a Japanese " Erk "* look like ?


* From the R.A.F. Slang. It describes a ground crewmember.

Here is a photograph that shows ground crewmembers next to A6M " Zeroes " on an airfield near Rabaul :

I am desperately looking for information, details and large photographs about the caps, helmets, shirts, rank insignias, shorts and shoes worn by ground crewmembers ( Privates and N.C.O.s ) during the Japanese occupation of Rabaul between 1943 and 1944. This is quite urgent, I am afraid ( sorry to be such a pain in the arse ).

Anybody's help will be very much appreciated, no question about it !

I thank you all, and wish you all a Merry Christmas / Happy Yule, as well as joy, happiness and prosperity for 2024.

Have a nice evening.

Cheers,


Mehdi.

[Kiipu]

I would recommend posting the question over at J-Aircraft.
J-Aircraft Forums

[adachi]

While these aren't 1943-44 but rather 1942, the uniforms remained largely the same. I have built up a rather large archive of IJNAS photos but still need to get around to putting them online. Both of these photos came from ground crew members. The first photo is of the 26th Air Squadron Command in Rabaul.

[The Tailor]

Dear Kiipu and Adachi,

Apologies for the delay in responding to you both, but I was busy making Christmas biscuits ( Schwowebredele, Alsatian recipe ) and cooked marzipan when I read your replies to this post.

Thank you very much indeed for the tip and the photographs as well ! These are very helpful. I have already took a quick look at J - Aircraft, but I will post my enquiry on this very forum as soon as possible.

Adachi, if it's not asking to much, have you got other photographs ( perhaps larger ) showing Japanese ground crewmembers, please ? If so, I would be able to look at the details.

Here, this is Greeting's Card I made years ago. The two pilots are :

Standing

Pilot Officer Marcel " Mononck, Mon Oncle " Doncq ( Belgian, R.A.F.V.R., No. 350 " Belgian " Squadron ).

Seated in the cockpit

Flight Sergeant Henri " Brandy, Dimples " Branders ( Belgian, R.A.F.V.R., No. 349 " Belgian " Squadron ).

I met Henri on August 26^th, 2010. He became my second best friend amongst the R.A.F. / S.A.A.F. Veterans I have interviewed between 2009 and 2020. We have shared a true friendship until his passing on June 18^th, 2016, at the age of 92.

I wish to you both a Merry Christmas / Happy Yule, as well as joy, happiness and prosperity for 2024.

Cheers,


Mehdi.

[The Tailor]

Good afternoon everyone,

Here is a preview of the work in progress. The " Erk " depicted here holds the rank of Superior Private :

Your comments are most welcomed, obviously .

Cheers,


Mehdi.

[The Tailor]

Good afternoon everyone,

Here is another preview, which shows an officer and two privates :

And here, this is a part that depicts Tetsuzō Iwamoto while in service with the 253 Kōkūtai.

Please, do not hesitate to post a comment.

Good day to you all.

Cheers,


Mehdi.

[Akira Komiya]

Unfortunately, they both look definitely more army than navy.
I don’t think the navy had an issue tropical shirt for enlisted personnel with 2 breast pockets; the shirt usually seen has a single pleated breast pocket with buttoned flap on the left breast. Officers did have a white tropical uniform with short sleeved shirts with 2 pleated breast pockets but such would obviously not be worn when working on aircraft.The trousers came with their own cloth belts having a solid anchor faced friction buckle so the wear of a leather belt would be incorrect. Particularly, the thick belt worn by the officer is an army officer’s canvass and leather under the tunic sword belt which would not be worn by navy personnel.
Navy shorts were longer and baggier than the army counterparts.
Although field caps were also worn, more common were floppy full brimmed tennis hat like caps. As for footwear, ankle boots would not have been worn but instead, either light colored canvass low shoes or flying boots were commonly worn.
There are tons of photo books published by Japanese publishers on both the Zero and Rabaul which usually devote a chapter on ground crew so getting hold of one such book would be a good place to start.
I have one titled the Zero Fighter in Action (or Fighting Zero, 闘う零戦) by Youji Watanabe published by Bungei Shunju in 2001 but I am sure there are newer books as well.

[The Tailor]

Good morning Akira Komiya,

My man, thank you very much indeed for your comment, which is very detailed and accurated as well !!! This reply has almost filled up a huge gap in my knowledge about the very subject, which are still embryonic though.

The thing is, I have not got the time to purchase any book right now. I am willing to fill this gap in my documentation in the near future, but right now, what I need so bad is to get access to both wartime photographs ( large ones ) and artefacts that depict what Imperial Japanese Navy ground crewmembers looked like. According to your comment, they were Navy instead of Army, weren't they ?

Would it be possible to you to help me out with this very matter, please ?

Dear Akira Komiya, I thank you again for your comment, which is really helpful and very much appreciated as well.

Have a nice day.

Cheers,


Mehdi.

[Akira Komiya]

There were also army units on Rabaul but at least the 253 Koukutau was a navy unit.
Unfortunately, I neither have large photos nor actual artifacts so I cant’t be of help here. The best bet is to buy a couple of books and figure out how the ground crew looked like.

[Bruce Pennington]

Sorry to sidetrack your thread, but I'd love to know what the double sakura stands for on the side of Tetsuzō Iwamoto's plane. Most of them are single, but 2 along the bottom row are double.