LlJapanese Routine at Lae

This page describes a typical day for the IJN fighter wing at Lae as described by Saburo Sakai:

Time Task:
2:30 a.m. Mechanics wake up.
3:30 a.m. Orderlies wake up pilots.
4:00 a.m. Breakfast
5:00 a.m. First quick alert flights warmed up. (Typically) 6 fighters were kept on instant alert through out the day. This partially made up for the fact that Lae had no radar. Others await mission orders at the CP.
8:00 a.m. Take off for the morning offensive mission. This was usually one of two tasks:
  • Fighter sweep over Port Moresby or one of the nearby bases.
  • Escort bombers in an attack over Port Moresby or one of the nearby bases.
12:00 a.m. Return in time for lunch.
5:00 p.m. Gymnastic workout.
8:00-9:00 p.m. Lights out.

Saburo Sakai
Samurai!, Chapter 12