Source:UC Berkeley via Academia Sinica 美國加州大學柏克萊分校典藏1944~1945年臺灣舊航照資料
上圖是一架從美國海軍胡蜂號航空母艦起飛的飛機在1944年10月12日清晨拍攝的小港飛行場照片,當時美軍稱之為苓雅寮(Reigaryo)機場,駐有日本陸軍飛行第20戰隊。下圖則是同一區域的Google Earth衛星照片。
The first photo wast taken in the early morning of October 12, 1944, by an aircraft from USS Wasp (CV-18). At the time, the US military referred to this airfield as Reigaryo Airdrome, at which the 20th Sentai (Group) of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was stationed. It has since transformed into the current Kaohsiung International Airport in Xiaogang District (see the Google Earth satellite photo below).
就在本文第一張照片拍攝後不久,美國海軍的飛機開始轟炸這座機場(請見以下四張照片)。
Moments after the first photo had been taken, aircraft from Task Force 38 of the US Navy began to bomb this airfield, as shown in the next four low-altitude strike photos.
Source:NARA via Fold3.com
美軍飛機的攻擊飛行路線大致是沿著本文第一張照片的中線,由上而下。攻擊結束後,胡蜂號的飛機又拍攝了以下的照片。
The flight path of the attacking aircraft roughly follows the line from top to down across the middle of the first photo of this article. The following post-strike photos taken on the same day revealed the damage done.
下面第一張照片標出了前面四張攻擊照片所涵蓋的區域。
The areas covered by the previous four strike photos were marked on the next post-strike photo.
Source:UC Berkeley via Academia Sinica 美國加州大學柏克萊分校典藏1944~1945年臺灣舊航照資料
照片A與B裡的爆炸造成的彈坑可以在下面這張放大照片裡看到,圖中也可看到一架日軍的飛機。根據文獻記載,第20戰隊共有32架飛機,當天全部起飛迎擊,可能因此在本文最上面的照片裡找不到任何飛機。不過第20戰隊當天損失慘重,總共有11架飛機被擊落。
Craters caused by the explosions in strike photos A and B can be seen in the following enlarged photo. A Japanese fighter aircraft can be seen as well. All 32 aircraft of the 20th Sentai were airborne to engage American aircraft, which explains why no aircraft were found in the top photo. However, eleven of them were shot down.
Source:UC Berkeley via Academia Sinica 美國加州大學柏克萊分校典藏1944~1945年臺灣舊航照資料
接下來這張照片裡可以看到上面照片C跟D裡的彈坑,相形之下,營舍的損壞可說是相當輕微。
The next photo reveals that the explosions in photos C and D had done little damage to the barracks.
Source:UC Berkeley via Academia Sinica 美國加州大學柏克萊分校典藏1944~1945年臺灣舊航照資料