Kugisho Okha 22

This was a Japanese kamikaze flying bomb carried under a Betty bomber and released within range of its target, usually a ship. The pilot would then attempt to steer it into the ship.

"Okha" means "Cherry Blossom" in Japanese, which has a soothing sound. Our guys called it a "Baka" bomb, which means "crazy." The Japanese launched about 3000 kamikaze attacks on our ships using various aircraft, of which about 300 succeeded, sinking about 30 ships.

Most of the Okhas were rocket powered. This is a rare jet-powered version. This particular Okha was probably part of the armada of suicide bombs, planes, boats, and subs that would have been thrown against the American invasion of Kyushu in Operation Olympic. The Japanese planned to throw everything they had at us in one last final desperate attempt to bleed us. Thankfully, the atom bomb spared us from all that.