1st Class Special Officer Candidates of Tachiarai Army Flight School Pilot Badges/大刀洗陸軍飛行学校第一期特別幹部候補生章

The Tachiarai Army Flight School opened in 1940 and trained many pilots who took part in kamikaze operations in the last year of the war. The Tachiarai Flight School had a branch school in Chiran (Kagoshima Prefecture), where many Army pilots departed to make suicide attacks on the American fleet near Okinawa. Operations at Tachiarai came to an end when American B-29s destroyed the base on March 27, 1945.​

These badges (and belt buckles) were made after the war as memorabilia items for the veterans and collectors.

Reverse

大刀洗陸軍飛行学校 - Tachiarai Army Flight School

第一期特別幹部候補生 - 1st Class Special Officer Candidate Student

 

Badge in near mint condition.

 

Badge.

Belt buckle of the same design and with the same inscriptions.

The only differences are color scheme and fastening.