Tora Tora Tora

Historical testimony: Zero “Sen” or “Rei-Sen” A6M2 fighter belonging to an Imperial Japanese Navy Squadron taking part of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 1941. This ‘Zeke’ (nickname given by the Allies) received some bullets during the raid possibly shot from some machine gun protecting the American naval base. The blue stripe identifies the air division and the aircraft carrier. The Nippon red roundel symbolising the rising sun is called ‘Hinomaru’. The small red technical sign meaning ‘no step’ indicates the proximity of the ailerons. The Nakajima Typical identification plate shown here is based on the original stencil of A6M2 s/n 5355. It gave the following details about the aircraft such as: Type of the aircraft/serial number/manufacture date. In this case: the 7th of November 1941, one month exactly before what the Americans call the “Day of Infamy”. In the context of the Pearl Harbor attack, "Tora Tora Tora" was the Japanese code phrase meaning "We have achieved complete surprise" . While "tora" literally translates to "tiger" in Japanese, the phrase was an abbreviation of "totsugeki raigeki," which means "lightning attack" and was used to signal the start of the attack.

Artwork description: Enamel paint on aluminium plates riveted to cardboard panel and curved on a foam board structure. Approximate size 102 x 76 cm.

Price: AUD$ 900.00