Forgotten Fighter: The Heinkel He 112 in Japanese Hands Uncovered by U.S. Troops in 1945

When American troops swept through the airfields of Japan at the end of World War II, they were on the lookout for the once-mighty Zero fighters, the legendary Ki-84s, and the sleek Ki-100s of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. But deep in the shadows of a dusty hangar, amid the chaos of Japan’s defeat in 1945, they stumbled across an aviation mystery: a German Heinkel He 112, wearing Japanese markings.

How did this German fighter—never a mainstay, even in the Luftwaffe—end up half a world away, and what story did it tell about the once-secretive ties between Axis powers?

An Unlikely Discovery

The report from that summer of 1945 was met with disbelief among American intelligence officers. The Heinkel He 112 was a rare sight anywhere; only a handful had ever seen combat in Europe, having been overshadowed by the more successful Messerschmitt Bf 109. To find one on Japanese soil, painted with the red Hinomaru roundels, was a fascinating footnote in the closing days of WWII.

Photographs (now rare, but some found in wartime archives) show a sleek, single-seat monoplane—its German lines unmistakable, but proudly bearing Japanese insignia on its wings and fuselage. For aviation enthusiasts and intelligence officers alike, the find was electrifying.

Tracing the He 112’s Journey to Japan

The story goes back to the late 1930s, when Japan—keen to modernize its air force—sought advanced European aircraft to study and possibly adopt. While the Heinkel He 112 lost out to the Bf 109 in Luftwaffe service, a handful were offered for export. Spain, Hungary, and Romania were among its few operators, but Japan also acquired at least one example directly from Germany, likely for evaluation.

Arriving likely in the late 1930s or early 1940s, the He 112 was put through its paces by Japanese test pilots. Its advanced streamlined design, retractable landing gear, and cannon armament were impressive for the time, but it couldn’t compete with Japan’s own promising fighters—nor did it mesh with Japanese doctrines.

In the end, the He 112 became a technical curiosity, an object of study, and possibly a reference point for aircraft designers at Nakajima and Mitsubishi. But as Japan plunged deeper into war, the He 112 was relegated to storage, perhaps occasionally taxied out for demonstration or training.

An Emblem of Axis Cooperation

The He 112’s presence in Japan is a tangible symbol of the close, if sometimes uneasy, ties between Germany and Japan. Technical collaboration between the two Axis powers was limited by geography and secrecy, but aircraft, engines, and blueprints did trickle across continents—usually by ship via the Trans-Siberian Railway (before Germany’s war with the Soviets) or through perilous submarine voyages.

Other examples of such exchanges included the Japanese use of Daimler-Benz engines, or the German testing of Japanese aircraft designs. The He 112 in Japanese markings, tucked away in a remote airfield, was the physical embodiment of these exchanges.

The End of the He 112 in Japan

By the time American troops discovered the aircraft, it was obsolete—a museum piece in a world now ruled by Mustangs, Thunderbolts, and Bearcats. Its fate after discovery is not clearly recorded. Like many rare enemy aircraft, it may have been shipped to the United States for technical evaluation and display, or simply scrapped amid the nation’s postwar demilitarization.

Today, all that remains are a handful of black-and-white photos, scattered records, and the knowledge that, for a brief time, the Heinkel He 112—in service colors far from home—crossed the path of history in the most unexpected place.