World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft facts for kids

This chart helped identify Japanese aircraft during World War II.

The Mitsubishi G3M bomber was called "Nell" by Allied forces.

During World War II, the Allied forces gave special "reporting names" or "codenames" to Japanese aircraft. These names helped Allied soldiers, sailors, and pilots quickly identify different Japanese planes during battles in the Pacific War.

Usually, Western boys' names were given to fighter aircraft. Girls' names were used for bombers, transport planes, and reconnaissance planes. Gliders were named after birds, and trainer aircraft were named after trees. These names became very common from early 1943 until the war ended in 1945. Even today, many history books about the war still use these names.

Why Were Names Needed?

At the start of the Pacific War in December 1941, Allied forces had trouble telling Japanese aircraft apart. The Japanese had a confusing system. Each plane had two names:

• A manufacturer's code (like "A5M").
• An official military name that included the year it entered service.

For example, the Mitsubishi A5M fighter was called the "Navy Type 96 Carrier Fighter." "Type 96" meant it started service in the Japanese year 2596 (which was 1936 in our calendar). But other planes, like the Type 96 Carrier Bomber, also had "Type 96" in their names. This made it very hard to quickly know which plane was which. Also, the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy had their own different ways of identifying Japanese planes, which added to the confusion.

How the Naming System Started

In mid-1942, a smart idea came from Captain Frank T. McCoy. He was a U.S. Army Air Forces intelligence officer in Australia. He wanted a simpler way to identify Japanese aircraft.

With his team, Technical Sergeant Francis M. Williams and Corporal Joseph Grattan, McCoy created a new system:

• Fighters got boys' names.
• All other planes got girls' names.

Later, they added more rules:

• Training planes were named after trees.
• Single-engine reconnaissance planes got men's names.
• Multi-engine reconnaissance planes got women's names.
• Transport planes got girls' names starting with "T."
• Gliders were named after birds.

The A6M3-32 fighter was nicknamed "Hamp."

McCoy's system quickly became popular. By the end of 1942, all American forces in the Pacific were using it. Soon after, British Commonwealth countries also adopted it. The list grew to include 122 names and was used until the end of World War II.

To make the names a bit funny, McCoy often chose "hillbilly" names from his childhood in Tennessee, like "Zeke" and "Rufe." Some planes were named after people the creators knew. For instance, the Mitsubishi G4M bomber, which had large gun blisters, was named "Betty" after a friend of Williams. The Aichi D3A "Val" got its name from an Australian sergeant.

Not all of McCoy's names stuck. Many Allied personnel kept calling the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter "Zero" instead of "Zeke." Also, McCoy's name for an upgraded Zero, "Hap" (after U.S. Army General Henry H. Arnold), had to be changed to "Hamp" because General Arnold didn't like it.

List of Aircraft Names

See Also

• List of Japanese aircraft in use during the Second Sino-Japanese War
• List of aircraft of Japan during World War II
• 'Type' designation in Japan
• Japanese military aircraft designation systems
• NATO reporting name – a similar system used for Soviet and Chinese aircraft during the Cold War