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'''Harry Fusao O'Hara''' [[Military Medal|MM]] (1891, [[Tokyo]] – 1951, [[Hampstead]], [[London]]) was a Japanese man who fought for the British in the [[World War I|First World War]], first as an infantryman, later as the first and, as far as is known, only Japanese pilot in the [[Royal Flying Corps]].<ref name=Kyodo>{{cite news |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/11/bcd17322a627-feature-japanese-national-became-decorated-war-hero-for-britain-in-wwi.html |title=Japanese national became decorated war hero for Britain in WWI |first=Imogen |last=Pullan |date=10 November 2018 |agency=[[Kyodo News]]}}</ref>  He was also a journalist.

Born in Tokyo, he attended [[Waseda University]], but dropped out and traveled to India, where he worked as a journalist for Japanese newspapers.<ref name=Kyodo/>

After the First World War broke out, he enlisted on 13 December 1915.<ref name=Timeline>{{cite web |url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/3306282 |title=We Remember Harry Fusao O'Hara |publisher=[[Imperial War Museum]]}}</ref> According to his youngest daughter, Geraldine Reedijk, a sergeant wrote down his last name as "O'Hara" over his objections.<ref name=BBCSounds>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p02hcd7r |title=Stag Lane, Edgware: The Tough 'Little' Pilot |publisher=[[BBC Sounds]]}}</ref> He was assigned to the [[34th Royal Sikh Pioneers]] infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]],<ref name=Timeline/> which served on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. When the unit was transferred to Mesopotamia, O'Hara ended his brief stint with the unit and joined the 5th Battalion, [[Middlesex Regiment]], of the [[British Army]] as a private on 24 December.<ref name=Timeline/> He ended up in hospital three times in 1916: first for [[influenza]] (6–10 January) and twice for wounds received while on duty (7 August and October).<ref name=Timeline/> On 6 January 1917, he was awarded the [[Military Medal]].<ref name=Timeline/>

He transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] as an Air Mechanic, 2nd Class.<ref name=Timeline/> He trained at the Royal Provincial Flying School, [[Edgware]], and upon becoming a pilot, he was promoted to sergeant, on 8 October 1917.<ref name=Timeline/> In September, he married Englishwoman Muriel M. McDonald. In 1918, he was assigned to [[No. 1 Squadron RAF]], fighting in France. On 7 June 1918, he was hospitalised again, this time for a gunshot wound to the jaw.<ref name=BBCSounds/> The war ended on 11 November 1918, and he left the RFC sometime in 1919.

The O'Haras lived in London after the war. When the [[United Kingdom declaration of war on Japan|UK declared war on Japan]] in December 1941, following Japanese attacks on British possessions in the Far East, he became an [[enemy alien]]; his daughter, however, does not recall him being interned.<ref name=Kyodo/>

Harry Fusao O'Hara died in 1951 in [[Hampstead]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Hara, Harry Fusao}}
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Indian Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Japanese military aviators]]
[[Category:Middlesex Regiment soldiers]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps soldiers]]
[[Category:World War I pilots]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Medal]]
[[Category:Japanese journalists]]

Harry Fusao O'Hara - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Creating a new article