Sorry I can’t do that. I heard it second-hand. No reason to not believe it. As for the individual(s) who chickened out of their one and only final mission talking about it afterwards was not an option. My ‘source’ heard about it 15 years after the war ended.
My studies on the subject would suggest the carrier pilots captains ‘asked’ for volunteers. Many balked and were berated. Ultimately they ‘volunteered’. Another island-based pilot made 4 attempts. One was aborted when he was intercepted and had to drop his bomb into the ocean to escape being shot down. His 4th attempt was aborted as the war ended. He knew all along what his mission was.
Some gung-ho higher-ups boasted how they would return to continue fighting and win the war despite the overwhelming evidence it was lost. The young pilots were not entitled to their own observations. I eventually read a book written by some Minnesota Phd.(Japanese born). She wrote about their poetry writings-waste of time. It’s out there. No coming to grips or understanding. These pilots were not country-bumpkins. They all went to the elite universities. They were the future ‘leaders’ of Japan and were expected to show how it’s done.
I only wish that Eastwood or Mel Gibson would make a movie on them.
I was hoping you had another source available. My only real information came from that book, which I read at least 50 years ago. Can’t recall even the title, so I can’t swear that there was no mention of landing-gear modifications. As I remember, the war ended before the pilot had to do the crashy thing.