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Special Point of interest: Don't forget that the General membership meeting will be held at the Marriott Courtyard, 560 Scott Avenue, Farmington in the Pine Room instead of the country club. Henderson Field-Guadalcanal,
1942
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Henderson Field, 1943 |
The Cactus air force was an ad hoc formation where the niceties of squadron-even service-organization meant very little. Our fighters were operating from a dirt runway (Fighter 1) with absolutely no maintenance facilities whatsoever.
The maintenance crews can only be praised for the outstanding job that they did to keep us flying. Living conditions were horrible, shelling, air raids, snipers, and horrible food.
Our function was to repel the Japanese air and sea attacks on the beachhead and to provide air cover for our own land and sea forces. Few of us peons had any knowledge or realized how precarious our tactical situation was.
Flight operations on the Canal were primitive. Pilots generally sat on benches or around picnic tables at the edge of the jungle waiting for a scramble. The alert came from coast watchers hiding out in the Solomons to the North of us.
When we got the signal to scramble - a siren or shotgun blast we all ran to our planes which were parked within a few hundred yards. Our tactics were simple and straight forward: When enemy aircraft were spotted by coast watchers, we would scramble. Typically, as soon as we scrambled, we all made a slow climbing turn around the field so that we could join up and the flight leader could get to the front of the pack. Insofar as possible, we formed into four-plane divisions and made a near full-power climb to altitude. If we had enough time, we could get to our maximum altitude of about 30,000 feet. If the incoming raid were bombers, they always came in from the same direction and were always in one or more shallow vee-on-vee formations, flying abreast. They were at 23,000 to 25,000 feet, and their escorts were well above them, at about 31,000 feet. We tried to get into position for an overhead or high-side run, usually on the left side of the bomber formation. The escorts generally didn’t make their presence known until almost all of us had peeled off into our runs on the bombers. Once we had peeled off, we were on our own. Rejoining was very haphazard.
Some days, there were no bombers, just fighters. Whenever we made contact with Zeros, it was every man for himself as soon as the melee started. It seemed that formation flying was forgotten in the heat of the moment, even though we tried to keep track of things. Some days we were in combat before we even had joined up. Those were some of the more exciting days.
Captain
Whiting was flying an F4F which was his usual selection, and proceeded to climb
at maximum power. But my plane and several others, simply couldn’t keep up
even at full power. Believe me, we had the best mechanics in the world working
in almost unbelievable conditions. But some planes just did not perform as well
as others. Eventually, I lost sight of the Captain and the rest of the squadron
in the clouds, but I knew their altitude and general location by way of my
radio. I kept trying to catch up, but failed to do so. I was completely alone.
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Grumman F4F Wildcat |
When I was somewhere around 21,000 feet in an all out climb at about 105 knots airspeed I felt the impact of bullets on my plane. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw two Zekes diving on me and firing. By the time I looked back, the two Zekes had already flattened out from their high-side pass at me and were at my altitude. They both were firing, I could see their muzzle flashes.
I nosed over to get some airspeed, and when I did I saw another Zeke, he was ahead, below and pretty close. I believe he had overshot me while making a pass as he was in the process of pulling up. He was dead in front of me and in my sights, so I fired at him. My pipper must have been at least 50 mils in front of him as he was starting up and I was starting down. This was a snap-shot from someone who was trying to get the H*** out of a bad situation. I don’t know how long I fired at him, but I believe it was a short burst, he was only there for an instant and just seemed to break apart and then was gone. I may have overshot him before smoke and flames occurred.
I was still concerned about the two Zekes on my tail, so I continued to dive almost vertically. As my speed increased I did an aileron roll onto my back and started to pull through, (I dove away vertically and then as speed built up executed what amounted to a half slow roll except that I was vertical). When my orientation was 180 degrees from where I started, I intended to pull out fast so that my ending direction was reverse of my starting heading. However, I was having a difficult time, I couldn’t seem to pull out because I was going so fast, I don’t know what the airspeed was because the needle was going around for the third time and it was only calibrated for two turns. I didn’t want to use the trim tab for fear of pulling too many G’s and breaking up my own plane, and I discarded the idea of bailing out because opening the canopy would probably tear the plane apart from the air stream. So I just keep pulling back on the stick and very slowly got my fighter under control. I had long since lost track of the two Zekes, when I finally got pulled out at about 500 feet, I was going over 400 knots. I started climbing back up and heard the chatter from the squadron on the radio as they were returning to base, so I just followed them in.
Apparently it had been a bad day for everyone. We lost 3 aircraft and pilots saddening to say the least, as one never forgets those with whom he served.
A
week after this episode, a coast watcher confirmed my destroying a Zeke which he
reported going down in flames, and my near miss in a collision with the waters
surface.
Mr.
“Doc” Schrum presented information concerning The Military Order of the
Purple Heart (MOPH). He explained the is the only congressionally chartered
veterans organization exclusively for combat wounded veterans. An organization
now known as the "Military Order of the Purple Heart," was formed in
1932 for the protection and mutual interest of all who have received the
decoration. Funds for welfare, rehabilitation and/or service work carried on by
the organization are derived almost entirely from the annual distribution of its
official flower, The Purple Heart Viola. These are assembled by disabled and
needy veterans, many of whom receive little or no compensation from other
sources. Thus a contribution for a Viola serves a two-fold purpose - it helps
the veteran who assembled it, and enables the organization to do many things in
behalf of hospitalized and needy veterans and their families.
Two
of our own have made the news. The photo and caption appeared in the SPARKS
Monthly Newsletter of the Farmington Chamber of Commerce inserted in the
September issue of the DAILY TIMES.
I just wanted everyone to know that our members are in and about the community doing their thing. Besides, I’ve come up a little short on ideas for an article this month.
See all of you at the next membership meeting. By the way the menu items for the Marriott are:
A. LONDON BROIL/w Mushroom Demi-Glaze and roasted red potatoes.
B. LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN with rice pilaf.
Either meal includes: Chef's Choice of appropriate Veggies, Tossed Salad, assorted bread basket and butter, coffee or tea, and dessert.
Price: $15.00, includes gratuity and tax
Heidi Garcia will call each member to get an exact count and RSVP during the week of Oct 16. Any questions can be directed to her at 327-0149.
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