Evening star., 1942-01-02
By LELAND STOWE,

Oy ALAhND cAOvvGs
Foreign Correspondent Of The Star and
Chicaso Daily News.
RANGOON, Jan. 2-The ace OF
the American "Scalpers" Squad
ron is an unassuming. straightfor-
ward farm boy from South Dakota
who is known as Duke" to Ameri-
can flyers in Burma. In the Anglo
American air forces in the Christ
mas battle against more than 100
Japanese planes Duke shot down
four bombers and one fighter in 80
minutes Of combat and bagged his
last one just before his gasoline ran
out.
Duke has South Dakota's farm
lands stamped on his rugged. me-
dunn stature. He told us how 1t
happened In simple phrases. You
like the cut Of his jib and that look
in his eyes. Very quickly you were
glad it happened to him.
The first formation of bombers
was closed up when we attacked"
he said Il am pretty sure I got
two of them. gave them bursts at
from 200 to so yards and saw them
both 60 down. But, Of course, maybe
somebody else had winged them.
Anyhow. it doesn't matter. It Is only
what the squadron does that counts.
Landed Fresh Out Of Gas.
"Afterward I saw three bombers
cut loose to one side. 50 won't after
them, and I know I got two. I was
alone, and both went down in flames.
Later on I got one fighter. BY that
time my plane was shot up pretty
badly"
1--WE were low on gas because we
we're up nearly two hours before We
caught the Japanese. When I land
ed I was fresh out Of gas"
That is all the ace Of the Scalpers
had to say about his Japanese scalps.
My British colleague asked him If.
in the United States Air Force, they
automatically awarded the Dis
tinguished Service Cross to an avi-
ator when he had got seven planes.
as Is the custom in the Royal Air
Force
IT don't know" replied Duke, the
South Dakota farm boy. Il hadn't
thought about that"
Maybe somebody back home will,
but even if they don't Duke will be
in the fighting.
First Crushing Defeat for Japs.
That Christmas Day reception
which the Anglo-American pilots.
fighting the second aerial combat Of
their lives, gave the more than 100
Nipponese raiders. has now been
established as the first walloping
and crushing defeat that the jap
anese air force has suffered In
four and a half years Of war.
simultaneously, these youngsters
proved that, given the planes. they
can knock the living daylights out Of
japanese aircraft and veteran air
men-and all they ask for Is q
chance to fight on something like
even terms.
What has happened here in two
japanese raids has only one parallel
in the entire war. 1t is an honor
able equivalent to what r. A. F.
fighter squadrons did to the Luft-
waite in September, 1910. when they
fought the battle of Britain and
saved the British Isles from tnva-
sion.
Fighting with the same magnif-
cent spirit and against similar odds,
the Yankees and Britishers dealt
the Japanese raiders such . blow
as they will never forget.
Japs Lost $50 Of Planes.
Here are revised figures based On
with the boys who did the
fighting.
In the Christmas combat the
Japanese lost at least Is bombers
and IL fighters. or a total Of 28,
compared to six Anglo American
planes lost. Moreover, the Ameri-
cans who engaged the enemy above
the sea are confident that several
more Nipponese planes were de-
stroyed there where confirmation
is impossible.
In any case, it is now certain the
Japanese lost approximately Is per
cent Of all the bombers and fighters
with which they attacked Rangoon
on December Is.
In terms Of aviation personnel