Evening star., 1942-03-23
Fight
Continued From First Page)

aged to give a full throttle each
time we jumped from the water
thus preventing us from spinning
on the aileron-less side.
The flames were so hot on the
port side waistgun that LIE Baron,
who was trying to fire at the Japs,
had to abandon it and try the star
board Waistgun.
Force Increased to ".
Looking up we saw that it was
nine Jap fighters Apparently sum-
moned by their bombing commander
to resume the mission, they had
formed up again and joined the
raiders who, We now saw, numbered
72 All around us in the water were
pools of burning gasoline, but we
had no choice but to go overheard.
The crew went through the star
board blister and the overhead navi-
gators hatch; Mosley and I through
the pilot hatch. Mosley's and Fair
child's lifejackets were pierced by
bullets and unable to contain carbon
dioxide gas, and one-half of mine
was likewise Phys carry only one
rubber boat and ours was pierced
like a sieve, but luckily some one
chucked in another which was drag
ged through the water, between
burning gasoline patches, until it
reached clear place and then was
inflated. The entire plane aft of the
wings could be seen melting away
IN the intense heat
A stock taking in the rubber boat
showed that Moorer had a slight hip
wound, Mosley scalp wound,
Thomas scalp wound and an un-
usable right ankle, and Follmer a
shrapnel wound in the knee
BY what seemed at the time ex-
traordinary luck, the entire party
was picked up by an Allied freighter
after only half and hour afloat.
The Japs, seen in the distance re-
turning from their raid numbered
only so, giving rise to the hope that
the II absentees if not dispatched
on mission elsewhere, had been
brought down.
Suddenly there came a quad
ruple," a signal from another AL
lied freighter, with a message now
too we'll known, from Rangoon to
the Solomons:
Under continuous air attack, am
aflre with many wounded aboard. !"
Decides to Go to Rescue.
Although the position was 20 miles
away and this freighter lacked even
machine-gun protection, its captain
decided to go to the rescue About
noon a Jap twin-foat seaplane, OF
the type used in gun-spotting aboard
cruisers. attacked the freighter. 1t
dropped two 100-pound bombs with
out success and then, at low alti-
tude. strafed the decks. A few mo-
ments later the distressed freighter
was seen under way to Darwin at
greater speed than the rescuers
could overtake. At 2:30 o'clock, re-
lief at the other freighter's escape
changed to alarm when ~ Jap
bombers were seen speeding in pur-
suit.
Knowing that the seaplane meant
that warships were nearby, the
freighter too started for Darwin, but
at o'clock the screaming whine OF
a dive bomber was heard overhead.
The freighter was being attacked by
carrier-based dive bombers of the
type with non-retractable landing
gear protected by cuffs.
Since the Weaponless freighter's
only resource when attacked was to
stop its engines and allow the Japs
to drop bombs until their racks had
been emptied, Moorer started for
the protected cabin amidships.
There was a terrific explosion in
the bow, with immediate fires, and
then another amidships," Moorer
said. when a 500-pounder hits
nearby the sensation is almost in
describable. You get terrific pains
In the stomach, back, chest and
vitals and cough and spit blood"
Bombs Dropped.
Moorer made his way to the stern
where members of the Phys crew
were lying amid other wounded, and
got them over the side of the al