Evening star., 1942-05-24
40 Lumbering Planes
Provide War Legend
For U. 5. Navy
Only Two Remoin
After 80 Doys Of
Fighting Jops
Continued From First Page.)

around them like drops Of tropical
rain. When they got ashore, they
took rifles and bayonets and
marched of to fight the Jap on
the ground for 90 days they
fought and died.
And when the smoke of battle
settled, there were only two left
two planes out of 40, SCARED and
weather beaten, floating quietly on
the rippling waters Of Port Darwin,
In Australia.
This is the story Of Patwing Ten.
which the Navy released yesterday.
1t is. as the Navy says, "the story
of the death of q gallant flying
squadron, and the story Of brave
men who would not die =" men
who flew into hell and sometimes
few out again"
Patwing (Which is Navy lingo for
Patrol Wing Ten was made up Of
two-engined flying boats based on
the Philippines. The wing went into
action the first day Of the war-mov-
ing out to investigate a report that
Jap warships were $50 miles of
Luzon
Machinist Mates Story.
Chief Machinist's Mate Mike
Kelly tells what happened:
There were two battleships of
the Kongo class and four destroyers.
We started run on them, coming
in from the sun. As the Japs sighted
us, they picked up speed and started
on zig-zag course. We dropped
Is tons Of bombs on the last battle
ship in the row, which appeared to
land on the fantail of the ship"
When the planes returned to
Cavite, they found the base ablaze
and in the days which followed Jap
bombs forced Patwing Ten to find
other harbors.
The Japs finally hunted our
bases down, and we went to another
base, and still another, moving
south all the time. still patrolling.
but each night coming home to
roost in a new position ="
Patwing Ten was broken up into
smaller elements, operating from
scattered bases. One group of
P B. VS. set out on the night of De-
! cember 26 to attack a force of Jap
cruisers, destroyers and transports,
reported off the Philippines without
| fighter escort.
Fleet Well Protected.
Mr.. Kelly tells how six Cold
Turkeys found the fleet at dawn
but we'll protected by fighters.
They started to dive on us. but
we kept on our course and went in
to bomb the vessels below
under fierce anti-aircraft fire we
dropped our bombs =
The fighters were all around fir
ing at us and we made run for it.
One fighter made run on us from
underneath. Immediately, our tun-
mel gunner knocked him off"
Only two planes out of the six
came back But, somehow, the men
of Patwing Ten nearly always SEEM
ed to get back and fight again.
Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate
John Cumberland was one of those
who, shot down, came back from
this scrap.
His plane, ripped by Jap bullets.
made a landing.
THE crew we're nearly all gas
drunk. We plugged up the shell
holes in the boat and floated tor
30 hours before we were picked up"
Nine Fighters Follow Plane.
Elsewhere, the rest OF PatWlng
Ten was putting up the same kind
of battle against terrific odds.
Aviation Machinist's Mate c. M.
Richardson was in a plane which
nine Jap fighters followed home one
night. Apparently afraid to attack
in the air, the Japs waited until
the plane landed. Then the leader
dove on the ply, followed by
others.
Richardson's procedure was to
wait until he could see the slant OF
their eyes before firing" the report
says.
Part of his machine gun was
shot away and afterwards there
were counted over TOO holes in the
plane. He was only wounded in
the hand and in the leg
The Japs found another ply
base at Los Banos. On Christmas
morning. they came over to attack
two of the flying boats based there.
1t. (junior grade) H. R. Swensor
and j. S. Clark, an enlisted pilot.
were ashore when the attack
started.
I'VE assumed all our guns were
manned" says 1t. Swenson, be
cause we could distinguish the
firing of the bow gun and the two
waist guns. We went into the
plane through the waist hatch and
got the surprise of our lives. There