Evening star., 1944-12-27
Maj. Mcclure Downs
I Planes This Week
10 Lift Score 10 38
Ry the Associated Pres.

Ry the Associated Pres.
AT A LEYTE AIRBASE, Philip
pines, Dec. 27.-In any other war
theater Tommy McGuire's record Of
SO planes downed, including seven
over Leyte and Luzon this week,
would make him top man.
| Out here in the Southwest Pa
cific, Maj. Thomas B. McGuire's
achievement has been overshadowed
until now by Americas ranking
Army air ace, Maj. Richard I. Bong.
Poplar, Wise, who has 40 to his
credit.
i While Maj. Bong was on fur
Tough after bagging 27 japanese
planes, Maj. Mcclure plugged away
to reach the 20 mark. Flying to-
.gether over the Philippines, the two
aces matched victory for victory,
but no matter how hot Maj. Nc
tGuire flew and fought, Maj. Bong
always stayed ahead.
+. Another day like the one Mai.
Mcclure had Monday over Clark
Field, near Manila, may lift him
to the top.
Maj. Mcclure, who grew up at
Ridgewood, N. j., and Sebring, Fla,
loves to knock EN- down.
Becomes Seasoned.
"For time Mac used to be cou-
roooone To tho ,Noi,,t of baipo dumb -
his commander said But now he's
seasoned, and knows his planes
Limitations. He still has so much
quits it makes it hard for his wing
men to stay with him.
The short, dark -muStached ace,
whose wife lives at San Antonio,
Tex, has flown more than 72O COM
bat hours, and more than 240 COM
bat missions.
He holds nine Air Medals, five
Dies, the Silver Star and the Dis
tinguished Service Cross.
Maj. Mcclure left Georgia Tech
early in 1941 to enter the Army Air
Forces. Let's look at his record.
Here is one excerpt from his log
book:
October II, 1913: Over Orc Bay
three Zeke planes downed me. I
bailed out wounded and was picked
up by PIT 80 miles out. (He spent
18 days in the hospital)
Action Described.
This is what happened: i
Against strong japanese force
Maj. Mcclure knocked off three
fighters, then broke off to cover a
crippled Lightning. Maj. McGuire's
plane caught fire when it was hit
and Maj. Mcclure was wounded
He tried to bail out at 10000 feet,
but his feet caught in the cockpit.
His body was pulled back by the
propeller slipstream and he hung
there while the plane dropped 5000
feet.
Finally he broke free and reached
for the ripcord, only to find it sew
cred. with a small wire dangling be-
hind. He wrapped the wire around
his wrist and yanked, and the chute
opened at 1000 feet.
When he hit the water he found
his rubber boat full of holes and it
slowly sank. Despite his wounds
he kept afoat for 40 minutes until
the PIT boat picked him up.
December 26, 1913: Got four,
gave one away. Heavy fight. Have
16 confirmed now"
That's his notation of the action
In which he won the DISC. Ignoring
many Zeros on his tail, Maj. Nc
CURE led his LightningS against IA
dive bombers attacking a
Yank convoy landing at Cape
Gloucester. All the dive bombers
were destroyed.
May 2, 1914: Got squadron"
He was made a squadron leader.
. June 6, 1914: Sand a thousand
ton freighter off Manokwari'
This flight proved the strahng
power of the Lightnings. His group
used 14,0O0 rounds of ammunition.
and punched so many holes in the
ships steel hull it rolled over and
sank.
So it went. Through advances in
New Guinea, air sweeps into the
Dutch East Indies and now into the
Philippines. Maj. MCGUIRE is always
craving action.
Friendly, gregarious and enthusi-
astic, Maj. Mcguire is one of the
most widely known pilots in the
Southwest Pacific. His crew chief,
Tech Sergt. Frank Kish, Sharon,
Pa, swears by him.
Recently the 5th Air Force pub
lished a book, Combat Tactics in
the Southwest Pacific" 1t told new
fighter pilots some teamwork tricks
of the trade. 1t is authoritative, easy
to understand and was adopted for
standard instruction.
tt was written nv Mai McCllire