The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-07-19


A group of fighter pilots on the
alert at Running.
-smessx=s-ss,~skess-~~
a top-cover of several fighters, but
the Jap would not come up to fight
the shark-mouthed planes. His in
structions appear to have been: Wait
for the American bombers.
On November 81, the ground
crews got to Kweilin. Instead of
keeping them in the hostel that first
night to insure that information
would not leak out to the enemy,
we sent them to town, first casually
remarking that we were here now
for the second attack on Hongkong.
News travelled fast, as the General
expected it would, via the Korean
girls and prostitutes in japanese
pay. General Chennault knew that
within four hours the enemy would
be waiting for us to strike Victoria
harbor again, for his aerial patrol
over the city had doubled. Our
warning net showed that.
Early next morning our twelve
bombers slipped into Kweilin, with
Colonel promoted since the last at
tack) Butch Morgan in the lead
ship. The strengthened fighter force
of between thirty and forty planes
infiltrated for reservice-some went
to Kweilin, others scattered to the
surrounding emergency fields for
better protection of the bombers. As
soon as I landed ! ran up to the
cave and the General took me In and
showed me the plotting board. The
little red flags indicated increased
vigilance at Hongkong. Then ! got
my orders: "Strike Hongay." In an
hour the bombers were off to bomb
the coal mines and docks of that
Indo-China port North of Haiphong.
Morgan sank a 12,000-ton ship that
was reported to have been an air.
craft carrier. The fighter escort
strafed ferry boats, small surface
craft, and looked for Jap fighters
trying to intercept. But none came.
That night the enemy sent up
fight of three bombers to each of
our fields, looking for our forces.
But we were so scattered that their
luck was bad. Night fighters from
all stations took off, but those under
Maj. Harry Pike at Kweilin made
perfect contact. The entire Japa-
nese formation of three bombers was
shot down over the field. Pike, Lom-
bard, and Griffin each added an en-
emy ship to their scores, but Lom-
bard was shot down in flames when
the Jap gunners blew up his belly
tank. Lombard had made the tac-
tical error of pulling up over the
bombers after delivering fire that
shot one down. We had given him
up for lost when he walked in car
rying his chute-and begging for an
other ship.
At dawn the next day, November
%, led the group to escort Nor
gan to Sanchau Island with twelve
bombers. We had noted that the
Japs were Strengthening the air
patrol over Hongkong even more.
The General had smiled and said,
'We're making them waste a ter
rible amount of gasoline"
We saw Morgan's bombs take out
two of the three hangers on the is
land field, and we went down to
strafe and watch for interceptors
taking off. Some of the flight got
three, but my plane was hit by the
ack-ack, and when the oil pressure
began Immediately to fail, started
for the mainland and home. With
the oil pressure slowly going from
seventy to fifty and finally to moth
ing, sweated out my return to
Kweilin and just made it by men,
tally lifting the ship onto the strip
between the jagged stalagmites that
seemed to guard our field.
That afternoon led sixteen fight
ers to escort our twelve bombers
to Canton. Capt Brick Holstrom,
who had participated in the raid on
Tokyo the preceding April, led the
bombers. AS the fighters kept the
new tactical squirrel cage" about
his formation he deliberately cir
cled to the South of Tien Ho air.
drome and covered the target area
perfectly with his long string of
bombs. The anti-aircraft was heavy
and increased as we went en- North
over White Cloud field | looked
back at the results at Tien Ho and
felt surge of pride at that per-
feet bombing from fourteen thou
sand feet. This was teamwork, I
knew now, with bombers and fight
ers properly proportioned. All of
us were mad because the Japs
wouldn't come up. The bomber
crews had reported them taking off
from both fields and keeping low,
but heading in all directions. The
accurate bombing must have de-
stroyed many of them on the ground,
for we had made feint of continu-
ing on South to Hongkong. I sent
one ship home with each bomber.
The rest of us hung back and tried
to tempt the enemy Zeros to come
up; but they had evidently received
their orders