The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-05-11

nWellln ana just maze IL Dy meu-
tally lifting the ship onto the strip
between the Jagged stalagnites that
seemed to guard our field.
That afternoon / led sixteen fight
ers to escort our twelve bonbers
to Canton. Capt. Brick Holstrorn,
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 on North
over White Cloud field. I 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. ! 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.
Next morning Lieut.. Pat Daniels
got up begging the General to let
him lead a dive-bombing attack on
an aircraft assembly plant in Cam
ton. His plan was good, and the
mission was made ready. All Of
us went down to the alert shack
and watched the ground crew load
ing the little yellow augmentation
bombs under the wings Of six
PAGES. A short time later they
were off, with Daniels waiting to
blow up the factory, and all set with
his movie camera to take pictures
automatically as he dove the bombs
into the target.
Three hours later only five Of
the six returned. Pat Daniels was
missing in action. His wing man
had seen his leader lose part of his
wing in an explosion on the way in
with the bombs. Anti-aircraft could
have done it, but most of us agreed
from the description that Daniels
bombs might have hit his own pro-
peller. At the tremendous speed
that fast fighter-ship builds up in
long and nearly vertical dive, pres
sures are also built up from the in
creased speed. This torque ne
cessitates so much compromising
pressure on the rudder that one
must actually stand on the rudder
control. While doing this, Pat might
have relaxed pressure just as he
reached down to pull the bomb re-
lease; this would have allowed the
speeding plane to "yaw" or skid,
and the bombs could have struck the
arc of the prop.
The only note Of encouragement
was that a chute had been seen
when the fighters left the target.
Lieut.. Patrick Daniels was one Of
our best and most aggressive pilots,
and we missed him Immediately
and hoped for the best.
That same night, Johnny Alison
led eight ships in q fighter sweep
and dive-bombing attack on the
docks at Hankow, over four hundred
miles to the North. In the river
harbor, with the sky criss-crossed by
tracers from the ground, Johnny
dropped his bombs on the hangers
and on large freighter. Then for
ten minutes he strafed the enemy
vessel and badly disabled it. Cap
tain Hampshire dove and shot the
searchlights out until he was out of
ammunition. The night attack so
deep into enemy territory was a
daring one and did much to confuse
the Japs further. Johnny's ships
were rather badly shot up from the
ground-fire, and he was lucky to
get them all back to base safely.
But it was such missions as these
which built up the circumstances
LIidt WOO1O 0SSuA . tAlC SuCCCSS Va
the big attack the General was plan
ming.
Next day, with eighteen fighters,
we escorted the bombers to raid
SEEMING, an occupied town near
Hankow. We kept the circling move
ment all around our Boss and tried
to give them an. added feeling of
security by our presence. Through
heavy anti-aircraft fire, Morgan led
the attack in and didn't waste
bomb. We left the warehouses in
flames, and there was much less
ack-ack coming up towards us than
when we first approached.
Arriving back at our advanced
base, we refueled and bombed up
again. Then we made the second
raid of the day towards Hankow,
over the town of Yoyang. Once
again Morgan blasted the target,
with black bursts of anti-aircraft
fire bouncing around the formation.
Rift there was no interrogation. and