The midland journal., 1945-04-06


of combat.
But the old ship wasn't junked or
salvaged, for we needed parts too
badly In China. There were new
planes on the way to us now IN
monthly increments, but we could
take this plane and put several back
in commission. The scheme that we
devised helped my morale greatly,
for to have junked the old ship that
had been my fighter for Ave months
would have been like seeing the
horse that you've ridden for twenty
years cast aside and destroyed. I
could remember too well that day
when I landed at Hengyang and
looked at the damage the ship had
suffered. There had been a lump In
my throat and I had felt as though
my sword had been taken away.
"Old Exterminator" had taken me
nearly five hundred hours into COM
bat against the enemy. That's over
hundred thousand miles-and you
just ask any pilot if that isn't long
way on trips where people shoot at
you.
We took the guns out Of the ship
that General Chennault had given
me in April and put them in my new
P-40E. They were well broken IN,
and the Armament officer, Captain
Hoffman, who had been with the
AVG and in my squadron in Pana-
ma seven years before, had worked
them into perfection. had had no
jams or stoppages in over a month.
The landing-gear we put on another
ship; the instruments were scat
tered throughout the group; the ar
NOR plate was taken out to make
hot-cake griddle for the mess. All
parts Of the fighter were cannibal-
ICED, and in a month were spread
out over eighteen P40's in the or
ganization. / remember especially
that the automatic fuel-pump was
put on a P-40B, which permitted the
lighter ship to go higher than it
had ever gone before, and on its
second flight with the booster pump,
the pilot, Lieut.. T. r. Smith, shot
down a Japanese observation plane
over Running.
I never did 60 out and look at the
old engine that had come out OF my
first fighter. After all, an engine
is exchangeable anyway, and we get
used to different ones. The shot-up
shell of the fuselage, and the wing
that had held me up over hundred
thousand miles of enemy country,
/ didn't want to see again. / just
thought of my six fifty-caliber guns
flying with me in my new fighter as
the real soul of "Old Exterminator."
And I thought of the hundreds of
parts from Air Corps number 41-1456
that were helping to keep eighteen
ships of our Group in the air.
For the men of the Group, the
cannibalized ship had been help,
but to me it had been a tradition
to keep. In my mind, no matter how
long I myself might be fighting in
China, "Old Exterminator" would
be on all those flights-some of it
would be on every mission that we
few. And thus it would fly forever.
On September IS, Maj. Ed Rector
led the assault of a flight down to
raid Hanoi in Indo-C China. I led the
support, and we kept a thousand
feet above the first echelon. Our
mission was to escort ten bombers
for the bombardment of Gia Lam
airdrome. We went South and
"topped-off" our gas load at a secret
base, then routed our flight to the
West of Laokay to keep from alert
ing the Jap warning net. Until we
were close to Hanoi, we kept well
West of the railroad that led to our
objective.
Even with these precautions to
keep from alerting the enemy, we
found the Japanese LASS in the air
and over the field as we came in
from the West. The twin-engine
fighters absolutely ignored our fight
ers and made runs on the bombers,
but they didn't get very far with
their orders. Rector took the first
four P-40's in on the leading Japs
and hit them five hundred yards
behind our bombers, who were al
ready dropping their eggs. I saw
two of Eds flight gang-up on the
first steeply climbing las, but be-
fore they could shoot 1t down Dam
iels went in fast to within few
yards of the Jap and shot him down
in flames. AS the ship exploded I
thought Pat Daniels plane was on
fire too, they were so close. We
all confirmed the first ship for the
eager Daniels, who was from Van
Nuys, California.
The bombers were on the way
home now, and we sighed with re-
lief and tried to catch the Japs. Ed
Rector took the next ship he got his
sights on and blew it apart. Then
he fought all the way to the ground
with two others. Marks shot down
one, and the others were about
equally divided.
caught flight Of three Lass go
ing hell-bent for the bombers from
below and to the rear, and shot the