Peter Muller ran through the narrow corridors deep in the belly of the carrier. It was easy to get lost aboard the carrier and he was already late for the briefing.
As he ran across a corner, he collided head on with someone. Peter took a step back in order to apologize, when he realised he just bumped into Admiral Halsey.
“Sorry sir”
“Goddammit son, watch out where you are running”
Peter held his hand to his head, saluting for the admiral, he did not know what to do else.
“I could not find the briefing room”
“You are one of the boys from the Black Sheep Squadron?”
“Yes sir”
“The briefing room is down this corridor, second door on the left”.
“Thank you sir”
Peter quickly ran away. As he arrived at the briefing room he noticed everybody was waiting for him, with the commander, major Boyington standing near the chalkboard. It was the major who spotted the latecomer.
“Now that everybody has finally arrived, we can start this briefing”.
Everybody quickly took seat, while the major briefed them.
“Boys, we have finally arrived at our destination, the Solomon Islands. Together with our marine brothers on the ground we are going to kick those Japs out of this island chain”
Peter, was glad they had arrived. Although a marine he never got used to being at sea, he preferred to be up in the sky. The major continued:
“We take off within an hour and head for the base the Seabees have carved out for us on the island, I don’t know whether the Japs will be expecting us, but if we run into them, be prepared to kick some butt”
All pilots cheered, some of them like Peter came straight from aviation school while others, like the major, had already combat experience. The veterans were glad to be fighting again while the newbies were glad that they finally could contribute to the war effort.
Ninety minutes later, the F4U Corsairs took off from the carrier deck. The war for had officially started for 2nd Lieutenant Peter Muller.
The flight to the islands went smoothly until one of the pilots broke radio silence.
He had spotted a formation of Zero’s. Peter’s heart beat faster, hearing the news. The Zero’s were the best aircraft the Japanese had. It could run circles around any allied fighter.
But it had its weaknesses. In order to have a nimble and agile fighter the Japanese had sacrificed armoured plating and anything of heavy weight. If you were able to get behind a Zero, a quick burst for the six .50 guns would suffice to blast it out of the sky.
The two formations met each other in the sky. Peter pulled up his Corsair, rolled over before breaking away. He needed to find a target in this turmoil.
He spotted a lone Zero, flying almost in a straight line as if there was no battle going around it. Peter pulled his Corsair behind it.
The Japanese pilot never knew what hit him. Peter opened up with his guns. Without armoured plating to stop the bullets, the Zero was nothing but a flying fuel bomb waiting to be set off.
Bullets riddled the engine, breaking fuel lines. Fuel immediately spit onto the hot engine, catching fire instantly. The Japanese pilot just had time to roll his aircraft. He was still trying to open the canopy as the fire reached the fuel tanks, transforming the Zero into a giant fireball.
As the battle in the sky raged on, new aircraft arrived. Japanese Rufe, Zero’s equipped as seaplanes, appeared in the sky. The Rufe was however a misconception, the large float and wing pontoons, degraded the flight characteristics so much that the aircraft was nothing but a flying pigeon for the American fighters.
But the Corsairs were to busy with the Zero’s so the Rufe could sneak up behind them. One of the Corsair pilots found himself in the gunsight of a Rufe.
But lucky for the pilot, Peter had spotted his attacker. Without hesitation Peter rolled over and dove after the Rufe. The giant float dragged the Rufe down, so it did not the take long before Peter caught up with it.
His first shots went underneath the Rufe, but his second salvo tore away the float. Peter quickly learned that a Rufe is nothing more than a Zero with a float attached to it, and blows up as easily as its land based brother.
Peter pulled up along the Corsair that was targeted by the Rufe. Peter waved at the pilot, who was clearly shaken but glad that Peter had shown up.
Above them, the last Zero’s were shot down, announcing the arrival of the Black Sheep.
Together with his new-found wingman, Peter continued to the airfield.
At their new base, major Boyington assembled his men. Everybody had survived the encounter with the Zero’s.
“Good men, I am glad that everybody made it. But I would have not expected less from you. Take a rest for now. Tomorrow we are going to teach those Japs a lesson they won’t forget”.
Peter strolled over the beach next to the airfield. Marines were digging foxholes. They had captured a foothold on this island, but the Japs would do anything to repel them.
As he walked back to the barracks, Peter though of his brother who was killed aboard the Arizona, when the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor. For him this war was personal and nobody would stop him from killing the Japs.
From within the shadows, major Boyington watched the young aviator. He had read his record and knew about his brother. That was the reason why he had handpicked him for his squadron; he needed motivated men. And from what he had seen from this young pilot, the Japs would have a hard time.