“Gentlemen, quiet please”
Major Boyington stood in front of the assembled pilots of VMF-214.
“I promised you yesterday that we would take the war to the Japs and by god we will do that. Today we are going to pay them a visit they won’t forget”.
Peter Muller looked at the map behind the major. A red line was drawn directly into the heart of the Japanese controlled islands.
“Boys let us kill some Japs”
With those words the major ended the briefing. All pilots went to their aircraft. Peter stepped in his cockpit and strapped up.
An hour later the corsairs of VMF-214 were deep into Japanese territory. Peter rubbed his eyes, scanning the sky around him.
“Bogeys twelve o’clock!”
Zeros appeared on the horizon, closing fast. In a flash the two formations crossed each other.
Peter immediately pulled back on the stick, climbing away before rolling over. Upside down, he checked over his shoulder. His wingman was still following him.
But Peter was not looking after his wingman, he was looking for a victim. He spotted two zeros flying lower then the others. Perhaps two new pilots who tried to sneak away?
“Dave, follow me”
Peter dove after the zero’s, closely followed by his wingman.
With breathtaking speed the Corsair roared to the sea. Peter pulled up right behind the first Zero. Its pilot had spotted the danger and tried to climb away from his attacker.
That was a mistake. By climbing the Zero moved directly into the line of fire of Peter. A quick burst of his machine guns was enough.
The left wing of the Zero was shred to pieces by the .50 bullets, while fuel lines were ruptured. With clipped wings the Zero rolled over into a deadly fall to the sea. Spilled fuel caught fire enveloping the cockpit. Its pilot screamed as the flames ate his flesh only to be mercifully killed when the wreckage hit the water and shattered into million pieces.
“Where is the other one?”
Peter had lost sight of the other Zero and relied on his wingman to clear his back in case he wanted to revenge its killed wingleader.
“He’s at our 3 o’clock”
Dave had kept track of the other Zero, which tried to gain some altitude to fend for its life.
Using the build up speed, Peter quickly pulled up behind the other Zero. The Japanese pilot realized that the Corsairs were using their superior speed and climbing abilities against him. The only thing he could do was try to out turn them.
The pilot threw his Zero in a left turn, then in a right turn, he rolled, twisted, everything he could do to shake of the Corsairs.
But Peter was not stupid, he kept his distance from the Zero so that he could anticipate any move. The slightest mistake and he would hammer away at the zero.
The Japanese pilot broke. In panic he dove towards the deck. This played right into the hands of Peter. The heavier Corsair could easily keep up with the diving Zero. Peter even got closer.
The two aircraft chased each other to the sea, Peter trying to aim straight while the Jap pushed everything out of his aircraft to outrun the Corsair.
Finally Peter got a straight shot. Just as he pulled the trigger the Zero rolled away. The bullets whizzed next to the Zero’s cockpit, where the pilot tucked deeper into his seat. Then the line of bullets hit the wingtip of the Zero. Hammered by bullets the wingtip broke off.
Inside his cockpit there was nothing the Japanese pilot could do, but ride the aircraft to its doom. The tremendous speed of the dive, made it impossible to pull up. It would not have been possible anyway with parts of the wing missing.
Behind the mortally wounded Zero, Peter also realised that he was to low for comfort. He immediately reduced throttle and pulled back hard on the stick. He groaned as the G-forces pushed him harder and harder into his seat.
The Zero’s severed wingtip fell along with the aircraft, smashing into the sea at high speed.
Slowly the control-surfaces on the Corsair got hold onto the raging airflow, pushing the aircraft out of its deadly dive.
The Corsair screamed over the sea, only a couple of feet separating the propeller-tips from the salty water.
Peter breathed with relief.
“Jeez, Peter that was close”
His wingman formed up again, he had more altitude to recover from the dive and had encountered a less nerve-wrecking pull-up then Peter.
“All Black Sheep, go home”
That was the major. Peter had been so busy with his fight that he had not been able to follow the rest of the combat.
Skimming the sea, he and his wingman headed back for the base. They were the first to arrive. As he stepped out of the cockpit Peter spotted the rest of the squadron approaching. He counted all aircraft, one, two, three …
They were all there; everybody had survived the fight. And by the looks of it, it was a very successful fight. Each pilot had a big smile on his face, when leaving the cockpit.
After debriefing, the major paid all the men a drink in the bar. During their first combat mission the Black Sheep had obtained an excellent score. Of the twenty-four Zero’s that attacked them only one got away.
But they did not care for that lone survival, because he would surely tell to all his friends that the mad and dangerous Black Sheep had arrived in theatre.