“Welcome guys, we are all sorry about the loss of Zemke but the war continues”
Boyington knew that it was never good for moral to loose a man, but this was war and the sooner his pilots accepted that, the better.
“The Catalina brought back some pretty pictures of that Japanese naval base, we can’t waist this opportunity to attack them”
The pilots started to pay attention, they all wanted to revenge the dead of Zemke.
“A group of dive-bombers will attack the base around noon. We will fly top-cover for them. I expect the Japs to react after our reconnaissance mission of yesterday so be prepared for heavy resistance.
Above the sea, 1st Lieutenant Bush led the small formation of dive-bombers. He scanned the sky for enemy fighters. He was confident that the Corsairs could fend off any attacker but he sincerely hoped not to encounter any Zero.
Behind him, Jack Smith, waved at the other bombers in the formation. As rear-gunner it was his job to protect the rear-quarters of the bomber during the bomb dive. He would also have an excellent view on the target when they pulled from the dive.
“Jack, we are going to do the loop”
“Oh bollocks, Bush, you know I hate that maneauvre”.
A loop attack would mean that they first had to over fly the target, exposing them to all kinds of ground fire. On top of that, Smith had the nasty habit of getting sick from that maneauvre. The last time Bush attacked like that, he had to vomit into his breathing mask.
“Enemy fighters ahead”, crackled the radio.
“We got them.” Was the quick and dry reply of the Corsair commander.
Above the dive bombers the Corsairs flew head-on towards the Japs. Peter flew in the back of the formation and had a front row seat watching the two formations collide.
Already one Zero was trailing fire. Peter quickly rolled behind its wingman. He groaned as the G-forces pushed him into his seat. The Zero had probably not spotted the dive-bombers below because they focussed all there attention on the Corsairs, who wanted nothing else so that they could avenge Zemke.
The wingman pulled away from his flaming wing-leader, unaware that Peter was on his tail.
Like a shadow wingman, Peter followed every move of the Zero. Perhaps the pilot was inexperienced because he circled around like he was trying to find his bearing in the ensuing fight above his head.
Peter decided it was enough as he got within 100 meters of his target. A quick burst from his machineguns and the Zero trailed a firy tail.
“Beginning our bomb run”
Bush rolled the dive-bomber on its back and pulled hard on the stick. In the back Smith had to do the utmost to keep his lunch in his stomach.
With ever increasing speed the bomber raced towards the ground. The faster he dove, the harder it would be for the Japanese gunners to hit them.
The altitude-meter spun faster and faster, it would not be long before the speed would get too high and the altitude too low for a successful pullup.
“Bombs away”
Bush pulled hard on the stick to get the bomber out of its deadly dive. Again Smith had to fight the urge to throw up his meal as the G-forces pushed him and Bush in their seats.
KLUNG
A hard metallic sound shuddered the bomber.
“What was that?” yelled Bush.
Smith saw how the port aileron was torn of by a lucky hit.
“We lost the right aileron, can you hold it?”
“She will hold it”, Bush believed he could guide his aircraft home.
Meanwhile Peter was still battling the numerous Japs who were sent out to defend the naval base.
It was like a hornets nest, Zero everywhere. But the Black Sheep were well trained. On the ground the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery also joined the fight.
Peter was diving behind a Jap as he noticed the ground fire. But to his amazement, the gunners did not fire at him. Instead they concentrated their fire on their countryman in the Zero.
They did a good job, because soon the Zero was trailing flames. Perhaps the gunners had realized their mistake because their fire shifted towards Peter who decided to bug out.
Peter decided to stay out of range of the ground fire. Below he could see the clouds of smoke and dust that erupted from the ground as the bombs hit their target.
Then he spotted a small dot on the water. One of the Rufe was trying to take off. The fighter quickly climbed to safety.
“Can any-one take care of that Rufe?” Boyington had also spotted the leaving aircraft.
“I am on it”. Peter pushed the stick forward and went after the fleeing aircraft.
Peter realized that he had to fire straight, because his high speed pass would only offer him one chance at firing.
He pulled the trigger and fired a short burst in a 90° deflection at the Rufe. It was a lucky shot, because the tail section of the Jap broke of, plunging the fighter back into the sea.
“Nice Shot” From above Boyington had watched the high speed attack on the Rufe.
The Corsairs formed up around the bombers. Some of them were trailing smoke and had some extra hole in their fuselage, but all of them were still flying.
One of the gunners waved at Peter who waved back.
“I sure am glad these guys are on our side”, called Smith over the intercom.
Bush glanced over his shoulder to the Corsairs.
“Yep, glad they fight for us”
