<S> to the 353rd and 352nd.
Our order were changed a bit mid-week. Initially we were flying escort for the strike on C49, but it was then realized there was a danger A15 wouldn't be hit by T-60 so we were re-tasked with hitting A15 hard and fast, then sprinting north without engaging A15's cover to provide escort to the strike package hitting C49.
The strike on A15 was OK - a couple of our tail-enders got caught and had to engage but most of us were able to blow through and drop on the base. Unfortunately, it appears most of us were too busy concentrating on the defending zero's and our best egress routes rather than where our bombs were going. I personally missed fighter hanger two by a good 50 yards.
We met up with our bomber force just as they reached C49. At this point, we were a bit spread out by the attack at A15 and the need to get north quickly. We were also a bit low, which meant when the inevitable zero's appeared above us a very exciting couple of minutes ensued. Given our initial situation, we actually did not bad. As far as I could tell we killed more than we lost and certainly kept the bad guys busy. I've no idea how our buffs did - apart from one quick glimpse, I never saw them.
Having cleared the immediately visible zeroes, we tried to regroup and RTB to A9 rearm and refuel. Along the way, we were harassed by small groups of enemy and the constant skirmishes got us spread out again. However we were quickly learning that our P38's were a worthy adversary for the enemy machines. Our lead elements found A9 under heavy attack and whilst we able to hold our own in the air, losses were starting to accumulate. Fuel and ammo was also becoming a major issue. The constant stream of attackers made disengaging difficult and eventually we were forced to make risky attempts to land and rearm. We lost a lot of aircraft that way.
A few of us did make it to A10, but again got caught on the ground by the Muppets. I was 6 ft off the the runway when approaching zeroes were spotted and despite 68Raptor shouting at me to tower out and save my aircraft I made the fateful decision to do a touch and go thinking that with the help of the field ack I could hold off the two bad guys long enough to let some more of our guys get back in the air. Unfortunately, those two bad guys quickly became 4 or 5 and with a low slow P38, the inevitable coup-de-grace was quickly applied.
Fun frame, but where are the Japs breeding all these zeroes?
