Wow! Frame Two of "Okinawa" was fun! I flew as a guest of VF(JG)-11, Stampf commanding.
Our flight comprised six F4U-1D Corsair fighters, the "Ensign Eliminator". Our position was last in line among the aircraft spotted on deck of the USS <>. The other squadrons of TBMs, Wildcats, Hellcats, Spitfires, and Corsairs roared down the deck and clawed their way up into the air. It was an impressive sight to watch from the CAG's bridge, and we all remarked on it.
We took off with... er... only a few "operational mishaps". Our assignment was to catch up with and then sweep ahead of the strike group hitting the Japanese base at <>. One of our planes had mechanical troubles ["ViperII vanished without a trace"], so we were down to five planes. As we were climbing out toward the rendezvous with our bombers, we spotted some distant unidentified planes, flying on a reciprocal course toward our carrier. It could only be a Japanese attack group! Our CO contacted CAG for orders, but by the time we got word back that we could pursue at our discression, visual contact had been lost. We pressed on to our assigned rendezvous, wondering if we had made the right choice.
As we neared the island we started to see more and more planes in the skies around us. We nervously approached these gathering masses of planes and saw that they were all... friendlies! Allied fighters were out in front of us and off to either side. Down below, we spotted the bombers. We had joined up with an aerial armada.
And then we were over the coast. Stampf spotted a swirling mass of planes dead ahead: a fight! We dropped our external tanks and throttled up. There! The Arabian Knights were engaged with a gaggle of the dangerous Kawanishi "George" fighters. Stampf dove into the dogfight, and I clung to his tail. He made a few firing passes on the Japanese fighters. Suddenly, one of the Japanese, already trailing a thin grey stream of fuel, spun around toward Stampf. I called out a warning and dove in on his attacker. I closed to about three hundred yards, drew a bead, and fired a two-second burst that completed the job of tearing him apart. ["Helps AKQwik shoot down agrow1"] And then just as suddenly as it began, the fight was over: the air around us was clear of enemy planes. Meanwhile, the other members of our flight were engaged at altitude by a mixed group of Mitsubishi "Zekes" and the fast new Nakajima "Franks". None of our fighters were lost, but our guys damaged some of those Japanese planes. Stampf and I climbed back up to rejoin the squad, and then we all turned toward the landing strip on <> Island.
The air over the base was filled with Allied planes preparing to land, and just as we turned onto final approach, the air raid siren began to wail! Japanese planes inbound! We raised our gear and flaps, and slammed our throttles through the wire. There they are! One "vic" of three of the new Mitsubishi bomber, the "Peggy"! Although they were too fast for us to prevent them from dropping their bombs on our forward airstrip, none of them escaped. ["Shot down a Ki-67 flown by Whitten" "Helps Vater shoot down Whitten"]
We landed on the volcanic island with... er... only a few "operational mishaps". Waving goodbye to the ambulances, we boarded our three remaining planes, refueled, rearmed, and took off. We headed back to <> to complete the job our bombers had begun. As we arrived over the target, we heard chatter among the Allied planes who preceded us that the few defenders had been shot down. Only the ack-ack responded as we dropped our bombs ["Destroyed a bomber hangar"].
We turned back to land once again at the strip on <> Island. And once again, as we entered the landing pattern, another air raid alert was sounded! This time, it was a lone Kawasaki "Tony" fighter. Several of us tried to lure him low as he zoomed past over our heads. Eventually he made a pass: first at Vader, then Tux, and then he headed my way. I snap-rolled my Corsair inverted and pulled hard on the stick. About halfway through the Split-S I heard the hammering of his 20mm cannon and then BAM! My port wing sheared off! I barely had time to slide back the canopy and bail out. I ended up in the water only a mile or so offshore ["Bravely Bailed from damaged plane"].
Vader and Tux shared the kill of that lone "Tony" with anther pilot. ["Helps Fedral shoot down ZigZag"] The frame was over.
(And a hearty "salute!" to ZigZag for nailing me in the middle of my Split-S. Nice shooting, sir!)
