Snapshots for February
Feb. 5- 68Raptor--- Germany's Greatest Ace
On April 26, Adolf Galland led six Me 262's against a flight of B-26 Marauders heading south toward Munich. Galland approached the twin-engine medium bombers from the front, passing over them and then turning back; he would attack from the rear, in the prescribed manner. Galland released the safety on his rockets and 30mm cannon as the enemy's tail guns began to blink balefully. Tense and excited as usual in combat, he lined up his rockets on the rearmost Marauder. I was in the best firing position he said later; I had aimed accurately and pressed my thumb flat on the release button--with no result, Maddening! He had forgotten about a second safety on the missiles.
Feb. 12-- Molsman- Aleutian Tigers
As part of their plan to expand their empire in the Pacific farther eastward, the Japanese initiated the Midway-Aleutian operations by conducting a carrier strike against the U.S. Navy base at Dutch Harbor as a diversion to the main offensive against Midway Island. The raids, carried out 3-4 June from the aircraft carriers Juyno and Ryujo, were the only major air attacks conducted against North American soil during World War II
Feb.19- 68Jr---- Blackburns Bounty
Historical Background: Setting: Operation Cherry Blossom
For the men of VF-17, November 1, 1943 brought them the first real action, as the Marines landed at Cape Torokina, near Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville's western side. The Jolly Rogers provided high cover for the landings, with staggered eight-plane flights on station until mid-afternoon. Cmdr. Thomas Blackburn led off the first flight of the morning, taking up station north of the landing area, in an oval pattern about 10 x 3 miles at 25,000 feet. The command ship, code-named "Cocker Base" announced bogies and Blackburn signaled his flight to attack. The targets comprised 18 Vals at 14,000 feet and 12 covering Zeros above them. Both four-plane divisions went into a long shallow dive, building up their speed to 350 knots.
Feb 26--68Raptor-- Hellcats Over Mindanao
Historical Background American grand strategy in the Pacific was decided at a conference
in the summer of 1944. Gen Douglas MacArthur, Adm Chester Nimitz and the
members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chose to reoccupy the Philippine islands
rather than strike toward the Chinese mainland. Sixteen fast-carriers departed
at the end of August with some 520 Hellcats. The ever increasing requirement
for fleet defense had resulted in big-deck carriers embarking up to
54 fighters (with fewer dive- and torpedo bombers) - a significant increase over the
previous standard of 36 fighters.
