January 2
Long flight Home:
On August 7, 1942, 18 Zeroes received the order to attack Guadalcanal. The range from Rabaul was 560 miles, barely within
the range of the Zero fighters. Sakai shot down 3 F4F's in this battle and then found 8 enemy planes in the distance, which he
presumed to be F4Fs as well ... he was wrong. They were SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, with eager rear machine gunners.
Sakai's Zero became a target for 16 guns. Never the less, Sakai shot down 3 SBDs before being hit in the forehead head by
a bullet which almost blinded his right eye and left him somewhat paralyzed. He survived, flying 4 hours and almost 600 miles
back to Rabaul. He barely had eyesight but was able to land his plane. By the time he landed, his gas tank was empty.
In this Snapshot, we will designate two pilots as Sakai, and his wingman.
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Jan 9 68Hawk
Down & DirtyAs the war dragged on, the role of the P47 changed from fighter escort to ground attack. P47D-25 and P38J fighters strike truck convoys on the edge of Germany. 109G6 fighters will try to stop them.
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January 16th
Blackburns Bounty:
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.
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Jan 23 68Hawk
The Circus Comes to TownThe RAF mounts short range raids on targets in France in an attempt to lure the Luftwaffe into combat. Spit Vs and Hurricane mkIIs escort Boston bombers. The Germans will counter with the deadly 109F-4. Will the trap work, or will it backfire?
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January 30th
The Mitchell Sneak
It's October 1943, and the battle of Guadalcanal has raged on for little more then a month. With Henderson Field now completed, the Allies can finally bring in medium bombers like the B25 to start pounding Japanese Airstrips.
In order to avoid detection by the Japanese, the Allies have devised a surprise Attack technique know as "Skip Bombing". This method of aerial bombing entails releasing a bomb from such a low altitude, that it slides or glances along the surface till it strikes the target.
