WARHAWKS IN ACTION

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24270, 30 May 1944, Page 6

WARHAWKS IN ACTION

JAPANESE CAMP BOMBED

ATTACK FRUSTRATED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 29. ‘ How a formation of Warhawks blasted a Japanese camp and frustrated a projected enemy attack bn their own gun emplacements was described by Wing Commander C. W. K. Nicholls, Royal Air Force, of Auckland, in an interview on his return to New Zealand from a Royal New Zealand Air Force base in the Pacific. Wing Commander Nicholls has commanded a New Zealand fighter wing in the Pacific since last February. Early in March, he said, when the Allies had many guns on Bougainville, the Japanese moved in to make an attack on a ridge just beyond the gun positions. They camped before making the attack on the ridge, and 12 New Zealand Warhawks in a surprise attack dropped 10001b bombs from a height of 2000 feet. The Warhawks were backed up by an equal number of American P39’s. The Japanese had no chance to reply and simply “folded up.” Wing Commander Nicholls said the fighting on the perimeter was severe for a time, but when the Allies consolidated their positions they soon had the upper hand. The enemy air opposition decreased until by the end of February the New Zealanders could go on missions without sighting a single enemy fighter. . ... Ack-ack, he said, was invariably severe and the light guns were remarkably accurate. The New Zealanders countered this by approaching the target at 17,000 feet and then dived in at 450 miles an hour. “The Japanese were shrewd, though, ’ he said. “They would watch the spot where our aircraft- came out of the dive and concentrate their fire there. We had one or two Warhawks damaged, but that was all.” Wing Commander Nicholls said that Japanese' had lost a lot of aircraft, both in the air and on the ground, and apparently they did not have replacements. The Japanese, although they did not put up a force against attack, were always prepared to go after stragglers. The New Zealanders had made the Japanese miserable by bombing and strafing wherever targets offered. Warhawks were not only sturdy fighters, but could also be used for dive-bomb-ing and had been of advantage in attacks against Japanese air strips.