SUCCESS IN AIR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24824, 22 February 1944, Page 6

SUCCESS IN AIR

FIGHTING JAPANESE

NEW ZEALAND SQUADRON A more cautious attitude on the part of Japanese pilots was mentioned by the members of a New Zealand fighter squadron which lias returned from a tour of duty in the South-west Pacific area. Ki"ht Japanese machines, mcludiuiV "dive-bombers, were destroyed durincr the tour. The squadron has P re " viouslv done duty in the same area and lias .scored %3 certain victories for tlie loss of only one of its personnel. The squadron was commanded- by Squadron-Leader J. A. Gibson, D.l' .0., of Auckland, "bo added one Japanese to his total of !.">} German machines destroyed in the Battle of Britain. His victim was one of a number of Zeros which dived in to attack the Avenger torpedo-bombers which the New />t<i land Warhawks were escorting. "He came in practically vertically from overhead and released one of their phosphorus bombs," S(|uadron-Leii(lcr Gibson said. "As he went past at about '550 miles an hour I managed to pet in a full deflection shot at Inm. He made an aileron turn—l could see his cockpit hood and canopy —and kept going straight on*. Ho did not smoke or i think I must have got the pilot. J hat was at I'abaul."

Squadron-Leader Gibson said the only squadron loss was due to anti-aircraft fire and not to enemy fighters. A good part of tho reason for so low a loss was tho squadron's teamwork policy. A large proportion of the pilots were new _to combat flying, but they were willing to learn and stayed together well. In the Pacific area the tactical position was the reverse of that which had obtained during the Battle of Britain, where the fighters were continually on the defensive. The Japanese had definitely taken up that position now and the New Zealand fighters were engaged mainly on escort work for bomber missions.

Flight-Lieutenant J. J. de Willimoff, of Tirau, one of the section leaders, shot down two Japanese and damaged two others during the tour. His first success was scored during an escorting mission in a low-level attack with Mitchell bombers on the Lakunai landing strip at Rabaul. The bombers and their escort were intercepted by between 30 and 10 Zeros, most of them of the newer type.

| Flight-Lieutenant J. J. de Willimoff "They came in head-on from above, making for the bombers," Flight-Lieu-tenant de Wiilimoff said. He got one attacking from the right and his No. 2, a sergeant-pilot from Tauranga, shot down a second as the bombers were turning for hoine. The Allied machines were chased for a full 20 minutes with the Japanese fighters "picking away" all the time. On the squadron's first tour it was usual to meet as many as 60 or 70 interceptors, but now the number had dropped to 15 or 20 and they were very cautious. The squadron had worked a good deal to and from Rabaul. "We had a great shipping 'strike' when we took 18 Avengers to Rabaul on p one trip," Flight-Lieutent de Willimoff added. "Two Japanese ships, one of them from 6000 to 8000 tons and the other smaller, went right up in the air. The first- must have been a munitions ship, for we saw the bomb strike and almost immediately it was aflame absolutely." The other broke in halves, the broken sections pointing up in the air before they went under. The squadron was keen to get in more actual fighting than was involved in escort work. It was explained that most of the "fun" was in the dog-fighting when Zeros came in from above. Close cover work involved staying right alongside the bombers and avoiding Japanese invitations to attack machines lurking alongside the formation. FARMER'S IBODY FOUND (P.A.) ASHBURTON, Monday The body of Mr. Samuel Dickson, aged about 55, widower, of Alford Forest, was found in the Ashburton River yesterday. Mr. Dickson, a small farmer and horse-breaker, had been missing since February 13, when his two horses, one of which was drowned, were discovered in the river below Valetta crossing.