A Date which will Live in Infamy

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaiian Time a large group of bomber and fighter planes approached a U.S. Navy base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. As the strike force flew into radar detection zone the Americans picked up what they thought was a group of B-17 that were due to arrive from mainland U.S.A.

The invaders divided into three groups and began to attack their different targets. Group 1 focused on the battleships while Group 2 attacked Ford Island and Wheeler Field, Group 3 concentrated fire on the aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe.  Several men, George Welch and Ken Taylor notably, scrambled to their fighter planes and attempted to stem the tide of the battle but it was too late. By the time the Japanese left Pearl Harbor was in flames.

Soon the foe returned and began a second attack. The outgunned Americans didn’t have a chance.  Ninety minutes after the battle began it was over, leaving Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Pacific Fleet in smoldering ruins. 2,403 people were killed and many were wounded eight ships were demolished (though many returned to service) burning remains of 188 planes were scattered over airstrips.

The Japanese objective was all but complete, one of the main targets were the aircraft carriers that were absent on the day of the attack. The Japanese also considered a third wave in order to destroy the maintenance, and dry dock facilities and the fuel and torpedo storage. The enemy also sustained twenty-nine planes that failed to return to their carriers.

Although the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a success for the Japanese it really only brought on their doom. The next day America declared war on Japan, soon Germany and Italy declared war on the United States and America was forced to fight a grueling war from that day until September 2, 1945.  December 7th, 1941 is “a date which will live for infamy”

-Remember Pearl Harbor!

From The Depths

A Dauntless Dive Bomber sunk in Lake Michigan is being restored at our very own Pensacola NAS. Read about it here.

Invasion Stripes

Aircraft participating in D-day wore black and white stripes. This was to reduce the risk of friendly fire.  On June 1, such airplanes flew over the invasion fleet so that the crews could formalize themselves with the markings.  In July the markings  on the upper surface was ordered removed and by the end of 1944 they were completely gone.

The Mystery of the Lady Be Good

On April 4, 1943 1st Lt. William J. Hatton, pilot of B-24 Liberator Lady Be Good, and his crew set out on a bombing raid bound for Naples, Italy.  After meeting up with high winds and obscured visibility the plane aborted the mission. To make matters worse the automatic direction finder went out. The plane then missed the base at Soluch, Libya (modern day Suluq) and after heading south for a couple more hours the crew bailed out. They were never heard from since. Then in 1959 the wreckage of the Lady be Good was found by a British oil surveyor. Then in 1960 eight out of nine of the crewman’s bodies were found. Bombardier John Woravka was thought to have died on impact due to trouble with his parachute opening and his body was found later in 1960. The rest of the crew met up and began an amazing trek through the desert. They walked 80 miles in scorching heat for eight days sharing only one canteen of water. As all hope began to fade three of the crew man strayed from the group to find help. Two of their bodies were found 20 miles away from the others. The Lady be Good had crashed landed on her belly and was mostly intact. Over the years pieces were hauled away by souvenir hunters. One propeller can be seen in front of the Village Hall in Lake Linden, the home of Robert E. LaMotte. The plane was finally moved to Tobruk for safekeeping in 1994. The crew’s names are posted below:

1st Lt. William J. Hatton – pilot
2nd Lt. Robert F. Toner – co-pilot
2d Lt. D.P. (initials only, also seen as “Dp”) Hays – navigator
2d Lt. John S. Woravka – bombardier
T/Sgt. Harold J. Ripslinger – flight engineer
T/Sgt. Robert E. LaMotte – radio operator
S/Sgt. Guy E. Shelley – gunner
S/Sgt. Vernon L. Moore – gunner
S/Sgt. Samuel R. Adams – gunner

Struck by Lightning

The P-38 Lightning was one of the best fighters of WWII. It was instantly recognized by it’s twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. The German nickname for it was the “der Gabelschwanzteufel”- Forked Tail Devil. Though they were fighters they could also serve as bombers. All and all they were awesome at intercepting the enemy. On 18 April 1943, American codebreakers found out that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was heading to Bougainville Island. 16 P-38 were sent to intercept the enemy in two bombers serving as transports and six Zero fighters. The next day searchers found Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s body at a crash sight in the jungle.

Promo Video

New Widget

As you might have noticed I have added a new page to my blog. On this page I will be putting WW2 Aviation resources. Right now all I have on there is a widget you can post on your blog! If you don’t know how to do this keep reading. Right below the widget I have a embed code first, you need to copy this code. Second you need to go to your blog and edit your sidebar. Add a text box and paste the code. That should do it!

I plan to be updating the new page continually so check back often and tell your friends.

End of the Yamato

The Yamato, one of two 65,000-ton battleships! At over 800 ft. long it was the terror of the enemy and a symbol of Japanese Naval strength in the Pacific. Yamato and her sister ship Musashi were the biggest,  must powerful battleships ever built. Her size wasn’t what made her so powerful but her nine 18.1 inch guns.

Both the Yamato and her sister took part in the battle of Leyte Gulf where Musashi was sunk by U.S. planes. Yamato was sent home to have her anti-aircraft guns upgraded.

But the end was near for the Yamato.  On April 6, 1945, she was to participate in Ten-gō sakusen (Operation Heaven One) or Operation Ten-Go. Operation Ten-Go was the last Japanese navel operation in the Pacific. Yamato and nine other ships were to procede to Okinawa and attack U.S. navel forces there. Operation Ten-Go was a suicidal mission and the Japenese knew it. The plan was for the ships to destroy as many U.S. ships as possible and then the Yamato would beach herself and act as a ground battery. When destroyed Yamatos surviving crew would attack U.S. ground forces.

Fortunately Yamato and the nine others would never make it to their destination. The destroyer, Asashimo, had engine problems and had to turn back. The rest were soon detected and U.S. planes where on their way! The first wave of planes including mostly F6F Hellcat fighters, SB2C Helldiver dive-bombers, and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, began their attack. The Japanese began evasive maneuvers, firing their anti-aircraft guns up at the approaching enemy. The light cruiser Yahagi was hit and stopped dead in her tracks. A destroyer, Isokaze, tried to help the Yahagi, (which sunk soon after) but was hit and later sunk. Though most of the bombs missed the Yamato, two of them, and one torpedo, started a fire that was not extinguished. The second and third waves of U.S. aircraft attacked the Yamato with no mercy and she was hit by 8 torpedo and 15 bombs. The torpedo mostly hit the port side of the mega-ship which meant that soon, if nothing was done, the Yamato would capsize. The crew succeeded in keeping her afloat for about 30 more minutes, soon though they began to abandon ship. But before she capsized a huge explosion rocked the waves around the sinking ship and a mushroom cloud bellowed into the air. The explosion was probably caused when fires reached the main magazines. Only a few of the Japanese ships participating in Operation Ten-Go made it back to Japan. Losses where 3,700 Japanese and 12 Americans.

So the Yamato joined her sister, Musashi, in Davy Jones locker.

This clearly showed that without air cover ships could not survive long, that air superiority is worth having even if the enemy has the biggest ship in the world. It also showed Japan’s willingness to sacrifice even their biggest ship and national symbol to keep the enemy from taking their land.

Cool Opportunity

I thought this would be a cool opportunity for anyone with experiance:

Greetings from Tulsa. Dave Wheaton here–I own B-25J “Martha Jean” and have participated in several of the reunions (including Dallas, last month), even flying the goblets to the Tucson and Travis reunions.

I have been invited to the Homecoming at the end of this month and I think it is important to have as many airplanes there as possible. As Tom Casey told me, that is how he induced the raiders to attend–he knew they wouldn’t be interested in “just sitting on the beach”.

I figure it will cost me just over $6,000 for fuel alone to make the trip. $2,000 in sponsorship money is available from the organizers leaving me $4,000 short. I am advertising locally for 4 crew members at $1,000 each or 5 at $800 to make the trip (depart Tulsa 5-29 and return 6-1). Total round trip flight time in the B-25 would be 8 to 9 hours. I may be able to fill the seats locally, I just don’t know yet.

With your permission, I would like to post this opportunity on your website and ask you to pass this on to people you may know who would like to participate. Individuals would be responsible for getting themselves to Tulsa to join the flight and for their own hotels and meals. They would also be able to attend the paid events if they wish.

Thank you for establishing and maintaining the website. It is an invaluable and exceptional resource.

Dave Wheaton
918-298-8850
918-629-8669 cell

Stormtroopers

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word Stormtrooper? You probably think of the guys in white suites who run around the Death Star. That is what most would probably think! But those are not the guys I want you to think about right now. In the years before World War 2 Adolf Hitler formed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi’s, in an attempt to take over Germany (which he eventually did). Hitler armed himself with his Sturmabteilung (SA) or stormtroopers. These “stormtroopers” came to be known as the Brownshirts after the color of the shirts they wore.

The main job of these ruffians was to damage rival parties and put on rallies and parades. The SA played a major role in Hitlers success. The Brownshirts grew to 500,000 just before the war but following a struggle for power between the stormtroopers and the army (Wehrmacht) their population was greatly reduced.

But that wasn’t the end of stormtroopers. In 1944-1945 Major Han-Gunter von Kornatzki came up with a plan to stop the American daylight bomber formations. The plan was for heavily armored and armed Focke-Wulf Fw-190‘s to smash threw the bomber formation’s. This elite group was known as the Luftwaffe Sturmgruppen or stormtroopers.

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