Whirlwind - Barrett Tillman [90]
The first VLR escort, a Tokyo mission on April 7, was an exceptional occasion. It featured beautiful weather and plenty of bandits. The 15th and 21st Groups escorted 107 B-29s, and during the fifteen minutes over the target encountered stiff opposition. Pilots estimated seventy-five to 100 Japanese fighters were seen and claimed twenty-one downed for the loss of two Mustangs.
The 15th Group saw the most combat that day, returning with claims of seventeen destroyed. Major James B. Tapp was belle of the brawl, tangling with four aircraft types and bagging three. First he damaged a twin-engine fighter, then he downed a Kawasaki Tony, a Nakajima Oscar, and a Nakajima Tojo. Harry Crim headed the 21st’s score column with two of the group’s four kills. Tapp and Crim became two of Iwo’s four aces, Tapp being first to achieve that distinction when he bagged a Mitsubishi Jack on April 19.
Nothing else over Japan had the Mustang’s speed, and nothing could match its acceleration or high-altitude performance. The Mitsubishi Zero (“Zeke”) was some 80 miles per hour slower, and could only hope to out-turn or out-climb the P-51 at low to medium altitudes. Among the fastest enemy fighters, the Nakajima Frank gave away 40 miles per hour to the ’51, but it climbed and turned better. Still, a Mustang using maneuvering flaps could stay with a Frank long enough for a kill if the ’51’s speed was not excessive.
Nevertheless, Mustang jockeys could not always take the opposition for granted. During sweeps of Yokohama and Atsugi on May 29, the Sunsetters claimed twenty-eight victories, but not without loss. A twenty-three-year-old Kentuckian, Captain R. Todd Moore, Iwo’s leading ace, shot down three planes but was more impressed with one enemy pilot. A lone Zero waded into the 15th Fighter Group, shot down a Mustang, and got away clean. It was Temei Akamatsu, the boozing, brawling rogue of Atsugi. Moore declared that an American duplicating the feat would have received the Medal of Honor.
Few pilots fired their guns at airborne bandits on more than five missions; top gun Todd Moore got eleven kills in eight engagements over the home islands. A handful of others added to previous records, most notably Colonel John W. Mitchell, who took over the 15th Group that summer. Highly experienced, he had led the 1943 interception resulting in the death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who directed the Pearl Harbor attack. Mitchell downed four planes over Japan to run his total to eleven, and would down four MiGs in the Korean War.
Despite the fame accorded top scorers, “ace fever” was relatively rare in World War II. Most pilots simply wanted to do as much as duty and honor required, and return to their civilian lives. But a few were like First Lieutenant Robert Scamara. The husky Californian had grown up reading the exploits of Great War aces, and he wanted to earn that title for himself. Assigned to the 15th Fighter Group, he notched his first kill on June 1 and was 20 percent toward his goal. Then he launched on a fighter strike near Tokyo on the 23rd.
Two dozen Mustangs were inbound to Shimodate Airfield northeast of the capital when the roof fell in. Attacked by seventeen defending fighters, the Americans were immediately forced on the defensive. The first Scamara knew of his peril was when the radio became a babble of shouts and warnings. Then tracer bullets snapped past him, from astern.
After the initial tussle, Scamara and wingman John V. Scanlan broke free and headed for the rendezvous point. Passing over a lake, they drew the notice of several Imperial Navy pilots who pounced on the vulnerable P-51s. Scamara watched, appalled, as Scanlan ignored his screams to turn away. Apparently suffering radio failure, Jack Scanlan flew straight and level as the Japanese opened fire, scoring repeated hits. Bob Scamara fought to protect his wingman but the odds were entirely lopsided: Scanlan abandoned his stricken fighter and parachuted near the beach.
Heartsick, Scamara turned south for Iwo. He had just experienced the best day of his combat