Lost Hero. ....posted out of context items wil

[herosrest]

Funnily enough, Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Located off the south-eastern tip of New Guinea in the China Strait Samarai has an area of just 240,000 square metres (59 acres).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarai

[herosrest]

Turnbull Field (No. 3 Strip) Milne Bay Province
Location
Located at Milne Bay near Gili Gili beside Swinger Bay (also known as Stringer Bay).
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfiel...ull/index.html


"You are standing on the eastern side of
what was in 1942 No. 3 Airstrip later named
Turnbll Field
In Honor of Sqn Ldr Peter St George Turnbull, D.F.C.
C.O, of No 76 Squadron
Born Ammdale NSW 9-2-1917
Killed in Action 27-9-1942 during a strafing
run on enemy near Sandersons Bay
To Strive - To Seek - To Find
Not To Yield
Errected by donations from family, veterans
and those who remember
Propeller donated by R.A.A.F."

[drewster]

I'd like some Tiramisù if at all possible, Weevils I'll leave for JM, if thats all right with you lot.

[Shoreguy]

[herosrest]

It wasn't a game.

[mireland]

[herosrest]

I stumbled across an anecdote to this tale and thought i'd record it.

Donald C McGee served in the the 36th Fighter Squadron with Paul G. Brown (the subject of this topic) in Australia and New Guinea. He scored the squadrons first recorded victory at Port Moresby. As mentioned i ran across this anecdote browsing web stuff on the Fort at Tilbury, UK. McGee completed a tour in the pacific and later flew escort for Eighth Airforce bombing missions from England.

"Pilots under combat stress perform breathtaking, innovative feats—tactics and maneuvers so new and different they are as creative as inventions or works of art. They are apparently the result of intuitive, flash-of-insight intellections just as notable inventions and artistic masterpieces are.

All pilots encounter unanticipated problems calling for innovative approaches when in flight. Many instances abound, but one described in the Winter 1970 Aerospace Historian is worth recounting as illustrative of one pilot’s inventiveness under stress.

Colonel John D. Mainwaring, in “Born for Combat,” tells of an attack against a Japanese formation of 36 bombers which the then Lieutenant Donald C. McGee, in a flight of P-39s, encountered near Port Moresby, New Guinea:

As three of us finished our initial firing run and dove away to start our climb for the second attack, Mac, who was flying last, performed a prohibited maneuver. Dissatisfied with his firing pass, he, alone, turned back to hit the Japanese from the rear, where he would soon receive full cannon fire from the entire formation of bombers as well as cannon fire from the rearmost flight of escorting Zeroes. . . . Closing to 100 feet, he pumped the rudder pedals back and forth as he fired, to yaw his plane’s nose 15 degrees. In a split second he had knocked out all three bombers’ tail guns and gunners. Then he pulled into the center of this three-ship V-formation of bombers which were now totally defenseless.
The entire bomber formation went after Mac, dropping down or popping up so their rear gunners could get a shot at him. They soon discovered that they could not strike Mac without hitting their bomber mates. During this time Mac flew a cozy, tight formation with the three enemy bombers as he manually disarmed all his guns but one 50 caliber. . . .
His plan was to employ one gun at a time to conserve ammunition. . . .
Then, with the calm of a pro golfer putting, he began firing short bursts from his one-armed 50 caliber at the port engine of the bomber element leader just in front of him. The crews of the Jap bombers flying on his wings just viewed the proceeding helplessly. His plan was to skip from bomber element to element, duplicating this same procedure until he’d downed all 36 bombers! . . .

When asked about the incident and how he had decided to use such tactics, Colonel McGee could not recall. He did mention that while attacking he always had the “feeling it was right, and that if one did not do right, one knew that one would ‘buy the farm.’”

http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchr...eb/mrazek.html

[herosrest]

'Nip’s Nemesis II', 41-38338, a P-39D of the 36th Fighter squadron, 8th Fighter Group based at Port Moresby New Guinea in 1942, flown by Lieutenant Don “Fibber” McGee. 36th's first kill in moresby. http://www.aerothentic.com/historica...2Published.htm

Japanese naval air flew three plane units - doctrine.
US air force flew pairs as a basic unit. No 3 in a three man sortie means that was all that was available or an aircraft had scrubbed.

McGee was a much more than capable pilot. In his element - either pure talent or application - and aggressive. The P-39 airacobra he was flying was inferior to the Japanese aircraft escorting bombers, in manoever, climb and level speed.

His insticts on the mission detailed above saved his life. He had no wingman and was to climb for a second pass at the bombers. The climbing pair pulled enemy fighters off him - he would have been a sitting duck. He got mad, cold blooded up yours, not expecting to come through and changed his rulebook. The genius of survival. Pure brilliance.

[herosrest]

_

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During its 90-year history, the 36 FS has flown 21 different types of aircraft, received 22 unit citations and accumulated 24 service and campaign streamers.

The unit came into existence when a group of aviation pioneers, eager to prove the value of air power in World War I, formed the 36th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas, in June 1917. First Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, was one of the squadron's first commanders, assuming command later that year. While the new squadron did not see combat as a unit when it moved to France, several of its members did while flying for other squadronsother squadrons.

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Commander of the 94th Aero Squadron (also known as the "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron), in his memoirs described Roosevelt's character as soldier and pilot in the following words:

"As President Roosevelt's son he had rather a difficult task to fit himself in with the democratic style of living which is necessary in the intimate life of an aviation camp. Every one who met him for the first time expected him to have the airs and superciliousness of a spoiled boy. This notion was quickly lost after the first glimpse one had of Quentin. Gay, hearty and absolutely square in everything he said or did, Quentin Roosevelt was one of the most popular fellows in the group. We loved him purely for his own natural self.

After World War I, the 36th was inactivated, only to be resurrected in October 1930 at Selfridge Field, Michigan, to train pilots and develop new air tactics. In 1932, the 36th relocated to Langley Field, Virginia, as part of the 8th Pursuit Group. While assigned to the 8th, the 36th flew airmail for the U.S. Postal Service, flying in all types of weather without instruments. During World War II, the squadron flew P-40 Warhawk, P-39 Airacobra, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-38 Lightning fighters in a number of Pacific Theater campaigns. These included the defense of New Guinea and the battle for the Philippines. They moved to Fukuska, Japan at the end of the war.

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<<<<<< CLICK EITHER (BOTH) >>>>>>


HUG ME!

[herosrest]

[mireland]

you just can't stop yourself can you?

[herosrest]

Why would l want to................

[herosrest]

Why would l want to................

I'm dam'n good!. I can see IT coming.

Wanna make some money... like erm... tens of trillions in the blink of an eye! Play nice.

[werz]

I'm dam'n good!. I can see IT coming.

Wanna make some money... like erm... tens of trillions in the blink of an eye! Play nice.

I could do with about 10 million dollars. All help is appreciated. As long as I don't have to do anything strenuous or to illegal.

[j.m@talk]

I could do with about 10 million dollars. All help is appreciated. As long as I don't have to do anything strenuous or to illegal.

Werz's Yankee side comes out