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Captain Strand, known as "Wild
Bill", believes in coming in on the deck on strafing runs, and has
been known to bring back bits of palm fronds on his ship. He never had
an accident of any kind. 7 Nips, 3 over Balikpapen. Now returned to U.
S. |
The principle feature of the Nip fighter in this theatre is his excellent maneuverability and his poor teamwork. The following points discussed herein are tactics used by the 35th Fighter Group in combat, operating with P-47's.
With the increasing tempo of the Fifth Air Force offensive, longer range became imperative, and in the past few months the range of the P-47 has been lengthened from 350 miles to 800 miles, giving new life to heavy bombardment. Through experiment, it has been found that the type P-47D28 with three tanks is perfectly capable of escort or a fighter sweep of 800 miles, but in this the fighter tactics as a group must be changed to some extent.
We have learned to fight while retaining our auxiliary tanks, and to use lower power settings in interception. Mass attacks on interceptors makes this possible, which of course leads back to one thing - the saving of gas. It must be remembered that mass teamwork is the keystone of long range escort or fighter missions.
On bomber escort missions, when jumped from above, we have found it best to turn our squadron into the enemy and spread out into two ship elements and then reforming immediately after first contact. Do not break away from the bombers because then you have lost your protection strength.
It is best to maintain 200 MPH IAS or above, so as to be able to move about the bombers quickly. Long range bomber escort is ticklish work and gas conservation must be considered at all times. You can't be too aggressive toward the enemy before the bombers reach the target, because the bombers will end up over the target without benefit of cover.
If jumped on fighter sweeps, we hold squadron formation until after first contact, then break up into elements. This way we have a better chance of doing more damage and remaining in the scrap over the target longer with the limitations which we have. We form up and leave the target with the squadron leader at his request. This also holds true when we jump the enemy.
An airspeed above 200 MPH IAS on fighter sweeps is a must, because in so doing you are maintaining a speed in the higher range of the Jap fighter aircraft.
Let me express again that teamwork has been the reason for such success as this group has enjoyed in long range fighter operation.
