January 5th 1945 five days before combat
begins Enterprise meets up with its task
force there are six full-size carriers
six light carriers battleships
destroyers and support craft 116 ships
in all the most powerful naval strike
force the world has ever seen
the task force makes its way to the
South China Sea it is the first time
that Allied forces have entered the
Japanese controlled sea since the war
began
the knight attack on the Japanese convoy
is only the first strike
over the next three days bill Martin's
night group bombs japanese-held Saigon
Hong Kong and Canton the first strikes
on these vital mainland ports
in less than two weeks the pilots of the
biggie fly 4,000 miles sink two hundred
thousand tons of shipping
and strike at the mainland outposts of
Japan's Empire the night fighters are
already proving their worth
two weeks later Enterprise gets its
biggest challenge target Kirin Harbor
Formosa objective destroy enemy shipping
and supply bases strategy night attack
with bombers January 22nd to am7 TBM
Avengers launch into the night
each carries two 500-pound bombs six
5-inch Rockets one pilot one electronics
officer and one radar operator Bill
Martin personally leads three planes and
the phimosis strike the other section is
led once again by lieutenant Russ Kippen
they fly due west for 212 miles then
Northwest for another 100 miles until
they reach the island of Formosa the
radar man picks up the pattern of Kirin
Harbor on the radar scopes at 4:30 a.m.
the attack begins the TBMs targets are
the outer and inner harbours fat with
supply ships land-based targets are
vital oil tanks and a small arms factory
but those who fly by radar can die by
radar
Japanese radar picks up the incoming
attackers and anti-aircraft fills the
sky
bill Martin has a simple plan based on
his intimate knowledge of radar
operations
he climbs to 8,000 feet and flies toward
the Inner Harbor guided by radar
Japanese anti-aircraft point toward him
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what the enemy doesn't know is that Russ
Kippen is flying 8,000 feet directly
below him so that both planes show up as
a single blip on the Japanese radar as
the anti-aircraft targets the high
plains kittens Avengers soar in
undetected
the flight group makes three runs using
the same technique dropping their bombs
on tankers and warehouses one Avenger
unleashes its rockets on a small arms
factory it makes a satisfying fireworks
display the night bombers of enterprise
keep up the pressure on the enemy with
midnight attacks on the Japanese home
islands and even on Tokyo itself and now
that the Japanese know they can be hit
they become more ferocious in their
defenses and more desperate in their
attacks so for the Japanese they're
turning up the intensity they're
fighting more savagely they're resisting
with more and more stubbornness
no where is Japan's desperate newfound
ferocity more evident than at the tiny
strip of Pacific land called Iwo Jima
it's a small island but America needs it
as an air base to launch b-29 bombers to
strike the Japanese mainland and the
Japanese have no intention of giving it
up
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