It’s the 5th of March 1944.
In the Pacific, US fighter aces are jockeying for position,
trying to be the first American pilot
to beat the victory count of a record that has stood since WW1.
Eddy Rickenbacker’s 26 victories has never been beaten.
Neel Kearby currently has 21 victories
and he’s got his eye on Rickenbacker’s record.
Neel is in his P-47 Thunderbolt the “Fiery Ginger IV”
named after his wife, Virginia.
Many considered the Thunderbolt inferior to the nimble Japanese planes.
But in the hands of Kearby and his pilots,
its excellent diving capability
and 8 .50 cal machine guns prove to be a deadly combination.
The newer P-38s and P-51s are replacing the aging Thunderbolts.
Kearby knows, if he can beat the 26 victory record
then the resulting press coverage could save his beloved P-47
to the end of the war at least.
With the competition fierce
and the record about to be beaten by other American pilots,
he’s pulled together a fighter sweep with 2 of his friends,
Bill Dunham and Sam Blair.
Climbing to 22,000 ft they head along the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Far below them they see a Kawasaki Ki-61
coming in to land at a Japanese airfield.
They decide to let this Flying Swallow escape
as it’s about to land safely
and they’re best staying high for more accessible prey.
They need to be patient…
Within 5 minutes they've spotted 3 bombers
coming in at 500 ft above the sea.
Ki-48s or ‘Lily’ bombers.
While these were bombers, they were fast
and could loop and turn when operated by a skilled pilot.
Kearby, Dunham and Blair decide to attack.
The P-47 had amazing diving ability.
Building up energy while diving
gave them the momentum to quickly climb back up to altitude
for another diving pass.
A technique that was to become known as Boom and Zoom.
This struck fear into the Japanese
as the attacks came with little warning
and the Thunderbolt's eight .50-cal machine guns
were able to wreak havoc on the lightly built Japanese aircraft.
The 3 men each targeted a bomber.
Surprising the Japanese with the incredible firepower of 24 machine guns
going off at once.
Dunham and Blair shoot down the Japanese bombers that they targeted.
However, Kearby despite peppering the Lily
doesn’t manage to down it immediately.
Neel Kearby’s own rules of combat in the P-47
were to never lose speed and altitude when in a fight.
But with the bomber still flying he made a fatal error.
To make a complete circle and attack again to be sure it was downed.
All this meant a loss of speed at low altitude.
Finishing off the Ki-48 Kearby found himself ‘Low and Slow’.
A dangerous place in a P-47.
A lone Ki-43 Oscar spotted Kearby while he was slowly climbing,
came in close
and filled Kearby's P-47 with lead.
Bill Dunham had spotted the danger and was racing to help his friend.
Speeding down to help, Dunham took out the Oscar but it was too late.
Searching for Kearby over land and sea,
Dunham and Blair eventually were running low on fuel and had to give up the search.
The two men landed back at base.
Bill tried to get his plane refueled and head back out to immediately start the search…
but with darkness about to fall it was no use.
In the end he had to be physically restrained by the others from going out again.
9 months later Bill Dunham was flying his P-47D over the Philippine sea.
After spotting and downing a Ki43 Oscar, and pulling up
he saw a Japanese pilot escape the wreck and bail out.
The Japanese frequently shot at the American pilots who had bailed out.
Bill pulled the P-47 around and lined up on the enemy
slowly descending in the parachute.
Bill later told his family:
“It was if the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and said Bill, don’t do it."
Breaking off the attack, Bill spotted the pilot bobbing in the waves below.
Putting his plane into a shallow dive and risking his own life
he went down low over the waves.
Opening his canopy he aimed for the Japanese pilot…
and threw his Mae West lifejacket out of the plane to assist the stricken airman.
A painting of this event called “Uncommon Chivalry” hangs in the Seattle Museum of Flight.
Kearby’s remains were found in the jungle in 1948 by an Australian Air Force search team.
In speaking with the villagers, it became apparent that Neel had bailed out successfully
but had received bullet wounds either in the aircraft or on his descent by parachute.
In the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force you can see a recreation of Kearby's plane
featuring part of the wreck of the original
which was found in the 1990s.
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