Joe Christy&.JeffEthell

28

Prelude: The Company 8P-38 Development 12The Aleutian and North Atlantic FerryNorth Africa 46South-West Pacific 1942-1943 64Sicily and Italy 82Europe 100Far Ea t Victory 1944-1945 122P-38 Production 142

Contents

Joe Christy and Jeff Ethell

E pecially, it is dedicated to the ex-Lightning commanders and pilot whocontributed: Oliver B. Taylor, John Tilley,o ug Canning, Hank Schneider, Carroll'Andy' Ander on, Jack Lenox, Lee Carr,Sidney Inglet, Sterling Winn, WarrenCampbell, George Laven, Art Beimdiek, BillHoelle, Frank Barnecott, corgcFleckenstein, Jack Curti, Downey linch,Guy Watson, Norm Jackson, Frank Lawson,Jack Fehrenbach, Tom Jone, Dick Burn,Revis Sirmon,. Ben Mason, Ray Toliver,Robbie Robert on, Jules Hymel, FrankShearin, Ross Humer, Richard Bracey, HughBozarth, Jack Goebel, Carroll Knott, HarryBrown, Don De sert, Nick Zinni, Jack JoneBob Margison, Carl Gardner, Sherrill Huff,Bill Caughlin, Franci Pope, Billy Broadfoot,John Stege, Erv Ethell, J. B. Wood on,George O. Doherty, Robert H. French,Noah Ray Tipton, James E. Kunkle, FredricArnold, D. A. Suddeth, Bob Woodard, andRoyal Frey. Again, our sincere thanks ...

A work of this kind is hardly po iblewithout the aid of a great many people. Theauthors cannot adequately thank all tho ewho helped, but we can dedicate thi book tothem.

So, we tru t that you will approve of theuse we made of your help, Ginny Fincik, andMaj Shirley Bach of the USAF 1361st PhotoSquadron; and Wayne Pryor at Lockheed,James Knott of the Allison Division ofGeneral Motors, and General Ben Kel ey.

This book i also dedicated to 0 amuTagaya who unearthed Japanese records, andArno Abendroth who delved into Luftwaffefiles; to Bruce Hoy of the Air Museum,Papua, New Guinea; our fellow researchersin Australia, T. R. Bennett and FrankF. Smith; and to Dennis Glenn Cooper, IraLatour, Wayne Sneddon, Ralph P. Willet,and William Carter.

It is also for Carl Bong, brother ofAmerica's Ace of Aces; authors KennC. Rust, Roger A. Freeman who opened hisextensive P-38 file to u , and the generousEdward Jablon ki, along with MitchMayborn, John Stanaway, Merle Olmsted,T. R. Bennett, and Glenn Bavou ett. And forKen Sumney and Emery J. Vrana.

Acknowledgements

Copyright under the Berne Convention

All rights reserved. No part of this bookmay be reproduced in any from without thepermis ion of Charle cribner's Sons.

De ign by Anthony Wirkus L lAD

PRINTED I THE U.S.A.

The following was originally printed in theus Army paper, tars and Stripes in 1943, andwas written by a B-17 gunner in NorthAfrica. It was forwarded by ex-Liberatorpilot, Fred Bowen, Canoga Park, California.

Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful galAnd Madeline Carroll is, too;But you'll find, if you query, a different

theoryAmongst any bomber crew.For the loveliest thing of which one

could sing.(This side of the Heavenly Gates)is no blonde or brunette of the

Hollywood set,But an escort ofP-38s ...Sure, we're braver than hell; on the

ground all is swell-In the air it's a different story.We sweat out our track through the

fighters andflak;We're willing to split up the glory.Well, they wouldn't reject us, so

Heaven protect usAnd, until all this shooting abates,Give us the courage to fight 'em - and

one other small item -An escort ofP-38s.

7

Prelude:The Company

BeloUl: The 10-passenger Model 10Electra, introduced in 1934, cruisedat 1 Smph, and enjoyed immediateuccess with airline operators

around the world.. / Lockheed California Company

In February 1937 when me us Army AirCorps asked America's struggling aircraftindustry to submit design proposals for a new'interceptor', Lockheed Aircraft Corporationwas a small company. Its cash on hand wasapproximately equal to one month'soperating expenses; and its sole product, thetwin-engined Electra, aimed at the feederairline market, could claim a production runof Ie s than 80 machine during the precedingthree year.

Nevertheless, Lockheed made a boldresponse to the Air Corps' request, submittingdrawings of an airplane 0 advanced that, ifbuilt, it would demand answers toengineering and aerodynamic questions forwhich no answer yet exi ted. Lockheedcalled the design 'Model 22'. The Air Corpswould call it the P-38 Lightning.

'Model 22' represented the 22nd designproposed by Lockheed engineers since thecompany was founded 11 years earlier byAllen Lockheed, John Northrop, W. K. Jay

and Fred Keeler. Eight of those designs hadbeen produced for a total of277 airplanes, 196of which were the wooden Lockheeds, suchas the famed Vega , Orions, and Altair .

In 1929 the company founders had sold outto a Detroit group, which in turn allowedLockheed to lip into receivership a thecommercial aircraft market dwindled duringthe Great Depres ion. Then, in 1932,company a set were purcha ed for 40,000by a group b ought together by investmentbanker Robert E. Gross (who had previouslybacked Lloyd Stearman in Wichita). The epeople originally included airline pioneerWalter Varney, Lloyd Stearman (who hadold out to United Aircraft three years

earlier), Thomas F. Ryan III of Mid-Continent Air Line, broker E. C. Walker,and Mr and Mrs Cyril Chappellet.

Gros also brought in engineer HallHibbard, who had begun his career withStearman in 1927, after earning his degree atMIT. Hibbard was respon ible for

Above: Key executive whoprovided the foundation for.Lockheed Aircraft Cotporanonwere photographed together on26July 1934. Left to right: Lloyd

tearman, Robert Gros , CyrilChappellet, and Hall Hibbard./ Locklzeed Califortlia Company

Left: Clarence L. 'Kelly' Johnson,father of the P-38 (and manyadvanced de ign to follow), wasdiscovered by Chief Engineer HallHibbard at the Univer ity ofMichigan in 1933 when John onwrote a report critical of theElectra' initial tail design./ Lockheed Califortlia Company

9

Left: Final assembly of the XP-38at Burbank. Lockheed security wastight and photos forbidden, whichexplains poor qualiry of this sneakshot by Lt Ben Kelsey. / Ben Kelsey

0... 1171.H L HI. A 0 n AI.AI Jrl.AII.

lt40.

Right: Sketches of ix designsroughed out by KellyJohnson forthe 1937 Air Corp fightercompetition. Number four waselected./ Lockheed Califortlia CompanyBelow: Original patent drawing ofthe XP-38, filed 27June 1939, Ii tsHall L. Hibbard and Clarence L.John on a inventors./ Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

11

mounting aggressions. A Cyril Chappelletlater told it, 'If we hadn't had this Qapane e)business, our factory would have been emptyand the British would hardly have dared toplace contracts with a concern that was not inproduction.'

Although Lockheed had but five days'notice to prepare for the British visit, acombination of long hours and frantic effortduring that time produced a full-scalewooden mock-up of a Model 14 converted toa medium reconnaissance bomber. TheBritish liked it; and the Air Ministry soonapproved an order for 250 such machines,which they designated the Hudson, at a totalcost of 25million. It wa the largest singleorder ever received by any US aircraftbuilder. It allowed Lockheed to market

4.25million in stock, and begin an expansionprogramme that saw the company grow from2,500 employees in January 1939, when theXP-38 was delivered, to 50,000 workers inJanuary 1941, when the first YP-38 servicetest machine was delivered.

It would be yet another year before P-38production reached 150 units per month; andalthough the Lightning entered combat quiteearly, F-4 versions went to Australia in April1942 and P-38E models were ent to theAleutians in June of that year, still anotheryear would pass before this unique anddeadly craft could honestly be called 'combatready'. But that didn't matter. The enemywas upon us, and we were obliged to ftghtwith what we had.

rporation) for its V-1710 project as early asmber 1932; and when the Lockheed

del 22 drawings were completed inbruary 1937, the Allison V-1710-C8 wast a few weeks away from its first succe sfult at 1,000hp. It was America's only

, liquid-cooled engine near productiontu .ockheed Pre ident Robert Gross

r nally delivered the Model 22 drawingWright Field, Ohio, and, four month

I r, the Army indicated its approval of the'gn. Air Corp Contract 9974, datedJune 1937, authorised construction of onelane. It would be designated XP-38,

J a signed Air Corp erial number57.onstruction of the XP-38 did not begin

til 13 months later, and delivery to the Airrp was made on New Year' Day 1939.

I sembled, it wa loaded on three trucks,ncealed by canvas, and taken from the

kheed plant at Burbank to March Field,r Riverside, California.eanwhile, events had conspired to placeheed in a more favourable financial

Irion. The Electra had been caled-up to aplace midwing transport for which then Air Line Company (Oai Nippon)ed a timely order. It was timely because

craft were coming down the productionwhen a British purchasing commission

,ved in the US in April 1938, in search oflane to belatedly bolster Britain'nee in the face of Adolf Hitler's

developmen.t of the Model 10 Electra, whichfir. t flew In February 1934, and it wasHIbbard who first recognised the designgenius of the man who would becomeLockheed's most famous engineer ClarenceL. 'Kelly' Johnson. '

J~hnson was doing graduate work at theUnIVersIty of Michigan when a scale modelof the Electra was sent there for wind tunneltests early in 1933. When John on wrote areport critical.of the Electra's tail as embly,HIbbard was Impressed. He promptly hiredJohnson; and thus laid the cornerstone forLockheed's well known 'Skunk Works'.

Preliminary drawings of the Model 22wer prepared in a matter of days startingw~th freehand sketches by Kelly Joh~son. TheAIr Corps wanted a craft for the 'tacticalmission of interception and attack of hostileaircraf~ at high altitudes.' Specifics included atr~e aIr peed of 360mph at altitude, andchmb to 20,000ft within six minutes.

T~ese figures imposed a powerreqUIrement that dictated the use of twoengines, since no single engine of sufficientpower then existed. Also inherent in therequest. was the obvious necessity ofemplOying Allison liquid-cooled engine.The AIr Corps had become convinced severalyears before that the high-hor epower liquid-cooled engIne offered more possibilities withturbo ~upe~charging at high altitudes than didthe bIg aIr-cooled radial. Therefore, theAr~y had contributed development funds toAlltson (a small subsidiary of General Motors

I

~, r~ J

, .

PJ8 Development

Below: Boldly designed, the XP-38reached beyond the knowledge ofthe best aerodynamicist . At right isa Douglas B-1 Bolo b mber.I Lockheed Aircr~(r CompallY

Nine days after the XP-38 arrived at MarchFi~ld, it was ready to fly; in the quiet, hazychtll of a Southern California wintermorning, the man who would fly it tood fora time, silently looking at this ominously-beautiful craft. Lt Benjamin S. Kelsey wasnot a talkative man, but hi thought wouldnot be difficult to gue s. The XP-38repre ented a quantum advance in fighteraircraft design, and it urely po sessed ecrets,perhap dangerous secrets.

Kel ey, however, was an experienced andhighly proficient pilot. He had received hiscommission in the US Army Air Corps 10years before (promotion in rank waagonisingly slow in the US Army during thetwenties and thirties), and his record was suchthat it had earned him the job of XP-38project officer.. Th

230101 SlAI LESSSlRUCTURE

223557 SCOOp

15

,

OIL TANK VENT LINE

Above: Turbo supercharger system,beginning with the P-38J model ,moved inter-eoolers beneath theengines (increasing internal fuel byllOgal). Thi improvedsupercharger efficiency, butometimes allowed engine oil to

over-eool if not properly monitoredby the pilot.

SUPERCHARGER-TYP B-2

GENERAL ELECTRIC~NO W-4868825

'And within 60 days, that's 60 days mindyou, Lockheed had a contract for service-testquantities of the YP-38. There's no way inthe world that Lockheed could have receivedsuch a contract that soon, had the XP-38remained in existence, because then it wouldhave been necessary to validate all itperformance e timates, write-in a lot ofspecific, and probably wait while it wasreturned to the factory for modifications.Therefore, we significantly cut time betweenthe X model and the Y models as a result oflosing the first one. The same thing happenedwhen we lost the first B-17 at Wright Field.It was tragic; but not having the prototype tonit-pick for a contract, which you must do,you simply go ahead with a design that hasalready demonstrated certain basic thingsbefore its loss.'

The order for 13 service-test YP-38s was AirCorps Contract 12523, dated 27 April 1939.However, the first YP-38 did not fly until16 September 1940, and the last one was notdelivered until eight months after that.During those critical 25 months, the 'courseof human events' was altered for generations

INTERCOOLER

AIR I TAKE ,

AIR OUTLET

-

245437 ARMOR PLATE

(245436 R H)

CENTER SECTION

-REAR SHEAR BEAM

TO ENGINE OIL SYSTEM

SY TEM INSTALLATION

UPERCHARGER REGULATOR - TYPE A-7

"'0 r iR or

engines failed to respond. Bothntinued to idle nicely; but wouldn't

lerate. I was low and low on finalroach. Without power, there was nothinguld do to add a single inch to that

roach. I struck the ground short of thenway. The aircraft was a total loss; I wasmjured.'Tom McRae and hi crew from Alli ont d nine possible causes for the engine'llure to accelerate. I had eliminated

c: of them prior to the crash, fuelI ctor switch, boost pumps, etc, and

four remaining possibilitie wereIminated by re-design of the fuel andrburettor system on the follow-on YPdels ...

'The next day, I was in Wa hington toplain why I'd busted our new airplane.

I neral Arnold Ii tened to my account, thenk me around with him to the Secretary ofar, and to the Bureau of the Budget; and I

ue s we went to four or five top levelpie. In each case, the General would ax

) me, "Kel ey, tell him about that new '38. 'I'd tell each how fast it was, how nicely it

h ndled, and so on.

ATTACHMPINS

BATHTUB FITTING ATTACHMENT

Hughe 's record. But in terms of flying time,we could do considerably better because hishad been a non-stop flight. It was ju t aquestion of whether we wanted to go toMitchel and back, or call it a day with theplanned delivery.

'Then, in hi ort of brusque way, GeneralArnold aid, "Go ahead, Kel ey. Take it."

'I averaged 360mph true air speed, and itwas clear to me that the XP-38 would easilydo 400mph if pressed. My flying timebetween March and Mitchel Fields was 7hr2min.

'Descending into Mitchel, I think Iprobably picked up carburettor ice. This wasa problem that had not been olved, and theearly B-17s had the arne trouble. Theresimply wasn't enough heat available via thesuperchargers at low rpm to handlecarburettor ice. I had to throttle way back tolower the flaps; and then, since I was facedwith a landing without wheel brake, it wanecessary to "drag it in" under power at lowspeed. But the flap problem and the brakeproblem were just waiting for one additionalproblem, lack of power at a critical time, toproduce disaster. As I attempted to ease-in

MOTOR MOUNT

ATTACHMENT

INTERCOOLER

INTERCOOLER TO

CARBURETOR DUCT

SUPERCHARGER TO

'Now, there has been a lot of commentabout us losing the XP-38 at Mitchel Fieldafter a transcontinental flight; but the pointwas that General Arnold, Chief of Air Corps,was being very hard pressed in Washingtonabout such things as record-breaking Germanairplane, and the new British Spitfire ...Since it was apparent that, when wedelivered the XP-38 from March to WrightField in Ohio, we'd be flying it at it normalcruising speed, substantially the same speed asHoward Hughes' cross-country record in aspecially designed racer, we fel t that thiswould give General Arnold some impressivefigures to use in his appropriations battle withthe Congress ...

'I was ordered to deliver the plane toWright Field on 11 February 1939 .... it wastrictly a delivery flight at standard cruise ... Ilanded at Amarillo 2hr 48min after leavingMarch Field. Another 2hr 45min put medown at Wright Field.

'When I climbed from the plane at WrightField, there was a discussion concerning thetime I had made, and it wa noted that, withthe time on the ground at both Amarillo andDayton, there was no possibility of bettering

ATTACHMENTBOLTS

BATH ruB FITTINGS

FLAP PUSH-PULL TUBE

,

Above: Supercharger inter-eoolerformed part of the wings'leadingedges in early P-3 and were acontinuing source of trouble.

14

Above: XP-38 is refuelled at WrightField pending decision by GeneralArnold as to the feasibility ofextending Kelsey's cross-countrydash to Mitchel Field, New York.

Right: General Henry H. 'Hap'Arnold, Chief of Air Corps, ordersLt Kelsey to continue flight toMitchel Field. I &n Kelsey

16

/

me. Still, another nine months wouldbefore Lockheed achieved anythin:;

nbling mass production of the P-38.I production for 1941 would amount tounits (exclusive of the YPs), none of

I h were fit for combat. Meanwhile,\' r te orders piled up. Britain ordered 667

in March 1940; and the US Army Airrp contracted for 673 five months later.lthough we may tend to fault Lockheedtaking so long to get the P-38 intoningful production, any of us who areenough to recall tho e fearful times, the

II u ions, the shortages, the frustratingncy to do a thousand things at once to f111

1 U and pressing needs, will be able to putI, and other 'failures' into properr pective. Attempting to arm ourselves and

nd our freedom, we demandeduction miracles of our often poorly

nded industries to make up for 20 years ofmplacency, incompetency, and wishfulmking on the part of our leaders.

he US Army Air Corps became the US Army Airree on 20 June 1941.

Lockheed, as the rest of the US, British,and Commonwealth industry, did the best itcould with what it had when there wasn't

eno~gh of anything, from metal to money tomanpower, to go around; and did soaccording to assigned priorities. In addition toP-38s, Lockheed was building Venturas,Hudsons, and Boeing B-17s in large numbers.Meanwhile, the financing of plantexpansion programmes in America hadto depend upon private money sourcesuntil the US Congress at last enacted theLend - Lease Bill (HR 1776) on 11 March1941.

There were other factors that slowed P-38development and production. The YP-38'sinternal structure was practically designedfrom scratch, because the XP-38 had beenhandbuilt by the 'cut and fit' method, and itsairframe did not lend itself to efficient massproduction techniques. The Army alsodemanded that the YP models be at least1,SOOlb lighter than the experimental model.Finally, there were some importantaerodynamic lessons to be learned, and anumber of detail improvements to be madebefore the P-38's true potential could be

Be!OlV: Fir t YP-38 made its Jl1aidenflight 16 eptember 1940, withLockheed Chief Pilot MarshallHeadle at the control. Counter-rotating props rurned olltwards.Propeller cuffs were larer removed.Note lack of wing-fuselage fillet.I Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

Righr: The YP-38 was fmed withAllison V-1710-27/29 (F-2) enginerated at l,lS0hp. Elevator rna sbalance were added later as asolution for tail buffeting at highspeed. Wing fillets olved that, butthe mass balance remained on allsub equent P-38s.I Lockheed AircraJr CorporarionBelow: A YP-38 emerges from acocoon of Hudson at the Lockheedfactory into an early springmorning in 1941.I Lockheed California COInpatlY

18

tapped. It all took rime, and time was themost precious commodity ofall.

The first YP-38 completed, In 39-689, wasretained at the factory, although its USAAFrecord card reveals that it was flown but 23hours during it 14 month of existence.Clearly, Lockheed left much of the YP-38test flying to the Army pilots. Delivery of theremaining dozen YP-38s to the Army wascompleted in May 1941; and it was then thatthe spectre of compressibility first showediteslf.

Major Signa A. Gilkie experienced it fir t.He took YP-38 sin 39-694 well above3O,00Oft then entered a dive. A the airspeedneedle swung past 320mph, ornewherearound Soomph true air speed at that altitude,the airplane's tail began to buffet everely.Then, as the dive continued, the craft becameprogre sively no e-heavy, increa ing its diveangle to near vertical, while the control yokeoscillated rimy and defied Gilkie's utmostefforts to pull it back and effect recovery.Unwilling to bailout and 10 e the plane tothi strange and frightening force, the majortried the only mall remedy left to him. Hecranked-in 'no e-up' elevator trim.

At flfSt, the elevator trim tab seemedineffective; but a the plane entered denser airbelow 18,000ft, the no e began to swingupward. Full control quickly returned, andseconds later, Major Gilkie found himselfstraight and level at 7,000ft.

He had also found the two majoraerodynamic problems that represented theprice Lockheed must pay for pioneering with

LeJr: The Allison V-171O F-serieengine which powered the YP-3 sand all production models of theLightning wa rated at l,lSOhp inthe YP ; l,32Shp In the P-38s, andwas up to l,425hp (l,600hp waremer.gency) in the P-38J models.I All,son Division, GM

Below: Dr anfi rd A. MossA~nerica's upercharger pio~eer(tight), with Brig-GenJame Ho olittle and the General ElectricType B turbo supercharger whichwas fitted to engines in theBOO-1,400hp range.I General Elecrric Company

Below: Instrument panel of theP-38G-15.

a high-speed high-altitude fighter. He hadencountered in quick succession, a dangeroustail buffeting, followed by aerodynamiccompressibility.

It took a while to figure out that the twoproblems were not related. Most Lockheedengineers believed that there was but oneproblem, an improperly balanced tail. Thisresulted in the installation of external massbalance weights on the elevator (whichremained on all subsequent P-38s, althoughKelly Johnson has always maintained thatthey were useless). Other 'fixes' wereapplied, including trengthening of thehorizontal stabili er and increa ed tension ofthe elevator control cables; but the cause ofthe tail flutter wa i olated a month later bywina tunnel te ts at Cal Tech which showedthat there had been nothing wrong with thetail in the first place. Under certain extremeconditions, it was simply being buffeted by a

strongly turbulent airflow created at the sharpjunctures where wing and fu elage werejoined. About 40 wing fillet hapes were trieduntil one was found that properly smoothed-out. the airflow over the tail in all flightregimes.

Although the tail flutter problem was thusrather quickly eliminated, the littleunderstood phenomenon of compre sibilityremained. Late that ummer, flying the firstYP-38, Lockheed test pilots Jimmy Mattern,Ralph Virden and Milo Burcham cautiou lybegan nibbling at high-altitude dives,limiting themselve to an indicated air speedof 295mph above 30,OOOft. Then, on4 November, Virden took this airplane aloftfor a serie of dives, working upward from15,OOOft. The 'number one' YP-38, whichhad by then accumulated slightly over 23hours' flight time, had been fitted with newspring loaded servo tabs on the elevator's

Abo~e: The 1 t Pursuit GroupreceIved the fir t production P-38s.in mid-1941. Only 29 of the firstmodel were built. I U AFLeft: Built concurrently with first

pr~duction P-38s. though notdeltvered to the Air Corp until ayear later. was the pressurisedXP-38A ..It was not developed.I Lockheed Califomia CompallyBelow left: The Lockheed XP-49was another pressuri ed version ofthe P-38, powered with~xperimental Continental XIV-1430Inverted engine ofl.350hp. It wasLockheed Model 522; In 40-3055.I Mitch Maybom

21

Below: Lockheed' wordfish' wa agreatly modified P-38E, sin41-2048. used for in-Right researchoflaminar-Row airfoil and thetudy of boundary layer air control.

I Mitch Mayborn

in October 1942, that a P-38 scale model wasat last accepted for high-speed wind tunneltests at NACA's Ames Laboratory. This was,perhaps, the ingle most significant lapse in P-38 development. Since Maj Gilkie's dive hadfirst revealed the seriousness of the problem,17 irretrievable months had slipped by.

However, once the engineers could watchthe shock waves form on the P-38 wing atMach .67, giving them visible evidence of itseffect on the airplane, the problem was atleast positively defined, if not solved. Theydiscovered that air pas ing over the curvedparts of the model increased in velocity by asmuch as 40 per cent. This meant that theairflow over the wing (this particular wing)could reach the speed of ound when theairplane's true air speed was but 67 per cent ofthe speed of sound; and the shock wavewhich then followed rendered the airplaneuncontrollable.

Actually, several things could be done torai e the P-38s critical Mach number (theSpitfire hit compressibility at Mach .83,primarily because of its very thin wing). Anew wing would do it; and a stretched pilot'snacelle would also help. But at the end of1942, with production of the P-38G at lastapproaching 150 units per month, and theUSAAF desperate for more, major design

ling edge (company sources today don'tree as to whether there was one or two

I h tabs) which, acting opposite to elevatorflection when the control yoke force

hed 30lbs would substantially add to theIt t' muscle in elevator control: in other

rd, elevator boost aerodynamicallyIII uced.

Virden successfully completed the lowerItitude dives, reaching true air speeds of up

I 535mph; but it i not known just how highh went to begin his final dive. What isn wn is that the new tabs apparently

rked so well that Virden pulled the tail ofTthe airplane at about 3,OOOft in a diver overy, and died in the ensuing crash.

The los of this airplane and pilottabli hed little, except that the P-38 wasn'ting to be 'muscled out' of its

mpressibility problem.Meanwhile, a total of 68 planes had been

uilt, not counting the XP and YP models:P-38s, 36 P-38D, and three P-38E.

1 elivery of the production models had begunIn June and by the end of October 1941,

elivery of the P-38E had tarted.Only 210 P-38Es were built during the

n xt five month, then the P-38F enteredproduction in April 1942. But it was not untilP-38Gs were coming ofT the production line

22

Right: The P-3 E contained manydetail change, plu a sWitch to the20mm cannon in place of a 37mm;Curtis electric prop, new internaloperating sy terns, and ~o e-wheelretract-arm moved behmd nose-wheel trut. orne Es saw combat inthe Aleutian and, as F-4s, in NewGuinea.I American Aviatioll Hisrorical SocieryBallom right: Another of the original29 production machine, sin 40-744,had superchargers removed and anextra cockpit installedm port bo mas an experimental tramer. I U AF

Above: One of 36 P-38Ds builttakes-off from Burbank, September1941.I American Aviation Historical ociery

ockhccd XP-5K (;/";11haJ p.1I1 of7uft. allJ \\ as

I with a pm of ~.lH)()hpV '420 engines (an'I'H'd Cll~lI1l' rt'\ulllng fTom'1' of I"" V-lilt"], and

t \\ a plalllled;l 1"'0(, lItrlllled rune! , L'al h

I ralt 0(, Sill gUll , plll\llJl C,lIl1l0ll\ III !he 11

~n June 1944. By that time, other importantunprovements had accrued, hydraulic aileronboost, better cockpit heating, a flat, bullet-proof win.dscreen, manoeuvring flaps (acontrol which allowed a quick, eight-degree~xten ion of the Fowler flaps), an adequatemter-cooler system, and improved engineswith supercharging automatically controlled;that wa when one could say that the P-38Lig~tning w~s ready to fulEI its long-awaIted promIse; that was when it could beaccurately described as a long-legged, high-altitude combat aircraft of truly fearsome

proportio~s, that gave up nothing to anyenemy aIrcraft anywhere in any flight

reg~me. The. potential had been there all thewhl!e. Had It been exploited, say, two yearsearher, a reasonable hope, since in fact theP-38 required seven years to mature, thisrugged and versatile fighter (with a bombcapacity equalling that of the B-25 Mitchell)may indeed have greatly altered the course ofW.orld War II. However, there is ampleeVIdence that the P-38 provided the means fora substantial altering of that conflict, as it was.

Ahove: The Hand J modelLightnings used the ame engines,V-1710-89191 (Alli on F-15 series).Flat, bullet-proof winds reenappeared on the P-38J-l0 (ab vel.I Lockheed Aircraft Corpora/ion

R(~/J(: Fact ry-fre h P-38J-15during its production test Aight. At tal of1,4ooJ-15s were built, and350J-205 followed before the J-25model at la t appeared with divebrakes and aileron bo st.I &/"'ard jaiJIonski

danger of exceeding the airplane's structuraldesign limit, ontrol remained.

Alth ugh dive brake were installed on ate t machine in late February 1943, and BenKel ey (by then a colonel) flew the craft andappr ved the devi e early in April,Lockheed w unable t inc rporate thisimportant m dift ti n int P-3 a emblyline for an ther 14 m nth . B that time,5,300 P-3 had b n built, m re than half ofthe ultimate t tal.

In a taped intervi w,us that the dive brakwere hydraulicall c ntrsystem failed n hi fin I divcompres ibility, and pull dairplane attemptin r r . K I ery bailedout, sustaining a br k n nkl. The Generaldescribed in detail th h drauli y ternmalfunction. There w, n eat ushioninvolved as had been previou Iy rep rted. Onproduction aircraft, the dive brake wereelectrically activated.

The dive brake modification appeared onthe last 210 J models, the P-38J-25 , produced

change, with the attendant re-tooling,testing, etc, were out of the question.America wa fighting for her life, and notime remained to exploit this hard wonknowledge with the P-38. Production waall-important.

This urgent need, however, did notpreclude a modification of another kind. Ifthey couldn't push back compressibility,Lockheed engineers decided, they could atleast stay out of it. Therefore, a dive brakewas devised; one that could be 'bolted on' tothe airframe without slowing production.This modification took the form of a pair ofaccordian-type flaps attached to the mainwing beam (spar), and positioned just beyondeach engine boom, 30 per cent of the chordbehind the wing's leading edge. When not inuse these flaps retracted flush into the bottomof the wing. They were electrically activatedby means of a trigger on the control wheel.

The dive brake were effective. It was tillpossible to find compre sibility at dive angleexceeding 60 degree from very highaltitudes; but despite buffeting, and the

Below: P-38E outdoor productionline at Lockheed on 10 October1941. I Lockheed Califortlia Company

Above: The P-38F-1 appeared inApril 1942, and featured new pylonrack beneath the centre wingection designed to carry a ton of

external ordnance. Maximum peedwa 395mph at 25,OOOft with acombat weight of 15,900lb. erviceceiling was 39,OOOft,/ Mitch Mayborn

Righr: A P-38F-5 with a SpitfireMkn reveals difference in SIze. The'Spit' pos e ed but forty per cent ofthe P-38 weight, but lacked theLightning' great versatility./ Merle Olmsred Collecrion

&rtom righr: Recon photo reveal adozen Japanese 'Rufes' (NakajimaA6M2-N f10atplane fighter) inKi ka Harbor. / U AF

30

We shall probably never know all the factsattendant to Britain's order for 667 P-38s,approved by the Air Ministry in March 1940.The first 143 of the e craft, designatedLightning Mkls, were 0 clearly unfit forcombat that one wonders if Lockheed had togrit its corporate teeth and look the otherway while building them. More to thepoint, is the question of why Britain shouldplace such an order, because the Lightning Iwas without effective armour, had nosuperchargers, and its eariy model Allisons of1,090hp rotated in the same direction. Thurobbed of its primary design function, that ofhigh-altitude fighter, the big and relativelyheavy Lightning could hardly promiseperformance advantage over aircraft theRAF already possessed. The balance of theorder, for P-38F-13, -15, and G-15 models,seemed more plausible, although thosemachines were not scheduled for deliveryuntil mid 1943.

Therefore why, two months before Francefell, and four months before the Battle ofBritain, did the Air Ministry approve a largeorder (actually totalling more airplane thanall the Spitfires and Hurricanes then possessedby Fighter Command) for an untestedAmerican fighter due for delivery up to threeyears later? Perhaps it was a prudent just-in-

case-we-need-it act. But it is at least possiblethat it represented a modicum of collusionbetween General Arnold and his friends inthe Air Ministry.

Suppo e that General Arnold, desperate tocircumvent the myopic US Congress and getcombat aircraft production moving in theUS, had said to the proper British authorities,'Look here, fellows' (or words to that effect),'we've got a 2,OOOhp fighter of greatpotential, but the program is barely alive. Sofar, I've been able to get money for only 65 ofthem. Somehow, I've got to get a realproduction line going and develop thisairplane; it could prove very important toboth of us a bit further down the turnpike.Now, if you will step in and place a largeorder for this craft immediately, that will setthe program moving. Then, I'll promise totake you off the hook when the airplanes areready for delivery if you don't want them.'

True, it is only a latter-day theory. But itcould have happened that way. GeneralArnold cut a good many corners in anattempt to build US airpower, and we knowthat he employed a deception or two in hiscampaign to get the B-17.

Whether or not the British order actuallycut P-38 development time and allowedLockheed to achieve mass production' sooner

Below: The 54th Fighter Squadron,equipped with P-38E , was ba ed atAdak in the Aleutian early in 1943./U AF

Right: The face of the enemy;Japanese Naval airmen from filmcaptured at Attu./ USAF

&Iow: Capt George Laven (right),and Lt Stanley Lang of the 54th F .Laven was one of two P-38 pilot tofly the first fighter strike againstKiska on 3 September 1942, andlater fought in the SW Pacific./U AF

Far right, top: Capt Morgan Giffinbriefs 54th FS pilot prior to afighter sweep over the Aleutian./ AF

Far right, bottom: Lightning F-5s inforeground have done their job andnow stay at home while P-38saccompany Liberators on a raid toAttu. / U AF

32

than would have otherwise been pos ible, isdifficult to determine. On paper, at least, theBritish order accelerated the P-38 programmeby five months, because it was not untilAugust 1940 that the USAAF at la t orderedin quantity, signing a contract for 673machines.

In ;:ny case, only a handful of LightningMkIs was delivered to the RAF. Britishpilots flew three of them in a test programme,beginning in April 1942, but returned themto American hand as soon as they decentlycould, saying that the RAF would muddlealong without the Lightning.

The Lightning MkIs still in America,apparently 138 ot them, were accepted by theUSAAF, ent to the Dalla ModificationCentre for new engines, then went toArizona as rainers. The P-38F-13 and -ISs,and P-38G-15s (Lightning MkII), 524machine in all, were also accepted by theUSAAF and went to us fighter groups.

The name 'Lightning', be t wed upon theP-38s by the Briti h in March 1940, wasadopted by Lockheed, and the Lightning itwas ever after.

Concurrent with production f the P-322swas the P-38E. The E model w fitted withAllison V-1710-27 and -29 engine of 1,150hp(sea level at 3,OOOrpm) which rotatedoutward from the pilot' n elle. It hadimproved radios, a low pre ure oxygensystem, and a number of other detailimprovements over the D model, and thoughit was not regarded as a combat-ready fighter,it did see action in the Aleutians, where theprincipal enemy was the weather.

Early in June 1942 the Japanese landedmore than 3,000 soldiers on the AleutianIslands of Attu and Kiska in a diversionarythrust primarily designed to lure theweakened US Navy into a showdown battlein the North Pacific. Admiral Nimitz refusedto take the bait, however, and instead dry-gulched the vastly superior Japanese mainforce north of Midway, so grievouslydamaging the Japanese Navy that it neverrecovered. However, the Japanese presence inthe Aleutians posed a threat (albeit ofunknown dimensions) to Alaska and theNorth American Continent. The enemycould not be allowed to remain there.Therefore, a squadron of P-38s was hastilyput together to join the 11th and 18th FighterSquadrons (FS)* of the 28th CompositeGroup which had been in Alaska since thepreceding December, when the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor thrust the UnitedStates into World War II. The 11th and 18thwere equipped with P-40 and P-39s, neitherof which possessed sufficient range to carrythe fight to the Nipponese at the extreme endof the 1,200 mile Aleutian Archipelago.

The P-40s had seen action when Japanesecarrier-based aircraft attacked the US Naval

In May 1942, all US pursuit groups were re-designated'fighter groups'. and the pursuit squadrons became'fighter squadrons.' Normally, three fighter squadronscomprised a fighter group.

34

ba e at Dutch Harbor. Flying from aprimitive airstrip at Otter Point on UmnakIsland, 80 miles west of Dutch Harbor in theEastern Aleutians, the P-40 shot down two'Nates' (Nakajima Ki-43, Type 97) in an airbattle there during the Attu and Kiskalanding on 7June.

Throughout the ummer, however, theJapanese had appeared content to dig-in onKiska, some 850 miles to the west of U mnak,and on Attu, 225 miles beyond Kiska, andforego further offen ive action.

A fir t-hand account of P-38 operation inthe Aleutians is provided to us by Col (ret)George Laven, now a sales and contractofficer for McDonnell Douglas:'I wa in the 54th FS, which was sent fromMcChord Field, Washington, to Anchorage,Alaska, in the ummer of 1942. The 54th hadmoved to Cold Bay, on the tip of the AlaskanPeninsula, when I arrived with two otherP-38 pilots.

'Our fir t offensive mission came on3 September, when Lt Victor E. Walton andI volunteered to hit Kiska from our trip onUmnak Island. On paper, it wasn't po ible,and four other P-38 pilot who alsovolunteered had to turn back due to lack offuel. Our P-38Es had 230 gallons (US) ofinternal fuel, and a normal consumption of 59gallon per hour at 75 per cent power and25,000ft. But Walton and I extended ourrange by holding high manifold pressure withlow rpm settings, a crui e-control method

later taught to US pilots In the Pacific byCharles Lindbergh.

'We also believed that we had inventedskip-bombing with our P-38s, but were latertold that P-40 pilots had employed this tacticmonths earlier in the Philippines.

'We went after Japanese shipping at tenfeet. On that first mission, I chose as a target a10,000-ton Japane e freighter in KiskaHarbor; but our bomb fuses were often badin those days, and my bomb went rightthrough the ship without exploding. Waltonand I approached Kiska from the northwest,screened by the 1,200ft ridges along thatcoast, at 14.32hrs. I crossed under Walton aswe dropped down to the harbour to shoot-upa four engine Kawasaki Ki-97 flying boat,and then banked sharply left again to strafethe anti-aircraft guns which were thick alongthe north rim of the harbour. I then cut acrossthe mouth of the harbour and left the area,heading out to sea in a outheasterlydirection. Walton made a 180-degree turnover the docks on the harbour's south rim, hita transport ship in the centre of the harbour,and went out the way we came in. We hadboth 20mm and .50-calibre ammunitionremaining, but felt that fuel was too criticalto warrant more pas es. We made it back toUmnak with a few gallons to spare.

'All but 10 of the original 31 P-38 pilots inthe Aleutians were killed there, most of themlost to the weather. In one case, four of uswere flying the wing of a B-17 to a strip we

Above: Lt Herbert Hasenfu rode apair of tiger sharks into combatover the Aleutians. / Francis J. PopeTop left: When it wa n't ice andfog, it was rain and fog in theAleutian. / Mitch Mayborn

Centre left: Lt Richard Bracey had35 hours in P-38s when he went tothe Aleutian, but logged 250 hourin the world's wor t flying weather.All but 10 of the original 31 pilotsof the 54th FS were killed in theAleutians. / Richard Bracey

Bouo/tl left: The .50 calibre gunnormaJly carried 300 rounds ofammunition each; the 20mrncannon was fed by a 15G-rounddrum. / U AF

35

Below: Capt Frank Shearin (left)and LtJohn Geddes of the 54th FSwith P-38H-5 at Adak, September1943. / Col (ret) Frank lJearin

Left: The enemy also suffered fromthe Aleutian weather.Reconnaissance photo shows fourAoatplanes blown ashore anddamaged by high winds at Attu./U AF

had opened at Adak, about 375 miles west ofUmnak. We were a very few feet off thewater, and the fog was so bad that thenumber one man could not see numbers threeand four of his formation. When we got toAdak, three and four were gone, they had hita rock sticking out of the water. You canguess how close numbers one and two cameto it. A number of P-38 pilots shot down inthe water were alive when they hit; but wealmost never recovered one alive. The frigidwater killed them within minutes.

'In the fall of 1942, since we were notgetting replacement aircraft, damaged butflyable P-38s were to fly back to the US forrepairs or replacement. Four of us leftAmchitka, where our people had built anairstrip only 75 miles from Kiska, and I wasthe only one who made it. We all got as far asAnnette Island, but en route from there toPaine Field at Everett, Washington, we hitfog and two of our companions were neverheard from again. The third got to Paine, buthis hydraulic system was out, and by the timehe got his wheels pumped down the fteld hadsocked-in. He landed long; skidded off theend of the runway. He survived, but theairplane didn't. I landed on Vancouver Island,which I found quite by chance. I then flew onto San Antonio where my plane was to berepaired; I had no flaps, having had them shotout. When my plane was fiXed, I returned toAnchorage alone, then down the island chainto Amchitka on the wing of a B-24.

'The P-38 was the only airplane for thatplace, and also for the Southwest Pacific,because of its twin engines over water.Having two fans instead of one made a worldof difference. The machine I flew in the

36

38

Below: The Japane e sent hundredsof incendiary devices across theNorth PacifiC by free balloonduring World War II in an attemptto start forest fires in WesternCanada and the US Northwest.P-38s hot down this one over theocean. / USAF

Two months after Attu was recaptured,American troops invaded Kiska, only to

'We had two rules for dog-fighting the"Zeros" (Mitsubi hi A6Ml-8, Type 0, carrier-based fighter, Hamp/Zeke). Keep speedminimum of 300mph and always break hard-right and up. The Japanese fighters wereover-powered for their airframes, and torquedid not permit a tight, high-speed right turn.

'Speaking of performance, 1returned to theUnited States in September 1943, and whilein the pilots' lounge at Santa Maria Air Base,California, 1 overheard three P-38 studentpilots scorning this airplane. They weresaying the P-38 would not operate above25,Oooft , or if it would, their instructorwould not take them. 1 found out theirinstructor's name and cleared a flight with thestudents.

'My briefing was short and to the point:"Were going to take this four ship formationup and we will continue to climb until one ofyou say 'Uncle.' " With that we took off. At42,80Oft indicating on the altimeter, 1 heard agarbled "uncle" being transmitted by a throatmike. 100 per cent oxygen under pressuremade it difficult to speak at high altitude. Theformation was climbing at 500ft per minutewhen the climb was terminated. That flightconvinced them that the P-38 was a high-altitude aircraft.

'I later flew P-51s for about 250 hours.rate the P-38 as the best overall fighter.'

In September 1942 the three fighter squadronsin the Aleutians, 54th, 11th, and 18th, wereformed into the 343rd Fighter Group of the11th Air Force. At that time, RCAF fightersquadron in Alaska, No 14 and 111, flyingP-40 Kittyhawks, returned to Canada.

Throughout the winter and early spring(though it is hard to tell the difference in theAleutians) the American fighters flewbombing and strafing missions to Attu andKiska. Then on 11 May 1943 a US Navy taskforce put ashore on Attu the US Army'sSeventh Division, and after fighting fornearly three weeks among the icy, fog-shrouded crags, the Seventh overwhelmedthe 2,300 Japanese there, aided, as weatherpermitted, by the 11 th Air Force.

Col (ret) Frank Shearin Jr, now executivevice lresident of the Happy Bear Corp,joine the 54th FS at Adak in December1942, moving up to Amchitka when that stripwas completed in March 1943:'During the fighting on Attu, we tried tokeep eight P-38s over the target duringdaylight hours. We carried one 500 or1,0001b bomb, and one 165gal external fueltank. On 24 May Group Commander Lt-ColWatt was shot down while attacking aformation of "Bettys" (Mitsubishi G4Ml,Type 1 twin-engined attack/bomber). Onlythree of a flight of25 "Bettys" returned home.John Gettt:s was also shot down, butwas picked up uninjured by a Navydestroyer.

Top: ki-equipped p- F andP-3 ~-l (above) were tested inAlaska by Lt Randy Acord, but skiswere not ad pted for general u e./ American Aviation His/oricol ocie/y

Above: Mo t Lightning in theAleutians were I st to weather-related accidents. These are salvagedP-38L-S at hemya late in the war./ AF

Left: Lightning F-SB-1 (P-38G-IO)at Meeks Field, Iceland, 9 Augu t1943. Chalked n t on prop bladeread: 'OillOqts, g S3Sgal'/ AF

ri J umb r 41-2076.m wn F-100 that

I commanded Georgehad the same last four

Aleutian wYear larer1 had wh nAir Force Ba e,number .'

The American base on Adak, and later onAmchitka, allowed US pilots to strike theenemy as often as weather permitted. Amaximum effort strike on Kiska on 14September- 1942 consisted of 12 B-24 , 14P-38s, and 14 P-39s. Two P-38 were I twhen they collided over the target area.These were piloted by Lt Crowe and Maj rJackson, the squadron's fir t c mmandinofficer.

Lt-Col (ret) Richard Bracey, wh n wowns a lumber mill in Thomasville, eorgia,was another 54th pilot:'I went directly from flying school to a P-38training group at Paine Field in August 1942.1had 35 hours in P-38s when 1was ent to theAleutians that November. There, 1 loggedabout 250 hours, mostly in fog. 1tangled with"Rufe" type "Zeros" (Nakajima A6M2-NType 2, Model 12 - fighter floatplane),weather, and flak ...

'The best thing 1 remember about the P-38is that it brought me home single-engine three times. It had a low stallingspeed, no t6rque, and five fixed gunsstraight ahead. 1 flew the P-51 and itwas a fine airplane; but give me a '38anytime.'

)discover that the enemy had slipped away inthe fog.

In October 1943 the 54th FS movedwestward to the Island of Shemya to standguard. The 11th and 18th, based at Adak,were to eventually receive P-38Ls in July1945, and moved on to Shemya at thattime.

Earlier, in the summer of 1942, at about thetime the 54th FS arrived at Alaska, otherP-38s were flying the North Atlantic toEngland.

British and Canadian pilots had been flyingAmerican-built multi-engined aircraft acrossthe North Atlantic since 1939; but theferrying of planes with lesser range demanuedstepping-stone airstrips on Greenland andIceland. A base on Iceland was preparedmonths before America was forced into thewar. US Marines, supported by the P-40-equipped 33rd Pursuit Squadron of the8th Pursuit Group, were ent there byPresident Roosevelt in July 1941 (The P-40swere flown off the deck of the Carrier Wasp).By mid-summer 1942, airstrips in Greenland,Bluie West One and Bluie West Eight,possessed radio navigational aids, and thebuild - up of US airpower in Englandbegan under the code name OperationBolero.

During the rest of that year, a total of 882aircraft out of 950 which started, most ofthem flown by young Americans who hadnever seen an ocean before, arrived safely.These included 366 heavy bombers, 150medium bombers, 183 transports, and 178P-38 Lightnings.

The Lightnings, P-38Fs and P-38F-1s,belonged to the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups,and were sheperded across, in flights of four,by B-17s of the 97th Bomb Group.

On 27 June 194280 Lightnings of the 94th,27th, and 71st FSs, 1st FG, left Bangor,Maine, following 20 B-17Es of the 341st BS,97th BG. All but two of the five-plane flights(four fighters, one bomber) completed thecrossing without remarkable incident. Thosetwo were Tomcat Yellow Flight, consistingof the B-17E Dodo and three P-38s; andTomcat Green Flightled by B-17E Big Stoop,also with three P-38s. One P-38 had abortedfrom each flight at Bluie West One withmechanical problems.

The two drop-outs were fortunate, becausethe B-17s led the fighters into increasinglybad weather while BW-1 behind them atNarsasuak, Greenland became socked-in.Learning that their destination in Iceland wasalso closed, they tried BW-8 on Greenland'seast coast only to fmd it, too, zero-zero.

Left: An operational loss. P-38F-5sin 42-12595. 50th FS, Iceland.3 February 1944. I USAF

Be/ow: P-38F-1s of the 27th FS, 1stFG, arrived in Iceland 6July 1942.continued to England 28 August.I USAF

Right: 2-Lts Harry Stengle andJame McNulty of the 50th FS

hared aJu88 over Iceland on24 April 1943. / USAF

Below: During 1942, 178 Lightningwere Rown to England via theNorth Atlantic ferry route, while656 reached Britain by sea. / U AF

Finally, low on fuel, the two flights turnedsouth to look for a place to land on the icecap. With their choices limited, they wereforced to accept a spot veined with creva e.The first P-38 to go in lost its landing gear ina wheels-down landing, so the remainingLightnings, and then the Fortresses, all landedwheel-up. Not one of the 25 men in the eightaircraft was seriously injured.

They were found within a couple of daysby a B-24 Liberator piloted by LtJ. B. Long,and eventually rescued by dog sled. A recentnote from a researcher in California informsthat the airplanes are there today, in'excellent condition.' The official USAAFreport on the incident gives the location as65 20' N; 45 20' W.

So, the 94th FS lost six of it airplanes, butno pilots, crossing the North Atlantic. The50th FS, 14th FG, wa not as fortunate.

On 1 August 16 Lightnings of the 50th FSleft Goose Bay, Labrador, led by four B-17 ,and over Davis Strait a P-38 piloted byLt Goodrich simply disappeared. No one sawhim go, though all aircraft were in visualcontact with one another above a 7,000ftovercast, and Goodrich made no distress callon his radio.

He could not have been gone very longwhen he was missed, and LtJ. W. Williams,commanding the lead B-17, handed over his

P-38s to another Fortress and turned back fora search below the overcast. The sea wasrough beneath the 600ft ceiling, and visibilitypoor. Williams gave up after 45 minutes, andre umed hi course.

Lightnings of the 94th, 71st andHeadquarters Squadrons of the 1st FG arrivedin England between 9July and 25 July. The27th FS, which had reached Iceland on 6July,remained there until 28 August, adding somemuscle to the defence duties of the 33rdsP-40s.

During this time, Lt Elza E. Shahan of the27th shared with P-40 pilot J. K. Shaffercredit for the first German aircraft destroyedin the European Theatre of Operations(ETa) by the USAAF in World WarlIwhen they shot down an FW200 Kurier, afour-engined armed reconnaissance plane, offthe Icelandic coast on 15 August.

The 48th and 49th FSs of the 14th FGreached England during the last two weeks inAugust, permanently leaving behind inIceland the 50th FS, which relieved the 27th.This allowed the 27th FS to join its sister unitsof the 1st FG in England.

The 1st FG was based at Ibsley, and the14th FG at Atcham, Shrewsbury. Bothgroups belonged to the US 8th Air Force,formed in January 1942 for the coming attackon Hitler's Europe. However, even as the

Below: Langford Lodge, nearBelfast, was a large modificationand repair facility operated byLockheed and the 8th ServiceCommand. P-38F-5 and F-15 areidentifiable here. / USAF

43

Above: Delivery of the P- G beganin eptember 1942. The G modelswere fitted with Alii on F-IO seriesengines (V-1710-51/55) whichproduced an extra 100hp at 25,oooft.The last 200 P-3 G-10s could carryl,800lb on each underwing pylon./ EdwardJablollSki

Left: Newly arrived Lightnings onQueen's Drive in Liverpool beingtowed to Liverp 01 Airdrome,9January 1943. / AF

Right: The P-38H series, withAllison F-15 (V-1710- 9/91)engine of 1,425hp each, alsoreceived new superchargers andautomatic oil temp control.Maximum speed at 25,OOOft was402mph. / U AF

Lightning groups set about preparing forcombat over the Continent, the exigencies ofwar had decreed that they fight elsewhere.

On 8 July Prime Minister Churchill hadsent a message to President Roosevelt urgingthat they proceed with the invasion of NorthAfrica, an operation they had previouslydiscussed. Since the two leaders had alreadydetermined that the invasion of Europe wasnot feasible before the spring of 1944,Roosevelt agreed (after a 10-day delay due toinitial opposition from his top Army andNavy commanders, General Marshall andAdmiral King), and Operation Torch wasscheduled for sometime in the fall. Thisresulted in establishment of the US 12th AirForce in August 1942, which wouldnecessarily claim the P-38 units available inEngland.

Meanwhile, the P-38 groups engaged inpractice sweeps over the Channel with RAFsquadrons, practiced gunnery, simulatedattacks on bomber formations, receivedinstruction from British operations andintelligence officers, and familiarisedthemselves with British radio procedures.

Two-plane elements of the 1st FG werescrambled a number of times to interceptreported enemy aircraft; but the pilots werenever told whether these were practice drillsor for real. No enemy aircraft were sighted.The 94th FS lost.- Lt Charles Oakley to anoperational accident near Thirsk. DuringOctober, the 14th FG flew several bomberescort missions to the French Coast, butencountered no enemy aircraft.

Then, on 24 October, the groups werealerted for movement. Their destination was,of course, unknown to them. Four days later,the ground echelons boarded ships atLiverpool. and the aircraft were flown toLand's End on England's southernmost tip.From there, they would fly to Gibraltar on8 November the day Operation Torch wascheduled to begin. Many would not return.

~bov~: A 4 th FS P~3 F Mickey A wn byDoc Watson at GIbraltar taging field for

Operation Torch.; Roger Freemoll

North Africa

When Operation Torch wa launched on8 November 1942 with Allied landings inNorth-west Africa, British andCommonwealth force had been fighting theGermans and Italians in a see-saw war inNorth-ea t Africa for more than two years.However, just five days earlier, GeneralBernard Montgomery' British 8th Army hadbroken out of its defen ive position atEI Alamein in Egypt, and was pursuing FieldMarshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korpswestward into Libya. Therefore, Torchprovided the western jaw of a giant pmcer,1,700 mile aero, within which enemyforces in North Africa could be destroyed.

The key to ultimate victory in NorthAfrica would be the succes ful interdiction ofthe enemy's supply lines acros the

~editerranean,and the key to that was Alliedaupower.

General Montgomery, who understood theproper u e of airpower, could press hiadvantage confident that Air MarshalTedder' De ert Air Force (which includedthe newly - formed US 9th AirForce) controlled the air over North-eastAfrica.

However, General Dwight Eisenhower, inoverall command of Torch, had yet to learnthe proper use of tactical airpower. He soonhad General Jimmy Doolittle's US 12th AirForce pread thinly over 600 miles of North-west Africa to serve, piecemeal, the presumedneed of his ground commanders. The twoP-38 groups, particularly the 14th FG, wouldpay heavily for this wasteful concept.

Below: Lightnings of the 4 th FS,14th FG, arrived in Algeria on11 November 1942, three day afterthe invasion of North Africa byAllied forces under Eisenh wer.; AF

Above: Welcoming committee; theGermans wasted no time mountingtheir first bombing raid against thenewly arrived P-38 at MaisonBlanche, Algiers, 16 November1942./ USAF

Top right: Pilots of the 48th FS justafter arriving at Youks les Bains,21 November 1942. Back row,leftto right: Lts Yates, Eubank,Sorensen, Tollen, Beimdiek, Ethell,Goebel, Carroll, Bestegen,Schottelkorb, and V. Smith. Frontrow: Capts Wroten, Bing, Walle,Watson; and Lts Shipman andZiegler/ Simpson Historical Research Center,MaxwellAFB

Bottom right: Lightning of the 27thFS, 1st FG, tuck in clo e to a B-17over North Africa on long-rangeescort./ Allie Moszyk via EdwardJablonski

t8

Operation Torch proceeded according toplan during the first days (except for behind-the-scene political moves involving thepuppet French leaders). Allied forces wentashore at several points around Oran, Algiers,and at Mehedia (Port Lyautey), Safl, andFedhala around Casablanca in FrenchMorocco.

There were some resistance from VichyFrench forces, but in the main the French hadlittle inclination to fight, and all threw downtheir arms by 11 November.

On that day, at 13.30hrs, the first Lightningmission flown from African soil was carriedout by pilots of the 48th FS. 14th FG. TheP-38 groups, the 1st and 14th, had flown fromLand's End to Gibraltar on the day of theinvasion, and the 48th's air echelon wa on thefield at Tafaraoui on the 11th. The 49th FSarrived on the 18th. The 1st FG could put afew P-38s in the air from North Africa on the20th. By then, the ground support people hadfound their air echelons, and the pilots wereno longer required to fuel and arm their ownmachines.

The 48th FS moved to Maison Blanche onthe 16th, and, that night, the Luftwaffebombed and strafed the field, the Germans,along with some Italian troops, havingarrived at EI Aouina Airfield near Tunis justone day after the invasion. The hangars atMaison Blanche were severely damaged, and18 aircraft received major damage, includingseven P-38s.

On 18 November, the 48th FS flew its firstofEcial combat mission after gathering 12

Lightnings from the ruin visited upon thesquadron two nights before. This was anescort of20 C-47s to Constantine.

On 20 November the Germans returned toMaison Blanche with 20 Ju87s and Ju88s,destroying an entire British photo-recce unit,four Spitfires (there were two US fightergroups in the 12th AF equipped withSpitfires, the 31st and 52nd), threeBeauflghters, a B-17, and two P-38s.Fortunately, the 1st FG (still not combat-ready), had moved to Nouvion earlier thatday. The 14th's two quadrons moved thenext day.

The 14th's new home wa Youk les Bain ,about 10 miles east of Tabessa in North-eastAlgeria. The 4,500ft runway at Youks was ina tiny valley, with foothills rising to 4,ooofton each side, and with a deep wash at oneend. It was a forward base, so forward in factthat the only possibility of supply was by wayof the 60th Troop Carrier Group I C-47'Gooney Birds.' Sharing Youks with the 14thwas a squadron of Douglas DB-7 lightbombers manned by recently liberated Frenchairmen, and some British paratroopers. On25 November the 94th FS of the 1 t FG alsocame to Youks, while the 71st FS returned toMaison Blanche for bomber e cort duty.

Meanwhile, on the 21st, ix P-38s of the48th FS tangled with the Luftwaffe for thefirst time while escorting 12 Fortresses toTunis. Near the target four Me109s werespotted and a 25-minute running battleensued. Lt Carl Williams got oneMesserschmitt when it attempted to dive

away from him. He quickly overtook the~nemy. and scored the first Lightning victorym Africa. Lt Ayers was injured when he wasforced to crash-land due to battle damage.

The next day, pilots from both squadronsof the 14th FG flew a total of three missionsand one intercept. To start the day properly,Capt :Wade Walles, 48th FS CO, led fiveP-38s m a fighter sweep that accounted for alocomotive, four tanks, and ... a motorcycle.The se~ond mission of the day was forreconn~1SSanc~, but Lt Mark Shipham foundan Italian twm-engine Breda which he sentcrashing to earth. On the third mission LtsS rense.n an~ Tollen hot up a troop train,destroymg It locomotive. Finally, LtSorensen and Shipman were standing alert atYouks late in the day when a Ju88 appeared?ver the field at about 9,000ft. Theymt~rcepted the enemy and scored hits ontheIr f~st pass. One of Shipman's engineswas hit, so he wheeled away, allowingSorensen to follow the stricken bomber downuntil it crashed.

Three combat missions and an intercept ina day, that was to be the norm for the P-38sin North Africa. Throughout December1942, one could count on a single hand thenumber of days the Lightnings failed to fly;and those were days of impossible flyingweather. Or, perhaps mor~ properly, thosewere the days when the bIg fighters simplycould not be moved through the mud.

50

Mud was an enemy with which Alliedplanners had not reckoned. Expecting tomake unopposed landings in Morocco andAlgeria, and to grab the strategic town ofTunis in a quick thrust, British and Americanforces found them elves frustrated by theGermans' quick reaction, a great airlift ofplanes, tanks, and men from nearby Sicily, bylack of mobility when the rains came; and bycommitting their aircraft, a few at a time, toground support missions and un-coordinatedbombing raids, with no priority given to thedefeat of German and Italian Air Forces andcontrol of the air over North-west Africa.

The P-38s at Youks eventually triumphedover the mud. Lt Ervin Ethell's plane,Tangerine, was wrestled on to a smooth slopeof solid rock that rose into the hills adjacentto the field. There wa almost 1,700t of it.Ethell taxied to the top, swung around andtook-off downhill. He circled, then landeduphill. Youks was an all-weather fieldafter all.

At least, it was for the airplanes. The mencontinued to live in the mud. Tents were thehighest style of living until empty five-gallonans were fashioned into an officer's club.

od was almost always K-Ration, except forme eggs and mutton bartered from localrabs.The mission assigned to the P-38s at Youks

that of air support for the Allied forces inntral Tunisia, which included the right

flank of the US 1st Armored Division, andthe British 78th Division. But this was airsupport as envisioned by local groundcommanders.

Mission No 26 was typical, areconnaissance to the Bizerte area flown byLts Ethell and Skinner of the 48th FS, and LtsButler and Evan of the 49th FS. Heading forEl Arousa and anticipating heavy flak nearBizerte, the four Lightnings went down tothe deck. Then, nosing over a hill by LakeBizerte, they suddenly saw in the sky ahead atight formation of 15 or 20 Ju52s, flying about30ft above the water and escorted by fourMe109s.

The P-38s fell upon the transports betweenMenzel and Metline. 'It was like flushing acovey of quail,' Ervin Ethell recalls. 'Theytried to scatter, but we were on top of them.'Ethell methodically blasted four of thetransports from the sky and was working on afifth when he noticed that Skinner was introuble with two Me109s. Ethell broke awayfrom the Junkers, closed on the tail of oneMesserschmitt and gave it a three-secondburst with his cannon and four .50s. TheGerman fighter went down behind a hilltrailing smoke. But Skinner also went down.

Evans had accounted for a fifth Ju52. Then,separated and low on fuel, the three P-38sdived for the deck and headed home.

In addition to reconnaissance and groundattack assignments, the P-38s were much in

Above: The soft, often muddywasteland at Youks took its toll.Berber tribesmen watch as salvagecrew works. / Kenneth M. Sumney

Top left: Living conditions at Youkswere on the primitive ide; foodwas worse. Lightning inbackground has markings (HV-S)of 27th FS, tationed at Biskra./ Kenneth M. I/Inney

Borrol/l left: Deluxe quarters atYouks shared by Lt NormanJackson and John Caputo, the latterin entrance. Construction was dirt-filled five-gallon fuel tins./ orman W. Jackson

51

Top right: Col Elljot Roosevelt, thePre idem's son and CO of the 3rdPhG, discusses mis ion with Lt-ColFrank L. Dunn at La Senia. / USAF

&JIIOIIJ right: P-38F-1, bearingSuperman insignia, at Youks lesBajns in December 1942. The'UN' code was for the 94th FS, 1stFG. / Kenneth M. SlIlIIlIey

Be/ow: An F-4 Lightning o( the 3rdPhotographic ReconnaissanceGroup which arrived at La Serna,Algeria, in mid-December 1942./ AF

m r e cort duty.rhawks, nor the

It Ir had the range of theI htnin . h refore, the P-38s were pickedr the kind of missions that seemed to ensure

a maximum ofenemy opposition.Meanwhile, the lack of replacement pilots

and planes further eroded the Lightninggroups' effectiveness. Most mission wereflown with six to eight P-38s. Two and four-plane missions were not unu ual and 16 to 18Lightnings for bomber e cort (protecting 20to 25 medium or heavie ) wa a maximumeffort.

Then, ju t before Christmas 1942, theLightning-equipped 82nd FG (95th, 96th, and97th FS ) arrived in North Africa, along withome replacement pilots for the 1st and

14th FGs. However, the 82nd was also understrength and, by the middle ofJanuary 1943,when Prime Minister Churchill and PresidentRoosevelt met at Casablanca, the 1st, 14th,and 82nd FGs had a total of but 90 P-38sbetween them. Normally a single US fightergroup would have 10 to 20 more airplanesthan that.

Things could have been worse, had not the3rd Photographic Reconnaissance Grouplanded its F-4 Lightnings at La Senia, Algeriaa month earlier to take over one of the toughjobs the fighters had been trying to handle.The 3rd PhG, by the war' wa commandedby th~ President's on, Co Elliot Ro evelt.

It is hardly possible to ay too much infavour of the unarmed F-4/F-5 group.Their s was a unique mission, composed ofapproximately equal parts of boredom anddanger. And despite the fact that they

received little glory, no Lightning groupcontributed more to ultimate victory, inAfrica and elsewhere. Since they almostalways flew alone, their comrade seldomknew the cause when one failed to return.

During thi period Lt Virgil Smith, thetheatre' fir t American ace (48th FS), washim elf shot down by an Me109 while on abomber escort rni sion to Gabes. Two of hissquadron mates, Lts Carroll and C. Smith,were lost in the same air battle between 12Lightnings and five exceedingly goodMesserschmitt pilots. In the hard blue aboveNorth Africa, the good guys did not alwayswm.

In the end, they did. They did becau e theylearned quickly and well; and becauseEisenhower knew he was doing somethingwrong, and sent to England for General CarlSpaatz to tell him what it was.

America has possessed no greater aircommander than General Spaatz. A W orIdWar I fighter pilot, credited with three airvictories in France as CO of the 31st AeroSquadron, Spaatz commanded a pursuitgroup between wars, and went to England in1942 to run the US 8th AF. He would laterbecome Chief of the USAAF when GeneralArnold retired, and was the one man mostresponsible for creation of today'sindependent USAF.

When G neral paatz arrived in NorthAfrica, h ed the ituation and then wascharacteri ti ally bri f and t -the-point in hisrecommendation to eneral Ei enhower. Hesaid that fighter airplane are poor defensiveweapons; that airpower h uld alway beused on the offensive, and that the first

mission of a tactical air force should be to wi~air superiority. Then, and only then, should ttturn its attention to the supplementary rolesrequired of it by an advancing ground force.

General Eisenhower gave Spaatz a freehand to do whatever was necessary.

That soon resulted in creation of theNorth-west African Air Forces (N,AAF),headed by General Spaatz, and wi~h a unifle.dchain of command made up entirely of auofficers. In late February 1943, NAAF w~integrated into Air .Chief M.arshal Tedd~r sMediterranean Atr Command, whichincluded, in North-east Africa, theCommonwealth Desert Air Forces and theUS 9th AF under Air Vice-MarshalConingham. Coningham's planes were bossesof the air over Libya as Montgomery pursuedRommel into Tunisia. .

So at last all Allied air in North Afncawas 'properiy structured .and efficientlydirected. Time, God, and a httle luck shouldtake care of all else.

Time was a commodity in short supplywithin the USAAF Training Command, andreplacement pilots for t~e decimated P-38groups in North-west Afnca often needed torely on the other two above-mentionedfactors.

A too typical product of those desperatedays was Lt Norman W. Jackson, ~ne of t.hefirst 26 replacement pilots that arnved wtththe 82nd FG just before Christmas 1942: .'I had only 30 hours in P-38s, and no aenalgunnery. Graduating from a bomberadvanced school and being stationed atOlympia, Washington, for .three mont~s offog and rain, had left something to he demed.

52

'Arriving in North Africa, we were put incombat with the 14th FG at a time when theywere being terribly mauled by ground fire, aswell as superior numbers of experiencedGerman pilots.

'By the time I had 30 hour' combat, I hadbailed out, crash-landed in the desert,returned home on one engine, and broughtanother P-38 home so shot up that it wasjunked.

'Being inept at gunnery wa fru trating,but I finally managed two confirmedvictories, one Fw190 head-on, holding thered dot on hi yellow pinner almost too longand flying through the debri ; and the otheran Me109 from the rear, closing 0 fa t thatmy prop almost chewed him up before Ibroke off ... '

Jackson's experiences not only under core hisown determination in the face of his everalhandicap, but remind u again that the bigfighter took pretty good care of it pilot.

It certainly took care of Capt HerbertJohnson of the 48th FS one day. While on afighter sweep near Tripoli with even otherP-38s, Johnson spotted four enemy staff carsand four trucks between the border andMedenine in South-east Tuni ia. TheLightning had already hot up orne othertargets, but the cars looked important. HerbJohnson went in with all five guns firing andone car exploded; but his concentration onthe target had crossed that fine line into

Above: Engine change. The nationalinsignia was outlined in red on4 th FS machines while yellowoutline was used by most others.I Ervin EtlJell

Above centre: Lt William J. Hoelle ofthe 49th FS surveys damage to hisp- Maximum Goose incurred whenhe struck a telephone pole during atraflllg run, 31 December 1942.IU AF

Above left: General Carl A. 'Tooey'Spaatz (left), and Lt-Col RalphGarman, CO of the 1st FG.I Kenneth M. umney

&ttO/ll left: Lt Virgil H. mith, 4 thF ,14th FG, scored fl ve aerialvIctories during his fmt month incombat over North Africa. I USAF

R;~JJt: The airfield at Bi kra,Algeria was home to the 301stBomb Group, the 1st FG, and HQfor the 12th Bomber Command inJanuary 1943. I U AF

east of Telergma. The 1st FG was at Biskra,working with Bomber Command, and the82nd FG would not have all its peopletogether, and enough airplanes, to begineffective operations from Telergma untilearly February.

Between 9January and 28January, the 14thFG flew 23 missions (232 sorties) in responseto 12th Fighter Command directives. On23January Maj Wade Walles led 16Lightnings on a strafmg mission to Gabes andBen Gardine. Just short of Mendenine, theflight entered an overcast and broke out overthe Luftwaffe fIeld at Ben Gardine. Theenemy was caught by surprise. There were anumber of aircraft on the field, some in thelanding pattern, and some taking-off. TheP-38s bounced the planes that were airborne,about 20 in number.

Lt Yates made a pass only to fInd an Me109on his tail, though it went down almost atonce under the guns of Capt Ralph Watson.Other German fighters were hit, but therewas no time to watch them trike the ground.In addition to the low-altitude dogfight,ground fire was intense. Lt Schottelkorb wasseen to crash in flames. When the P-38s broke

fixation, and Capt Johnson flew into theground.

Lt Ervin Ethell, flying with John on, sawthe horrendous cloud of dust and~~ediately~etarded power to circle and seeIf hIs companion had, by chance, urvived theera h. Then Ethell tared in di belief as~ohn.son's P-38, minus one propeller and withIS tail booms a kew came staggering out ofthe du t still flying. Nur ing hi peedcarefully, Johnson actually coaxed hi flyingwreck to almost 8,OOOft to clear themountains between him and Youks IeBaine. There, he landed wheel -up andwalked away unhurt.

A good as Youk must have looked toCapt Johnson that day, it wasn't much of aplace to return to. In addition to the poorfood and primitive life tyle, Youks wasperiodically bombed and strafed by Ju88s;and. on 9January 1943, following apartlcularly heavy raid by the Luftwaffe, the14th FG moved to Berteaux, about five mile

Right; Lt Ervin C. Ethell of the 14thFG had four confirmed victorieand a probable in a single acti nnear Bizerte on 28 November 1942.I Emili Ethell

Far right; Flak-damaged Lightn1l1gof the 48th FS (ES) apparently hasnational insignia outlined in red.Red photographs darker than blueon some old films. I En'in EthellBelo[/!; Thi P-38F-15 of the 94th FS.1 t FG. struck a pole while strafing,but returned to base.I Kelllleth M. II//tlley

Riglrt: Maj-GenJames Doolittle pinsthe Di tinguished Flying Cross onMaj Wade C. W~les, CO of the4 th FS, February 1943. / U AF

Below: Ubiquitous entertainer BobHope was in North Africa in 1943posing with P-38 pilots (left toright) Lts George Richards,JohnMeidinger, A. G. Barber. andRichardJennings of the 14th FG./USAF

For riglrt, top: A 94th FS Lightningat Biskra. Ace, Daisy, Eunice, andDick are among the names paintedon this one. / Kennetlr M. umney

For riglrt, bottom: Lightnings of the49th F ,14th FG, approach Tunison an armed reconnai sancemi ion. / Ervin C. Etlrell

off the 3O-minute melee, low on fuel andammunition, only 10 of them left the area.

Of the six missing pilots, Lt Mark Shipmanwould be the only one to make it back.S~pm~ crash-landed his badly damagedLIghtmng near Gafsa; was stripped of hisbelongings, except for a pair of pants, bylocal Arabs, and then proceeded to walk the250 miles back to Berteaux, at one point inhis journey passing through an Italian camp asifhe belonged there.

On 28 January 1943 the 14th FG was takenout of combat. Of the original 54 pilots whoparticipated in Operation Torch, 32 had beenlost, 23 in aerial combat. In exchange, the14th was credited with 62 enemy aircraftde troyed, seven probabIes, and 17 damaged,a proud record indeed when one considersthat aerial combat was largely a by-productof the 14th's assigned role in North-westAfrica.

With the departure of the 14th FG, therewould be but two Lightning groups to fightin North-west Africa. The skeletonised82nd FG had flown a few missions duringJanuary 1943 and, bolstered by the planes andreplacement pilots left behind by the 14th, the82nd was at least as strong as the group it

-

replaced. The 1st FG was moved toChateaudun-du-Rhumel on 28 January tocontinue its service to Bomber Command.

On the 30th, 16 Lighmings of the 82nd's96th squadron escorted B-25 Mitchells toEI Aouinet, and in a running battle withMe109s, from Gabes to Chott Djerid, fourP-38s were lost and six of the enemy wentdown. Most of these pilots were recentlycommissioned staff sergeant pilots, includingLt William J. Sloan credited with his firstvictory this day. Sloan would go on tobecome the 82nd FG's ranking ace with 12official victories.

Meanwhile, the British 8th Army hadchased Rommel all the way to Tunisia. Bymid-February, the Afrika Korps linked upwith the German and Italian forces atMedenine, and Rommel assumed overallcommand of the Axis forces in Tunisia. Heestablished a strong defensive position on hiseastern flank, known as the Mareth Line, tohalt the Briti h 8th Army, and then boldlyattacked Ei enhower's force to the westthrough the Kas erine Pass. This attack,intended to overrun Allied airfields andcapture badly-needed fuel for German Panzerunit, was turned back after eight days ofheavy fighting. Every Allied airplane thatcould fly was committed to the battle, andeven the B-17s were used in a tactical role atlow altitudes.

Rommel, having found no weakness on hiswestern flank, ent his Panzers in a series offour attacks against the British 8th Army on

59

Top right: Lt Mark Shipman, centre,upon his return to Berteaux after a25G-::mile walk through enemytemtory. At one point in hisjourney he strode boldly through anItaljan encampment./ Ervin C. Ethell

Right: A 48th FS Lightning,P-38G-3 (one ofonly 12 built), atYouks les Bams. / Ervin C. Ethell

BeIOlll: Vi ion obscured by dust, twoP-38 pilots of the 1st FG collidedduring take-ofT at Biskra; January1943. / USAF

6 March. His losses were heavy, and hegained nothing.

Two weeks later, the British out-flankedthe 20-mile-wide Mareth Line, forcingRommel to retreat northward towards Tunis.Then on 7 April elements of the British8th Army met Eisenhower's forces in North-central Tunisia. The two armies, that hadstarted 1,700miles apart, had closed thepincer. Rommel was surrounded and backedagainst the sea.

But there was still a lot of fight left in theDesert Fox; exactly how much, woulddepend upon his aerial supply lines fromSicily and Italy. Allied intelligence sourcessoon reported that more than 500 airtransports, Ju52s, SM82s, and Me323s, wereba ed in Italy and Sicily, and that two dailyruns were made across the narrow SicilianStraits with strong fighter escort. The flightsoriginated at Naples, staged through Sicily,and usually terminated at Sidi Ahmed orEl Aouina. (We would later learn that duringthe four months from December to the end ofMarch, the Germans airlifted more than40,000 men and 14,000 tons of supplies toAfrica.)

This great enemy airlift spawnedOperation Flax, a coordinated Allied airoffensive directed against the Germantransports and their bases.

Operation Flax began on 5' April 1943,with the 1st FG making an early morningweep of the Mediterranean north of the

Cape Bone-Bizerte area, while the 95th FS ofthe 82nd FG escorted Mitchells to Bo RimzoAirfield in Sicily, and the 95th FS tookanother gaggle of Mitchells to look for

enemy shipping in the Sicilian Straits north ofTunis. The P-40 units (there were five USWarhawk groups, along with seven RAF,RAAF, and SAAF Kittyhawk squadrons inNorth Africa) were given additional sweepand terminal attack missions. B-17s, escortedby the 31st FGs Spitfires, bombed the airfieldsat Sidi Ahmed and El Aouina.

The action began early, at 06.30hrs, whenthe 26 Lightnings from the 1st FG found 50 to75 Ju52s and their fighter escorts north-east ofCape Bone. Attacking in pairs, with theadvantage of altitude, the P-38s destroyed 11of the Junkers transports, three Me109s, anFw187, and two Ju87 Stukas. Two P-38swere lost.

Two hours later, the 20 Lightrlings of the96th FS, with a similar number of Mitchellsin tow, discovered another enemy air convoylow above the Mediterranean in the samearea. There were 40 to 70Ju52s, with a mixedescort of four Ju87s, 10 Me109s, six MellOs anMe210, and an Fw190. The P-38s sharedseven Ju52s with the Mitchells, then foughtthe Messerschrnitts all the way to CapeSerrat, downing three Me109s, one MellO,the Me210, and three Ju87s. Four Lightrlingswent down in this running battle.

On the 10th, the 27th Squadron 1st FG flewtop cover while the 71st Squadron rangeddown to 100ft off the water to fmd the low-flying enemy transports over the SicilianStraits. Again, at 06.30hrs near Cape Bone,the Lightnings came upon their quarry; 50Ju52s, escorted by 15 Macchi C200s andFw190s. This time, the P-38s shot down28 of the enemy and lost none of theirown.

Below: A 48th FS Lightning isserviced at Youks les Bains as C-47supply planes arrived with mail,ammunition and food. / Ervill C.Ethell

61

South-West Pacific1942-1943

Top right: P-38Fs./ Lockheed Aircraft CorporatiollBottom right: P-322 (Lightning Mk1USAAF trainer./ USAF

Overleaf P-38M Night Lightning./USAF

Below: Slightly over 1,400 photo-reconnaissance Lightnings wereproduced. The 6rst 500, built atLockheed and designated F-4 toF-5B, employed airframes andengines of the P-38E to P-38J-10.The rest came from the DallasModification Center as re-worked Jand L models. The F-5 above usedP-38H-1 airframe./ Guy Watson

Someone long ago observed that victory inwar depends less upon the brilliance of anation's leaders than upon the blunders of theenemy. Defeat is largely self-administered. Acase in point is the Japanese attack on the USNaval base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December1941. Nothing America's leaders could havesaid or done would have so united thecountry in a fierce determination to fight. Aday before, the US Congress would haverejected war. A day after, few Americanswould settle for less than the absolute,unconditional surrender of Japan and her

. Axis partners. The Japanese had made ablunder of monstrous proportions.

Japan's folly would not be apparent for awhile because the United States wasunprepared for war. For six months, theNipponese would exult in one victory afteranother as they moved swiftly southwardagainst the Philippines, Malaya, andNetherland's Indies. By the time thePhilippines fell to the Japanese in early May1942, the enemy also controlled Burma,Thailand, French Indochina, the MalayArchipelago, and farther to the east hadsecured strong lodgments on the islands of

New Guinea, New Britain, and in theSolomons, flanking the approaches toAustralia and New Zealand from the UnitedStates.

Into this uncertain arena came theLightning, a total of four of them, on 7 April1942. These machines were F-4s, photo-reconnaissance versions of the P-38E. Theywere assigned to the 8th PhotographicSquadron (which had no parent group) of the5th Air Force, commanded by Maj KarlPolifka, and originally formed in Melbourne,Australia.

The 8th PhS was operational by mid-July,flying from Laloki and Port Moresby,New Guinea, just across theOwen Stanley Mountains from theJapanese.

The Battle of the Coral Sea in May hadsaved Port Moresby from invasion; and theBattle of Midway in June had reduced theenemy's aircraft carrier strength to the samelevel as America's (six each). These twobattles had established the aircraft carrier asthe new master of the seas. Therefore, in viewof the vast distances encompassed by Japan'snewly-won oceanic empire, and America's

but there: ~~tIi38 went down m mlr.ifl~iunarmedJuS2s.

We should mention ~tparticipated very effi .18 April, 47 Warbawlcs ..S~lt:Jstaged the 'Palm Sunday ,...~. \8,58 Ju52s, 14 Me202s, and ur .Me1~shot down for the loss of six Warbawks :lrldone' Spitfire. (Contrary to some off-the-cuifassessments in the past he Waro-hawk/Kittyhawk was more than a match forthe Me109G below 15,000ft.)

The success of Flax, predicated upon Alliedcounn-ol of the air over North Africa from .mid March onward, wrote the finalpronouncement for the Axis powers there.On 13 May 270,000 German and Italiansoldiers. trapped on Tunisia's north coast anddenied the means to make war, surrendered atlast.

Field Marshal Rommel left North Africashortly before the end. and would plague theAllies in Italy a bit later.

The 14th FG, at full strength with a newsquadron added (37th FS). possessing 105pilots and 90 new P-38G~. rerurned toTelergma just before the enemy capirulated.This pioneer Lightning group would returnto the thick of things in Italy.

The fighting 82nd would be there too,along with the 1st FG. The 82nd lost 64Lightnings to down 199 enemy aircraft. plus39 probables and 47 damaged since enteringcombat the previous December. But it wasoffered no respite. Pantelleria and Sicily werenext, then the invasion of Italy .

..

The 82nd FG was up at 10.45hrs with 27Lightnings escorting Mitchells on anothersweep of the sea. At 12.40hrs theyencountered 30 enemy transports with tWoMellOs, three Ju88s, and two Ju87s, 10 milesnorth of Cape Bone heading for Tunis.Eleven P-38s stayed with the Mitchells whilethe others attacked, shooting down 10 Ju52s,a Ju88, and an MellO. Lt W. L. Riddle, aftergetting a transport, ran upon the 110 so fastthat he cut off its tail with his props, downingboth himself and the enemv. Meanwhile, 15Mel09s joined the battle, ~nd one of themwas shot down before the P-38s, Iowanammunition, dived for home. Lt Riddle wastheir only loss.

On the following day, the 82nd was lowover the sea again with 19 Lightnings fromthe 95th FS, and 20 from the 96th FS. The95th flew towards Sicily and met a formationof 20 enemy transports just above the waternorth of La Goulette with a cover of fourMell0s and four or more Ju88s at 2.000ftalong with seven or more Me109s somewhathigher. The P-38s got all of the transports onthis occasion, including one that was believedto be aJu252, and also shot down seven of thee corting fighters. Three Lightning~ werelost, one of which, flown by Lt Grinnan,collided with aJu52.

In the meantime, the 96th FS wasmista~enly directed, and four of its four-planeelements missed the area where the actionwas. The remaining four aircraft, howeverdiscovered 25 to 30 Ju52s flying back toSicily, 10 miles south of Maratina. Theofftcial report omits mention of fighter cover,

Below: Lightnings of the 14th FG'beat up' the field at Berteaux,Morocco, mid-1943./ J,J'a5Itin~ton Narion.ll Record, Celller

capacity to far out-strip Japan in building andmanning new carriers, it was clear that theenemy could not prevent the Americanoccupation and build-up of forces on 'onedamned i~land after another' across theSouth-west Pacific. These bases would insurethe security of Australia and New Zeahnd,and provide the stepping stones to re-take thePhilippines and, ultimately, strike at Japanherself.

Meanwhile, the Japanese must be dislodgedfrom some of these islands, and on 7July 1942the US Joint Chiefs directed that AdmiralNimitz, commanding the Pacific OceanAreas (North, Central, and South PacifiC),begin a series of operations in the Solomons,advancing on the Japanese stronghold ofRabaul on New Britain Island in the BismarkArchipelago. Concurrently, GeneralMacArthur, commanding the South-westPacific Area, would move his Australian andAmerican forces up the northern coast ofNew Guinea.

A stubborn enemy, however, would renderthese twin thrusts both costly and time-consummg.

Far l~(r: An F-SB-1 with a P-38J-Sbehind./ Locklreed Aircraft CorporationBelolII/eft: P-38G-10. / USAFLeft: Dean of Lightning recce pilotswas Karl Polifka, who took the 8thPhS to the SW PacifiC in April1942, later served in Italy. / USAF

BelolII: Lightnings arrive in NewCaledonia, November 1942, for the339th FS on Guadalcanal. / USAF

65

Right: Admiral Chester Nimitzcommanded Central and SouthPacific Areas, including the 7th and13th AFs which drove to meetMacArthur's Southwest Pacificforces, spearheaded by the 5th AF,to regain control of the PaCIfIC andthe air above it./ US Navy

Below: Brave photographer got thisshot of39th FS P-3Bs returning toLaloki (14-Mile Drome), PortMoresby, New Guinea late in 1942.Lightning at left, No 23, was .usually piloted by Charles Sullivan./ Australian War Memorial

In the meantime, Maj Polifka's 8th phSmapped a large portion of eastern NewGuinea and New Britain. The 8th'sLightnings were the only source of hard dataon what the enemy was doing thatMacArthur and Nimitz possessed. Theirnormal recon route was direct to Rabaul,then back to Port Moresby by way of enemy-occupied Lae and Salamaua on New Guinea'snortheast coast.

Polifka and his 'Eight Balls,' as thesquadron came to be known, regardedweather as a greater threat than the enemyfighters. Their Lightnings could out-runanything the Japanese had; but on the way toRabaul the F-4s crossed the Equatorial Frontand its quic