A
P-51 Ditched
The
date was 1 July 1945 and our crew was on its third fighter
navigational mission from Iwo Jima to the Japanese mainland.
The target was in the area of Hamamatsu. Departure was exciting
with 3 B-29's escorting fifty (50) P-51s to inflict damage
to airfields in the area and other targets of opportunity.
Our
passenger was a P-51 pilot whose roll was to communicate
between the bombers and the fighter aircraft. An hour or
so into the flight, we learned that a P-51 flight leader
was experiencing an engine malfunction and one B-29 aborted
to escort the plane to back to Iwo Jima. The remaining 3-hour
flight to the rendezvous location passed without further
incidents. Then the P-51s were off on their own.
Crew
members passed their waiting time relaxing, opening lunch
bags for a snack or napping. From the blister windows you
could see the Pacific Ocean for 140 miles or more. The weather
that day turned out to be very cooperative. As the fighters
returned the targets, the B-29's headed south. We could
now settle in for the four-hour trip back to Iwo.
Our
skipper, Captain James Welch, came on the intercom and said
that a P-51 pilot had ditched and were going back to help
air-sea rescue locate the downed pilot. The question was
how far back? Lt. Ed Reed, better know as Magellan, received
data to work up a time, rate and distance problem. After
that time expired, Captain Welch initiated a square search
maneuver. After a number of squares had been completed and
we were heading south, I could see the in the distance a
shimmering of light reflected off the ocean (it could have
been from a mirror which was included in a survival vest
which everyone wore under their Mae West). I immediately
got on the intercom and asked our pilot, Lt. Larsen, to
look out under the right wing about two or three miles.
We'll
be over there on the next trip around the square" Larsen
replied. We crossed our fingers and hoped to find the downed
pilot somewhere in the vicinity of that oil slick. As Welch
flew P-9 around another square everyone strained their eyes
scanning the ocean surface. Someone yelled over the intercom,
"there he is over there waving at us." The excitement of
pure joy as it was apparent that he was okay as far we could
tell from an attitude of 500 feet. Thank the Good Lord for
the apparent calm sea.
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