Harry Crim photo viaWarren Thompson The Mustangs of Iwo By Barrett Tillman ny pilot who has flown a From Guam, a glance at the map showed three Marine Corps divisions at the cost single-engine airplane be- the way to Japan: the Bonin Islands, of 4,554 American lives. yond sight of land has ex- midway between the Mariana Islands and Seventh Air Force VII Fighter Com- perienced the syndrome: Honshu, some 750 statute miles south of mand was ready to move to Iwo as soon enhancedA hearing and a pessimistic Tokyo. They put the home islands within as facilities were readied. Planning for anticipation of trouble. But imagine range of the long-legged North American very long-range (VLR) escort missions a 1,500-mile combat mission over the P-51D Mustang. With the Bonins in had begun the previous summer, as Brig. Pacific Ocean, with the only landfall American hands, fighters could escort Gen. Ernest M. Moore prepared his occupied by people who cut off the B-29s anywhere over southern Japan. “Sunsetters” for the challenging mission. heads of captured airmen—or worse. In February 1945 at Iwo Jima, the Moore was typical of the young fly- Such was the world of the airmen largest of the Bonin Islands boasted three ing generals in the Army Air Forces. A flying the Mustangs of Iwo Jima. airfields. The fields had been taken by 37-year-old West Pointer, he had been in 74 AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2013 The P-51 pilots out of Iwo Jima had to fly 1,500 miles over water to protect B-29s USAF photo viaWarren Thompson over Japan for less than an hour. the Pacific since 1939. Having assumed rons, Navy and Marine Corps strike leadership of VII Fighter Command in aircraft, and air-sea rescue airplanes. Left: Mustangs from the 21st May 1944, he led from the front and But the P-51s were the most numerous Fighter Group head out on their landed the first Mustang on Iwo Jima and strategically the most important. first long-range escort mission to on March 6. Behind him were three Other than flying local patrols and Japan in April 1945. Above: Capt. Harry Crim Jr. (l) briefs Brig. Gen. squadrons from the 15th Fighter Group. occasionally striking other islands in Ernest Moore, commander of VII Eleven days later the first element of the the Bonins, pilots on Iwo had precious Fighter Command, on a flight line 21st Fighter Group landed. Most of the little diversion. Some didn’t mind: The at Iwo Jima. At right is another pilots were new, averaging fewer than 72nd Fighter Squadron’s Capt. Harry Mustang pilot, Maj. Dewitt Spain. Crim became an ace, with six kills. 300 flight hours. C. Crim Jr. said, “Iwo was perhaps the Spain went on to become a briga- Iwo Jima was crammed with air- most hostile ground environment an dier general. planes: two P-61 night-fighter squad- airman could find himself in. Nature AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2013 75 An aerial view of Iwo Jima in 1945 shows the individual airfields that each fighter group operated from. South Field was used by the 15th Fighter Group, Central Field by the 21st FG, and North Field accommo- dated the 506th FG. Robert Grant photo viaWarren Thompson level. Airfield No. 1 had 5,000- and 3,900-foot runways; No. 2 had 5,200 and 4,400 feet. Originally the strips were barely 2,000 feet long, and that was often inadequate for B-29 emer- gencies. The hazards also extended to the local area: The 531st Fighter Squadron’s flight line coffee tent was wiped out three times before it was moved to the upwind side of the runway. provided an active volcano (Mount pilots were instantly and unexpectedly The standard tour for a Sunsetter Suribachi), and man provided the war.” embroiled in a vicious infantry war. P-51 pilot was 15 VLRs—about 105 There was literally no place to go, After five hours of fighting, all the hours of flight time—plus local ground not much to do, and precious little to Japanese were dead or captured, but attacks and standing patrols. Moore see. However, the Army fliers found VII Fighter Command had suffered 44 restricted pilots to three long-range ways to spend their idle time. killed and nearly 100 wounded. Crim missions a week but few logged more One primary diversion was commerce replaced the wounded commanding than six in a month. Moore managed with the eminently “negotiable” Navy officer of the 531st Fighter Squadron, to fly about 20 hours a month though Seabees. Engaged in expanding Airfields and the next day the group flew its first he was prohibited from combat. No. 1 and 2 (No. 3’s expansion was never mission, strafing Haha Jima. When Col. Bryan B. Harper’s 506th completed), the sailors’ motto seemed Fighter Group arrived in mid-May, it to be, “We’ll do anything for whiskey.” The Mustang lifted some of the burden off the first When the airmen discovered the Sea- Thirty years after the war, Moore two groups. The 506th alternated with bees had an ice machine but no booze, wrote, “I don’t believe there is any the others in launching two-group the law of supply and demand took over. question about the P-51 being the best missions to the home islands, so one The 21st Fighter Group traded 15 bottles prop fighter of World War II. It was group could ease pilot strain and catch of whiskey for the ice machine, instal- our top air fighter and, hence, best for up on deferred maintenance. lation included. Dug in, sandbagged, escort missions and equal to the [P]-47 The universal comment from Sun- and camouflaged, the precious device as an attacker against ground targets.” setter pilots was, “Maintenance on escaped detection by the irate Navy Squadron and group COs described the Iwo was tops.” If a flier wanted a commander until Moore became island sleek North American as “perfect for new carburetor, he needed only men- commander. After that, the fliers had these missions.” tion it. Many crew chiefs kept their no worries. Neither the 15th nor the 21st had aircraft waxed for extra speed, though Crim, an aggressive Floridian, was much time for P-51 checkouts before some joked it was because there was one of the Sunsetters’ most experienced leaving for Iwo. In the 21st, the more nothing better to do. The mechanics pilots, with 2,200 flight hours. He had senior pilots averaged perhaps 20 hours conscientiously changed spark plugs flown 50 P-38 missions in the Mediter- “in type” before landing at the advanced after every VLR to avoid later fouling, ranean, enduring sand, flies, and disease base. Most pilots were newly out of op- as prolonged low-RPM cruising could while losing 50 pounds. Consequently, erational training and averaged merely burn up the plugs. he became “an Iwo booster.” He believed five to 10 Mustang hours. Lt. Harve Phipps of the 72nd Fighter that being able to concentrate 100 percent In the Pacific—the largest theater Squadron recalled, “The squadron had on combat training, without serious di- of war in history—the Mustang’s long been in the VII from the beginning and versions, was one of the island’s strong legs made the difference. In Europe the [ground crews] were not rotated points. He helped his pilots devote their the usual drop tank was 110-gallon very often. They were experienced, and attention to flying and fighting, thus capacity, but VLR missions produced we had practically no aborts because preventing their going “rock happy.” 165-gallon “drops.” Fully loaded, two of [bad] maintenance.” Pilots deeply But there was unexpected drama. such tanks added a ton to the Mustang’s appreciated such diligence: The last The 21st FG had been ashore barely a 10,100-pound “clean” combat weight, thing they wanted to worry about was week on March 27, 1945, when eight but they allowed an hour or more of engine failure 600 saltwater miles dawn-patrol pilots were walking to the loitering over Japan instead of 20 or 30 from home. airfield. They were suddenly overcome minutes on internal fuel. A far greater concern than me- by some 350 Japanese who poured out With such heavy loads, the Mustangs chanical failure was the North Pacific of underground caves and tunnels. The needed a long takeoff run even at sea weather. Three to five fronts usually 76 AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2013 moved south daily from the Japanese Navigating the Pacific gation—but they were often hidden coast, and that made mission planning Flying single-engine fighters on beneath a cloud deck. Consequently, difficult. High, dense cloud formations 1,500-mile round-trips over a vast Uncle Dog and accurate dead reckon- often were a factor. ocean with minimal navigation aids re- ing were essential. Mustangs seldom penetrated a front quired a confidence born of experience. The bare statistics of what was but tried to fly between the thunderheads. It was a task none of the Mustangs, involved in one VLR mission did not When possible, they remained in and few of the pilots, were equipped begin to tell the story. In round num- the clear to avoid major turbulence, as to attempt on their own. The standard bers, nearly 100 Mustangs took off with the 85-gallon fuselage tank became a P-51D had a magnetic and gyro com- 57,000 gallons of high-octane fuel and critical factor. pass plus a radio compass—the latter some 230,000 rounds of .50-caliber In rough weather, “the -51 with the of limited range.