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History of the 418Th Night Fighter Squadron from New Guinea to Japan in World War II

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History of the 418Th Night Fighter Squadron from New Guinea to Japan in World War II History of the 418th Night Fighter Squadron from New Guinea to Japan in World War II Editors: Stanley E. Logan David O. and Millie Sullivan History of the 418th Night Fighter Squadron from New Guinea to Japan in World War II Activated: 1 April 1943 Deactivated: 20 February 1947 Cover: “Kingbee” Official Squadron emblem. Over and through a blue-green disk, a king bee black and golden orange, wearing a red crown, holding aloft a lighted lantern proper with the right foreleg, representing RADAR, and grasping a gray machine gun in the left foreleg, representing ARMAMENT, tip-toe- ing across a white cloud formation in base at night, and peering over the edge with a look of ferocity on his face: a crescent moon and two stars of yellow in background. (Approved 11 October 1943) Editors: Stanley E. Logan David O. and Millie Sullivan S.E. Logan Books Printed on Acid-Free paper ____Santa Fe___ i First edition: August 2001 August 2002: minor corrections pages 37, 58, and 66. The 418th Night Fighter Squadron was the first Squadron to be deployed in the Pacific during World War II from the Night Fighter training program. During the almost two years of combat operations, as part of the U.S. Army Air Forces 5th Air Force, beginning in November 1943, aircraft flown by the Squadron were the P-70, P-38, B-25, and P-61. Operations included attacking and sinking enemy shipping, attacks on enemy air fields, local base defensive night patrol, night protective cover over convoys and beachheads, and night intruder missions over enemy territory, in all kinds of weather. The 418th, along with other Night Fighter Squadrons, played a crucial role in taking the night sky back from the enemy and reaching victory in World War II. This history, completed in 2001, is the original Squadron history, written in the field during World War II, resurrected from fading copies, edited for spelling and grammar, and formatted for easier reading. “Postscripts” provide additional clarifying information and current recollection by Squadron members of events. The many photographs and maps of operational areas added, and related material in the Appendices, round out this more complete history. Scanning of readable original text, photos, and maps, and design and preparation for computerized printing was by former 1st Lt. Stanley E. Logan, a pilot in the Squadron. Co-Editors, former T/Sgt. David Sullivan, Squadron Communications Section, and his wife Millie, typed fully one-half of the text and assisted with continuous editing chores and recommendations. While this history is not copyrighted, to enable maximum utilization by remaining Squadron members and family descendants of Squadron members, this source should be credited. Other use or reproduction of those photos or other material in this history, which are used here with permission from other copyrighted publications, will require permission by the user directly from those copyright holders. Published by: S.E. Logan Books 150 Estrada Redonda Santa Fe, NM 87506-7933 Email: [email protected] Printed by Insty-Prints Business Printing Services, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Library of Congress Control Number: 2001094337 418th Night Fighter Squadron Representative: Robert H. Tyldesley 130 Chaucer Ct. Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4104 Email: [email protected] ii Bronze plaque on the memorial wall, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, dedicated in June 1992. iii Acknowledgments The primary acknowledgments are to the members of the 418th Night Fighter Squadron, without whom there would be no history to prepare. These include the twenty-eight comrades-in-arms killed during World War II, the many we have lost since the war, the declining remaining members of the Squadron, and all of the family members who put up with each of us over the years. Acknowledgments are due to the unsung and unidentified historians “volunteered” to that duty by Commanding Officers. Computerized colorization of the P-61 tail, on the Squadron Insignia page, to show the blue stripe Tail Insignia, was done by David Logan (Stan Logan’s son). Several persons helped with maps of the operations areas. First, it was Roland Fisher (the first Operations Officer of the Squadron) who urged including a map showing the route of the U.S.S. General John Pope troopship that took the Squadron from the Hampton Roads P.O.E. to Milne Bay, New Guinea, with a continuation to the first base at Dobodura. Roland provided the route input for this map. Also, Roland supplied the base map of New Guinea and helped by identifying the many locations mentioned in the history text, for addition to the New Guinea map. The Pacific Ocean area of operations map was adapted and extended from a map in “Queen of the Midnight Skies,” by Garry Pape. The Philippine map was prepared by Robert Tyldesley (the last CO of the Squadron) and his daughter Linda Tyldesley. Maps for the Okinawa to Japan area were also assembled by Bob Tyldesley. Each photo used in this book has its source identified in brackets at the end of the caption (generally the last name of an individual). Many of the photos are from Squadron members. Some of these were submitted by more than one person; the “credit” is given for the photo source selected for scanning and use. Other photos are from published books, each with other earlier original credits, and are used here by permission. The photo and map credit details are listed below. Aviation Pub. “Pilot’s Manual for Northrop P-61 Black Widow,” Aviation Publications, Appleton,WI 54912-0357 Fisher Roland T. Fisher H. Gordon Hugh L. Gordon M. Gordon Mortimer I. Gordon Liberatore Mike Liberatore Logan Stanley E. Logan Pape Garry R. Pape, “Queen of the Midnight Skies,” “Northrup P-61 Black Widow, The Complete History and Combat Record.” Sellers James F. Sellers Smith Mahalla Smith Sullivan David O. Sullivan Tidrick Lois Tidrick and son Brian Tidrick Thompson Warren Thompson, “Northrup P-61 Black Widow,” “P-61 Black Widow Units of World War II.” Tyldesley Robert H. Tyldesley and daughter Linda Tyldesley Vaughn Herbert C. Vaughn iv Contents Introduction vii Summary viii IN MEMORIAM xii Insignia of the 418th Night Fighter Squadron xiii 1. April 1943-January From Squadron Activation to Start of Combat Operations 1 1944 Activation Period 1 Training 3 Overseas Shipment 7 First Base Established at Dobodura, New Guinea 10 Start of Combat Operations 12 2. February 1944 Ack-Ack Trouble 16 3. March 1944 Move to Finschhafen, New Guinea 17 4. April 1944 At Finschhafen, New Guinea 19 5. May 1944 Move to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea 23 6. June 1944 First Missions with B-25s 27 7. July 1944 B-25 Missions Continue 31 8. August 1944 B-25 Missions Cease; Prepare for P-61s 35 9. September 1944 Conversion to P-61s and Move to Morotai, Netherland East Indies 39 10. October 1944 Operations from Morotai 44 11. November 1944 Morotai Air Operations and Ground Echelon Moves to Leyte, Philippine Islands 51 12. December 1944 The Eventful Move to Mindoro, Philippine Islands 55 13. January 1945 An Odyssey and Mindoro Operations 60 14. February 1945 Ten Replacement Crews Invade Mindoro 64 15. March 1945 Convoy and Beachhead Cover 68 16. April 1945 Training; Clubs Are Built 72 17. May 1945 Tragic Accident 75 18. June 1945 Water Echelon Leaves Mindoro for Okinawa 78 19. July 1945 Borneo Missions Completed; Squadron Arrives on Okinawa; Night Intruder Missions to Japan 83 20. August 1945 Night Intruder Missions up to End of War!! 86 21. September 1945 On to Tokyo! 93 22. October 1945 Typhoon Hits Air Echelon on Okinawa and Water Echelon at Sea 95 23. November 1945 Settling in at Atsugi Air Base, Japan 98 24. December 1945 The Year Ends 101 v 25. January-March 1946 1946 Begins; P-38Ms Arrive; Back to Okinawa 105 26. April-June 1946 After Relocating Back to Okinawa 111 27. July-September 1946 Landing Incidents Survived and a Typhoon Dodged 116 28. October-December 1946 Personnel Changes, Thanksgiving, and Christmas 121 29. January 1947 The Last Month Before Deactivation 124 30. February 1947 418th Night Fighter Squadron is Deactivated and Becomes 4th All Weather Squadron 126 Appendices 127 Summary for the 418th Night Fighter Squadron 129 The Best, by R.T. Fisher 130 Excerpts from Carroll Smith 133 Classic Night Fighter Interception, by S.E. Logan 136 Roster Aboard U.S.S. General John Pope 138 Commendation Memos, H.Q. Fifth Air Force 144 INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER 146 For Further Reading, and P-61B Black Widow Restoration 148 vi Introduction Early in World War II, it became apparent that Allied Forces were vulnerable to nighttime attacks by enemy aircraft, and that a night fighting defense was critically needed. The early capability to meet the need was developed by the British. Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) was then in its infancy. The first Aircraft Interception (AI) radar was the British Mark IV. In Europe, Beaufighters and Mosquitos were adapted to use this AI radar as night fighters. The U.S. version of the Mark IV was designated as the SCR-540. The Douglas A-20 Havoc, an attack bomber, was converted to use the SCR-540 AI radar, and was then designated the P-70. The P-70 served as an interim night fighter until the Northrup P-61 Black Widow became available. The P-61, using the more advanced SCR-720 AI radar, was the only World War II aircraft designed from the ground up as a night fighter. The P-61 had a wingspan of 66 feet, the same as the B-25 medium bomber, but innovations such as spoiler ailerons, provided maneuverability second to none.
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