32 AH july 2016
P-38 Lightning devotees, who heatedly chal-
lenged him to a mock combat. Kearby accepted
the challenge, and on August 1 met 16-victory
P-38 ace Dick Bong in the skies over Port Moresby.
Witnesses judged the contest according to their
aircraft or pilot preference, but objective opinion
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ply states that he met Kearby in a mock combat
that lasted about 35 minutes.
The 348th’s tactics centered on the P-47’s high-
altitude performance. Kearby stressed the abil-
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heights to shred unwary Japanese formations with
its eight .50-caliber guns. Flights were arranged to
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enemy below before the Japanese were aware of
their presence.
<PM \PLZM_ÅZ[\JTWWLL]ZQVOI\ZIV[XWZ\
escort mission to Marilinan on August 16. After
the transports landed, about a dozen Nakajima
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Lieutenant Thomas Barber sent one down into a
wild spin. Captain Max Wiecks took on another
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good start in the theater.
Kearby himself would account for the next group
victories. In his combat report for the Sep tember
4 bomber-interception mission along the Huon
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flight and when at 25,000 feet I observed one
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tude. After observing them for two or three min-
utes I decided to investigate. I hesitated because I
hated to lose that precious altitude, and from the
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When nobody else went after the Japanese
bomber, Kearby released his external tank and
dived on the enemy. “When at about 3000 feet I
saw the red balls on the wings of the Oscars and
[Mitsubishi G4M] Betty. I closed to 1500 feet and
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half radii, hoping to get both of them, but was
most interested in the Betty. Tracers were seen
passing around the Oscar, and then, closing in, the
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Kearby’s wingman Lieutenant George Orr,
whose guns had jammed while he pursued the sec-
ond Oscar, saw the enemy fighter that Kearby
attacked dive into the water. It was a spectacular vic-
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Ten days later Kearby was leading eight P-47s
on a top cover mission for transports bound for
Malahang when he received a radar report of
bogies in the area. He shot down a Mitsubishi
Ki-46 “Dinah” twin-engine reconnaissance plane
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tally for him until his most celebrated combat.D
uring this period of the New Guinea cam-
paign, Lockheed’s P-38 was establishing
its reputation as the premier offensive
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ion over Japanese aircraft made it the weapon of
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was determined to change that situation, so hePACIFIC RIVALS
Kearby and his men
conduct a free fighter
sweep in July 1943
(top left), while a
348th Group P-47
awaits its next mission
in a revetment at Port
Moresby (above).
Kearby’s chief rivals
included Dick Bong
(above right), with his
weapon of choice,
the P-38 Lightning.