july 2016 AH 33OPPOSITE TOP RIGHT & BOTTOM: NATIONAL ARCHIVES
pressed every opportunity to place his P-47s in the
center of battle.
One of the ways he sought to take advantage of
the Thunderbolt’s strengths was to commit it to
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arrived over the area at 26,000 feet around 10:30
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almost certainly an Oscar) 1,500 feet below, and
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and searched for new prey. After 10 minutes, he
saw about 36 Oscars and Kawasaki Ki-61 “Tonys”
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dive onto the tail of the enemy force.
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cer, was glad to have the opportunity to go along on
a promising mission as his commander’s wingman.
Within a few seconds he witnessed Kearby shoot
down another Oscar and Captain Bill “Dinghy”
Dunham, one of Kearby’s close comrades from
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rudder adjustment, Kearby slipped in behind a
third Oscar that took no evasive action before it
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above and quickly came into his sights, going down
in full view of Dunham and Moore.
With the four P-47s’ fuel running low, Moore
remembered in his after-action report hearing
Dunham and Major Raymond Gallagher call
over the radio that they were turning for home.
Moore also noted that he spotted Kearby in the
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under his wing, to become a probable victory.
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ers came down on his own tail. The Tonys followed
Moore in a dive until Kearby came to his rescue
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day. The two Americans circled the area long
enough to count the plumes of smoke emerging
from the green foliage and blue sea. Kearby would
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for his bravery on that mission.
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interceptors for no American losses. At the same
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Kearby led another P-47 sweep over the WewakIZMIWV\PM!\PL]ZQVO_PQKPIOZW]XWN [Q`
Mitsubishi F1M2 “Pete” floatplanes was spot-
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biplanes were in the worst possible situation, with
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Americans descended on them. All four P-47s
destroyed one Pete each in the first pass, then
turned for a second pass. Kearby sent another
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Japanese aircraft.
Kearby now had 12 victories to his credit, all
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Dick Bong with 15 downed over nine months and
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had been shot down on October 17 after claiming
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hospital). At that time Kearby was the fastest scor-
ing American pilot of the war.O
n November 24, Kearby, by then a full
colonel, became the leader of V Fighter
Command, boosting his influence but
also putting the brakes on his meteoric
aerial scoring. At least he was now in a position to
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chain and had just lost a number of Lightnings
during the Rabaul campaign.
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Fighter Command were P-47s, annoying many
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advantages of the Lockheed twin. Some pilots
became accustomed to the P-47 and learned to
appreciate its merits, but most continued to dislike
the “Jug” and blamed Kearby for its proliferation.
By any measure, Kearby hated his job as head
WN \PMKWUUIVL0M[\QTTUIVIOML\WKTIQU[M^MV
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OCTOBER 1943,
KEARBY WAS
THE FASTEST
SCORING
AMERICAN
PILOT OF
THE WAR.
ACES HIGH
Kearby relaxes with
other 348th pilots
at the Port Moresby
officer’s club.