Flightpath - May 2018

FLIGHTPATH|65

werenoweasytargets.Asth
climbedWhitesawa‘Judy’belowin
slowturnwithacoupleofotherKi
tyhawkstryingtomakeanattac
buttheywereunabletoturninsi
the enemy aircraft.
Thisgivesagoodindicationofju
howmanoeuvrabletheJapane
dive-bomberswere,especiallya
lowspeeds,andthisonewasbe
lievedtostillhaveitsbombso
board!Whitemadeadivingattac
fromaboveandastern.Hisbullet
struck around the cockpit glass
houseandtheenginecowling.Bot
areasbecameengulfedinflam
and the ‘Judy’ dived straight into
thesea.TwodestroyedforWhite.
Gordon saw another ‘Judy’ near-
byandturnedtowardsit.Hemade
ahead-onattack,scoringseveral
hits on the engine and the wings,
sawmanypiecesoftheaircraftdetac ro
bothareas.Afterpassingunderthe‘Judy’
he entered a steep climbing turn to go after
it, but it had entered some cloud and wasn't
seen again. However, we know from Japa-
neserecordsoftheday’scombatsthatthis
‘Judy’nevermadeitbacktobaseandthe
fateofitscrewisunknown.Numberthree
for White.
Flight Lieutenant John Griffith, Yellow 2,
alsohadaneventfultimeofit.Initially,his
flightleader,‘Denny’Baker,wentforheight,
to cover the engagements of the other sec-
tions, as mentioned earlier. This section, in-
cluding Griffith, then attacked three ‘Zeros’
flying in a loose 'V' formation away from
Biak Island.

The Japanese pilots were taken completely

bysurpriseastheydidnotcarryoutanyeva-

siveaction.Bakerlinedupthelefthand‘Zero’

ofthe'V'andshothimdown.Meanwhile,John

Griffithhadlinedupthefighterontheright

handsideoftheformation.Heclosedrather

slowly despite his high diving speed of 450

mph(724km/h).Thefighterwasjinkingand

skidding as Griffith closed from 500 yards

(457 metres) to around forty yards (36 me-

tres).Heopenedfirewithonlythreeofhissix

machinegunsworking,buthisaimwasgood.

The fighter burst into flames and crashed into

thesea.FlightSergeantCliffSmithclaimed

the other ‘Zero’ in the formation.

Meanwhile, John Griffith spotted an ene-

my fighter being pursued by Flying Officer

NormBlesing.Theaircraftexecutedatight

turn to port and Blesing's Kittyhawk over-

shot. Griffith half-rolled his Kittyhawk and

droppedontothetailofthefighterviaadiv-

ing turn. The Japanese pilot put his ma-

chinethroughmanyevasivemanoeuvres,

butcouldn’tshakeGriffithwhofiredshort

bursts from time to time from his three op-

erating machine guns. He saw flashes on

theJapanesefighter'sfuselageandfollowed

it into light cloud before losing sight of it.

When he burst out of the cloud, he saw his

quarrydoublingback.JohnreefedtheKit-

tyhawk around in a tight turn to port and

followedthefighterbackthroughthecloud.

On breaking clear again he attacked from

behind, opening fire while closing to 40-50

LEFT:The headquarters

section that includes the

adjutant, the doctor etc.

They are also photographed

infrontof‘TheReaperII’.

BELOW:The regular mount

ofF/LDennyBaker,avery

pristine ‘Black Magic’, taken

at Hollandia around the

time of the combat of Biak.

FAR LEFT:An excellent

picture of Gordon White who

was the top scorer with three

aircraft destroyed. This photo

wastakenatHollandiaafter

thecombat.Itisnotknownif

thisistheKittyhawk he lew

on the day.

BOTTOM LEFT:F/Sgt Max

Davey,whodidn’ttakepart

in the combat, on the wing

of the aircraft that was

Yellow 4 in ‘The Big Do’.