Fly Past

44 FLYPAST 44 FLYPAST May 2018May 2018

WINGS OVER THE EAST JAPANESE OPERATIONS

Battle for Gasmata

In response, the Fourth Fleet busily

organised fighter support and on

January 26 two detachments (each

comprising a full chutai – squadron

• of nine aircraft) of Chitose Ku
  Claudes from Truk were flown onto
  the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku by
  carrier pilots.
  The vessels sailed south and two days
  later the Claudes launched for Rabaul,
  only to be forced to return due to bad
  weather; but the Chitose Ku pilots
  managed to make their first carrier
  deck landings without mishap. After
  a second attempt the Claudes reached
  Lakunai on January 31.
  They immediately began flying
  defensive patrols over their new
  base, making the first interception of
  Catalinas on the night of February
  3/4 and hitting one in its hull.
  On February 6 a Hudson was
  attacked during a reconnaissance
  over Rabaul. Three of its four crew
  were wounded, and the aircraft was

badly damaged, barely making it

back to Port Moresby.

With no air warning system at

Rabaul, these were impressive results

and demonstrated the quality of IJN

fighter pilots, many of whom were

veterans of combat over China.

Japanese reconnaissance flights on

January 27 discovered the airfield

at Gasmata on the south coast of

New Britain, 200 miles southwest

of Rabaul. A basic clearing that

had been used to refuel Wirraways,

it conveniently lay about midway

along the route between Port

Moresby and Rabaul, and the

Japanese saw it as an ideal defensive

location for fighters.

A small invasion convoy departed

Rabaul at dawn on February 8, and

the Kiyokawa Maru’s Petes and Daves

were kept at 15 minutes’ readiness.

They were not called upon as heavy

rain shielded the ships as they made

their way along the coast of New

Britain.

The following morning a small

raiding force went ashore in

Daihatsu landing craft and captured

Gasmata without opposition. As

engineers began working on the

runway, floatplane pilot Nemoto

carried out two patrols overhead that

day but failed to detect the RAAF

reconnaissance flights which duly

reported the landing.

Mast-height attack

February 10 brought two Hudson

attacks, although no results were

observed. Nemoto fired on the

intruders but was frustrated by the

‘weak engine’ of his Dave which could

not catch the Hudson’s 200mph-plus

airspeed. That night, three Catalinas

also attacked Gasmata.

The Japanese engineers quickly

determined that Gasmata was fit for

fighter operations and, during the

morning of the 11th, four Claudes

were dispatched from Rabaul.

In one of the remarkable

coincidences of the Pacific War, the

aircraft arrived overhead precisely as

three Hudsons were making a mast-

height attack, the first in the theatre,

on the two transports still anchored

offshore. One of these, the Kozui

Maru, took three bomb hits which

ruptured its hull.

As the Hudsons completed their

low-level passes, they were pounced

on by the four Claudes, which had

abandoned their landing approaches.

The fighters, piloted by Petty Officers

Yoshino Satoshi, Tan Sachihisa,

Uehara Mitsumasa and Sakai Yoshimi,

attacked with such tenacity that they

expended 2,800 rounds of 7.7mm

To p

An artist’s impression

of ‘Zeke’ F-112 of 4 Ku

landing at Gasmata after

escorting the fi rst Port

Moresby daylight raid

on February 23, 1942. It

was shot down over Port

Moresby four days later.

Above

Wirraway A20-71 at

Vunakanau after being set

ablaze and destroyed by

Japanese bombing.

Above right

Catalina A24-7 was

salvaged for parts after

being badly damaged

by ‘Zekes’ at Napa on

February 28, 1942. A

detachment of Papuan

policemen guarded its

fuselage which was

hauled onto dry land west

of the town.