WW II Air War 19and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. We started
toward Rabaul fl ying the standard cover,
with the bombers in a box formation and
us about a thousand feet above them. The
clouds topped at 10,000 feet, so we stayed
above them. About 50 miles from Rabaul, we
were boring through the sky when a dozen
or so Zeros showed up. We got through that
fi rst batch of Zeros. My two kills, that day,
came later—after I encountered the Imperial
Japanese Navy.
The fi rst thing I saw was a long white
streak behind the Japanese warships as they
were speeding out of Rabaul harbor in a long
column. We were at about 12,000 feet. We
dived in to strafe ahead of them. My division
went in ahead of the torpedo planes. I got
down to an altitude of just 150 or 200 feet
above the water. I was now heading at high
speed straight toward a long line of Japanese
warships—heavy cruisers and destroyers.
For some reason, I picked the biggest one
of the ships. It was one of their early, large
cruisers, the one with the big, pagoda-like
mast. I set up my fi ring pass so as to approach
him from his starboard side.
When we were still about a mile out from
the line of warships, every one of them started
opening fi re at us, As we got in closer, my
target, my big heavy cruiser, opened up with
her 8-inch batteries. I can testify that you can
actually see an 8-inch shell when it’s coming
towards you. If it looks like it’s going to hit
you, you might even have time to move out
of the way. I stayed on course, and when my
Hellcat was within range, I began fi ring.
I can still see the impact of my .50-caliber
machine gun bullets hitting the Japanese ship.
In our ammunition supply, every fi fth round
was an armor piercing round and it made a
bright fl ash. We had six machine guns, and
each gun fi red about 10 rounds per second.
With that many brightly lit rounds pouring
into it, the Jap cruiser lit up like a Christmas
tree. The nice thing was every one of those
bright fl ashes meant that four additional
rounds, which weren’t visible, were also
hitting in the same area.
When I was mast-high over the cruiser, I
was fl ying through an incredible barrage while
looking down at the faces of the Japanese
crewmembers. I saw them clearly, some
looking at me, shooting and scrambling for
cover. I know my rounds hit some of them.
I passed over the cruiser. I pulled out and
started for the rendezvous point, when I saw
a huge melee going on above a Japanese air
base. There were about 50 Zeros and about
30 Hellcats. Planes were exploding and
parachutes falling.
I looked over and saw a Hellcat fl ying
straight and level and a Zero right behind
him, shooting. Cannon shells from the Zero
were hitting the Hellcat and blowing pieces of
metal off. The Hellcat was smoking badly. He
was not taking evasive action. Maybe he was
wounded.In the Fight
I banked sharply, maneuvered into position
and got underneath the Zero. From 300 feet or
so, I fi red a short burst and got hits all along
his fuselage. On the verge of a midair collision,
I had to pull up slightly to go over the top of
the Zero. As I did, I looked directly down into
his cockpit.
I actually saw fl ames coming out from
under the instrument panel inside the Zero’s
cockpit. The Zero pilot had no chance. The
Zero had no armor plate in its cockpit.
I started after another Zero when a very,
very loud noise occurred. I looked around, and
sure enough, a pair of Zeros was right behind
me, and a long stream of tracers was coming at
me. I looked up and saw another Zero crossing
in front of me. I barely had time to put the
nose of my plane ahead of his and get the
lead. I fi red. The Zero exploded. I had gotten
my second and third kills.
The Jap pilot who fi red at me riddled my
Hellcat, but he also prevented another one
from shooting. When it was over, I was still in
the air.
I went down, pulled out at 3,000 feet andLt. Cdr. Paul Buie CO of VF-
16 briefs his pilots prior to a
mission from the USS Lex-
ington CV-16 in early 1944.
Each Fighting Squadron on
board Essex CV Class heavy
carriers consisted of up to
36 F6Fs. (Photo courtesy of
Stan Piet)THE BIG HEAVY
CRUISER
OPENED
UP WITH
HER 8-INCH
BATTERIES. I
CAN TESTIFY
THAT YOU CAN
ACTUALLY SEE
AN 8-INCH
SHELL WHEN
IT’S COMING
TOWARDS
YOU.