62 |FLIGHTPATH
The Last
When the Kittyhawk pilots of 78 Squadron RAAF
engaged Japanese aircraft hunting shipping south of
BiakIslandinearlyJune1944,itwastobethelastmajor
air combat in the Southwest Paciic involving Australian
ighter pilots.Gordon Clarkesetsupthebigdayand
skilfullyunravelstheconfusionofaninterception
that quickly broke down into individual engagements.
‘Big Do’
O
nSaturday,3June1944,78Winghad
been detailed to cover shipping in
theBiakIslandareathatwassup-
porting the Allied landing carried
outthereaweekearlier.Theordersforthe
daywerethat75Squadronwouldprovide
theearlymorningpatrolandwouldbere-
lieved by 80 Squadron around mid-morning.
Thisunitwouldthenbereplacedby78
Squadron in the early afternoon.
However,changestothisarrangement
were necessary as a strike was required in
themorning.ThelatermodelP-40NKitty-
hawksof80Squadron,capableofcarryinga
larger bomb load than most of the 78 Squad-
ronaircraft,weredetailedfortheoperation.
Consequently,78Squadronwouldtakeover
from 75 Squadron mid-morning, leaving 80
Squadrontodoitsfighter-bomberwork.
Intheweekleadinguptothisday,patrols
by the Australian squadrons had all re-
turned empty handed with ‘nil sightings’.
This was about to change dramatically.
Thepilotsof78Squadron detailed for the
patrol were:
Red Section:- Red1F/LBobOsmentin‘The Reaper II’
- Red2F/SgtJohnGadsden
- Red3F/SgtDickCowley
- Red4F/SgtBillHarnden
Blue Section- Blue1F/OGordonWhite
- Blue2F/SgtJamesHarvey
- Blue3F/ORayBarkerin‘El Toro’
- Blue4F/OGeoffGiles
Yel low Section- Yellow1F/LDennyBakerin‘BlackMagic’
- Yellow2F/LJohnGriffithin‘PistolPack-
in' Mama’ - Yellow3F/SgtArthurGoodwin(aborted)
- Yellow 4 F/Sgt Cliff Smith in ‘Sportsman
Special’
Green Section- Green 1 F/Sgt Ed O'Connell