11/01/45:William A.Shomo claims
 

Hi Gentlemen

That day,9 Tony+1Betty were shot down by William Shomo (6+Betty) and Paul Lipscomb.
Everyone knows this fact,but does any of you know the japanese unit(s) involved?
I tried,and there,problem!
Despite the detail of the recorded fight of the 82°TRS,it "WOULD SEEM' that no JPAF pilotes were killed that day(Japanese sources):at least one killed every January day and no the 11?,out of 9 shot down!

Ok,the archives may be incomplete(as by"chance",this day)
Very Strange

Suspicious claims? or explanations elsewhere?

Someone has THE answer

Best Regards
Michel

Re: 11/01/45:William A.Shomo claims
 

Tonys and Betty together is dubious, so the identification of targets by the two US pilots is at least bad, and you have to check both IJAAF and IJNAF losses.

The story as told by Sholmo and Lipscomb point to a gaggle of fighters flown by inexperienced pilots and one bomber. It seems like a ferrying operation with new pilots and a bomber guide, so maybe these losses weren't affected to an unit yet.

But still the loss of so many aircraft on this date of the area should not have gone unnoticed, given the small number of remaining Japanese aircraft in the area. The landing in Lingayen was then under heavy kamikaze assault, so it could be a batch of pilots coming right from school for such duty but I tend to see this event as any super-score claim by any pilot of any side: with a good dose of specticism unless the enemy losses are identified (like for Jorma Sarvanto (5 or 6 on 6) or O'Hare (3,5 kills on 5)).

Edited: by the way, I am interested in your Japanese sources, can you please give some details.