[R Leonard]

Early intelligence officers warned pilots to expect, since it was “known” that the Japanese really did not have any decent fighter planes, to see Me-109’s as adversaries. Small wonder that even Lieutenant Commander Paul Ramsey, CO of VF-2 at Coral Sea, reported shooting down an Me-109 for certain in that battle and claimed another as a probable. His wingman supported his observations. And Lieutenant Noel Gayler also reported seeing them at Coral Sea, mentioning his observation in an interview conducted at BuAir on 17 Jun 42 while discussion the Lexington Air Group attack on the Shokaku for which he flew strike escort:

“After about two minutes in this clear space, we were jumped by fighters from the Jap carriers. I should say there were probably four or five Jap fighters. At first they were all air–cooled type Zeros or some modification – it was the first I’d seen of them. Then, after a minute or two of fighting, more fighters appeared on the scene that were liquid–cooled jobs that looked very similar to the ME–109F. I can’t say definitely what they were, but they were planes similar to them.”

Gayler, of course, had been in the Pacific since before the war started, serving in VF-3 before his temporary assignment to VF-2. Any exposure he may have had to Me-109’s would have been through photographs or drawings, not actual observation of the type. And one must ask, just from where did the photos and/or drawings come?

A month later, at Midway, Ensign Albert Earnest of VT-8 reported being attacked by Japanese fighters that appeared to be Me-109s. He once told me, with a smile, that he had been briefed by the intelligence types to expect to see 109’s so that was what he saw. A self-fulfilling prophesy.

Still later, on 24 August 42, two more pilots reported seeing Me-109’s during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. One, Ensign Francis Register from Enterprise’s VF-6 reported shooting one down; Ensign John Kleinman from Saratoga’s VF-5 reported another as a probable.

Some like to ascribe these sightings to the advent of the Ki-61 (Tony), but, as you can see from the dates of these reported sightings, they were long before the advent of the Ki-61 in combat. In fact, the USN did not report encountering its first Ki-61 in combat until 11 September 43, when Lieutenant (jg) David Scott, in a VF-33 F6F, correctly identified one and claimed it as destroyed near Fauro Island in the Solomons.

It would appear that this sort of identification error in the early days stemmed from an exposure to intelligence briefings prior to deployment. Yorktown’s VF-42 pilots never received any briefing as to what to expect to see the Japanese flying and never reported seeing 109’s, even though they were in the thick of the early fighting up through Midway. Squadrons that spent time at Pearl Harbor between deployments, such as VF-2, VF-5, and VF-6, and from Bert Earnest’s own account, VT-8 (Det), were evidently exposed to this sort of misinformation.

Regards,

Rich