FM-2s vs. Tonys over Kavieng, 20/3/44

[DavidIsby]

On 20 March 1944, FM-2s of VC-63 off the USS Natoma Bay clashed with Ki-61 Tony fighters over Kavieng.

What IJA unit was this likely to have been?

Is anyone aware of any sources for this action in the form of combat reports, memoirs, or secondary accounts?

Thanks,

David Isby

[Frank Olynyk]

David,
VC-63 ACA report 5 credits Lt. John H Dinneen and Ens. Rufus `P' Kirk with sharing a Tony at 1700 hours, at 02-35S, 151-45E. The report can be found at NARA II (College Park, MD).

Enjoy!

Frank.

[John Beaman]

I hate to be stupid, and display my ignorance of IJAAF deployments, but I was not aware that any Ki-61 units deployed east of New Britain, and mostly west of there. Please correct me.

I wonder if this is an identity issue? Plus, by March '44, weren't most of the IJAAF units pretty well neutralized as McArthur worked his way up the New G. coastline?

[Larry deZeng]

John B. -

Your recollections and my records corolate - Kavieng was JNAF territory and I have no record of any JAAF units operating from there, especially at that late stage of the war. I even checked to see if any of the 12 or so Kōkūtai and carrier air groups that operated from or around Kavieng might have had a few Ki-61s, but there weren't any.

L.

[udf_00]

Judy (the other non-radial in store) ?
http://natomabaycve62.org/logbook/VC63.html

[John Beaman]

Originally Posted by udf_00

Judy (the other non-radial in store) ?
http://natomabaycve62.org/logbook/VC63.html

Thanks for that link It makes more sense. Not only is it an in-line engine, but an IJN machine.

So, Frank, where did the "Tony" come from, I wonder, since this log lists the claim as a Judy?

[Jim Oxley]

MacArthur’s Eagles: The U.S. Air War Over New Guinea 1943-1944. A great book!