Combat Tactics in the Southwest Pacific Area

[Jim Oxley]

In 1944 Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. prepared a report for publication on recommended tactics to be used in the Pacific. It was given to newcomers to the Theatre as a guide of what to do/not do in combat.

It makes for fascinating reading, and here's an appetiser:

Japanese Fighter Tactics: Most of the Japanese pilots rely on the half-roll when pursued and almost always roll to the left. When on their tails aim slightly to the left and be ready to shift fire to the left. If the flight or element leader forces an enemy pilot into a half-roll, there is a brief time in which an alert wingman can get in a deflection shot by depressing the nose of his plane. It isn't much more than a snap-shot but the chance is there if he isn’t ready for it. If you haven't seen it before, watch out for that half- roll. A ZEKE can do a half-roll or split-s in some 700 to 1,000 feet and it is hard to realize that such great maneuverability is possible until you have been a witness to it.

There is another opportunity that sometimes comes to the pilot who anticipates the tactic. If the enemy pilot pulls up instead of doing a half-roll he will almost certainly pull up to the left and stall out. Don't follow him up, but if you have altitude and see the enemy start to pull up you can be right next to him when he reaches the stalling point. It makes a nice shot with no danger of a surprise move on the part of the enemy pilot.


The full report can be read at: http://rhinobytes.com/haze/mcguire.htm