Capt. Dick Bong's ground kill.

[wit661owl]

Hi everybody
On February 27, 1944 Capt. Bong destroyed on Wewak airfield a Japanese transport plane carrying a group of staff officers. I'm looking for type of that aircraft and any details about its passengers: Army or Navy, names ranks, military positions etc.
All the best.

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Might l ask your source for the date, 27 February, 1944, for Bong's Wewak mission?

Col.

[wit661owl]

Hi
It's from Aces High of Bill Yenne, page 174-175. I suppose the source of this info was from General Kenney's book Ace of Aces: The Dick Bong Story. Other sources say it was on the 28th of February.
B rgds

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Other sources, do indeed say it was on the 28th February, 1944:

1/
Having top fighter aces on the Fifth Fighter Command staff proved handy in late February. On February 28th Fifth Air Force Decoders intercepted a Japanese radio message stating that a transport aircraft carrying VIPs would soon be landing at Wewak in New Guinea.

Dick (Bong), and Tom Lynch were called in, hurriedly briefed and scrambled to make the intercept. With their throttles wide open the two Lightnings raced to the Wewak area only to discover that the transport, ahead of schedule, was already in the landing pattern! The after-action report filed by Dick and Lynch reported what transpired:

"At 6:10 p.m. sighted a Betty landing on Wewak Drome. Both planes dove down from 9,000 feet and made a pass. The flight leader made his pass while the plane was still taxiing down the runway with unobserved results. The wingman, Captain Bong, strafed the plane after it stopped, causing it to burst into flames. No one was seen to leave the plane before or after it caught fire. The Betty appeared to be unarmed as no rear gunner was visible. 60-70 Japs, who were believed to be a reception committee for high officials arriving on the Betty, were seen running for cover as the planes came down to make their pass. A/A intense, medium, accurate as to altitude - bursts behind the plane."

The statement about high-ranking officials on board the Betty proved correct. Subsequent radio messages between Wewak and Tokyo confirmed that the Betty had been ferrying a Major General, a Brigadier and various staff officers.

2/
APPENDIX B. Combat Record of Major Richard I. Bong.

SECOND TOUR: February 1944 - April 1944.

2/28/44 - Wewak, N.G.
1 Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" Destroyed (GROUND KILL).

P-38J-15-LO "Marge" - s/n. 42-103993.

See:

Ace of Aces:The Dick Bong Story.
Bong,Carl & Mike O'Connor.
Mesa:Champlin Museum Press,1985.
1/ p./72
2/ pp.141-2

Col.

[James A Pratt III]

I don't think the IJA had a rank of Brigadier general. if a high ranking officer was killed his name would be mentioned somewhere.

[Larry deZeng]

Hmmm..............No mention of this in Lex McAuley's MacArthur's Eagles which used the ULTRA intercepts as its primary source material. Wewak and the Bong/Lynch engagements over and around the airfield complex are well covered, but nothing on the 27-28 Feb 44 Betty. Nothing in John Stanaway's P-38 Aces of the Pacific, either. This doesn't lead to any conclusions, of course, but it does raise an eyebrow or two. Wiping out a couple of Japanese general officers would have been a big event and immediately picked up in the encoded intercepts.

L.

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Let's not get tied down with the terminology used in the report. They were "High-ranking Officers".

General Kenney thought it warranted a mention in his memoirs:

General Kenney Reports.
Kenney,George C.
New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce,1949.
pp.362-3.

Col.

[wit661owl]

Hi everybody
Bong recognized that plane as Betty, so, if he recognized it correctly, it seems rather doubtful that on the IJN plane were traveling IJA officers. May be they were a naval delegation?
All the best

hello, folks just joined this interesting forum. this is ironic but i saw this post and had to reply, my grandads brother just happened to have been one of dick bong's ground crew, as i was growing up he would tell me alot about those days.

[NUPPOL]

placed query at http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=14070.0