After a relative lull in air-raids against Port
Moresby a large mission was planned for April 12, 1943 as part of 'Operation I-Go' planned by Admiral Yamamoto to eliminate Allied air power in New Guinea. He committed the full weight of Imperial Navy carrier-based
aircraft to land at bases at Rabaul, Buin and Kavieng in a
series of major strikes against enemy air forces and shipping throughout
the region.
On April 3, Yamamoto and his staff flew from Truk to Rabaul to oversee the operation's planning
and implementation. The Operation began on April 7 with a raid against Tulagi and followed on April 13 with a raid against Milne Bay.
The April 12, 1943 attack
against Port Moresby was led by the Commander of the 751st Kokutai,
Masaichi Suzuki. Leading a combined
force of seventeen G4M1s from
the 751st and twenty-seven from the 705th Kokutai. They were escorted by 131 Zero fighters which
escorted the formation from Rabaul. The escorts A6M Zeros were from several units, including the 253rd Kokutai, 23 Zeros from Zuikaku and 14 Zeros from Zuihō.
Arriving over Port Moresby, the bombers targeted airfields at Port Moresby, bombing around 10:15 to 10:25am
from 25,000'. The Zero escorts remained with the bombers, and intercepted attacking American fighters.
Anti-aircraft guns including Australian Army 3.7" Heavy Anti-Aircraft batteries and medium anti-aircraft fired 1,112 rounds, without achieving any claims or hits. The
two main defending American units over Moresby's airfield complex
were the 39th Fighter Squadron (P-38) 41st
Fighter Squadron and 80th Fighter Squadrons (P-39).
At 5 Mile (Wards) nine Japanese bombers attacked, destroying and damaging parked aircraft.
RAAF 30 Squadron lost Beaufighter A19-50 was destroyed by a direct bomb hit. Beaufighter A19-11 was damaged by a bomb that bounced off wing, and was used for parts afterwards. Beaufighter A19-37 was damaged and converted to parts. Beaufighter A19-5 damaged, repaired. The USAAF suffered two C-47s of the 6th TCS and three C-47s of the 22nd TCS were damaged by the bombing. All these were repaired, three the same day, one a week later and one two weeks later.
At 3-Mile Drome (Kila Kila) a fuel dump was set on
fire, and blazed spectacularly. Several photos captured a large column of black smoke rising from the dump, and Australians worked to remove fuel stores to minimize the damage.
At 12 Mile Drome (Berry) one P-39 was badly damaged and an engineer camp area was was badly damaged.
At 14 Mile Drome (Schwimmer) bombs hit two RAAF units: No. 1 Rescue and Communications and 33 Squadron, suffering moderate damage to living areas, and a DH-84 of 33 Squadron was slightly damaged.
At 17-Mile
Drome three B-25s of the 3rd Bomb
Group and fourteen other aircraft were damaged, including RAAF
ones. Destroyed were: B-25D "Fair Dinkum" 41-29714, B-25D "Baby Blitz" 41-29705 and B-25D "The Grim Reaper" 41-29719.
Japanese Losses
The 751st Kokutai, being in the lead, took
the brunt of American resistance by intercepting P-38 Lightings and P-39 Airacobras. They lost six G4M1 Betty bombers to fighter and another was written
off in a crash-landing at Lae Airfield. One loss, G4M1 Betty 1605 Tail 378 was shot down and crashed on Mt. Albert Edward returning from the mission.
Following, the 705th Kokutai, led
by Lt. Commander Tomo Nakamura, had eleven G4M1s damaged during
the attack, including some crew fatalities, but its losses were
limited to one bomber destroyed in a force-landing at Lae Airfield alongside
the one put down previously by the 751st.
The escorting Zeros maintained a close escort with the bombers and only suffered the loss of only two A6M Zeros of the 253rd Kokutai, shot down by intercepting American fighters.
American Losses
American losses were: P-38G
42-12857 force landed at 30 Mile Drome (Rogers): and another P-38 piloted by Alger force landed at 7-Mile Drome (Jackson). Four Airacobras were lost: P-39D 41-38351, P-39D 41-38402, P-39 piloted by Keating and P-39 piloted by Ferguson. All
Airacobra pilots bailed out, survived and returned to duty.
41st Fighter Squadron pilot, Richard
Culton
Richard Culton piloting P-39D 41-38351 engaged
an A6M2 Zero which he later claimed, when another Zero opened fire from his six o'clock.
Pieces of 20mm shrapnel exploded off the engine block of his Allison engine
and lodged in Culton's neck. He bailed out and landed near Haima village
where he was given a cup of tea, before being returned to his squadron later
that afternoon in a U.S. jeep which pulled into the village looking for him.
His fighter had meanwhile crashed about two kilometers NW of the Village.
2/Lt Richard D. Kimball
While
Culton was tangling with the Zeros, 2/Lt Richard D. Kimball bailed
out of P-39D 41-38402 north of the airfield complex,
and did not return to his base until eight days later. As Kimball
would later recount, his parachute became tangled in a tree, and
there he remained until natives climbed up and cut him loose. For
eight days he followed natives back to Moresby, following ridge lines
wherever possible. The wreckage of Kimball's fighter lies in deep
jungle beyond the Sogeri plateau.
References
Allied Air Transport Operations SWPA In WWII Vol 2, page 52, 57
Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units of WWII page 428
Japanese Monograph No. 122
Thanks to Minoru Kamada, Osamu Tagaya, Edward Rogers, Richard Dunn and Michael Claringbould for additional information.
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