Wildcat
Major
Can someone enlighten me to what aircraft and what nightfighter units the Japanese had based at Rabaul in the Oct '43 - Feb '44 timeframe. Any info welcome.
Cheers.
Cheers.
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Can someone enlighten me to what aircraft and what nightfighter units the Japanese had based at Rabaul in the Oct '43 - Feb '44 timeframe. Any info welcome.
Cheers.
Thanks guys, A few more questions. Did the Gekko's have much or any success in this area? Did single engine day fighters ever attampt night interceptions over Rabaul? And finally in the big raids flown against Rabaul from Oct '43 onwards, did the USAAF fly any night missions or was this the domain of the RAAF Beaufort squadrons?
Thanks for any help.
And finally in the big raids flown against Rabaul from Oct '43 onwards, did the USAAF fly any night missions or was this the domain of the RAAF Beaufort squadrons?
Thanks for any help.
The assigned missions of the Fifth Air Force during the week of the
three landings had been held up by the miserable weather prevailing
until the 30th. But it cleared sufficiently that day to permit eight B- I 7's
and three B-24's to hit Vunakanau at Rabaul. During the following
night, ten B-24's struck at Lakunai and Rapopo; Vunakanau and Rapo-
po were the targets for eleven B-17's and seven B-24'S on 2 July; and
all three airfields were bombed by thirteen B-24's a day later. One B- I 7
was lost in this four-day assault, in which almost 100 tons of bombs
were dropped.
Beginning the night of 25/26 October, he [Kenney] scheduled nightly
attacks on Buka and Kavieng to prevent the enemy from building up
his strength at these two points; and if necessary, he planned to supple-
ment these by daylight strikes. However, Halsey requested that Ken-
ney's bombers concentrate their attention upon Rabaul, relying upon
his own forces to reduce the Bougainville fields, and this was done.