- Thread starter
- #21
One extra bit of information that I should have mentioned before was the times of the crashes
318 FG P-47N Harley Kempter crashed southwest of Hime Shima at 1045 hours - pilot bailed out because of engine failure
318 FG P-47N Lloyd Henley Jr. crashed at Yawata at 0945 hours - pilot observed in parachute (bailed out) but cause of crash unknown
For the other two 318 FG pilots we don't have MACRs, but we can guess their crash times would also be 0945 - 1045 hours since that's when the other two crashed
318 FG P-47N Jesse Hill crashed at Yawata at 0945 -1045 hours - aircraft hit by something but cause of crash unknown
318 FG P-47N Marvin Churchill crashed at Ariake Bay at 0945 - 1045 hours - cause of crash unknown
In Genda's Blade it says:
"En route to Yawata at around 09.30 hrs, 1/Lt Edward Freedman of the 333rd Fighter Squadron spotted an aircraft which he identified as a Frank. It was, in fact, a Shiden-Kai flown by CPO Yoshinori Matsumoto of $407."
"The B-29s, now numbering 221, arrived over Yawata with their Thunderbolt escorts and Lt Mitsumoto's Georges in pursuit. Around 10.00 hrs, the pilots of the 19th Fighter Squadron went after the Georges. The only pilot to score a victory was 2/Lt William J. Cuneo when he attacked a division of Georges from astern. They scattered like pigeons, but he stayed with one and smoked him. The flaming aircraft was last seen diving to earth."
This means that the N1K2s and P-47s fought each other enroute and at Yawata at 0930 and 1000 hours. The battle continued after this and so the battle time would probably be 0930 - ~1030 hours.
- N1K2s were credited with six fighters and they fought against P-47s at 0930 - ~1030 hours.
- This means the 343 Kokutai victories would have been at 0930 -~1030 hours.
- At 0930 -~ 1030 hours, three P-47s have their crash cause listed as unknown and the locations were near or at Yawata
- At 0930 -~ 1030 hours, one P-47 was said to have crashed due to engine failure and the location was near Yawata
The causes are officially unknown but the bullet points above prove they were shot down by 343 Kokutai. As for the P-47 which was lost to engine failure, it engaged with the 343 Kokutai, so likely the damage to the engine was caused by gunfire from the 343 Kokutai.
The information I have provided comes from MACRs, an Osprey Aces book and Genda's Blade.
318 FG P-47N Harley Kempter crashed southwest of Hime Shima at 1045 hours - pilot bailed out because of engine failure
318 FG P-47N Lloyd Henley Jr. crashed at Yawata at 0945 hours - pilot observed in parachute (bailed out) but cause of crash unknown
For the other two 318 FG pilots we don't have MACRs, but we can guess their crash times would also be 0945 - 1045 hours since that's when the other two crashed
318 FG P-47N Jesse Hill crashed at Yawata at 0945 -1045 hours - aircraft hit by something but cause of crash unknown
318 FG P-47N Marvin Churchill crashed at Ariake Bay at 0945 - 1045 hours - cause of crash unknown
In Genda's Blade it says:
"En route to Yawata at around 09.30 hrs, 1/Lt Edward Freedman of the 333rd Fighter Squadron spotted an aircraft which he identified as a Frank. It was, in fact, a Shiden-Kai flown by CPO Yoshinori Matsumoto of $407."
"The B-29s, now numbering 221, arrived over Yawata with their Thunderbolt escorts and Lt Mitsumoto's Georges in pursuit. Around 10.00 hrs, the pilots of the 19th Fighter Squadron went after the Georges. The only pilot to score a victory was 2/Lt William J. Cuneo when he attacked a division of Georges from astern. They scattered like pigeons, but he stayed with one and smoked him. The flaming aircraft was last seen diving to earth."
This means that the N1K2s and P-47s fought each other enroute and at Yawata at 0930 and 1000 hours. The battle continued after this and so the battle time would probably be 0930 - ~1030 hours.
- N1K2s were credited with six fighters and they fought against P-47s at 0930 - ~1030 hours.
- This means the 343 Kokutai victories would have been at 0930 -~1030 hours.
- At 0930 -~ 1030 hours, three P-47s have their crash cause listed as unknown and the locations were near or at Yawata
- At 0930 -~ 1030 hours, one P-47 was said to have crashed due to engine failure and the location was near Yawata
The causes are officially unknown but the bullet points above prove they were shot down by 343 Kokutai. As for the P-47 which was lost to engine failure, it engaged with the 343 Kokutai, so likely the damage to the engine was caused by gunfire from the 343 Kokutai.
The information I have provided comes from MACRs, an Osprey Aces book and Genda's Blade.