Check six! : a Thunderbolt pilot’s war across the Pacific

321 Pages·2015·3.4 MB·English

by  James C. Curran

CHECK SIX!
CHECK SIX!
A Thunderbolt Pilot’s
War Across the Pacific
JAMES C. CURRAN &
TERRENCE G. POPRAVAK, JR.
CASEMATE
Philadelphia & Oxford
Published in the united states of america and Great Britain in 2015 by CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
908 Darby road, Havertown, PA 19083
and
10 Hythe Bridge street, oxford, oX1 2EW
Copyright 2015 © Terrence G. Popravak, Jr.
ISBN 978-1-61200-299-6
Digital edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-300-9
Cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.
All rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the united states of america.
For a complete list of Casemate titles please contact: CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (US)
Telephone [phone], Fax [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (UK)
Telephone [phone], Fax [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
CONTENTS
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE—GETTING TO THE WAR
1 The War Begins
2 Pilot Training
3 The Long Journey to the Pacific
PART TWO—WAR IN THE PACIFIC
4 Into the Fight
5 R&R in Australia
6 Fighting Westward
7 Wakde
8 With the Black Rams
9 Leyte
10 Into December
11 Tanauan
12 San Marcelino
PART THREE—PACIFIC AFTERMATH
13 Getting Home
14 Home from the War
15 Flying again
Epilogue
APPENDIX 1: USAAF Pilot’s Issue Flying Gear
APPENDIX 2: Pidgin English Phrases used in SWPA
APPENDIX 3: Credit for Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, 25
October 1943
APPENDIX 4: 348th Fighter Group Air Combat Intelligence
Report, 2 February 1944
APPENDIX 5: 341st Fighter Squadron Statistical Data for
May 1944
APPENDIX 6: Notes from Charles Lindbergh Lecture on P-47
Operations
APPENDIX 7: 460th Fighter Squadron Monthly “A” to “L”
Report for November 1944
APPENDIX 8: Unit Narrative Combat Report, 10 December
1944
APPENDIX 9: Press Release by Fifth Air Force to All
Correspondents, circa May 1945
APPENDIX 10: Awards and Decorations of James C. Curran
APPENDIX 11: A Brief History of the 460th Fighter Squadron
APPENDIX 12: 460th Fighter Squadron Combat Losses in
World War II
Glossary
Bibliography
DEDICATION
As the title indicates, this is Jim Curran’s book. Had he lived to complete it he
most certainly would not have dedicated it to himself. But I have been privileged
to put it together for him, and I am not so constrained. So I can say,
appropriately and with great satisfaction, that: This book is dedicated to the
memory of Jim “Jug” Curran, fighter pilot and gentleman, one of the founding
members of the 460th Fighter Squadron, and to his squadronmates in the Black
Rams. “Check Six!”
And a hand salute to all the officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted
men of the 348th Fighter Group, who proved beyond the shadow of a doubt the
outstanding combat capability of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in the Pacific
War.
Terrence G. Popravak, Jr.
Lt. Col., USAF (Retired)
THUNDERBOLT (P-47)
Now what dark, Mars-begotten chrysalis
Could breed a titan dragonfly like this
That takes its stark siesta all alone
Beside THE TRIBUNE’S spire of startled stone?
Six tons of weight, eleven yards of length, Ferried by twenty hundred horses’
strength To scour the heaven’s starry fields and cloudy hedges With eight
death knaves astride its grim wing edges.
Wonder of all is how some mad young wag on This sinister seven-miles a
minute dragon Can climb the zenith’s ladder and demolish Daredevils like
himself with zest and polish; Then, off for home, descend and nonchalant As
any casual looker-on could want,
And grin as he sets her down with scarce a jolt, “Some baby, eh—this good
old Thunderbolt?”
—LISTER ALWOOD
FOREWORD
JIM CURRAN AND I FIRST MET IN FEBRUARY 1943 AT DALE Mabry Field,
Tallahassee, Florida where, as newly commissioned second
lieutenants, we began training in the P-47 “Thunderbolt,” the biggest, most
powerful and arguably the best, multi-purpose fighter aircraft employed in
World War II. After completing the transition course in July, we headed for
Hamilton Field, California for further deployment to the Southwest Pacific Area
and assignment to the recently formed 348th Fighter Group commanded by
Colonel Neel E. Kearby, soon to become a leading fighter ace and winner of the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Initially, Jim and I saw little of each other as he was assigned to the 341st
Fighter Squadron based at an airstrip 17 miles from Port Moresby, New Guinea,
while I was sent to the 342nd Fighter Squadron at another primitive airfield just
five miles from Moresby. We both flew the P-47 “Thunderbolt” on the same
types of missions and endured the same unpleasant living conditions, and the
almost changeless tropical and mountainous environment, that has defined New
Guinea for centuries.
We were united again when a new P-47 fighter squadron, the 460th, was
formed and added as a fourth squadron to the 348th Fighter Group. Both Jim and
I were among the more experienced pilots selected to man the new unit and to
provide leadership and guidance to the inexperienced and untested pilots being
sent to us from the States. Major William D. “Dinghy” Dunham, already an ace
and an inspirational combat leader, was chosen as our commander.
I can confirm Jim’s comments about the food. It was pretty bad. We hit a
low point during the days just after the landing at Leyte in the Philippines.
Dozens of LST’s were nosed onto the beach offloading cargo in scattered piles
right onto the sand. Hungry? And we were. Go to the Cration pile. Need eating
utensils? Yes, we did. Use a stick. Want a hot meal? Love one. Build a fire.
I can confirm, too, Jim’s comments about the diseases that were part of the
New Guinea experience. He tells about some of them but not about the
mysterious skin rashes. We had two standard treatments. Smear on a pinkish
white Calamine lotion for a week. Then switch to a purple colored liquid called
Gentian Violet, an old horse remedy. And then keep alternating until the rash
disappeared.
I want to say something also about the rotation policy for pilots assigned to
the 348th Fighter Group. There wasn’t one. Except for down time when moving,
sick, or on leave, we flew almost every day. That’s why Jim and many others
amassed more than 200 combat missions in an 18 to 20 month tour.
Finally, I think something should be said about the commander in chief,
Southwest Pacific Area, General Douglas MacArthur. Jim had mixed views
about him along with many others. And MacArthur was a very controversial
figure. William Manchester, in the preamble to his book American Caesar, said
that: “He was the best of men and the worst of men.” And that “No more
baffling, exasperating soldier ever wore a uniform.” But he went on to say that:
“unquestionably he was the most gifted man-at-arms this nation has produced.”
General Jonathan Wainwright, left behind when MacArthur departed Corregidor,
said of him: “I’d follow that man—anywhere—blindfolded.” And yet many of
his troops and some of his officers referred to him disparagingly as “Dugout
Doug.”
There is no question, however, in anyone’s mind, about his brilliant military
leadership in Jim Curran’s war. From Brisbane, Australia across the Coral Sea to
Port Moresby. And then some 1200 miles up the northern coast of New Guinea,
step by leap-frogging step, from one airfield to another: Port Moresby,
Finschhafen, Saidor, Wakde Island, Biak and Noemfoor. In doing so he left
nearly a quarter of a million stranded and starving Japanese troops in his wake.
And Jim Curran was with him, or very close behind, every step of the way.
We know, for example, that MacArthur returned to the Philippines on
October 20, 1944, when he waded ashore at Leyte Island. Well, just 21 days
later, Jim Curran landed his P-47 Thunderbolt on the unfinished runway at
Leyte’s Tacloban airfield while a construction battalion was still at work
extending the runway with pierced steel planking. Another 1000 feet had to be
laid before the field was fully operational. Jim took off the next day to attack
troop transports and naval forces in Ormoc Bay as they tried to land the
reinforcements needed to push us off the island.
Jim never considered himself to be a hero. He claimed no special merit for
serving his country when so many others were serving. But he was of special
merit. He performed a vital and dangerous task, under highly adverse conditions,
in an outstanding manner. He took his place in a long, unbroken line of good,
and brave, and unfaltering patriots who have never let this country down.
DeWitt R. Searles
Major General, USAF (Ret.)