SOUTH PACIFIC WARRIOR

A rare combat Mustang

- ROBERT

“We’d fly over the target, level, and the target would go under the wing. We’d be slowing down, and slowing down, pull up, and just do a wing over. Slightly beyond the target, pull over, and then come straight down. We had a gun sight, but [we’d] just line the target up on the seam of the cowling. We’d drop on straight down and pull out, and either hit the deck or pop up again and come back and strafe, depending on the opposition. Sometimes, if there was any gunfire, which I didn’t see much of, I’d stamp the rudder a little bit, left, right. You’d skid. Don’t keep the ball in the center was my tactic. They’d shoot to the right, and I’m going to the left.”

Unsung Heroes of the South Pacific Campaign

The 3rd Air Commando Group (ACG) was activated on May 1, 1944. Its training focused on a unique mission: to establish and maintain airfields behind enemy lines, provide for its own supply and defense, and attack the enemy’s rear areas and fly air support for allied infantry. The 3rd and 4th Fighter Squadrons were assigned to the group, along with liaison and troop carrier squadrons. Moving to the South Pacific in late 1944, the group was stationed at Leyte in December 1944, Mangaldan, Luzon in January 1945, Laoag, Luzon in April 1945, and Ie Shima in August 1945.