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You say you want to see more of my work? Ok! Here's one that went out to the Skull brass but has recently been de-classified.
Subj: A Court Tribunal The following are excerpters from pre-trial testimony of Flight Leader Pancake concerning his actions at N71 on the night of April 3, 1942. Adm. Halsey: Could you please tell this Committee just what occurred on the night in question, Mr. Pancake? F.L. Pancake: Yes, sir. Our mission was to launch from A land and capture N:71, which at the time was being held by a small force of Bz. Our Executive Officer was leading the entire operation and had taken half the squad to the north from A:62 to capture N:72 which was being contested by both the Az and the Cz. I was leading the raid on N:71 with the other half of the squad. Adm. Nimitz: And just how was your team outfitted, Mr. Pancake? F.L. Pancake: Well, sir, I had everyone take heavy fighters - that's a fighter aircraft that's been armed with maximum bomb load capacity - and deploy in a loose formation. They turned to the east en masse and initiated the patrol. I followed behind them in the C-47 with the paratroopers. My plan was that they would clear out the fighter cover over the target, take out the flak emplacements and the tower, and clear a zone so that I could get the troopers over the runway. QMax had taken up a station on my 5 o'clock in a heavy fighter, so I figured he could take out whatever targets the lead planes missed or alternatively provide some cover for me when I made my run. Adm. Fletcher: And at what point did you encounter enemy aircraft, son? FL Pancake: Almost immediately, sir. We picked up a group of Bz on our radar just to the north of the target. I figured that they had just launched from 71 and had turned to the north towards the atoll on patrol. I figured they would probably be at low alt and so I sent Dino and another pilot to engage them. I assigned Deputy Dog and another pilot to take out the ground targets. Adm. Spruance: Sounds like you had a good plan. What went wrong? FL Pancake: (confers with JAG. attorney, then continues) Well, I was at 1,000 feet altitude with a clear run on the target, about 2 minutes out with no enemy aircraft in range, although there was a Hellcat and a pair of Ki-84's coming in from the northeast about 12 clicks away so I wanted to get the job over with before they came down on us. Dog and his wingman started their runs on the ground targets. The flak took out Deputy Dog just after he released his bomb, and then his wingman took out the flak. I was on approach and I didn't know if the tower was down. QMax still had his payload so I sent him in for the tower. That's when Dog's wingman confirmed that the tower was down, so QMax went into a standby position high over the target zone and I commenced my run. I hit the green light for the jumpmaster and heard him put his boys out the door. I figure about six of his boys went out when we started picking up ground fire. There was a flak panzer positioned at the northern end of the runway and he had a clear shot at my plane. I was low and unable to take evasive. Adm. Halsey: Go ahead son. Take your time. FL Pancake: (takes a drink of water) We must've caught a round square in the gas tank because I never heard a thing before the plane blew. I somehow got out, maybe through a hole in the side of airplane, I don't know. My copilot didn't make it out, and neither did the rest of the troopers. (quivers, starts to lose control) I can't take it anymore! I admit it! I shouldn't have come in so high! I should've stayed below radar range for the whole flight until I got to target! But I wanted to make sure that I didn't auger the plane! Don't you see? It was me! If I had been a better pilot, the Bz never would've seen my plane and they never would've guess that we were making a run on 71! I blew the mission! Me! Me! Adm. Spruance: That's ok, son. You managed to deploy your men in highly effective tactical arrangement. You got the troops to the target and you established sufficient air cover for the operation. I don't see any reason for this tribunal to continue. You're absolved of all blame in the failure of the mission. Now get back to your group and carry on the war. (End of Transcript. Classified: Confidential. Department of the Navy, |
