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On 2 September 1943, 16 B-25
Mitchells of the 405th Bomb Squadron departed Durand Air Strip
to bomb and strafe a convoy of Japanese transports in Wewak Harbor,
New Guinea. P-38s joined in top cover, but the enemy fielded
barrage balloons cabled to ships, ack-ack (anti-aircraft fire)
laid up in curtains of fire and resolute pilots of Tonys and
Ki-43 Oscars prepared to ram if their air-to-air gunnery failed.
In the foreground is Tokyo Sleeper; the most famous of the 405th
Bomb Squadron, Thirty-eighth Bomb Group. The Veteran strafer
is shown performing to perfection the role that Pappy Gunn intended. |