Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (United States)

Marine Fighter Squadron 323
Type	Marine Fighter Squadron
Nickname(s)	Death Rattlers

Marine Fighter Squadron 323 (Abbreviated as VMFA-323), known as the Death Rattlers, was a Marine Fighter Attack Squadron in the United States Marine Corps during the Second World War

Formation and history

12 April 1945 - First missions off of Okinawa

0530 - First mission of the day

At 0530 local time, 12 April 1945, with no clouds at twilight before sunrise, 21 F4U-1D Corsairs of VMF-323 scrambled off of Kadena Air Base (spelled Katena in the source) 26° 21’N 127° 45’E as it was currently under a bombing attack just before sunrise.

While 1st Lt. Albert Philip Wells was the sixth plane taking off, a Tony dropped a 250 lb bomb on the edge of the runway. He then sighted the Tony a mile ahead and above at 1,500 feet. Getting on his tail from closing in at it's 6 o'clock below, he opened fire from 200 feet. Up until that point he observed that the plane made no attempt to evade Wells until he opened fire, making him think he took him by surprise. The Tony made a sharp diving turn to the left. Wells turned with it, firing the whole time. He hit its tail, and the enemy plane exploded into flames and crashed into Nakagasuku Wan.

Other than that the flight was uneventful.

Report

Sometime that day a report was prepared by 1st Lt. Atilio Luigi Ferdenzi and approved by Major George Clifton Axtell of what had happened. There was a total of 114 rounds of .50 cal expended, the Corsair going 35 miles out and in return, the average amount of hours in the air being 3, average fuel loaded being 240 gal, with 200 consumed on average.

Apparently there were three damaged Corsairs from the squadron. One had nosed over on muddy runway, another hit by shrapnel on deck, and the third hit a hole while landing. These were reported that they could be repaired locally.

It was also reported that the Tony apparently lacked protection for gas tanks.

1330 - Second mission of the day

At 1330 local time, in the second mission of 323 at Okinawa, 16 F4U-1D Corsairs took off from Kadena at 26° 21’N 127° 45’E for Combat Air Patrol over Okinawa Shima. No kind of ordinance (bombs or torpedoes were carried by each plane), though 240 gallons on average were fueled in each Corsair. Unfortunately two Corsairs had mechanical problems and so had to return to the airfield.

The rest of the 14 planes continued on. While in the air, Japanese planes were approaching North of them, and so the formation split while chasing the different enemy planes.

The Fighter Director vectored six planes under the command of Major Arthur Layton Turner, who was the flight leader, with his wingman 2nd Lieutenant Obie Wesley Stover Jr. The second section was led by 2nd Lt Dellwyn Lewis Davis whose wingman was 2nd Lt. Robert J. Woods. Finally, the third section was led by 1st Lt. Charles E. Spangler. His wingman was 2nd Lt. Dewey Foster Durnford Jr.

Another six planes were vectored North to Motobu Peninsula. These six were led by Captain Felix Stephen Cecot who was winged with 2nd Lt. Leon Abbott Reynolds Jr. Second Section was led by Captain Joe McPhail, with 2nd Lt. Warren William Bestwick as his wingman. Third seciton was led by 2nd Lt. Glenn O. Thacker, with Everett Leland Yager on his wing.

1430 - Engagement over Motobu Penninsula

The Fighter Director vectored the body under Cecot to Motobu Peninsula, where Japanese planes were reported to be at 18,000 feet. The flight climbed to 23,000 feet and began circling.

Captain McPhail spotted some Corsairs chasing Zekes, and called out their position to the others, and rolled over with Bestwick on his wing. As they descended the four Zekes appeared right under the two at 19,000 feet, flying almost abreast in a two-two plane sections. Joe lit his guns on the rear plane on the right from 400yd away above and behind. His first burst of bullets missed and the Japanese plane saw his tracers. It made a couple of small turns, but then eventually McPhail started hitting. Pieces from around the cockpit of the plane came off and the Zero exploded in flames, as it passed under the rest of the formation. The three other planes scattered. Bestwick, upon McPhail's Zeke exploding, picked the second plane of the first section and fired a long burst making it explode. The Zero, however, pulled up and made it impossible for Bestwick to stay on his 6 o'clock.

Cpt McPhail, after his Zeke exploded in flames, pushed over and, although he tried finding his wingman, couldn't, and so went back to base.

By the time that the Zero pulled up, the first plane of the second section had broken off heading down to the right, to which Bestwick continued his run, firing a 20 degree deflection shot from behind the enemy. This Zeke exploded in flames as well.

At this point Bestwick tried looking for McPhail. He saw the first Zeke he killed spiraling down while smoking, but couldn't see the second plane after firing on it.

Thacker had followed Bestwick in on his original pass, and even tackled the fourth Zeke in the formation, making a beam run from its 3 o'clock on the same level. His bullets caused pieces of the fuselage to come off and it started smoking. The Zeke rolled, pulled through tightly, and escaped. It wasn't an exact confirmed kill, but it made Thacker think it was a possible one. Him and Yager then proceeded to return to base.

Not able to find his Captain, he got his bearings when he saw three Zekes ahead and above him doing slow rolls in column. Bestwick began to climb and tail them, until which he was spotted and they turned and started to bracket him. He made a 180 degree turn left and didn't see them any more, as they didn't follow him too far. He turned to look for them after a minute of flying away but didn't see them.

On the way back to base, he saw 4 Japanese planes 3,000 feet above and to the right of him flying in the opposite direction. He shifted his plane toward them to investigate and identified that they were Zekes. They slightly turned towards him but continued North. Unfortunately they were still 2,000 feet above him and several miles past. This, plus the fact that he was low on fuel, made him decide to return to base.

1515 - Encounter North-West of Ie Shima

At 1515 the first six planes under Turner were flying at 15,000ft, 71 miles northwest of Ie Shima, when they spotted an enemy plane at their 10 o'clock, 4,000ft below and 8 miles away.

Spangler and his wingman Durnford peeled off with Davis and Woods following suit. The Japanese plane they were attacking was spotted to be a Betty, which was camouflaged green and brown with the red insignia, and seemed to have the intent of destroying American ships in the area. Spangler closed in on the Betty at its 5 o'clock and began firing at it from 800 ft away. The tail gunner and top of the plane's rudder were knocked out, and the port of its engine was set aflame. It was now Durnford's turn, as he closed in from 7 o'clock. Then, the Betty turned to him, seemingly trying to give the side blister gunner a shot at him. At 200 feet, Durnford opened fire, aiming for the cockpit. Now Davis came in and set alight the plane's right engine 100 feet away from it and now the bomber spiraled down in a flame, exploding upon impact with the ocean. The members of the squadron didn't see any of the Betty's crew parachuting.

They spent the rest of the time working with the Fighter Director, but no more bogies were met.

1530

On the other hand, Cecot and his wingman continued their way north after they got word that bogies were reported at 20,000 feet, while the two were still at 23,000. Cecot then spotted an opportunity, a Jack being camouflaged green and brown with the red insignia. Diving 5,000 feet, he fired at the plane, which rolled, to which Cecot fired at the plane's belly and saw it smoking. However the speed of his Corsair prevented him from identifying more results, so wasn't able to claim a full kill. Therefore he thought he got a probably.

1530 to 1550

Unfortunately for Reynolds his hydraulic system was caput, so was unable to retract one wheel. Despite this the two continued chasing Japanese planes for 20 minutes before returning to base.

Wade and Ruhsam

The other two pilots, John William Ruhsam and Robert Wade of the 14 planes were on their way back to the airfield due to the inability of Wade to retract his landing gear. They were just south of Motobu Peninsula when a Zeke dove from the sun making a pass on Wade. Wade lowered his flaps and made a tight turn. This caused the Zeke to fly past, then rolling, and diving for the ground. Wade persued him down, almost in firing position, when Ruhsam fired upon the enemy with a 30 degree deflection shot. The Japanese plane exploded into flames and crashed.

Ruhsam and Wade then continued their journey back to the airfield and pancaked.

1630 - Return

At 1630 the formations and planes returned back to base.

Post Analysis

One F4U-1D was lost this mission when, during an artillery bombardment on the airfield, the Corsair was taxiing and hit a tractor, the plane becoming a total lost. Fortunately the pilot was uninjured. The Bureau number of the Corsair was No. 57299.

This was the first time that the squadron's members encountered Japanese planes, and after the attacks were having trouble keeping together as divisions

All these Zekes that had been encountered were camouflaged green and brown with the red insignia.

It was found that the pilots experienced considerable hydraulic problems due to the fact that the mechanics were unable to work on the Corsairs. A lack of time, poor operation conditions, and the fact the squadron just reached the airfield added to the reasons for trouble.

It was reported that a total of 3056 .50 cal rounds were expended, the planes on average going 70 miles out and 70 miles back, average of 3 hours in air. As for the enemy planes it was noted that they lacked protection for gas tanks.

A report was prepared by Lt. Ferdenzi and approved by Major Axtell the same day.

14 April 1945 - Close Air Support on Japanese artillery positions

0812 - Takeoff

At 0812 on 14 April 1945, 15 F4U-1D Corsiars of VMF-323 took off from Kadena Airfield. Each plane were carrying 2 500lb bombs with a MK AN-M103 fuses with the setting of Head-Instantaneous, Tail-0.25 second delay, on Mark 4 bomb racks. Each plane also carried 8 MK.7 3.25 in rocket motors with 5 in MK I armor piercing shells. The rockets had a MK.148 Base fuze with 1/100 second delay.

Prior to takeoff, were the aircraft were on the deck, an ordnance man was working on the same rocket launcher on the opposite wing when 2 rockets were accident fired. Due to the fact that the switches for firing them were set to off, and that all the safety precautions were being observed, they concluded that the two rockets fired on an accidental discharge caused by a current being supplied by a flashlight battery used in connection with a zero voltage check kit used by the squadron.

It was concluded by a rocket expert from The Tactical Air Force that due to the construction of the zero voltage test kit it was possible to run a current into the launcher, and since the corresponding launchers on both wings are at the same wiring circuit, the rocket on the opposite launcher would be fired. The rocket expert recommended new zero voltage test kits. Fortunately the 2 rockets caused no casualties or damage to any installations.

Their mission was to provide Close Air Support by bombing and rocket firing enemy artillery positions which were holding up the front line troops in the Southern part of Okinawa.

Specifically, their targets were artillery positions 6000 yds east of Machinato Service Area, and other artillery positions 5000 yds souteast of the Service Area.

The location of the targets was given to the pilots on station by the Air Support Control Unit through the Air Support Net. The Air Coordinator was in a TBF in the sky further identifying the given target by flying over it and reporting the terrain features. Then the Flight leader went down over the target to further verify.

The clouds that day were 3/10 scattered at 3000 ft, with 20 miles of visibility, giving a clear view of the targets.

1020 - Over the first target

At 1020 they came over the first target, which they had to use the grid coordinates to identify, identifying them to be 100% on the assigned coordinates of 6000 yds east of Machinato. However they couldn't actually observe it. 6 Corsairs attacked it, with 6 bombs hitting the first target.

The pilots would have spotted their targets, and began their 50 to 60° angle dive for the bombs at 7000 to 8000 feet with dive breaks, using their Mark 8 100 Mill Reflector Gunsights to aim. They attained a speed of 280 knots. On each run each plane dropped 1 bomb, releasing them between 1000 to 1500 to 2000 ft. Recovery was low on deck.

At 40 to 50° angle dive with a slant range they used the same sight at around 1000 to 15000 to 2000 ft to launch 4 of their rockets.

They didn't observe damage to the first target.

The second target involved all 15 Corsairs attacking. At first the pilots didn't see any of the targets. Then an unidentified pilot of the squadron spotted blasts of gunfire coming from a few of the native grass huts in the target area. The artillery pieces of unidentifiable sizes had grass hut housing in the area, being 75 to 95% within the assigned coordinates area 5000 yds east of Machinato. 13 bombs landed on the second target here, with no rockets hitting the first target but 66 hitting the second one. At least 4 artillery pieces were seen by the pilots to have exploded.

From the low level attacks 4 of the Corsairs got shrapnel from their exploding bombs due to the delayed fuzes.

Overall the concealment of Japanese positions was deemed by the pilots as excellent, with no one observing any military observations at the first target, and the second only being identified after the Japanese guns fired from the position.

1050 - Return to base

At 1050 all 15 planes returned.

They reported that there were never any enemy aircraft that they encountered on the ground.

4 of the Corsairs that came back had shrapnel holes in their planes from the exploding target under them. This was deemed to be repairable locally.

It was concluded from the mission that the Mark 4 bomb racks were unsuitable for dive bombing, with this rack hangups were frequent. It was concluded that until the squadron was able to obtain Mark 8 bomb racks, more suitable for dive bombing, the planes will try to get delayed fuzes on their bombs for low level attacks.

Both the average miles out and back was 10, with 2.50 average hours in the air, 230 gallons of fuel loaded onto the Corsairs, and 190 gal on average consumed. Not a single .50 cal bullet was used.

No photographs were taken of the mission.

First report of the day

That day a report was prepared by Ferdenzi, and approved by Major Axtell. The report states that the second target was spotted at 1130, but it was likely that it was actually at 1030 due to the fact that it stated that they returned at 1050, since they only had 2.50 hours of flight time on average.

1550 - More CAS

At 1550 the same day, 15 F4U-1Ds were set to take off on a mission to bomb, strafe, and rocket fire underground enemy positions on the northern end of Shuri on the island.

Each plane carried 2 500lb bombs of Mark AN-M103 type. Each bomb had a Head instantaneous tail-.025 second delayed fuze. Each also carried 8 Mark 7 3.25 in rocket motors with 5 in Mark 1 armor piercing steel nose heads of a Mark 148 Base fuze and a 1/100 second delay.

1545 - Over the target

At 1545, the Corsairs came over their target north of Shuri. There were no clouds over there, with 20 mile visibility, but the visibility of the target was hazy, being in or near grass huts in the northern part of the town.

The target area had buildings and underground installations in that part of town, which was selected by The Air Support Control Unit.

The planes began their bombing runs at 8000ft north of the target and dove at a 45-50° angle, using their dive breaks and Mark 8 100 Mill Reflector Gunsights for aim, and each plane dropped both bombs simultaneously over the target at an altitude of 1500 to 2500 feet. They pulled out at 1000 ft

Their rocket runs began at 6000 ft again north of the target, they came down at a 40-45° angle on automatic fire, using their sights and launching them at 1000 to 1500 feet. Since no Japanese Anti Aircraft was there to interfere, a normal climbing turn to the left was used to join up.

Strafing runs were made on the grass huts.

26 bombs, 112 rockets, and 3575 .50 cal bullets were expended. Only 60% of the ordnances were identified to have hit the target area. It wasn't know exactly what the nature of the damage was because of the haze and smoke over the target which prevented close observation. Therefore there was no observation of damage. Although there were scattered fires that were observed.

1630 -

Because of poor communications between ground and flight leader, the lead was turned over to the 2nd in command after being on station for 1/2 an hour.

For the mission, the aircraft were on station at this time when the flight leader (unspecified who) contacted the Air Support Control Unit. The flight leader received the location of the target area by them on gridded target charts. The approach to the target was designated North-South by Air Support Control Unit.

1820 - The planes return

At 1820 the planes returned from their mission.

On average the planes went 12 miles out and returned 12 miles, with an average 2.60 hours in the air. On average each plane was loaded with 230 gal of fuel and consumed 195 gal. A total of 3575 .50 caliber bullets were expended.

15 April 1945 - Combat Air Patrol

1705 - Takeoff

At 1705 on 15 April 1945, 4 F4U-1D Corsairs from VMF-323 took off from Kadena Airbase.

1830 - Contact with the enemy

The Corsairs were flying over cover for a picket ship on CAP. They were then vectored to 65 miles southeast of the northern tip of Okinawa, where they arrived at 8000ft at a scene of no clouds around with 15 mils of visibility at twilight, encountering 2 Val dive bombers at 6500ft. They observed that no bombs were being carried, and that the planes had the camouflage of standard brown and red discs. They seemed to be intending to destroy installations at Kadena and Yontan A/D's

Out of the 4, only 1 didn't engage the enemy. 1st Lt J. V. Dillard, 1st Lt. H. Tonnessen, and 1st Lt. F. A. Terrill, picked a Val.

The Val they were about to pounce on was observed to continuously fly straight and level, cruising at 160-180 knots as the Corsairs closed in on it fast at 240 knots. They chose the aggressive route, working together as a team while they made high beam runs, noticing that the rear-seat gunner was firing at them. They attacked from a 3 or 5 o'clock angle but the Val tried to turn. 3 of the Corsair pilots began simultaneously firing their 6-50s from 600ft away, hitting the gunner and cockpit of the plane, at the same time the plane snap rolling, fragments of the Val flew off before it exploding into flames and split-essing into the water, destroyed. Each one thought that they had the kill.

One of the Corsairs, bureau number 82598, ran out of gas in a traffic circle, and so made a belly landing, resulting in the plane being damaged beyond repair/destroyed. It isn't exactly clear whether this is the plane that didn't engage but it is likely.

1930 - Return, report and the conflicting info on the reports

At 1930 the 4 Corsairs returned to Kadena Airbase. The 3 pilots that engaged with the one Val claimed that it was their kill. This leads to the conclusion that they started firing at the Val at the exact or nearly the exact same time

The 5th report of the squadron on the island was made in which it was reported that on average, the planes went 35 miles out and back, 2.3 hours in the air, 240 gallons of fuel loaded, and 230 gallons expended, with 1320 rounds of .50 cal expended in total.

The pilots also reported that with pylon fairings off there was a great loss of speed, which was the only complaint about material as the rest worked fine.

One thing of note that can be seen between the diffferent reports is the differences between some of the numbers reported in the first page versus the numbers on the narrative (OPERATIONAL DATA) page. On the first they came in on the Val which was going at 180 knots from a 5 o'clock angle. This changed on the narrative page to going at 160 knots coming in at a 3 o'clock angle. This suggests that either there are more than one author and/or Axtell is simply being told conflicting information that he can't tell exactly which one is right and so puts both. It seems easy to understand the latter, as these numbers are observable guesses for the most part on the pilots. They would know the speed that they are going but don't know exactly the number on the speedometer on the Vals. Although why they wouldn't just put the estimate that the Val went between 160-180 knots throughout is confusing. This could suggest that they asked for one of the pilots, got an answer, then asked one of the other pilots later to give them a narrative. This could help explain why in the narratives the pronouns used are "we" most of the time, despite the fact that Axtell wasn't on the mission nor Ferdenzi.

3 May 1945

1215 - McPhail and another Corsair take off on CAP

At 1215 Capt. McPhail took off with another F4U-1D on Combat Air Patrol.

Given the fact that it was only McPhail and another pilot, and that Bestwick has been his wingman in previous missions, the other pilot was probably Lt. Bestwick.

1405 - McPhail returns from CAP

At 1405, with negative results, McPhail and the other Corsair return from CAP, pancaking.

4 May 1945 - 24 3/4 Japanese planes destroyed on Combat Air Patrol

0730 - Takeoff

At 0730 in the morning the planes took off from Kadena Airfield on Combat Air Patrol, 13 F4U-1D and 3 FG-1D Corsairs from 323. Both sets of planes were fueled on average with 405, as well as having their .50 cals loaded. The group was separated into 4 divisions of planes.

One was led by Captain Van Buskirk in an F4U-1D with his wingman 2nd Lt. H. J. Hohl in an FG-1D. The second section consisted of 1st Lt. C. A. Dolezel(also in an FG-1D) and 2nd Lt. C. W. Drake(in his F4U-1D).

Another division was led by 1st Lt. Dillard (in his F4U-1D) with 1st Lt. A. M. Blaydes (in his F4U-1D) as wingman. The second section was led by 1st Lt. Terrill with 1st Lt. Thacker (in the other FG-1D) as wingman.

Then there was Capt. McPhail's division (McPhail in an F4U-1D) whose wingman was 2nd Lt. Bestwick (in his F4U-1D), with 2nd Lt. Ruhsam (in his F4U-1D) leading the second section with his wingman 2nd Lt. Wade (in his F4U-1D). Their mission was to protect some picket ships on CAP from kamikaze attacks over Ie Shima.

Finally there was 1st Lt. V. E. Ball's division (in his F4U-1D) with his wingman 2nd Lt. J. J. Bierbower, in his F4U-1D. In second section was 1st Lt. R. F. Muse (in his F4U-1D) with his wingman 2nd Lt. O. W. Stover (in his F4U-1D).

The War Diary lists McPhail as being in command of one of the other divisions at the same time and the same for Dillard. Although which one Ball's and Van Buskirk's divisions were under isn't explained.

All of the pilots were in the USMCR.

When Japanese planes were picked up within the area, each of the divisions were vectored to a different position. Despite this they weren't given specific vectors by the fighter director with no specific altitudes on the enemy, and so the enemy would have to be spotted with lookout doctrine.

It was a bright morning sun that shone through the scene, allowing for 15 miles of visibility for the pilots.

0830 - Encounters with the enemy

Capt. Van Buskirk's division was vectored 20 miles north of Aguni Shima. Van Buskirk and Dolezel spotted several planes flying around the area and teamed up to down a Dinah into the water heading towards a destroyer close to the water. Both Van Buskirk and Dolezel got the Dinah at a six o'clock level position on its starboard engine. Van Buskirk pulled up, going after a Val diving on an LCM. He shot the Val at a six o'clock level position at its root tank 200 feet off the water, causing it to explode, and so the LCM was saved. Hohl and an unidentified Corsair came together to splash a Val by Hohl hitting its root tank six o'clock level, where Drake destroyed another by also hitting at the same position and spot. The division joined back together and headed to the northern tip of Okinawa in which Dolezel splashed a Val close to the water, hitting its root tank at six o'clock level, the final kill.

Dillard's division was also in the area. He shot down two Dinahs, one at the engines at 6 leve, and the other at the cockpit at 9 level, and one Val into the water, hitting him at the wing root at 5 level, then teaming up with Blaydes to take down another Dinah and Val. Dillard hit the Dinah's engines at 5 level, and Blaydes the engines at 6 level. Dillard hit the Val at wing root 6 level, and Blaydes the engine at 12 level. Terrill shot down 1 and ¼ Dinahs (the single kill at the cockpit 7 above, and the 1/4th the wing root 6 above) and a Val (wing root 6 level), along with damaging 2 Dinahs (wing root 6 level and cockpit 6 above) and 2 Vals (both wings 6 level) all with high stern runs. Thacker, his wingman, shot down a Dinah (engines, 8 level) , then chased down a Helen into the water without firing a shot. He was making a run on the bomber at 8,000 ft to which then the Helen jettisoned its 1,000 lb bomb load and turned away violently causing it to hit the water in a steep dive. Thacker was also able to damage a Val by hitting its fuselage at 7 o'clock above.

McPhail's division proceeded to Ie Shima where the picket ships were. Most of the time on a mission like this they would sit there and circle for potentially 3 hours between 20-30,000 ft, or wherever they were instructed to fly at.

It was possibly before this when the division spotted a lone fixed-geared Nate near Ie Shima. Capt. McPhail saw the plane which was at around 1,000 ft from the water. It was clear that it was a kamikaze, which were coming out from Japan and were the sort that the pilots were looking out for, set on a course to never come back. McPhail then wanted to make sure that it stayed down. He came in on the Nate, which seemed oblivious to his presence, and was flamed by McPhail from its 6 o'clock above. It rolled over down into the ocean. That was the all the engagement, giving McPhail his second ever kill. The division proceeded to their climb, and during that climb, next thing Ruhsam knew, was that a Val was coming at them head-on. Everyone spotted the Val around at the same time, and it was one of the few times that Ruhsam didn't tell Wade that the Japanese plane was heading straight for them. Ruhsam made a hard-right turn, getting a few rounds shot at the enemy, but was going too fast and was too close, overshooting it. The flight leader came over the radio (which would have been Joe McPhail) reporting to Ruhsam that he had gotten good hits, and he burst into flames.

The flight continued its ascent, reaching their perch overlooking their area of responsibility when all the sudden, Bestwick's engine started running roughly and was smoking, with thick black smoke coming out of the cowling etching, creating a long black line behind the plane. Due to Capt. McPhail's responsibility to escort his wounded wingman to safety, both of their Corsairs headed back to base, leaving Wade and Ruhsam.

There are two accounts of how the two found the large group of Japanese planes.

The first is such. The two later spotted a lone Val 25 miles northwest of Ie Shima and started chasing it. After a short time the lone Val led them to a group of Nates and Vals.

The second is such. Under control of the radar, they both climbed up and circled, however nothing was showing on the radar screen of the operator (who was probably Wade). However the two could see what looked like to them a destroyer off to the west of where they were. Having been under attack, the ship was burning, though to them it wasn't unusual to see a burning ship or something. The pair decided to swing their aircraft toward the ship to see what they could do.

The two dropped a few thousand feet, beginning to circle when all the sudden Ruhsam had a Val in front of him.

This is where the two accounts merge.

They then happened upon a group of 25 Nates and Vals, each carrying 500 lb. bombs, with the Vals having rear-seat gunners. The planes were all milling around in the same area at 4,000 ft. Ruhsam and Wade went into action. Ruhsam was still on the initial Val and slowed down as he began to tail it and squeezed the trigger, shooting at its tail. Ruhsam overran the Val the first time as he was still moving too fast. This was a constant problem with the Corsair, although normally a good thing, its speed meant that the pilot had to compensate for the slow Vals. Both of the pilots would conduct these series of beam-runs on their enemy.

All the sudden Ruhsam couldn't see Wade. Then there was a Val right in front of him as he began to fire. As he was sitting on the tail of that Val, Capt. McPhail came back on the radio saying that he was back in the original position, asking where they were. With clouds all around he kept asking:

Where are you?

The two kept responding that they were over where the little clouds were, problem being that Ruhsam was a little busy with trying to shoot the Val in front of him as he was asking:

Where are you?

Ruhsam replied:

I’m over here on the tail of this Jap!

All McPhail could hear were Ruhsam's darn guns going off . After that Wade came up alongside Ruhsam, to which another Val flew right across in front of Ruhsam. When Ruhsam pulled the trigger, the plane was gone.

In total, Ruhsam downed 4 Vals into the water and damaged 3. The first 3 he downed at the 9 above, 6 low, and 5 above o'clock respectively, and hit the other Val at the Wing root 6 o'clock level. He hit the other 3 Vals all at 6 o'clock level on the tail. Wade destroyed 2 Vals and 2 Nates, along with damaging 3 Nates. Wade hit one Val at the root tank 8 o'clock above. He hit the two Nates at the root tank 4 and 5 o'clock above respectively. The one Nate was hit in the fuselage from 7 o'clock above, the other on the engine at 7 above, and the other at 5 above on the engine, those latter 3 being damaged.

It was clear that the Japanese planes were kamikazes to Ruhsam, although all split up. Upon Ruhsam's reflection, they must have already gone for the destroyer after setting it alight, some of them potentially getting indecisive and not knowing what they were doing and just wandered around. By getting in the middle of them, Wade and Ruhsam caused a havoc. Ruhsam was amazed that all the planes he encountered had rear-seat gunners. Whether he went on as kamikazes we wasn't sure, but what he was sure was that these men were in Vals, which were army types, with green camouflage.

Ruhsam, after chasing them, had one more Val down low. He had already hit the rear-seat gunner, who was slumped in his seat and wasn't shooting at him. Ruhsam had the Val in front of him down near the water, to which, upon squeezing the trigger, found out that he didn't have ammo. It was personally a hell of a feeling. He wanted to shoot down the Japanese plane so badly and thought:

Well, I'll sneak under and cut his tail off

Of course he couldn't do it as the Val was on top of the water. He thought:

Well, you do that, John, you're gonna go into the water too, so don't be an idiot.

He pulled up next to the plane, thinking:

I'll just take my .38 revolver out and shoot him—open the canopy and squeeze a couple of rounds off.

He then didn't think it was a good idea either, so was stumped as to what to do, although could see that the other pilot was panicked and so continued his chase after him. Ruhsam could see that the pilot had a helmet on with fur lined around the helmet, typical Japanese. As he was focusing on his headware, a couple of tracer rounds flashed past him, and Ruhsam jerked his head left, and looked back to see Wade coming in. Ruhsam was so close to the Val on the right of its right wing that if they were on the ground, he could have reached out and spat at him. Ruhsam thought that he might do and hoped that he would do is take a quick left turn, but also could have gotten both of them if he just pulled up, in which they both would run right into him. However the Val made an error, making a drastic thing by turning away. Upon doing so, his left wing struck the water, digging into it, which caused its end, disintegrating in front of Ruhsam. That was Wade's last victim. Wade and Ruhsam saw that there were no planes around, and headed home, with Ruhsam acting as flight leader.

Two felt that they were not conservative about their ammo, and it is assumed that they ran out of it or were close to running out, as they felt they could have downed even more.

Ball's division lost Lt. Ball when his radio went out, in which Bierbower took the lead. Bierbower spotted a Tojo making a run on 4 unsuspecting Navy Hellcats flying at 2,000 feet 25 miles north of Ie Shima. The Tojo itself was an unusual Japanese plane, as all the other planes spotted that day have the standard brown color, with this one having a sky-blue color. Bierbower used water injection and hit the Tojo with a short burst on its root tank from six o'clock level, right almost when the Tojo was close to the Hellcat formation. The plane burst into flames, crashing before the Navy planes. Later during that flight Muse spotted AA fire 20 miles west of Ie Shima. It turned out that a Jill was making a suicide attack on an friendly destroyer. Muse then dove through a wall of AA fire to shoot the Jill's cockpit at 9 o'clock level, which was 100 ft off the water with a full deflection shot. Fortunately for Muse he was able to recover his plane without a single hole in it.

1115 or 1151 - All planes return

At this time the rest of the planes that went out on CAP finally returned and pancaked. They came back and reported that they all made good teamwork but several said that they had wasted ammunition. Therefore more deflection shooting was recommended due to the fact that enemy planes are harder to shoot at from the six o'clock position point blank range. It was noted that the tail surfaces and fuselage absorb too much ammunition. It was also noted that the Vals dropped a bomb on the first pass of a ship to then pull up for a suicide dive. Some of the Val dive bombers used good diving and turning evasive tactics, while others did not. All the Dinah pilots seemed to be experienced and the gas tanks well protected.

The objective of the Dinahs weren't known, although the pilots on mission reported that they were at least simulating torpedo runs, although no torpedoes were observed. In all however it seemed that the general mission of the enemy planes was to attack shipping.

Lt. Wade was recognized as the one who got the kill for the Val that ran into the water that Ruhsam was next to. Due to being flight leader of his section on the mission, Ruhsam received the Navy Cross (probably sometime after). Normally, with Wade being Ruhsam's wingman for 2 years, the two agreed that when they teamed up they would give each other half kill credits.

In total the F4U-1D Corsairs used up 14,490 rounds while the FG-1Ds used up 2,200 rounds of .50 cal. On average the planes consumed 300 of their fuel, spending 3.2 hours in the air and going 70 miles out and 70 miles back.

One of the F4U-1Ds had its starboard wing shot by friendly A/C .50 cal round while one of the FG-1Ds had the same situation but was hit instead in the back of the cockpit. This indicates that there was a friendly fire situation. It was determined that both problems were repairable locally.

In the report when it lists kills by those who teamed up on a single plane to kill or damage it, each person who got the kill claim would get it in 1/fraction amount of people engaging the enemy plane. So if there were two each person would get 1/2 kill credit.

The report was prepared by 1st Lt. Ferdenzi and approved by Major Axtell as usual.

6 May 1945

1230 - McPhail's division on CAP

At 1230 Capt McPhail led 4 F4U-1Ds off the airfield into a Combat Air Patrol.

1545 - McPhail's division lands

At 1545, with negative results from Combat Air Patrol, the 4 Corsairs pancaked.

9 May 1945

1000 - 8 planes under McPhail take off

At 1000 hours 8 F4U-1Ds under the command of Capt. McPhail take off on Combat Air Patrol.

1245 - McPhail and his group comes back from CAP

At 1245 McPhail and his group of Corsairs pancake from their CAP with negative results.

12 May 1945

1730 - 4 Corsairs under Capt. McPhail take off on CAP

At 1730 4 F4U-1Ds, with an average of 395 fuel loaded, under the command of Capt. McPhail took off from Katena Airfield on Combat Air Patrol. These include the plane by Capt. McPhail. Two others included were 2nd Lt. Wade and 2nd Lt. Ruhsam, both USMCR. From evidence of past events (specifically like 12 April and 4 May) Capt. McPhail's wingman was probably Lt. Bestwick. That would add up to the 4 total pilots involved.

1930 - Engagement with two Dinahs

At 1930, 50 miles out, with no clouds, at twilight, and 2 miles of visibility, Ruhsam at 8000 ft spotted a Dinah (which was at 5,000 ft), which had brown camouflauge and the rising sun symbol, which was flying straight and level in an easterly direction toward a DD in the area (therefore the its objective was to attack shipping as observed). Ruhsam and Wade, part of the 4 plane dusk patrol, teamed up to shoot down and destroy a Dinah 40 miles Southwest of Katena Airfield. Ruhsam tallyhoed and peeled off toward the enemy, with Wade (his wingman) following him. The Dinah, which was still at its original altitude, nosed over, began jinking and started its run on the DD. Ruham then started firing bursts from 300 yds away, slightly above from 3 to 6 o'clock. Bursts of tracers were observed noticed hitting the Japanese plane as he pulled by. Wade proceeded to fire a few short bursts from 200 yds at the 5 o'clock after Ruhsam had overrun the Dinah on his first pass. Wade's tracers hit around the cockpit and fuselage, causing it to smoke and crash into the sea.

After this the flight then joined up and returned to base.

It isn't known exactly what McPhail and Bestwick (if Bestwick was there) were doing. They might have split off or something like that and were investigating something else.

2000 - McPhail's division pancakes and report is written

At 2000 hours McPhail and his division of 4 Corsairs pancakes at this time. The mission was notable enough that after this there was a report (report number 36) written up about the events of the day. In total it was noted that 1200 .50 cal rounds were used, 190 fuel on average consumed, 2.5 hours in the air, and 50 miles out and 50 miles back. There were also no other shots from AA or anything else encountered and also their equipment were functioning fine. Unfortunately the engagement was too short to form any comparisons in performance to own and enemy aircraft. It was also the last mission of VMF-323 of that day.

14 May 1945

0505 - CAP led by McPhail takes off

At 0505 on 14 May, 8 F4U-1Ds led by Capt. McPhail took off from the airfield on Combat Air Patrol.

0835 - Return of McPhail CAP

At 0835 the group of 8 Corsairs led by McPhail came back and pancaked. The results of their patrol were negative.

15 May 1945

1445 - 8 Corsairs take off led by McPhail on CAP

At 1445 8 F4U-1Ds led by Capt McPhail took off on Combat Air Patrol.

1850 - McPhail and his group returns

At 1850 McPhail and his group of F4U-1Ds returned and pancaked with negative results of their patrol.

16 May 1945 - Death of Leon Reynolds

1843 - Reynold's death

At 1843, due to injuries resulting from a crash while making a forced landing from engine failure from trying to transfer aircraft to CASU 11 from the airfield to Yontan, 2nd Lt. Reynolds died.

17 May 1945

1445 - McPhail and his group takes off

At 1445 2 F4U-1Ds led by Capt. McPhail took off on Picket Ship Patrol.

It is assumed that the second person is Lt. Bestwick due to being his wingman in other missions.

1800 - McPhail returns

At 1800 McPhail and the other plane returns from Picket Ship Patrol with negative results, pancaking at this time.

18 May 1945

1323 - McPhail Picket Ship Patrol

At 1323 McPhail and another man in F4U-1Ds took off on Picket Ship Patrol.

Again it is assumed that his wingman was Lt. Bestwick just like from 17 May.

1605 - McPhail returns

At 1605 McPhail and the other plane return from Picket Ship Patrol pancaking, coming back with negative results.

20 May 1945

1730 - 4 Corsairs led by McPhail on CAP

At 1730 4 F4U-1Ds led by Capt. McPhail took off from the airfield on Combat Air Patrol.

1945 - Return of McPhail's division

At 1945 McPhail and the 3 other Corsairs returned from their CAP, pancaking and having negative results.

24 May 1945

0525 - 8 Corsairs led by McPhail go on CAP

At 0525 8 F4U-1Ds led by Capt. McPhail take off on Combat Air Patrol.

0846 - McPhail and his group returns from CAP

At 0845 McPhail and the other 7 Corsairs return from CAP, pancaking, and with negative results.

26 May 1945

1815 - 4 Corsairs led by McPhail on Scramble CAP

At 1815 hours a division of (4) F4U-1Ds led by Capt. McPhail were scrambled on Combat Air Patrol.

1915 - Return of McPhail's division

At 1915 McPhail and his division of Corsairs returned from scrambled CAP with negative results. They pancaked.

10 June 1945 - Photo taken of squadron planes in the air

FG-1D Corsairs of VMF-323 over Okinawa

On 10 June a photo was taken by William Charles Beall of four FG-1Ds in a rocket strike against Japanese positions on Okinawa.

Bibliography

• "Joe McPhail". WWII Archives. 1 December 2023.
• IIc(33), VMF-322, Kadena Field, Okinawa THRU IIc(37), VMF(N)-533, Drake Field, Chimu Field, Okinawa; Charlie Strip, Ie Shima.