Corner
An Unforgettable W.W.II Experience
Horrendous Encounter of an Aggressive Zero
The date was September 19, 1944. We were the 5th Fighter Group of the Chinese American Composite Wing. With 16 P-40 Warhawks led by commander of the 17th Squadron, our mission was to attack an enemy convoy along the Chansha Highway. We were heading north and arrived 5:30 pm at the target area. Weather was hazy at 6000' with thin overcast at 8000'. I was the commander's wingman, positioned 5' below and 20' right of him.
While making a wide, shallow turn, I suddenly noticed tracer passing over my midwings and immediately looked back to the right. There were eight P-40s about 1000' behind me, but no Zero. Seconds later, two more much larger tracers passed left and right close to my cockpit. I heard someone call out "Zero".
My lead ship made a sharp right turn crossing over me and vanished. I did not follow him. After looking back again, there was no Zero behind. But looking up, there were two Zeros about 2000' above and slightly ahead of me, cruising under thin overcast. Seconds later, I saw tracer heading toward the two Zeros. One of them was hit and exploded into a fireball. It was a spectacular sight. The other Zero maintained his position 2000' above.
By this time there were no P-40s in sight and no radio communication, not even from my lead ship. I continued heading North and started climbing slowly, keeping a watchful eye on the Zero above. While dipping my wings sharply to the left and right and sweeping the sky around me, there was no Zero behind or underneath. This was repeated for more than ten minutes. Meanwhile the Zero above me gradually climbed into the overcast. It seemed that I was all alone now and it was time to go home to "Dog-Dog-Two-Four".
I pulled sharply to the right and upward, then immediately pushed my stick full left to execute a left barrel roll. I was upside-down when reaching the zenith of my roll and much to my shock, the cunning Zero was right beneath me. I quickly pushed my stick forward and was positioned upside-down 20' to 25' above and 10' ahead of him. It was astonishing.
Flying in formation with the Zero, I clearly saw the pilot. He had a dark bushy mustache, with goggles pressed tightly against his darkly tanned round face. The pilot looked old and tired. He wore gloves and green winter flight gear, but had no shoulder straps. The Zero looked worn, with chipped cowling and wing paint. The rising sun emblem on the wing was color faded. The pilot watched me flying upside-down with him.
I held my position since there was nothing else that could be done. The seconds ticked away for two to three minutes. The Zero finally decided to move suddenly by pushing his nose sharply down, flipping over, and commencing a ninty degree straight-down dive. I quickly lowered my nose down gently, hoping my engine would not quit on me due to fuel supply. Another concern was that if I decided to immediately give chase, there was a risk of overshooting the Zero. After fifteen to twenty seconds, I started a deeper dive but by that time the Zero could hardly be seen. I fired two short bursts and lost him, then pulled up at 2000' and headed home.
According to the Chinese official record of the 5th Fighter Group (p.45 of published booklet), the 17th squadron on September 19, 1944 encountered two Zeros and shot one down. I am not surprised because everybody was preoccupied with the two Zeros above. In retrospect, the third Zero must have dived down behind the eight P-40s and fired at me and my lead ship in a high speed approach. My lead ship may have seen him after he made the sharp right turn over me, but never returned to assist or communicate. In the meantime after two unsuccessful attacks, the Zero quickly slowed down and hid under my plane. This must have been to prevent other P-40s from attacking him. I believe he did not know that the other P-40s were gone. The Zero continued to fly in close formation beneath me, imitating my maneuvers so that I could not see him when dipping my wing back and forth. He was an experienced old timer, very competent and quite a guy. I was very lucky.
The final phase of my Luke Field training in Arizona was the dog fight. My instructor and I took off, climbed, and began the exercise. He just returned from the European theatre and was an experienced pilot. We came down after forty minutes and I waited for his comment about my performance. He said "535 (that's my code), you have done just fine" and followed up saying "Don't turn when you don't see where your enemy is, Remember !!!". Yes I remembered. In fact that was the first thing that came to mind and prevented me from turning. In addition, Zero formation normally consists of three planes in a flight. Since everybody saw only two Zeros, there must have been another one nearby me that I could not see. These are the main reasons I kept heading North and started climbing. To this day, I am grateful for my Luke Field instructor's comment. It probably saved my life.
Report to CACW 5thFtr. Grp. Assoc.
Yang-Ho Ronnie Yu (X535) 10/12/2000
