JAPANESE BOMBING RAID
ON DARWIN RAAF AIRFIELD
DARWIN, NT ON 13 JUNE 1942
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII
Twenty seven Betty bombers of the Takao Ku led by Lieutenant Commander Goro Katsumi left Koepang at 0812 hours on 13 June 1942 to attack the RAAF Airfield at Darwin in the Northern Territory. They were escorted by 45 Zekes of the 3rd Ku led by Lieutenant Takahide Aioi. One of the Zekes was forced to return to its base.
36 P-40 Warhawks of the 49th Fighter Group, USAAF, intercepted the attacking Japanese force. Three P-40s were lost in the ensuing aerial confrontation. A P-40 Warhawk #41-5513, No. 4, piloted by Captain Robert Danforth Van Auken of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron was hit and caught fire. Van Auken was forced to parachute from the stricken aircraft. After being strafed by Zekes whilst dangling from his parachute, he eventually landed safely on Melville Island.
Another P-40 Warhawk #41-25181, #50, piloted by Lt. Pierre Alford of the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group was shot down over Gun Point by a Japanese Zeke. He was also strafed by two Zekes whilst he descended in his parachute. Lt. Earl Kingsley of the 8th Fighter Squadron made attacks against the two Zekes and forced them away from Alford as he descended in his parachute.
P-40E Warhawk "White 44" (serial number unknown) "DOLLYE" of the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, was also shot down by the attacking Zekes. The pilot Lt Monroe "Monty" Eisenberg ground looped the aircraft and it flipped over on its back on landing at Livingstone Airfield. Lt. Eisenberg suffered only minor injuries. Lt. Eisenberg had earlier been involved in a forced landing near Braidwood in New South Wales on 7 March 1942.
The Heavy Anti-aircraft Batteries at the Oval, McMilland, Fannie Bay and the Quarantine site opened up on the Japanese Betty bombers as they approached at 24,000 feet. At approximately 11:20am the Betty bombers dropped 19,980 kgs of bombs on Darwin RAAF Airfield. The bombs damaged the runways, water pipeline, fuel drums and telephone poles at the Darwin RAAF Airfield. One Lockheed Hudson was slightly damaged.
Two Japanese Zekes were lost not retuning to their base, although the pilots of the 49th Fighter Group only claimed one Zeke shot down. Lt. Kingsley was credited with one Zeke as a result of his efforts to protect Lt. Alford. Whilst only three 49th Fighter Group Warhawks were lost, the Japanese pilots claimed ten P-40s downed and two probables.
Photo:- "49th Fighter Group: Aces of the Pacific" by William N
Hess via Daniel Leahy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I'd like to thank Daniel Leahy, Edward Rogers and Robert Alford for their assistance with this web page.
REFERENCES
"49th Fighter Group: Aces of the Pacific" by William N Hess, published by Osprey
"The Empire Strikes South - Japan's Air War Against Northern Australia 1942 - 45" by Dr. Tom Lewis OAM
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This page first produced 15 March 2021
This page last updated 23 November 2024