Fortress downing 23 Zeroes, October 1942??

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:40 pm

I am reading the diary of a Royal New Zealand Air Force groundcrew member who was with No. 3 (GR) Squadron, RNZAF. On Sunday the 4th of October 1942, whilst he was at Espiritu Santo, he stated in his diary, which is in note form, the following:
"Heard Fortress shot down 23 Zeros yesterday"

Is there any truth to the rumour he heard? And was it a squadron of Fortresses? Or one Fortress?

67N20 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:22 pm

I just read "Fortress Against the Sun" which is a very detailed book about the B17 in the Pacific theater. Unfortunately I have turned it back to the library. I know I didn't read about one B17 shooting down 23 planes, perhaps the all planes in one raid reported a total of 23.

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:48 pm

Thanks, yes I think if the number is anywhere near accurate it would have to be multiple B-17's, or over multiple days. His writing is purely in note forum rather than narrative unfortunately and that leads to the odd bit of ambiguity. I also think that by the time a rumour had filtered down to a lowly kiwi erk on a big US base, it may have been eggaggerated a few times too.

agent86 · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 3:57 am **Posts:** 926

I doubt that one B-17 could carry enough ammo to shoot down 23 Zeros. I also doubt that the B-17 would be able to fly with all of the holes that 23 zeros would have perforated it with. But hey, "What do I know?" it could happen,I wasnt there :shock:

Malo83 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:31 am **Posts:** 309

Maybe it was this one :lol:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 4:41 pm

Malo83 wrote:

Maybe it was this one :lol:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

where did you get that photo? i haven't seen that before in color. Too bad that b-17 was too heavy to keep up with the rest of the formation. I good idea tho

Tiger Tim · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:01 pm

Could Ol' 666 have done it or come close? I seem to recall an episode of Dogfights where they at least held their own against a herd of Zeroes for something like 40 minutes.

-Tim

Malo83 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:31 am **Posts:** 309

whistlingdeathcorsairs wrote:

Malo83 wrote:

Maybe it was this one :lol:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

where did you get that photo? i haven't seen that before in color. Too bad that b-17 was too heavy to keep up with the rest of the formation. I good idea tho

http://www.327th.org/yb400034.JPG

rcaf_100 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:53 am

Malo83 wrote:

whistlingdeathcorsairs wrote:

Malo83 wrote:

Maybe it was this one :lol:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

where did you get that photo? i haven't seen that before in color. Too bad that b-17 was too heavy to keep up with the rest of the formation. I good idea tho

http://www.327th.org/yb400034.JPG

Ummm... it's a model.

http://www.327th.org/timsmodels.htm

:partyman:

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:11 pm

fooled me! Whoever built it did a great job though!

JohnB · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:14 pm

The rest of the story...
In case you wondered what became of the YB-40s, going through my father's flying records it seems he trained in one while doing B-17 training.

the330thbg · **Joined:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:06 pm **Posts:** 2713

http://www.327th.org/timsmodels.htm

cool models.., one was in my Dad's squadron. The B-29 with the feathered engine.., that A/C just passed away in August. He was a friend of mine. Vivian Lock of Kankakee, IL

Stealth_Harvard_Crew · **Joined:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:17 pm **Posts:** 10

Tiger Tim wrote:

Could Ol' 666 have done it or come close? I seem to recall an episode of Dogfights where they at least held their own against a herd of Zeroes for something like 40 minutes.

-Tim

I just looked it up, it was in an episode called "Long Odds" in season 1 of Dogfights. It's on youtube in the third segment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4cksG7JoE8

The show reports they took on 17 Zeros, but not all were shot down.

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:01 am

The Ol' 666 aircraft didn't enter service till 1943 as far as I can find, yet I am referring to 1942.

Dave Homewood · **Posted:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:40 pm

OK, just to add to the discussion, on the 3rd of November 1942, this airman wrote in his diary whilst he was based at Pallikulo ("Buttons"), Espiritu Santo, the following note:

"Squadron of Mustangs (Fighters) arrived very similar to Air Cobras."

Which unit was flying Mustangs in the Pacific that early in the war? And what mark of P-51 were they? Or was there another type that was also known as Mustang? Or was he mistaken in his identification of the aircraft?

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Fortress downing 23 Zeroes, October 1942??

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