Post by Nathan Milarta on Dec 5, 2013 12:21:19 GMT -5
A few minutes later the B-17s from the 38th sighted the Hawaiian Islands and spotted a flight of fighter aircraft coming out to meet them. Thinking they were Americans, the pilots were glad to have escorts for the remaining miles into the field. Suddenly, what they had thought to be friendly aircraft began firing at them, and each bomber took whatever evasive action it could. The Japanese attacked at least five aircraft, destroying two. First Lieutenant Robert H. Richards tried to land his B-17C (40-2049) at Hickam Field, but the Japanese harassed him so badly that he aborted the landing and headed east out to sea. He then turned the aircraft and attempted a downwind landing at Bellows Field, but came in too fast and ran off the end of the runway into a ditch. Japanese fighters, Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters Model 21 (later assigned Allied Code Name
"Zeke") repeatedly strafed the aircraft after it was on the ground. Initially maintenance personnel thought they could repair the aircraft, but they eventually used it to supply replacement parts for other aircraft, and it never flew again.
Sometime between the solo strafing and the attack by nine enemy planes, a crippled B-17C (40-2049) arrived at Bellows Field on the east coast of Oahu. Its pilot, First Lieutenant Robert H. Richards of the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, had been the last in line to land at Hickam Field. He never made it there, however, for Japanese "Zekes" riddled his aircraft from nose to tail, shot away the ailerons, and severely wounded three crew members. Trying to lose his attackers, he sped away at full throttle along the southern coast of Oahu, and roared in over Waimanalo Bay toward Bellows' short fighter strip. As he approached, crew chief Earl Sutton was taxiing his P- 40 to a dispersal area and crossed directly in his way, forcing him to pull up and go around again. Sergeant Covelesky recalled that, "No one was aware of the flight of bombers arriving from the states, and to see that approaching monster trailing smoke from its right engines ...was mind boggling. Our asphalt landing strip at Bellows was hardly long enough to accommodate our P-40s, much less a B-17 and when he made an approach from the ocean downwind, we knew we were in for a breathtaking crash landing. Even though his wheels were down, he flared out and touched down halfway on the strip, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop, retracted the wheels and slid off the runway over a. ditch and into a cane field bordering the air strip."
Fire trucks and an ambulance rushed down to the crash area. The B-17 crew immediately tried to salvage the bombsight so it would not fall into enemy hands should the Japanese invade the island. Private Lester A. Ellis of the 86th Observation Squadron was positioned on the runway, armed with a Springfield rifle, and ordered to give a shouted warning whenever the enemy aircraft started their strafing runs. Each time he shouted a warning, everyone ran for cover. After the Japanese planes left, they counted 73 bullet holes in the B-17.
The entire B-17 affair lasted ten minutes. By 0820 hours local, all aircraft were on the ground. Four of the twelve were destroyed.