BOXART STORY

#82214

Black Tuesday

Rabaul on New Britain in the South Pacific

was occupied by Japanese in early 1942 and

for the next two years it became a key base

for naval, air and ground units during their

campaigns in the Solomon Islands and New

Guinea. It was so heavily defended that the

Allies decided to neutralize it and not waste

their forces in capturing it. At the end of 1943

its fighter protection was provided by Zero

pilots from Kōkūtai 201, 204 and 253.

On November 1, 1943, the Allies began landing

at Cape Torokina north of Empress Augusta

Bay on the west coast of Bougainville Island.

Their mission was to establish air bases closer to Rabaul. The Japanese were prepared

for this risk and therefore sent reinforcements to Rabaul in the form of cruisers and

destroyers as well as air units from the aircraft carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku and Zuihō.

The Americans were first unsuccessfully

attacked by airmen from the carrier units,

and at night two heavy cruisers, two light

cruisers, and six destroyers sailed to the

island. Behind them, vessels with Japanese reinforcements followed. A night battle

occurred in Empress Augusta Bay in which

several warships collided, and the Japanese

lost one light cruiser and one destroyer, two

cruisers were damaged, and two destroyers suffered heavy damage. The Americans

came out of the battle in better shape, with

damage to one cruiser and one destroyer.

The Americans scheduled a raid on Rabaul

for Tuesday, November 2, 1943. The low-altitude attack by 75 Mitchells from the 3rd, 38th

26

INFO Eduard

and 345th BG was escorted by 70 Lightnings

from the 8th, 49th and 475th FG. The fighters were commanded by Gerald Johnson of

the 9th FS and his deputy, future America's

most successful fighter pilot, Dick Bong. The

Liberator crews were tasked to conduct their

raid at the same time, but due to bad weather, some heavies and part of their escort

returned to New Guinea. While planning the

attack, the Americans had no information

about the reinforcements that had arrived

in Rabaul, nor did they take into account that

the warships would return after the night battle off Bougainville. They were thus heading

into deadly trap.

The bombers approached Rabaul from the

northeast and passed over the target between the volcanoes of Tovanudatir and

Komvur. Two P-38 squadrons were the first

to attack Lakunai airfield, but far from surprising the Japanese, they were instead engaged by about a hundred Zeros. The individual gunship squadrons attacked airfields

and vessels at Rabaul about a minute apart.

There the defenders were surprised, but

gunners on shore and on ships quickly opened fire. The defence was led by the heavy

cruisers Haguro and Myoko. The Japanese

also fired large calibres into the water to

threaten the low-flying bombers with high

geysers.

All hell broke loose over the bay, the air was

filled with flak explosions and falling machines. The bombers trying to fly below the

level of the cruisers' decks to escape their

Text: Jan Bobek

Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

fire were also attempting to avoid the water

geysers. Piotr Forkasiewicz captured this

phase of the battle on the boxart. The aircraft

2-163 probably belonged to Hikōtaichō of 201.

Kōkūtai, Lt. Cdr. Shirō Kawai. However, he did

not participate in this action and unit´s formation was led by Lt.(jg) Yoshio Ôba.

Some Zeros chased the B-25s during their

retreat, but the Japanese pilots avoided

attacking from the front because they feared

the gunships' armament. Some Japanese pilots apparently ran out of ammunition, flew

alongside the Mitchells for a while, then saluted and took off.

The Japanese lost fourteen Zeros and nine

pilots, and six more fighters were destroyed in collisions during takeoff. The Japanese

reported 119 aircraft shot down, 22 of them

probably. The American side also inflated its

reports, with fighters and bombers claiming

55 Zeros shot down. The exact damage to

Japanese vessels is still disputed, but after

this attack the Japanese abandoned another

naval attack on Bougainville.

The Americans lost 11 Mitchells and 9

Lightnings, many more were damaged.

Most of the P-38s were shot down in fighter

engagements, while a large number of B-25s

was shot down by flak. Due to these losses,

November 2, 1943, was nicknamed “Black

Tuesday”. Major Raynold H. Wilkins of the

8th BS, 3rd BG was posthumously awarded

the Medal of Honor for his attack on one of

the cruisers and his courage in leading his

formation.

February 2023