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