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P-39Q-5, 42-20351, Lt. William A. Shomo, 82nd TRS, 71st TRG, 5th AF, Dobodura,
New Guinea, March 1944
P-39Q-1, 42-19467, 46th FS, 15th FG, 7th AF, Kanton atoll, Phoenix archipelago, August 1943
William Arthur Shomo was born on May 30, 1918,
in Jeanette, Pennsylvania and joined USAAC (US
Army Air Corps) in August 1941. Having completed
the training, he was assigned to 82nd TRS
belonging to 71st TRG. In the fall of 1943, the unit
equipped with Airacobras was deployed to Port
Moresby airbase in New Guinea. Crew chief of
all Shomo’s aircraft at his unit was S/Sgt. Ralph
Winkel who named all airplanes assigned to
him Snooks according to his future wife. William
Shomo became famous thanks to the mission
flown on January 11, 1945, when at the controls of
his reconnaissance Mustang he single-handedly
shot down seven enemy aircraft, a feat for which
he was awarded Medal of Honor. Shomo’s total
score was eight enemy aircraft shot down within
24 hours. In addition to a number of ground targets
Shomo also claimed ten airplanes destroyed on
the ground. At least three of them while flying
Airacobras. On January 31, 1944, together with
Lt. Weber they destroyed Ki-61 Tony fighter and
a Betty bomber. On March 13, 1944, during the raid
on Madang airbase he destroyed an A6M fighter.
Airacobra 42-20531 was lost during the ground
attack mission in the Hansa Bay area and pilot,
Lt. Harrison perished.
The 46th FS (originally 46th PS) was formed on
Hawaiian Islands on December 1, 1940, as a part
of 15th Pursuit Group equipped with Curtiss P-36
Hawk fighters at that time. It opened its combat
score right on the first day of the War in Pacific,
December 7th, 1941, defending the Pearl Harbor
naval base against the Japanese attack. In 1942
the squadron was re-equipped with Airacobras
and in the spring of 1943 deployed to Kanton atoll
in the Phoenix archipelago. Due to the conditions
on the island, almost completely lacking the
vegetation, new Airacobras were repainted in
the combination of the sand color on the upper
and side surfaces while the lower surfaces of
the fighters were sprayed in light blue colors.
Camouflage change was an idea of Lt. Benjamin
C. Warren, a pilot and unit’s technical officer, who
also supervised its application. In December 1943,
46th FS left Kanton and after the overflight to
atoll Makin carried on with the operations until
mid-December 1944. At that time Airacobras of
the unit carried the Olive Drab coat on the upper
surfaces again.
KITS 09/2024
INFO Eduard62
September 2024