Strana 53
Lt Harold J. Martin, 7th FS, 49th FG, Horn Island, Australia, spring 1942
Lt. John E Petach Jr, 75th FS, 23rd FG, 14th AF, Hengyang, China, July 1942
On March 14, 1942, Lt. Martin achieved his only
aerial victory with this aircraft. It happened
when, with other members of the 7th FS,
he attacked a formation of eight Betty bombers
from the 4 Kókútai. Martin flew as a member of
B Flight, led by 2Lt Bill Reddington. When the
American fighters launched their attack on the
Japanese bombers, he separated from his flight,
approached the three bombers on the left side
of the formation and, according to reports, first
fired at the entire section and then focused on
the Betty flying on the far left. He emptied all
his ammunition into it, broke away to the left,
and with empty magazines, decided to return to
base on Horn Island, which was being strafed
by accompanying Zeros after the Japanese
Betty’s bombs hit the base. Martin managed to
avoid combat with them and landed safely at the
damaged airfield. Here, during his debriefing,
he was severely reprimanded by the squadron
commander for leaving formation and engaging
in combat on his own. Despite the claims of
American pilots, according to Japanese reports,
none of the attacking bombers were shot down
but some were damaged. The Warhawk named
Minnesota Gopher had a picture of a chicken
in a flight helmet painted on its tail, which was
probably the emblem of one of the 7th FS flights.
The aircraft served with the squadron until June
13, 1942, when it crashed on landing and had to
be sent to a service unit for a general overhaul,
after which it was transferred to the RAAF.
This son of Slovak parents was born on July 15,
1918, in Pennsylvania. After studying chemistry
at New York University, he joined the US Navy
in 1939, where he completed pilot training in
Pensacola. He began his service on the USS
Ranger (CV-4) with VS 42 where he flew SB2U
Vindicator aircraft. He joined the 1st American
Volunteer Group, fighting against the Japanese
in China, on August 10, 1941, and was assigned
to the second squadron, “Panda Bears,” as flight
commander. Initially, he flew most often with
the P-40B P-8127 with tactical number 47, later
he used the P-40E with the number 106. As part
of his deployment with the AVG, he participated
in seven victories over Japanese aircraft, which,
when combined with his shares, meant a total
score of 3.93 confirmed kills. In February 1942,
he married nurse E. J. Foster, who worked for
the AVG. In July 1942, the AVG was disbanded and
reorganized into the regular 23rd Fighter Group
of 14th Air Force, USAAF. Most of the original
AVG members returned to the United States,
but John Petach remained with the 23rd Fighter
Group as an instructor. Nevertheless, on July
6, he took part in the 23rd FG’s first air battle,
shooting down one enemy fighter for sure and
another probably. On July 10, 1942, he took off
on a combat mission to attack a target near
Nanchang. During a dive attack, he was hit by
anti-aircraft fire and killed.
KITS 10/2025
INFO Eduard
53
October 2025