Who Shot Down Yamamoto?
Having been a participant in the Yamamoto mission, I
read your article with great interest and found it to
be very accurate except in one small detail: the
30-foot altitude and a major disagreement with its
conclusion about [1st Lt.] Rex Barber and [Capt.] Tom
Lanphier, who were both very good friends of mine
["Magic and Lightning," March, p. 62
http://www.afa.org/magazine/March2006/0306yamamoto.asp].
In the 13th Fighter Command report "Subject: Fighter
Interception," it stated we flew at 30 feet and, in
another place, we flew 10 to 30 feet above the water.
In truth, John Mitchell briefed us to maintain 50 feet
of altitude, which I and my team mates did all the way
to Bougainville. Ten to 30 feet above the ocean is
ridiculous in that if one engine quits, only the most
skillful of pilots could prevent crashing into the
ocean before they could safely convert to single
engine flying.
After Japanese records revealed that only two Betty
bombers were shot down, not three, and no Zeros were
shot down, Tom wrote an unpublished book (I have a
copy) in which he claimed that only he should have
full credit for shooting down Yamamoto's plane. Up to
that time, Rex was willing to accept half credit, but
after Tom let Rex and [Maj.] John Mitchell read it,
they were in strong disagreement from then on.
My personal interest started the day after the mission
when I asked Tom about the Betty bomber he said he had
shot down. He told me that after he turned into the
three Zeros on the right side of Yamamoto's plane
(which in my mind was fabulous in that it gave Rex an
unimpeded path to Yamamoto's plane), he shot at the
oncoming Zeros and, as they passed, he made a
180-degree turn after which he saw a Betty bomber at
about 90 degrees to him and at some distance. He fired
his guns using lead, and the Betty's right wing came
off and the Betty rapidly descended to a crash.
In 1988, the Nimitz Foundation at Fredricksburg, Tex.,
held its first symposium with its subject "The
Yamamoto Mission." There were seven of us from the
mission, plus Yanagua, the only survivor of the six
Japanese Zero pilots. Through an interpreter, he told
the audience that no Zeros were shot down, five
landing at Kahili and one at Ballalae, and then at
about two o'clock the six took off, joined up, and
flew back to Rabaul. After the talks, through an
interpreter, he told me he was the only one still
living because, in a fight with an F6F, he had his
right hand hit, which had to be amputated and he could
not fly any more. The other five were killed in combat
later on. When he saw a P-38 about to attack
Yamamoto's airplane (because they had had their radios
removed to lighten the plane), he was unable to warn
Yamamoto's pilot. He flew ahead and fired his guns in
the hope that his tracers would warn the pilot, but to
no avail. After the Betty was fired at, Yanagua stated
it crashed after 20 to 30 seconds. (I have a copy of
his sworn statement as to this fact.) Another book has
a part of Admiral Ugaki's diary in which he said he
saw the attack and that after Yamamoto's plane was
hit, it took only 20 seconds before it hit the ground.
There is no way that the P-38G models that we flew
with no aileron boost could make a 180-degree turn and
fly to the fray in the cited 20 to 30 seconds.
However, in Tom's unpublished book, he states that he
followed Yamamoto's Betty bomber to near its crash
site. [He] gave a very accurate description of the
scene, and also how he had shot down Yamamoto's plane
for the second time (of course, not mentioned by him
was that it was the second time), which brings up the
question: Should future review boards give him credit
for shooting down one-and-a-half bombers? Without
question, that would be ridiculous. It is my strong
opinion that Tom never fired one round at any Betty
bomber. Also, after Yanagua and Admiral Ugaki
confirmed they had seen a P-38 shoot down Yamamoto's
plane and said so, only Rex should be credited with
this victory because their statements and Rex's are
practically identical.
Maitland, Florida