The two crewmen landed close to the shore of Chichijima, waded ashore and were captured. The other Avenger spun out of control into the sea, killing all on board. With the aircraft out of control at 9,000 feet, King ordered his two crewmen (Jim Dye and Grady York) to bail out, but, as he was attempting to get out himself, the aircraft righted itself and he regained control. The left wing of the dying Avenger struck and crumpled the rear fuselage of King’s “Turkey” and its propeller chewed off half the port wing. That Avenger rolled hard right and into a spin, hitting King’s Avenger. Another of the Avengers was hit by flak which blew its right wing off. This Avenger from USS Bennington, flown by Lieutenant Robert King, was one of three Avengers attacking Chichijima’s airfield. Avengers were used to take out the two radio stations on the island, but they faced anti-aircraft fire. The island was used as the primary site for Japanese long-range radio relay operations and surveillance activity in the Pacific. The day before the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima, the starving and doomed Japanese garrison on Chichijima, the next island in the archipelago, came under attack by carrier-based aircraft of the United States Navy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |