The 43rd Bombardment Group escorted by the 8th Fighter group were tasked to bomb the Japanese Airfield on New Guinea. As they were preparing to take off, a surprise Japanese attack on Reid River occurred, fighters and interceptors of the 8th Fighter Group were quickly scrambled, losing 2 P-40s and 1 P-38 in a mid-air collision, and shooting down 4 Japanese Zeros. Japanese fighters kept on their attack, 1 B-17E stalled and crashed into the ocean, the remaining 2 bombers were damaged from the non-stop attack. On its way down, a Zero attempted to Kamikaze into a B-17 but it crumpled once it met the SUPERIOR PITTSBURGIAN STEEL, leaving no damage on the bomber. In the attack, ‘Listen Here, Tojo’ suffered the most, missing her 2 engines, but they pushed onto their target. On their flight, small air skirmishes continued, with no success to the Japanese as they were getting shot down consistently.
A small group of Zeros managed to chase the formation back to base, fighters were redirected to engage, but unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of bullets, one of the bomber was shot down in the cross-fire by the friendly P-40s. Only 1 parachute was seen. ‘Listen Here, Tojo’ was able to safely land with all her crews and the last of the Japanese squadrons taken out by the P-40s. All crew of ‘Listen Here, Tojo’ was given the Purple Heart for the bravery.
Casualties and Losses:
- x1 P-38 Lost,
- x7 P-40F-E10 Lost,
- x2 B-17E Lost,
- x10 Zeros Shot Down
