RECOLLECTION

Jack Sloan 1986

“Jap Dive Bomber”

On 8 June 1944 at 0640, while the Swanson and several other destroyers were escorting a convoy of LSD’s to Biak, we came under attack by two Jap Dive Bombers. The destroyer screen immediately went to flank speed circling the slow moving LST’s.

One Jap Dive Bomber proceeded to a point ahead of the convoy and the other Dive Bomber took station astern of the convoy. The Jap Dive Bomber ahead of the convoy went into a steep dive aimed at the convoy.

The Destroyer screen and the LST’s put up a curtain of anti-aircraft fire, and the sky was black with shell bursts. As the Dive Bomber released his bomb, the other Dive Bomber was already in his dive and releasing his bomb.

The bombs failed to hit any of the ships, and both planes flew through a heavy curtain of anti-aircraft gun fire and escaped safely. As the planes disappeared over the horizon they appeared undamaged.

Some one jokingly said that those Jap pilots had used up all their luck and when they arrived back at their airfield, they probably stepped out their planes, tripped and fell and broke their necks!