W E B Griffin – Corp 06 – Close Combat

“Probably,” Dawkins said.

This, Dawkins thought, is where I’m supposed to say something reassuring. Or better, inspiring. Hell of a note that a MAG commander can’t think of a goddamn thing reassuring or inspiring to say to one of his squadron commanders.

He thought of something:

“When Galloway comes back, I’ll lay three to one he comes with stuff to drink.”

“If he comes back,” Dunn said. “What odds are you offering about that?”

“He’ll be back, Bill,” Dawkins said, hoping his voice carried more conviction than he felt.

[THREE]

=TOP SECRET=

FROM: MAG-21 1750 11OCT42

SUBJECT: AFTER-ACTION REPORT

TO: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, PACIFIC, PEARL HARBOR INFO: SUPREME COMMANDER SWPOA, BRISBANE COMMANDANT, USMC, WASH, DC

1. UPON RADAR DETECTION AT 1220 11OCT42 OF TWO FLIGHTS OF UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT APPROX

140 NAUTICAL MILES MAG-21 LAUNCHED;

A. EIGHT (8) F4F4 VF-5

B. FIFTEEN (15) F4F4 VMF-121

C. SIX (6) F4F4 VMF-223

D. FIVE(5)F4F4VMF-224

E. FIVE (5) F4F4 VMF-229

F. THREE (3) P40 67TH FIGHTER SQUADRON USAAC

G. NINE (9) P39 67TH FIGHTER SQUADRON USAAC.

2. VF-5 AND VMF-121 NO CONTACT.

3. DUE TO INABILITY EXCEED 19,000 FEET WITH AVAILABLE OXYGEN EQUIPMENT USAAC AIRCRAFT

MADE NO INITIAL CONTACT.

4. AT 1255 11OCT42 REMAINING FORCE MADE CONTACT AT 25,000 FEET WITH 34 KATE REPEAT 34

KATE BOMBERS ESCORTED BY 29 ZERO REPEAT 29 ZERO FIGHTERS APPROXIMATE 20 NAUTICAL MILES

FROM HENDERSON FIELD.

5. ENEMY LOSSES:

A. NINE (9) KATE

KUNTZ, CHARLES M 1/LT USMC TWO (2)

MANN, THOMAS H JR 1/LT USMCR TWO (2)

DUNN, WILLIAM C 1/LT USMCR ONE (1)

HALLOWELL, GEORGE L 1/LT USMCR TWO (2)

KENNEDY, MATTHEW H 1/LT USMCR (2)

B. FOUR (4) ZERO

DUNN, WILLIAM C 1/LT USMCR ONE (1)

MCNAB, HOWARD T/SGT USMC (2)

ALLEN, GEORGE F 1/LT USMCR ONE (1)

C. IN ADDITION, SHARPSTEEN, JAMES CAPT USAAC 67 USAAC FS DOWNED ONE (1) KATE

STRAGGLER.

6. MAG-21 LOSSES:

A. ONE (1) F4F4 CRASHED AT SEA. PILOT RECOVERED.

B. ONE (1) F4F4 CRASHED ON LANDING, DESTROYED.

C. THREE (3) F4F4 SLIGHTLY DAMAGED, REPAIRABLE.

7. DUE TO CLOUD COVER REMAINING ENEMY FORCE COULD NOT SEE HENDERSON FIELD, BOMB LOAD

DROPPED APPROXIMATELY FOUR NAUTICAL MILES TO WEST. NO DAMAGE TO FIELD OR EQUIPMENT.

DAWKINS, CLYDE W LTCOL USMC COMMANDING

=TOP SECRET=

[FOUR]

Henderson Field Guadalcanal,

Solomon Islands

0615 Hours 12 October 1942

As the Douglas R4D (the Navy/Marine Corps version of the twin-engine Douglas DC-3) turned smoothly onto its final approach, the pilot, who had been both carefully scanning the sky and taking a careful look at the airfield itself, suddenly put his left hand on the control wheel and gestured with his right to the copilot to relinquish control.

The lanky and (like nearly everyone else in that part of the world) tanned pilot of the R4D was twenty-eight-year old Captain Charles M. Galloway, USMCR-known to his subordinates as either “The Skipper” or “The Old Man.”

The copilot was a twenty-two-year-old Marine Corps second lieutenant whose name was Malcolm S. Pickering. Everyone called him “Pick.”

As Pick Pickering took his feet off the rudder pedals, he took his left hand from the wheel and held both hands up in front of him, fingers extended, a gesture indicating, You’ve got it.

I didn’t have to take it away from him, Charley Galloway thought as he moved his hand to the throttle quadrant. His many other flaws notwithstanding, Pickering is a first-rate pilot. More than that, he’s that rare creature, a natural pilot.

So why did I take it away from him? Because no pilot believes any other pilot can fly as well as he can? Or because I am functioning as a responsible commander, aware that high on the long list of critically short materiel of war on Guadalcanal are R4D airplanes. And consequently I am obliged to do whatever I can to make sure nobody dumps one of them?

He glanced over at Pickering to see if he could detect any signs on his face of a bruised ego. There were none.

Is that because he accepts the unquestioned right of pilots-in-command to fly the airplane, and that copilots can drive only at the pleasure of the pilot?

Or because he is a fighter pilot, and doesn’t give a damn who flies an aerial truck, all aerial truck drivers being inferior to all fighter pilots?

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