The Allied Far East Air Forces had just enough time to alert P-40s and P-35s of the enemy’s approach and more than 50 of the fighters rose to meet the Japanese. They encountered 100 Zeros and 54 Betty and 77 Nell bombers. The FEAF claimed 11 enemy planes shot down, but the Japanese virtually wiped out the Cavite Navy Yard and inflicted heavy damage on Nichols and Nielson. Japanese infantry and armor going ashore at Aparri and Vigan were attacked by five B-17s that had come from Del Monte and some fighters but the Japanese still managed to establish a beachhead. At noon of December 10, 1941, the Japanese also bombed the US Navy Yard in Cavite reducing it to a heap of smoldering ruins. Fort McKinley was not spared. At daybreak of December 12, Nichols Field the present site where this museum is located was bombed for the third time being a part of the Manila defense system. At the same time shortly before noon, the church bells from nearby towns at Batangas Airfield were heard which prompted the air raid alarm. The Japanese Air Force was approaching in two waves consisting of 27 bombers each in perfect V formations heading for Batangas Field. The pilots and the crew of the Philippine Army Air Corps scrambled to their planes. This time they were ready to meet the invaders head-on headed by Capt Villamor with Lt’s Godofredo Juliano, Geronimo Aclan, Manuel Conde and Antonio Mondigo. A dogfight ensued and Villamor and his men, fighting desperately, gave all what their P-26s can do to break up the pack of bombers and their fighter escorts before they could reach and bomb Batangas Field. Lt Cesar Basa who was two hours airborne conducting air reconnaissance and by now was low in fuel joined the aerial engagement unfortunately was himself shot-down. In the process, Basa’s P-26 was hit by enemy guns forcing him to bail out. It was when he was dangling helplessly from his parachute that the Zeroes riddled him with bullets. He was dead when he touched the ground sacrificing his life above and beyond the call of duty making him the first Filipino pilot casualty of war. The other five Filipino pilots, in the meantime, were on their own, fighting it out with the numerically superior Zeroes. Lt Juliano in his effort to head off his three attackers executed a vertical maneuver and in the process saw one of his teammate’s aircraft plummeting down in smoke. He saw Lt. Antonio Mondigo extricate himself from the burning plane and bailed out. One of the Zeroes, seeing the billowing parachute, headed straight for Lt Mondigo but then Lt Juliano sensing the danger his colleague was in, flew within the line of vision of the Zero in the hope of destructing the pilot. The Japanese pilot took the bait and decided to go after him saving the life of Lt Mondigo who safely landed to the ground. Meanwhile, on the ground below, Lt. Salvador Manlunas, also of the 6th Pursuit Squadron, was in charge of ground defenses. While moving from one machinegun emplacement to another during the ferocious enemy attack, he was hit by a bomb fragment and was instantly killed. He was the second casualty of the day. Lt Conde made a force landing at Zablan Field. When the Japanese Aircraft withdrew, Capt Villamor and Lt Juliano safely landed at Zablan Field while Lt Aclan landed at Maniquis Field. The Japanese lost one (1) Nell type bomber that day. While the PAAC was waging a defensive fight against Japanese Zeroes, the Air Corps Observation, Primary, Basic, and Advanced Training Units were engaged in reconnaissance and courier missions in support of the Army. Missions were to fly low and take advantage of darkness as much as possible. Day missions were flown at the tree-top level. Four PAAC pilots flying trainers were attached to Major General Wainwright’s command in Northern Luzon to carry out courier missions while three P-26’s flew reconnaissance missions under the supervision of Brigadier General Jones in Southern Luzon. In Lahug Field, Cebu City, the 9th Observation and Attack Squadron under Major Oscar Sales supported Allied troops in Visayas and Mindanao by performing reconnaissance and courier missions. Whenever there was a dangerous assignment, Major Oscar Sales would do it himself. One such assignment was done on a stormy night of December 11, 1941, when he received orders to make an important reconnaissance flight. He told his men that it was too dangerous for any of them so he did the mission himself despite bad weather. In his attempt to take off, his aircraft hit a cable and crashed which killed him instantly. The Japanese invasion forces came next. With hardly any resistance at all, they landed at a strategic point in Luzon particularly on Lingayen Gulf where Japanese troops were unloaded from eighty Japanese transports ships. Day by day, the USAFFE suffered reverses in many battle sectors. Outmaneuvered and outfought, the Filipino and American soldiers under General Douglas MacArthur, nonetheless resisted the enemy advances. But the lack of air support and their inferior strength made them easy targets for the enemy. On Dec 14, 1941, USAFFE attacked the Japanese landing force at Legaspi and sunk one transport and heavily damaged a few others. However, heavy and incessant attacks on almost allied aircraft ruin the country’s air arm. Japan had won one of the basic requisites of victory: command of the air. Meantime, the PAAC continued to perform daily reconnaissance and patrol missions in Luzon and Visayas areas. On 23 Dec 1941, 2 days before Christmas, Lt Jose Kare flew over Ragay Gulf with his P-26A aircraft and shot-down a Japanese fighter plane making the total enemy kill of PAAC pilots to three.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 03:44:32 +0000
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