World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
7 Oct 2011 02:24:02 PM

IT TOOK REAL GUTS TO FLY LOW OFF THE WATER INTO ENEMY FIRE, AND EXPLOADING FLAK. HOW MANY SLUGS DO YOU THINK ARE IN THAT SKY. This famous photograph of four G4M "Betty" bombers of the 4th Kokutai, was taken during the Guadalcanal torpedo attack on August 8,1942. The bomber near the camera can be seen without bomb bay doors, as seen by the humped geometry of the fuselage. The photo could have been taken before or after the the torpedo was released. The other betty's are so low I guess between 10 to 15 feet off the water, that you can see the aircraft's reflection. The photograph was published in an original printing of Guadalcanal Diary in 1943. TROUBLE WITH BETTY: The G4M1s had trouble with its bomb bay doors when they opened, they wouldn't always close, this created a lot of drag, and crews had them removed for operations. The 65th production model, of the G4M1, had improved bomb bay doors, later model G4M2s had bulged doors.

2.  Bill says:
20 Dec 2011 08:16:01 PM

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET: The G4M "Betty" lower left in photograph was flown by Jun Takahashi his altitude was 5 meters above the water, thats 15 feet, that was my estimate, between 10 to 15 feet, okay its more like 16.4 feet. His orders were to drop his torpedo 1,000 meters closer to the target, his "Betty" was the only aircraft to survive the attack, when he returned to base, his plane had been hit 65 times in the fuselage and wings. Jun Takahashi lives in Tokyo, Japan and is one of Japan's oldest WWII naval pilots at 89 years old.