P-39s, Zeros & A-24s

Do you really think he would have continued his antics once flak began bursting
in the general vicinity? Sakai may have been arrogant, but I doubt he was
stupid. All flak is addressed "To Whom It May Concern." It doesn't have to
have your name on it to give you a really bad day.

These stories always strike me as urban legend, or the WWII
equivalent. Every theater of operations has them. For the AVG Flying
Tigers, it was the crew chief at Mingaladon airport being strafed by
low-flying "Zeros" who threw a wrench at one and knocked it down.
Everyone seemed to believe this story, but it always seemed
fantastical to me.

This is not to say that tales of mad bravado can't ever be true. There
was a well-documented case in China where three Japanese pilots landed
on a Chinese base, destroyed some aircraft that hadn't come up to
challenge them, and took off again. That was in 1938 or thereabouts. I
suspect they got more cautious by 1942.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

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