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Part฀IV 264 C H A P T E R 9 “What฀a฀Fog!” S hortly฀after฀midnight฀on฀December฀7–8,฀1941,฀Pvt.฀Henry฀Brodginski ฀was฀in฀the฀Iba฀operations฀truck฀manipulating฀the฀oscilloscope฀ of฀the฀SCR-270B฀radar฀set.฀Generally฀considered฀the฀Air฀Warning฀ Company’s฀ best฀ scope฀ operator,฀ he฀ had฀ reported฀ for฀ duty฀ on฀ the฀ midnight฀to฀8฀a.m.฀shift.฀He฀immediately฀began฀following฀blips฀on฀ the฀screen,฀moving฀south,฀that฀had฀first฀been฀picked฀up฀at฀about฀11:30฀by฀ the฀earlier฀shift.฀From฀the฀dial฀on฀the฀scope,฀Brodginski฀read฀their฀location฀ to฀be฀about฀115฀miles฀north฀of฀Iba.1 ฀฀฀฀While฀ the฀ radar฀ detachment’s฀ radio฀ operator฀ continued฀ to฀ communicate ฀Brodginski’s฀reports฀of฀the฀bogies’฀southward฀progress฀to฀the฀Air฀ Warning฀ Service฀ at฀ Nielson฀ Field,฀ the฀ detachment฀ commander,฀ 2d฀ Lt.฀ Charlton฀Wimer,฀left฀the฀operations฀van฀and฀rushed฀over฀to฀the฀3d฀Pursuit฀ area฀to฀wake฀up฀1st฀Lt.฀Hank฀Thorne.฀Roused฀out฀of฀bed,฀the฀3d฀Pursuit’s฀ CO฀told฀the฀bugler฀to฀wake฀up฀the฀squadron’s฀personnel,฀including฀the฀ five฀pilots฀of฀Thorne’s฀alert฀flight,฀who฀were฀sleeping฀near฀the฀radar฀unit,฀ ready฀to฀take฀off฀on฀a฀moment’s฀notice.฀Meanwhile,฀FEAF฀headquarters฀ had฀grounded฀the฀other฀pursuit฀squadrons฀that฀evening฀so฀as฀to฀avoid฀confusion ฀if฀an฀order฀to฀intercept฀bogies฀were฀issued. ฀฀฀฀ After฀entering฀the฀operations฀van,฀Wimer฀and฀Thorne฀stood฀behind฀ Brodginski฀and฀followed฀the฀bogies’฀movement฀on฀the฀oscilloscope.฀The฀ blips฀had฀already฀passed฀Iba฀and฀were฀moving฀southeast฀toward฀Corregidor .฀Leaving฀the฀van,฀Thorne฀headed฀over฀to฀the฀landing฀strip฀and฀ordered฀ the฀five฀pilots฀in฀the฀alert฀flight฀to฀join฀him฀in฀an฀attempt฀to฀intercept฀the฀ bogies.฀Their฀orders฀were฀to฀shoot฀down฀any฀intruders.฀Minutes฀later,฀their฀ engines฀warmed฀up฀earlier฀by฀the฀crew฀chiefs,฀six฀P-40Es฀tore฀down฀the฀ strip฀and฀climbed฀into฀the฀night฀sky.2 ฀฀฀฀ Crowded฀into฀the฀operations฀van,฀the฀twelve฀pilots฀of฀Thorne’s฀other฀ two฀combat฀flights฀followed฀the฀bogies’฀course฀on฀the฀scope.฀Nearby,฀in฀ the฀3d฀Pursuit’s฀operations฀area,฀1st฀Lt.฀Jim฀Donegan฀radioed฀the฀bogies’฀ ch฀9 4/2/03,฀1:06฀PM 264 Chapter฀9 265 course฀ and฀ compass฀ headings฀ to฀Thorne’s฀ third฀ element฀ leader,฀ 1st฀ Lt.฀ Gerry฀Keenan,฀as฀they฀were฀fed฀over฀the฀phone฀to฀Donegan฀by฀the฀radar฀ unit.฀ Donegan฀ was฀ transmitting฀ in฀ Morse฀ code฀ on฀ a฀ long-range฀ highfrequency ฀ channel฀ because฀ voice฀ transmissions฀ had฀ proved฀ inadequate฀ three฀nights฀earlier.฀Keenan฀knew฀Morse฀code฀better฀than฀the฀other฀3d฀ Pursuit฀pilots,฀so฀Thorne฀had฀selected฀him฀to฀receive฀any฀Morse฀calls฀radioed ฀to฀the฀alert฀flight. ฀฀฀฀ Flying฀conditions฀were฀not฀ideal฀that฀evening.฀There฀were฀rainsqualls฀ around฀ the฀ Iba฀ area,฀ and฀ visibility฀ was฀ poor,฀ but฀Thorne’s฀ flight฀ broke฀ out฀into฀bright฀moonlight฀at฀four฀thousand฀feet฀as฀the฀pilots฀continued฀ to฀climb,฀then฀headed฀south฀on฀a฀course฀that฀Donegan฀told฀them฀should฀ bring฀the฀P-40s฀into฀contact฀with฀the฀bogies.฀At฀nine฀thousand฀feet,฀however ,฀Keenan฀began฀having฀difficulty฀receiving฀the฀Morse฀code฀messages฀ and฀ soon฀ afterward฀ could฀ no฀ longer฀ pick฀ them฀ up฀ at฀ all.฀ Reduced฀ to฀ searching฀blind฀for฀the฀Japanese,฀Thorne฀ordered฀the฀other฀pilots฀to฀fly฀in฀ pairs฀at฀staggered฀altitudes฀in฀the฀hope฀of฀making฀an฀interception฀at฀whatever ฀altitude฀the฀intruders฀were฀operating.3 ฀฀฀฀ In฀the฀3d฀Pursuit’s฀radio฀shack,฀Donegan฀was฀no฀longer฀receiving฀any฀ acknowledgments฀from฀Keenan฀regarding฀the฀Morse฀code฀messages฀he฀ had฀radioed฀to฀him.฀In฀the฀radar฀operations฀van,฀the฀3d฀Pursuit’s฀pilots฀ were฀excitedly฀watching฀the฀two฀sets฀of฀blips฀converging:฀the฀bogies฀flying ฀southeast฀and฀the฀P-40s฀heading฀due฀south.฀Then,฀at฀a฀point฀about฀four฀ miles฀west฀of฀Corregidor,฀the฀tracks฀merged฀and฀one฀of฀the฀pilots฀yelled,฀ “Contact฀enemy!”฀The฀pilots’฀elation฀turned฀to฀disappointment,฀however,฀ when฀about฀a฀minute฀later฀the฀bogies฀emerged฀from฀the฀confused฀mass฀of฀ blips฀and฀reversed฀course,฀heading฀back฀out฀to฀the฀South฀China฀Sea.4 ฀฀฀฀With฀no฀radio฀calls฀to฀guide฀them,฀Thorne฀gave฀up฀on฀his฀flight’s฀fruitless ฀search฀for฀the฀intruders฀and฀gave฀orders฀to฀turn฀north฀and฀head฀back฀ to฀Iba.฀As฀the฀pilots฀approached฀the฀field,฀they฀were฀happy฀to฀see฀it฀outlined ฀in฀the฀darkness฀by฀the฀headlights฀of฀all฀the฀squadron’s฀cars฀and฀trucks,฀ which฀had฀been฀lined฀up฀along฀the฀edges฀of฀the฀landing฀strip.฀The฀six฀P40Es ฀landed฀easily฀with฀the฀aid฀of฀such฀excellent฀illumination...

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