Watch RAAF Kittyhawks Unleash a Deadly Strafing Run in the Pacific War
Gathering for the Strike
In the summer of 1944, the Royal Australian Air Force prepared for a massive assault on the final enemy positions in western New Guinea. Air Commodore Harry Cobby and his senior officers planned a coordinated attack using Kittyhawk fighters, an aircraft already proven in fierce Pacific battles. Over the previous week, 78 Wing had flown hundreds of sorties to weaken defenses and identify targets. Now three squadrons—75, 78, and 80—were ready for a decisive strike on the Vogelkop Peninsula, a key location that stood between Allied forces and the next step north toward the Philippines and Japan.
The pilots faced long distances over jungle and sea. To extend their range, ground crews fitted extra fuel tanks under each Kittyhawk’s belly. Cameraman Bill Tesch mounted a special camera to capture the event, while squadron leaders Les Jackson, Curley Brighton, Jeff Aiton, and Col Lindeman briefed their men. Their mission was to destroy supply craft and strongholds so General Douglas MacArthur could secure an airfield at Sansapor, a critical link in the island-hopping campaign.
Low-Level Attack
On July 29, waves of Kittyhawks roared off the muddy strip at Noemfoor Island. They flew low to avoid radar, then peeled into steep dives over Japanese positions. Bombs fell first, followed by strafing runs with machine guns blazing. Pilots dropped fuel tanks as improvised firebombs, igniting supply dumps and trucks. Enemy anti-aircraft fire filled the sky, but the Australians pressed in, each fighter finding its own target through smoke and tracers.
Despite heavy fire, most aircraft returned safely. Pilots who took damage nursed their planes back across 200 miles of open water. By day’s end, the stronghold was shattered. The Kittyhawk squadrons returned to their rough camp of tents and mud, greeted by ground crews and fellow fliers. It was one more hard mission in a relentless campaign that cost the Royal Australian Air Force more than two thousand lives, but kept the Pacific advance moving forward.
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