Those are expendable fuel drop tanks. They extended the range of the P-51 Mustang's for long-range over-water missions. They could launch from Iwo Jima, rendezvous over Japan with B-29's from Guam or the Tinian Islands, provide cover for bombing raids, maybe do some additional ground attacks, and then return to Iwo Jima - an eight hour plus mission over open ocean with little room for navigational errors, at the limits of endurance of man and machine.
When the pilots returned (if they returned) they got a few bottles of cold beer and maybe a shower. Then in the morning they got up and did it again. My Dad was one of these guys.
The first land-based raid on the Japanese home islands, which were from Iwo Jima in April 1945, targeted military headquarters in Tokyo and a Mitsubishi factory in Nagoya that made engines for Zero fighters. My dad led a wing of fighters on the Nagoya mission. Take that, Mitsubishi!
These missions came shortly after Iwo was officially secured. But right after the Mustang pilots arrived on Iwo Jima in March ‘45, they were targeted for assasination by a couple of hundred holdouts of the Japanese Imperial Army who had been holed up in their tunnel and cave system. One night they infiltrated through the marine lines and attacked the fighter pilot's bivouac area, slashing open tents with their swords and tossing in grenades. They realized the fighter pilots were the highest-value targets on the island. In fact the entire objective of capturing Iwo was to provide a base of operations for fighters, as well as an emergency landing facility for damaged or low-on-fuel bombers.
This large-scale suicide attack, the last act of organized resistance on Iwo, is what this photo, and following ones, are about:
http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299444513572897634After a pitched night battle all of the Japanese were dead. About 15 pilots were killed. The Japanese bodies were thrown into a bomb crated and buried. Among my Dad’s wartime memorabilia were photos showing the same bodies, the same body-filled crater, the same shot-up tents.
All the (surviving) pilots received the Air Medal for surviving the suicide attack and for participating in the historic April 7 mission.
Notice the pilots are all wearing shoulder holsters:
http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299164423001573010The standard issue sidearm for pilots was a stub-nosed .38 revolver. The idea was that a pilot, whose primary weapon was a fighter plane, wouldn’t feel totally unarmed if he was shot down, and might also have an option if he didn’t want to face being tortured to death by his captors. After surviving the suicide attack, my Dad wanted something with more stopping power and traded his .38 revolver to a Marine for a .45 semi-automatic. I wish he had hung onto the .45. He also aquired a US Army-issue machete which he did bring home with him. All the time I was growing up, whenever we went camping, he wouldn’t lie down to go to sleep in a tent without that machete by his side. PTSD? You be the judge.
This photo shows a pilot being resuced by a sub:
http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5435676087503544146Close in to the Japanes home islands, subs would stand by at designated rendezvous points. Further out, PBY Catalina flying boats did the same. If your plane was damaged, too low on fuel, or if you were badly wounded, you would rendezvous, ditch or bail out, and (hopefully) get picked up.
What else … the casualty rate from accidents. Notice how many plane crashes you see in these photos. Some were due to shot-up planes or wounded pilots but many were simply accidents. Overloaded takeoffs, landings made too hot. P-51’s had twitchy ground handling. Taildragger landing gear combined with rough and/or slippery landing surfaces, and 2000+ hp in something the weight of a heavy SUV. Open the throttle too fast and the torque would flip it on its back. Brake too hard on landing, ground loop.
Enough rambling. My Dad never talked much about his combat experiences but these are a few tidbits he mentioned before he passed away.
Don
