Attack from the sun
by Fergus Grant
Horwitz Publications, 1963, 130 pages
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) used the Kittyhawk as
its main fighter during World War II. The Kittyhawk, the nickname used by the
British Commonwealth for later models of the Curtiss P-40 fighter, was a rugged
single-engine, single-seat fighter that was heavily armored. Attack from the
sun features Australian Kittyhawk squadrons fighting against Japanese
fighters during the Allied invasion of Borneo. The book's last chapter
describes an attack by a kamikaze squadron of six Zeros from a base in the southern
Philippines.
The novel's nonstop battle action probably occurs between
about May and July 1945, the period of the Allied invasion of Borneo, but the
book does not specify any dates. Cleary's squadron of twelve fighters
participates in the battle to capture the tiny island of Salik so that
Australian Kittyhawks can use it as a base. Cleary loses six of his squadron's
fighters in battle and another on takeoff, so his squadron gets diminished to
only five planes by the time the Allies capture Salik.
The Kittyhawks based on Salik, including Cleary's remaining
squadron, then begin their missions of strafing and guarding the sky against
Japanese fighters as the Allied bombing of Borneo continues. Cleary's Kittyhawk
goes down in Japanese-held jungle, but he kills three Japanese soldiers in a
gun battle as he makes his way to the coast to get rescued. The Australian
pilots on Salik suspect that someone among the 100 or so men at the base is
sabotaging their planes, and they finally discover an unknown soldier, who had
been hiding in an underground bunker, when he goes up in flames after two
Japanese Zero floatplanes strafe the island.
Cleary's younger brother Bill crashes into the jungle, and
Cleary decides to crash land his plane on top of the trees in an attempt to
find and save his brother. With the help of a native, Cleary and his brother
manage to get through the jungle, take a raft down a river, and get rescued
after they get out to sea. The last chapter covers an attack by six Zeros in a
kamikaze squadron. The Kittyhawks led by Cleary stop five of them, but one gets
through and sinks a ship in 30 seconds.
With the novel's concentration on dogfights and ground
fighting, the characters show almost no emotion. For example, Cleary loses
seven pilots in his squadron, but his chief concern at the time seems to be a
rivalry with another squadron leader named Tubby rather than grief for his lost
pilots. The only real emotional incident in the entire novel occurs when the
plane of Cleary's brother Bill goes down into the jungle, and Cleary feels that he must
crash land to rescue his brother. The novel provides no dates, very little
with regard to characters' backgrounds, and almost nothing on geographical
details. On the other hand, the book excels in its depictions of aerial
battles.
The Japanese kamikaze pilots portrayed in the last chapter
have little connection with historical reality. No kamikaze attack ever
occurred off the coast of Borneo from a Japanese air base in the southern
Philippines. From May to July 1945, kamikaze attacks took place very far to the
north around Okinawa
and off mainland Japan. The novel states that the Australians had advance
intelligence that a kamikaze squadron may sortie, and then spotters in the
Philippines identify six planes heading south. The Allies never had this type
of advance notice from the ground during the war, although radar or combat air patrol (CAP)
often identified incoming Japanese planes long before they reached their
targets. The Zero kamikaze squadron left the Philippines without any escorts,
which was not typical during the war since escorts increased the chances that
the kamikaze planes would get through to their intended targets.
This long-forgotten Australian paperback contains plenty of
erroneous information concerning Japanese kamikaze, but Kittyhawk squadron
leaders Cleary and Tubby have an interesting exchange regarding how to stop them
(p. 119):
Tubby: While you've been away this has become a serious
danger. One Kamikaze pilot is worth a squadron if he gets through. And they are
getting through.
Cleary: What's the answer?
Tubby: We don't know yet. But we are to stop them at all
costs.
Cleary: Even by becoming Kamikaze ourselves?
Tubby: That's up to the individual. There are no official
orders on that. But they must be stopped.
Although this conversation makes little sense historically
since the Allies had radar picket stations and combat air patrol at that time
to limit the effectiveness of kamikaze attacks, the squadron leaders'
conversation shows that they consider a suicide attack to not be a fanatical battle
tactic if it can be used effectively to stop the enemy. In the final battle scene, Cleary
crashes his fighter into a Zero in order to stop the plane from hitting a ship, but he
manages to press his safety harness release just in time to escape with his
life.
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