PAGE 3 II. BASIC TACTICS 1. Aerial Combat. Following are a few points on aerial combat which should be habits while in the target area. a. Look around b. Stick together c. Stick with your element leader. Should you lose him join with anyone. The pilot who is careless about getting off by himself will get it sooner or later. d. An immediate attack is the best defense. If you have an even to better altitude advantage tangle with anything up to twice your number. e. Don't try to turn with the Nip. It can't be done in any Allied aircraft. Break off when lead can no longer be held. At slow speeds (200-220) this will be approximately 40-50 degrees of turn. At high speed (350-375) as much as 180 degrees. f. Be prepared for his turns on your approach -- starting shallow and then "reefing in" as you close within range. g. Turn into the attack. h. Keep up speed -- it's the big advantage. i. Hold fire until within range. Bullet drop, loss of impact force, and dispersion make long range shooting impractical. j. Try for a low quarter 10-20 degree deflection stern attack after driving down slightly below and behind him. k. Don't rely on tracer or deflection shooting. Use the gunsight. l. Allow an extra 1/4 to 1/2 ring when 2 "Gs" or more are being pulled on pursuit curve. Error the long side. m. Bullet drop is not compensated for when you're in a bank -- you must aim high on the line of flight -- as along top of Nip fuselage. n. Our planes are equipped with gun booster. The rate of fire is so increased that a four second burst will burn out the barrels on the first burst. Succeeding bursts must be reduced in length to two second maximums if firing is in quick succession. o. If a Nipper catches you turn away from your element leader so that he will be able to turn into the Nip. Do this while pulling into a shallow balls-out climb or dive using plenty of evasive action. p. The Nipper's favorite evasion is the split "S" close to the ground -- don't let him "auger you in"; it's been done! q. If you are latched badly while on escort drag the Nipper across close to the bomber formation and let their guns brush him off. r. Stick together. These bits of advice have worked in the past and apply now; however, there may be better ways of defeating the enemy brought out in each new combat. Remember as much of the details of a scrap as possible and give the dope to your intelligence officer -- it may save someone's neck on the next one. 2. Escort In escorting bombers of any type, your first and primary duty is to see that the bombers are protected as well as possible from enemy fighters. You will hear statements from other commands such as, "a bomber escort mission is a good excuse for a juicy fighter sweep," or "our fighters are to be used to shoot down Nippers and not to protect the bombers -- let them shift for themselves." This is exactly the opposite atitude as that taken by our Group and Fighter Command. We repeat -- your primary duty on an escort mission is to see that no Nip fighters get to our bombers. In order to give this protection to the bombers, we have set up a fairly standard type formation as outlined in diagram here. These formations should be kept well forward in relation to the main body of bombers -- the reason for this is that most Nip attacks develop from 10 to 2 o'clock position, and secondly, the normal tendency for the escort is to fall back, which should be prevented. It is the duty of the top cover to beat down any pre-attacks mush-rooming up from the sides and to keep Nippers off of the medium and close cover backs. Frequently we have enough planes to establish a high roving cover which operates on a semi-independent basis in the vicinity of the bomber formation, most of the time sweeping in from and above the path of the bombers. The close cover works in the immediate vicinity of the bombers, weaving above them to stay close and still keep up the necessary speed. The flight leader will size up the situation as to the strength of the enemy and if it is not sufficient to warrent all fighters staying with the bombers, he may designate flights from cover to leave and carry out sweeps in the vicinity of the bombers. If the enemy force has been large enough to necessitate keeping all cover with the bombers and on the way out from the target when it appears that the bombers will be safe from that point on, the flight leader may call for a 180 degree turn of all fighters to attack any enemy fighters trailing the formation. This maneuver has worked very successfully at times when a sufficient amount of ammunition and gasoline is still on hand. When escorting bombers, all bogies that are sighted will be called in by clock system and relative altitude using the bomber formation as the base. For instance, "This is Teaser Red Leader. Bogies at 1 O'clock high." The first sentence assures you that the bogies are around your formation and not some other strike within radio contact. The second sentence tells you that the bogies are at 2 o'clock from the bomber formation and above its level. While in the target area, the close cover will call in all changes in the bomber course to the other flights; making it easier for them to stay in position. If the target area is so large that the bombers are required to break up into individual groups for bomb runs, or the weather has broken up their formation resulting in individual bomb runs, we will establish an area cover. When this situation occurs, the fighters, instead of staying with any particular group of bombers, institute a complete target area support. This is accomplished by the fighter leader breaking down his group into sections or flights which sweep independently within the target area retiring with the bombers as they leave.

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