They Called His Corsair "Hell's Gull" — 8 Japanese Bombers Learned Why in Seconds скачать в хорошем качестве

They Called His Corsair "Hell's Gull" — 8 Japanese Bombers Learned Why in Seconds

Why First Lieutenant Robert Murray Hanson attacked 8 Japanese Betty bombers alone over Rabaul Harbor during WW2 — and shot down 7 in 11 minutes while his Corsair absorbed 47 bullet holes. This World War 2 story reveals how one Marine pilot turned impossible odds into the most devastating solo aerial assault of the Pacific War. February seventeenth, nineteen forty-four. First Lieutenant Robert Murray Hanson, Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-215, climbed toward 8 twin-engine bombers descending on Allied transport ships below. His wingman had aborted with engine failure. Standard doctrine required 4 fighters to attack bomber formations. The Bettys flew defensive box formation with overlapping fields of fire from 32 machine guns and 8 cannons designed to shred any single attacker. Every tactical manual said one fighter couldn't survive. His squadron commander would call it suicide. They were all wrong. What Hanson understood that morning wasn't about following doctrine. It was about creating chaos faster than the enemy could respond. He rolled inverted beneath the formation and climbed directly into the lead bomber's belly. Tracers filled the sky. Something punched through his left wing. His engine took a 20mm round. Oil pressure dropped. He kept firing. By the time his damaged Corsair glided onto the runway with a dead engine, 7 Betty bombers and 49 Japanese aircrew would never return to base. This action earned Hanson the Medal of Honor on August nineteenth, nineteen forty-four, but he never knew. Twelve days after shooting down those 7 bombers, ground fire killed him over Rabaul. He was 23. His parents kept his medal in a wooden box in their bedroom for 30 years, showing it to almost no one. The pilot who achieved one of the war's most devastating solo victories remains largely forgotten outside Marine Corps aviation history. #worldwar2 #ww2history #ww2