In 1941 shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) was inducted to the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) by General Douglas MacArthur on Aug 15, 1941 at Zablan Air Field in Camp Murphy. The site of the induction where General MacArthur sworn-in the Philippine Airmen is now the GHQ gymnasium beside the concessionaire area and had a strength of 143 pilots, 17 ground officers and 1,200 enlistedmen. It had 64 aircraft composed of P-26 Peashooters, 0-46 Douglas observation/ advance trainer aircraft, PT-3 Stearman and 2 B-10 Medium Bombers. There were four (4) Air Fields then namely: Zablan Air Field where the 1st School Squadron; 2nd and 3rd Depot Squadrons; the 4th Air Base Squadron and the 5th Photo Squadron are stationed under Lt Edwin Andrews; Maniquis Air Field in Pampanga where the 7th School Squadron; 8th Air Base Squadron and the 10th Bombardment Squadron are located under Capt Pelagio Cruz; Lahug Field in Cebu City where the 9th Observation and Attack Squadron and the 11th Air base Squadron under 1st Lt Oscar Sales and Batangas Air Field where the 6th pursuit Squadron was stationed under Capt Jesus A Villamor. Shortly after breakfast time on Dec. 8, a flight of 32 Japanese bombers struck at Camp John Hay in Baguio City and Tuguegarao in Cagayan. The attackers encountered no opposition as American pursuit planes that took off to intercept the invaders failed to locate the Japanese who veered from their expected course........................At about 12 noon, a bigger flight of 72 Japanese navy fighters and patrol bombers suddenly appeared over Iba, Zambales and blasted ground installations. Fifteen minutes later, the main force of this flight bore down on Clark Field; just across the Zambales mountain ranges and subjected the ground installations and parked planes to withering strafing and bombing. The destruction was extensive. By the time the Japanese stopped the attack, they had virtually crippled the US Air Power on that base. The series of attacks doomed the US and PAAC, divesting the ground defenders of much needed air cover. In a sense, the sneak attacks greatly tilted the balance of war against the defenders. While the Japanese were bombing Iba and Clark Field, only a few fighter planes were able to take off to engage the invaders in aerial combat. Thirteen Japanese planes were shot down while the USAAC lost four P-40’s. By orders of General Wainwright, the 6th Pursuit Squadron under Capt Jesus Villamor in Batangas Airfield was ordered to conduct air reconnaissance over Clark Air Base having been attacked by the Japanese Air Forces. He led the group of pilots with, Lts’ Godofredo Juliano, Jose Gozar, Geronimo Aclan, Cesar Basa and Alberto Aranzaso. At about 1130H, December 10, after another visit to Clark, the personnel of the 6th Pursuit were starting to eat lunch at Zablan when Japanese Zeroes came roaring low and strafed the airfield. The air-raid signal sounded at the same time. Pilots rushed out to their planes. Japanese Zeros were all over the base, diving for firing passes. They strafed the parked P-26s which resulted to the explosion of two planes and one B-10 bomber parked inside the maintenance hangar. Villamor dived behind a parked truck. Juliano dropped into a foxhole filled with mechanics. He grabbed a machinegun and squeezed the trigger but unfortunately, it was not loaded. He made a final dash for his P-26. Five (5) Filipino pilots were able to take-off namely Capt Villamor, Lts Juliano, Aclan and Gozar and Aranzaso in a dogfight against a more superior Japanese Zeroes over Zablan Field. Juliano found his plane unscathed and climbed into a cockpit. He signaled to a mechanic of foxhole nearby to come and crank the engine starter. More Zeroes were diving on the field and the mechanic would not budge. Angrily, Juliano started to get out of the cockpit, hand on his .45 caliber pistol. The mechanic, fearing Juliano’s wrath worse than the Zeros, ran to the P-26, started the engine and jumped back into his foxhole. Juliano had rolled about a third of the runway on take-off power when one of the Zeros came behind him and started firing. Cannon and machinegun bullets struck the runway in front of the P-26. Juliano completed the take-off but instead of climbing, he made a bluff descending into the Marikina Valley from the end of the runway. He dove into the valley and flew towards Antipolo. The Zero climbed away. Seeing the sky was clear, Juliano climbed and headed back to Zablan. He saw a Zero below him strafing the runway; he dive his P-26 in pursuit. But before Juliano could bring the Japanese plane into his sights, it climbed fast, turned and dove to make a firing pass at him. Juliano could only marvel at the enemy plane’s speed and maneuverability. All he could do was to wait for the Zero to make its firing run, turn into it to spoil the Japanese’s aim and try to get his shots he past. This went on for a few minutes until the Japanese broke away and headed east. Juliano tried to follow, but the Zero pulled away in no time. Juliano returned to Zablan. Villamor and Lts Jose Gozar, Geronimo Aclan and Alberto Aranzaso were also able to take off. Villamor immediately tangled with one of the Zeros and like Juliano, was amazed at the enemy fighter’s speed and agility. By the time he was airborne, Aclan could not see any enemy plane over Zablan. He headed for Manila and saw two Zeros coming towards him. He met them head-on over Pasig, guns firing. Aclan could not get any hits so he I tried ramming the Zeros, but they broke of each time. Gozar also encountered a Zero, but his guns jammed. He likewise tried ramming his adversary but the faster Japanese fighter simply slipped away from a collision and also flew away. The Japanese must have thought the P-26 pilots to be insane. During the aerial engagement, Capt Jesus Villamor was able to shot-down one (1) Japanese Zero while no PAAC aircraft was shot-down. Due to the embattled condition of Zablan Field, the 6th Pursuit Squadron returned to Batangas Field.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 03:10:09 +0000
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