In the Pacific theater, there existed an unsung hero of the air war -- the P-38 Lighting. "Although the exploits of the F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat and B-29 Superfortress cannot be denied, it is a fact that one of the unsung heroes of the Allied Campaign, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, was responsible for shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other fighter during the Pacific War.

With its unusual twin-boom configuration and ferocity in the heat of battle, this 'jack of all trades' for the USAAF soon earned itself the nickname of 'fork-tailed devil'. Just short of 10,000 were built for service on all fronts, but its most famous exploit was undoubtedly on April 18, 1943, when sixteen of these 'devils' dispatched Adm. Yamamoto to his death in the skies over the Solomons."

The Devil was not neglected by Allied Air Force commander Major General George C. Kenney. Kenney was new to the jungle warfare faced by the allies in New Guinea, 1942-44. His adaptability was a key resource in a theater where airfields and resources where stretched to the limits. In the attacks planned on the airfields of Hollandia, Kenney outfitted the new model P-38 with wing tanks to extend their range.

Operation "Reckless" caught 350 Japanese aircraft unprepared because they thought they were beyond the range of allied airpower. Sixty B-24 heavy bombers were escorted on this raid by the modified P-38 Lightning. March 1944 saw the end of the Japanese air threat over the island of New Guinea. You can read all about this interesting theater of action in the book, "War in The Pacific, Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay." Bernard C. Nalty, editor.

Our Part

For our part we have created two control sheets for the aircraft under study. Reading accounts of air action always inspires scenarios for wargaming. The Gnatz system uses a single control sheet for each aircraft being used in a game. This is called a one to one ratio wargame. Each player acts out the actions of one pilot in a game of aerial combat.

You will find one sheet for the P-38 Lightning "Forked-tail Devil" and one for the B-24 Heavy Bomber. Good luck and fly right!

P-38 and B-24 Charts (slow: 134K)