James C. Curran - Check six! : a Thunderbolt pilot’s war across the Pacific

CHECK SIX!

CHECK SIX!

A Thunderbolt Pilots
War Across the Pacific

JAMES C. CURRAN &
TERRENCE G. POPRAVAK, JR.

CASEMATE
Philadelphia & Oxford

Published in the united states of america and Great Britain in 2015 by

CASEMATE PUBLISHERS

908 Darby road, Havertown, PA 19083

and
10 Hythe Bridge street, oxford, oX1 2EW

Copyright 2015 Terrence G. Popravak, Jr.

ISBN 978-1-61200-299-6
Digital edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-300-9

Cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

As the title indicates, this is Jim Currans book. Had he lived to complete it he most certainly would not have dedicated it to himself. But I have been privileged to put it together for him, and I am not so constrained. So I can say, appropriately and with great satisfaction, that:

This book is dedicated to the memory of Jim Jug Curran, fighter pilot and gentleman, one of the founding members of the 460th Fighter Squadron, and to his squadronmates in the Black Rams. Check Six!

And a hand salute to all the officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men of the 348th Fighter Group, who proved beyond the shadow of a doubt the outstanding combat capability of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in the Pacific War.

Terrence G. Popravak, Jr.
Lt. Col., USAF (Retired)

THUNDERBOLT (P-47)

Now what dark, Mars-begotten chrysalis

Could breed a titan dragonfly like this

That takes its stark siesta all alone

Beside THE TRIBUNES spire of startled stone?

Six tons of weight, eleven yards of length,

Ferried by twenty hundred horses strength

To scour the heavens starry fields and cloudy hedges

With eight death knaves astride its grim wing edges.

Wonder of all is how some mad young wag on

This sinister seven-miles a minute dragon

Can climb the zeniths ladder and demolish

Daredevils like himself with zest and polish;

Then, off for home, descend and nonchalant

As any casual looker-on could want,

And grin as he sets her down with scarce a jolt,

Some baby, ehthis good old Thunderbolt?

LISTER ALWOOD

FOREWORD

J IM CURRAN AND I FIRST MET IN FEBRUARY 1943 AT DALE Mabry Field, Tallahassee, Florida where, as newly commissioned second lieutenants, we began training in the P-47 Thunderbolt, the biggest, most powerful and arguably the best, multi-purpose fighter aircraft employed in World War II. After completing the transition course in July, we headed for Hamilton Field, California for further deployment to the Southwest Pacific Area and assignment to the recently formed 348th Fighter Group commanded by Colonel Neel E. Kearby, soon to become a leading fighter ace and winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Initially, Jim and I saw little of each other as he was assigned to the 341st Fighter Squadron based at an airstrip 17 miles from Port Moresby, New Guinea, while I was sent to the 342nd Fighter Squadron at another primitive airfield just five miles from Moresby. We both flew the P-47 Thunderbolt on the same types of missions and endured the same unpleasant living conditions, and the almost changeless tropical and mountainous environment, that has defined New Guinea for centuries.

We were united again when a new P-47 fighter squadron, the 460th, was formed and added as a fourth squadron to the 348th Fighter Group. Both Jim and I were among the more experienced pilots selected to man the new unit and to provide leadership and guidance to the inexperienced and untested pilots being sent to us from the States. Major William D. Dinghy Dunham, already an ace and an inspirational combat leader, was chosen as our commander.

I can confirm Jims comments about the food. It was pretty bad. Wehit a low point during the days just after the landing at Leyte in the Philippines. Dozens of LSTs were nosed onto the beach offloading cargo in scattered piles right onto the sand. Hungry? And we were. Go to the C-ration pile. Need eating utensils? Yes, we did. Use a stick. Want a hot meal? Love one. Build a fire.

I can confirm, too, Jims comments about the diseases that were part of the New Guinea experience. He tells about some of them but not about the mysterious skin rashes. We had two standard treatments. Smear on a pinkish white Calamine lotion for a week. Then switch to a purple colored liquid called Gentian Violet, an old horse remedy. And then keep alternating until the rash disappeared.

I want to say something also about the rotation policy for pilots assigned to the 348th Fighter Group. There wasnt one. Except for down time when moving, sick, or on leave, we flew almost every day. Thats why Jim and many others amassed more than 200 combat missions in an 18 to 20 month tour.

Finally, I think something should be said about the commander in chief, Southwest Pacific Area, General Douglas MacArthur. Jim had mixed views about him along with many others. And MacArthur was a very controversial figure. William Manchester, in the preamble to his book American Caesar, said that: He was the best of men and the worst of men. And that No more baffling, exasperating soldier ever wore a uniform. But he went on to say that: unquestionably he was the most gifted man-at-arms this nation has produced. General Jonathan Wainwright, left behind when MacArthur departed Corregidor, said of him: Id follow that mananywhereblindfolded. And yet many of his troops and some of his officers referred to him disparagingly as Dugout Doug.

There is no question, however, in anyones mind, about his brilliant military leadership in Jim Currans war. From Brisbane, Australia across the Coral Sea to Port Moresby. And then some 1200 miles up the northern coast of New Guinea, step by leap-frogging step, from one airfield to another: Port Moresby, Finschhafen, Saidor, Wakde Island, Biak and Noemfoor. In doing so he left nearly a quarter of a million stranded and starving Japanese troops in his wake. And Jim Curran was with him, or very close behind, every step of the way.

We know, for example, that MacArthur returned to the Philippines onOctober 20, 1944, when he waded ashore at Leyte Island. Well, just 21 days later, Jim Curran landed his P-47 Thunderbolt on the unfinished runway at Leytes Tacloban airfield while a construction battalion was still at work extending the runway with pierced steel planking. Another 1000 feet had to be laid before the field was fully operational. Jim took off the next day to attack troop transports and naval forces in Ormoc Bay as they tried to land the reinforcements needed to push us off the island.

Jim never considered himself to be a hero. He claimed no special merit for serving his country when so many others were serving. But he was of special merit. He performed a vital and dangerous task, under highly adverse conditions, in an outstanding manner. He took his place in a long, unbroken line of good, and brave, and unfaltering patriots who have never let this country down.