Aloha All,
In 1983, I interviewed and corresponded with both Tom Lanphier and Rex Barber...I later corresponded with Frank Besby Holmes and met Lanphier, Barber and Holmes and Kenji Yanagiya, the sole Japanese fighter pilot survivor.
As the Japanese formation came across the American fighters "bow"....Lanphier turned left into the oncoming fighters, his wingman -Rex Barber- turned right...behind the passing Betty bombers and thus was above one Betty and behind the leading Betty. Barber stitched the lead Betty from left engine then to right engine and back. The second Betty banked right and headed for the ocean.
The doctor on the scene at Rabaul made a copy of the report he forwarded to Tokyo. This is first cited in English in The Reluctant Admiral-Yamamoto And The Imperial Navy by Hiroyuki Agawa [Translated By John Bester] (Tokyo, Kodansha International Ltd. 1979). I have an earlier copy of Agawa's book in Japanese as well.
Two bullets entered the body...from the left exiting the right front....suggesting that Yamamoto had turned left in his seat to look aft towards Rex Barber flying in the six o'clock position.
Lanphier made his pass through the Japanese fighter formation, then dived down to complete his counter-clock-wise circle to come across a Betty low over the jungle. Just as the Betty came across his bow from left to right, he gave a burst, and the Betty hit the jungle. If he hit anything, which I doubt, the Admiral was already dead. Lanphier always claimed the bomber was not hit prior to his attack, but this was not the case, based on the autopsy, etc.
The second Betty was downed over the ocean by fire from both Frank Besby Holmes and, a minute(?) later, Rex Barber.
Frank Besby Holmes and Kenji Yanagiya then got in the final aerial action of that morning with both claiming each other.
Of interest, Holmes got airborne in a P-36 from Haliewa Field, Oahu, Hawaii, on 7 Dec 1941, but about 0930-40 after the main attack force had departed. He had no encounter with any aerial force.
HTH,
David Aiken, a Director: Pearl Harbor History Associates, Inc.
http://pearlharbor-history.org/
For details:
http://www.pearlharborattacked.com/cgi- ... t;f=2;t=22
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
Thank you for support and this great info 