Raid Against Wuhan Searchlights
The 4th Bomb Squadron’s Capt. Moncure N. Lyon (right) and 1Lt. Charles J. Portaluppi (left), along with an unidentified officer, stand ready beside a B-25J. Lyon served as Task Force 34’s commanding officer, and Portaluppi was its historical officer. (Courtesy of Kelly Lyon)
Carrying twelve M41 stabilized frag clusters fused instantaneous, the 4th Bomb Squadron’s Capt. Moncure N. (“Monte”) Lyon, in command of Task Force 34 that flew out of Chihkiang (Zhijiang), took off in the 3rd Bomb Squadron’s A/C #722 at 1805 on November 22, 1944. With him were the 68th Composite Wing’s Maj. A. T. House as observer and copilot and a crew that included Sgt. Eril W. Peters and Cpl. Andrew R. Allegretto as waist and tail gunners, as well as the 4th Squadron’s Capt. Wei H. S. as navigator and SSgt. Oswald Weinert as top turret gunner. They had volunteered for this hazardous mission without knowing what it entailed until the briefing just before takeoff. It was a joint mission with the 68th Composite Wing that included twenty-two B-24s of the 308th Bomb Group (H) and two P-51s of the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group. Weather enroute and over the target was noted as “CAVU” (“ceiling and visibility unlimited”) with “good moonlight.” Their destination was Hankow-Wuchang (“Wuhan”), an important transportation and distribution hub formerly used as headquarters of the Kuomintang government but now occupied by the Japanese. Its factories, warehouses, and stockpiles were the target of countless 14th Air Force raids throughout the war.
1Lt. Charles J. Portaluppi noted in the 4th Squadron's historical report, "To us who had previously considered Hankow safe only at 8000 feet or above, the mission had every earmark of a semi-suicidal venture.” He provided details of the attack. The goal of the mission, flown at the request of the 14th Air Force and the 68th Composite Wing, was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a B-25 to support heavy bomber night operations against searchlights. The target area was heavily defended by anti-aircraft, searchlights, and night fighters; their specific objective was to attack the searchlights on the Wuchang side and interdict their use during bombing runs. Two P-51's were assigned to the Hankow side. The searchlight tactics varied between master-control, apparently mechanically pointed, and control by a single directing light. There was no scissoring and little independent searching. Their operators’ reaction to attack was to put out all the lights at once. After the first pass, searchlights were turned out and then immediately turned on again. Lyon promptly attacked them again, and again they were turned out. He then circled out of range, taking constant evasive action.
The “heavies” approached the target and made their runs singly or in small groups, dropping their 500-pounders. Each time the searchlights were illuminated in an attempt to pick them up, Lyon attacked the lights again. He “devised tactics which made full use of the fire power of the Mitchell within the limitations of its maneuverability and yet kept risks to the aircraft at the minimum,” while at the same time pressing the attack with aggressive determination. In addition to uncounted passes and maneuvers to bring the turret and waist guns to bear, he made fourteen forward firing passes on searchlight positions. During three of the bombing runs, the searchlights were turned out when the Mitchell turned into the lights, and on one bomb run the lights were not turned on at all. It was impossible to completely prevent interference by the searchlights as some bomb runs were made as the plane was turning away from the target. The conclusion drawn from the experiences of the mission was that the use of a Mitchell to support heavy bomber night operations by attacking searchlights was both feasible and effective.
According to Task Force 34’s operational intelligence report for mission #21, the aircraft remained in the target area for an hour and thirty minutes after the last heavy bomber appeared. No fires or secondary explosions were observed in the target area. Lyon dropped the bomber’s frag load at 900 feet on revetments at Wuchang Airdrome and gunners silenced meager light automatic weapons fire. He released the two remaining bomb clusters as the aircraft passed over Pailochi Airdrome at 1,200 feet on the return flight. Encountering only slight opposition, gunners shot up those positions and a radar installation three miles southwest of the airdrome, expending a total of 1,100 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition.
Return through the Yangtze Valley was at minimum altitude and with constant change of course and altitude because crewmen saw tracers of a night fighter as the aircraft was leaving the Wuhan area. Lyon flew the Mitchell on to Yiyang, where it was to have rendezvoused with the P-51s, and circled with lights on. No answer was received to radio calls and it became evident that the fighters had taken advantage of the good visibility to go directly home. A/C #722 flew on to Chihkiang, where it was down safely at 2315. Volunteering for and carrying out this hazardous mission earned Lyon the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The 4th Squadron's Sgt. Weinert, turret gunner on this Wuhan raid, later wrote a first-hand account of the mission. He stated that the Japanese held a strongly fortified depot area at Hankow-Wuchang in two areas about five miles apart, where they stored ammunition and fuel. The towns were on the mouth of the river leading to the Tungting [Dongting] Lake, an important supply depot area where other transportation would distribute supplies. “Several other units (P-40, P-38, A-20's) had unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the search lights in the area and some even died. We were aware how difficult it would be. The mission was to go in advance and shoot out their big searchlights so the B-29 and B-24 heavy-duty bombers could finish the strike. Major Lyon was one of the best pilots there was to lead the mission.” There were five crew on the B-25: one pilot, one navigator, and three gunners, he wrote. “I was the only gunner from the 4th while the others were from other squadrons to volunteer. I was the crew chief as well as gunner.”
It was Weinert’s opinion that Lyon had "certainly earned the Silver Star that night.” Although he had been recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission, Weinert did not follow through with the paperwork necessary to receive it until many years afterward.
Although Cpl. Allegretto, armorer-gunner on this mission, did not learn the exact target until soon before takeoff, he later stated that he "had prior knowledge of the heavily-defended target area and knew that the weather to and from the target was poor, that icing conditions were prevalent and that enemy night fighters probably would be in evidence.” Afterward he confided to my father and other buddies that he would not have volunteered if he had known how dangerous the mission would be. Nevertheless, Allegretto did his duty and was later promoted and awarded the Air Medal for his participation. The citation that accompanied it read, in part, "Throughout the entire mission Sergeant Allegretto displayed superior technical skill as well as aggressive courage. His expert airmanship and his profound devotion to duty at a time of extreme personal danger denote outstanding achievement in aerial flight and exemplify the finest traditions of the US Army Air Forces." News of his award and recognition of his valor was published by the local newspaper of his hometown in New Jersey.
Sgt. Peters, who also served as armorer-gunner on this mission, later received the Air Medal along with Allegretto, and the citation that accompanied his medal was identical to Allegretto’s. Raised in Nocona, Texas, about eighty miles north of Fort Worth and just below the Oklahoma border, his award was announced in a Wichita Falls newspaper.
This mission against Wuhan was the first of many completed successfully by Task Force 34, as well as by its two bomb squadrons later operating independently.
There is more to this story. Read it all in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II.