With our most Australian flyers scouring Europe's skies in Lancasters and Spitfires during the war's opening days, it was American Warhawks which defended Darwin instead of RAAF fighters. This article proscribes one such American flyer. Through the logbook, diary, and photos of 2/Lt Joseph H. King, we are privy to this remarkable slice of joint U.S/ Australian history, encapsulating a mini-era which to date has received little accurate treatment, and which is still surrounded by mystique and historical error. This article encapsulates the northern Australian experience of King, thus reflecting on the wider story of the first American flyers in combat over Australian skies. King was assigned to the 7th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group. The remarkable photos which complement this article were mostly taken at Batchelor Field near Darwin in mid 1942. King's memorabilia were sent to us via his son, Joseph H. King Jr .

To understand how American pilots like King wound up so far from home we need to turn our attention to one particular enemy unit which seized the attention Australian defence planners only three months after Pearl Harbor. After the first bombing of Darwin by Japanese carrier units on 19th February 1942, there was be a follow-up series of surprise attacks on Australia's north. The unit which perpetrated these was the Takao Kokutai, a crack Japanese Navy bomber unit. Their first confident mission transpired on 16th March 1942. Escorted by A6M2 Zeros, the Takao flyers commenced regular launches from Kupang, on Timor, with no opposition from Allied fighters. Following a long-distance raid on Broome 20th March 1942, again unopposed, the self-confident Takao commander began sending his Betty bombers over Northern Australia unescorted.

The 49th Fighter Group had meanwhile arrived in Australia on the two ocean liners S.S Mariposa and S.S. Coolidge on 2nd February 1942. They docked at Melbourne and were thence transported to various billets all over Melbourne from Flinders Street railway station. King's credentials upon arrival in Australia were a total flying time of exactly 216 hours and five minutes, all logged in the U.S. He and his fellow flyers had time to take in the sights of Melbourne before they transferred by train to Sydney. There they were required to obtain more experience on Warhawks. They did this at Bankstown Aerodrome, from where King conducted his first training flight on 25th February 1942. Gunnery practice, circuits and cross?country training were the norm during this time, most flights lasting between one to three hours duration. Soon however, the Warhawks would need to get to Darwin, for the "Brereton Route" awaited them. The Takao Bettys were destined to soon have company

The Brereton Route
The "Brereton Route" had a curious history. Foreseeing Japanese treachery in the offing, U.S Far Eastern Air Force Commander General Lewis Brereton had arrived in Australia from Manila in mid-1941 to survey an aerial supply route across the Australian continent to bolster his Philippines forces in the event of Japanese invasion. With the aid of RAAF field officers, the FEAF commander designated a network of northern airstrips and supply bases across the outback. By November 1941 the aerial supply route was dubbed the 'Brereton Route'.

The airfields along the route were a series of dirt strips mostly cleared in the 1930s by bush pilots and the flying doctor service. The dusty, sometimes muddy airfields could only support fighters and smaller bombers. The RAAF simply did not have the engineering logistics to upgrade the supply routes. This meant that Fortresses or Liberators had to make the 1,100 mile Townsville - Darwin flight nonstop. In the route's formative stage only the sealed runways at Katherine, Batchelor Field, and RAAF Base Darwin, were sufficiently sturdy to receive such heavier aircraft.

Pre-war Warhawk shipments from the U.S. were initially intended to be assembled in the Philippines, but by late December 1941, that was impossible so the aircraft were diverted to Australia. American mechanics, often with the help of the pilots, made the Warhawks ready at RAAF base Amberley, before they were delivered to three waiting U.S units; the 7th, 8th, and 9th Fighter Squadrons. King flew his Warhawk to Archerfield, thence to Charleville. After refueling there, the squadron departed to the northwest, following telegraph lines for 540 miles to the sheep station community of Cloncurry, Queensland.

Once safely at Cloncurry, the next leg was indisputably the most hazardous. They would fly northwest 550 miles across the barren ochre-tainted Barkley Tablelands to the sleepy town of Daly Waters. Further up the dirt track, beyond the stations of Katherine and Adelaide River, lay the grasslands of the Northern Territory. Brereton designated the little harbour town of Darwin "Base One". The plan was that U.S airmen would gather here before called to enter into the long void of the Philippines' archipelago front. The Brereton Route extended nearly 3600 miles from Brisbane to Java. Not surprisingly, under such remote conditions numerous aircraft would be lost on the way.

King's Squadron was not the first Warhawk unit to make the delivery flight. On 20th January 1942 the first American Warhawks to be diverted to Australia landed on our shores. These were in the form of twenty crated P-40E-1s, unloaded at Brisbane's docks, with another shipload unloaded a few days later. An evacuated (and rather enigmatic) civilian pilot from the Philippines, 'Pappy' Gunn, was quickly pressed into military service, then tasked to round up twenty-five U.S pilots from the 17th Pursuit Group, recently evacuated to Brisbane from the Philippines. At RAAF Amberley the Warhawks were assembled with their assistance, and all test flown by the end of January 1942. On 16th February 1942 seventeen Warhawks in two flights left Brisbane to follow the Brereton route to Darwin. Gunn led the first flight from his Beechcraft C-45. They arrived in Darwin three days later minus three Warhawks lost to accidents along the way. This delivery was relatively straightforward compared to the one which would follow on its heels however.

With the destructive antics of the Takao bombers still raising eyebrows in RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne, on 8th March 1942 Captain James Selman of the 9th Fighter Squadron departed Williamtown airfield in New South Wales with twenty-five Warhawks to traverse the Route. Lieutenants Bud Howk and John Sauber were left behind at Archerfield with engine trouble. The remaining Warhawks staged through Charleville, where another two aircraft had mechanical problems, leaving twenty-one fighters to press on for Cloncurry, this time led by a Flying Fortress. At Cloncurry 2/Lt Ed Smith's fighter was written off in a heavy landing. He then became a passenger on the Fortress for the rest of the journey. Now there were only nineteen Warhawks remaining to continue to Daly Waters. Things became interesting when in scattered thunderstorms, four became separated and eventually landed on an isolated sheep station way off the Route. The remaining fifteen managed to land at Daly Waters in between passing rain storms. They radioed Melbourne who helpfully reminded them that they must reach Darwin as soon as possible. A three-day stopover nevertheless allowed much-needed maintenance to their weary aircraft, particularly cleaning of the air filters. During this layover 2/Lt Spehr test-flighted his ship, and in the process attempted a low-level aerobatic barrel roll. Unfortunately his engine stalled and his Warhawk augured in near the airfield. Spehr was killed immediately and was buried in the small Daly Waters civilian cemetery that evening. On 18th March 1942, the remaining fourteen fighters headed off for the final leg to Darwin. Yet another aircraft had mechanical problems and failed to take off. Hence only thirteen of the original twenty-five made Darwin, landing there at midday. They received orders to start operational patrols immediately. After an assessment of the damage at Darwin airfield caused by the ongoing Japanese bombing raids, it was decided to move the 9th Squadron to Batchelor airfield.

King landed at Batchelor Field on 2nd April 1942 after having flown his P-40E-1 Mary Lucille there from Bankstown. King negotiated his Warhawk (named after his girlfriend back stateside) along the same "Brereton Route", led by King's squadron Commander, Captain Robert Morrissey. After King's arrival the squadron took time to settle into its new base, which it now shared with the 9th Fighter Squadron. King first flew his first operational sortie from Batchelor on 17th April 1942.

Life at Batchelor
The Americans created their own "tent town" at Batchelor, and tried to make life as comfortable as possible. To keep up with the war, the unit's pastor, Chaplain Carroll, began mimeographing a newspaper. There was a hanging bedsheet and projector movie theatre, an agreeable swimming hole in the nearby Adelaide River, and a squadron store which sold any number of interesting items, acquired through questionable means or otherwise.

The young American men often ventured into the bush which surrounded their field bivouacs to wonder at the three-metre high, concrete?like termite mounds that towered above the scrub floor. Some caught the odd marsupial or exotic bird for pets, but learned early that the small gray bandicoots and kangaroos were impossible to domesticate. The newcomers were warned to be cautious of the poisonous snakes in the area. The aboriginals were considered mysterious, although friendly. Many Americans traded food items for native souvenirs and learned the curious sing?song pidgin English that flavored the local dialect. They also swapped cigarettes for fresh fruit and wild yams to improve their lackluster diet, but few Americans could tolerate the flesh of the lizards, snakes, fish and flying foxbats that their native hosts considered delicacies. Some learned of the shotguns supplied to their armament section and requisitioned these for bird hunting to enhance their meals. VIPs were sometimes surprised by a full course roast duck banquet, made possible by various marksmen. Life was not always completely mysterious to the newcomer Americans. The contesting Aussies shared a genuine camaraderie with their common love of sport. American baseball diamonds were scraped in the sand at every unit location and the Aussie sportsmen even went so far as to contest them at their own game. Apart from such distractions, the tedium of life was continued with card games, writing letters home, and waiting . . . always waiting. Chaplain Carroll even published his own dedicated and lengthy poem to the Batchelor flyers in the Squadron's newspaper, which commenced,

Ye men who soar through Darwin skies
And fear no flying thing
Today we pay you tribute
Flying a phantom wing
We've watched you from our gun pits
Fly out and meet the foe
When the odds were so great against you
That the brave alone could go

The Takao Flyers
The new American pilots had landed in a hornet's nest, as following on from their earlier and unopposed successes against Darwin and Broome, on 28th March 1942 RAAF base Darwin was bombed by seven unescorted Takao G4M1s, however on this occasion the Japanese were intercepted for the first time. The Americans had arrived.

With an escort of 3rd Kokutai A6M2 Zeros, the Takao returned more raids against Darwin on 30th and 31st March 1942, the escorting Zeros luring the Americans away from the bombers. As the Warhawks would soon learn, distracting the Zeros had a price to pay. Prior to the 30th March 1942 attack, George Preddy and seven other 9th Fighter Squadron pilots launched from Batchelor at 1400 hours and patrolled northwards for about thirty minutes. They returned to base to refuel, but no sooner had they landed than the air raid alert sounded. They scrambled to intercept but one returned with engine trouble. Before they could intercept the bombers, they were pounced at 10,000 feet by a group of 3rd Kokutai Zeros. McComsey was forced to bale out of his Warhawk during this encounter. He landed in a swamp and after an agitated night there managed to walk back to Batchelor the next day. Sells also received significant gunfire damage to his Warhawk but returned to base. George Preddy would rue the day for a long while - during the encounter he lined up square sight shot on a Zero but in the excitement discovered he had forgotten to arm his gun switch.

The Americans quickly learned from such mistakes however, and on 4th April 1942 more 9th Fighter Squadron Warhawks removed several Bettys from Australian skies. Seemingly impervious to such robustness, seven Takao bombers were back again the next day, escorted this time by nine 3rd Kokutai Zeros. This time, the Takao flyers bombed the RAAF airfield without interference.

Commencing 10th April 1942, Japan changed its overall strategy, assuming defensive tactics in the Australian theatre. Missions over northern Australia continued, but were designed as suppression and harassment raids, intended to forestall offensive moves against Japanese?held territory. To assist this process the other half of the Takao Kokutai, which had meanwhile been bombing targets on Luzon, arrived at Kupang in late April 1942.

Against this backdrop of history, on 25th April 1942 King made his first combat flight from Batchelor. His log book does not show whether or not he actually got a shot at the the Japanese, but the enemy raid was the most belligerent attack flown to date by the Takao Kokutai over northern Australia. All three of the unit's chutais, led by Lieutenant-Commander Goro Katsumi, headed for RAAF base Darwin escorted by fifteen Zeros.

Katsumi's decision to pick ANZAC day to show off his new reinforcements was not an unhappy co-incidence. The urbane Japanese commander was sufficiently wily to understand the significance of the day and chose it accordingly. Takao's dispatch sheets show that three Bettys turned back with mechanical trouble, leaving twenty-four for the attack. Despite the Zeros, the Takao formation was hit by about forty-five P?40E-1s from both the 7th and 9th Fighter Squadrons. In a running fight which lasted half an hour, four Bettys were downed. Three more were badly damaged, one later ditching short of Kupang. A final commentary on this Anzac Day mission is that one of the three Bettys which had turned back early was lost when it ditched in Dili Harbour. The same Takao bombers returned to Darwin two days later, this time their sixteen bombers were covered by twenty-one Zeros.

Daylight raids over Northern Australia continued until the end of August 1942, then the Takao Kokutai switched to nuisance raids at night. However, a severe distraction was about to remove the Takao group from Kupang, and permanently so. Trouble was brewing in the Solomon Islands, a long way to the east, and the Takao flyers would follow it all the way. There shortly they would all find themselves operating from the bustling Japanese navy base at Vunakanau, near Rabaul. For the rest of their Guadalcanal tour it was U.S Navy Wildcats and the 13th Air Force which would cleanly remove them piecemeal from Solomons skies.

Move to New Guinea
With the Japanese threat having moved to the New Guinea and Solomons theatres, and replacement RAAF aircraft arriving in the Darwin theatre, it was time to move northwards, to the new frontier of New Guinea. In a three day delivery flight from 9th to 11th September 1942, King and the rest of his Squadron flew via Horn Island to Schwimmer Drome to the north of Port Moresby. On 22nd September 1942 King conducted his first combat mission in New Guinea by dive?bombing Yodda village.

There is an interesting side-story to the naming of Schwimmer Drome, also known as 17-Mile or Waigani Drome. No-one disputes that it was named after 2/Lt Charles L Schwimmer of the U.S 36th Fighter Squadron who went missing in P-39F serial #41-6956. History records that Schwimmer was lost whilst strafing the Japanese airfield at Lae, and that he was forced down by bad weather in the vicinity of Salamaua at 0555 hours. This is wrong however. Schwimmer was in fact shot down while intercepting incoming Japanese G4M1 bombers from the 4th Kokutai in the vicinity of Port Moresby on 3rd May 1942. During this engagement he was credited with the destruction of a Japanese bomber over 7-mile at 0800 hours, although in fact none were lost. However Schwimmer was never seen again after this battle and he and his aircraft remain missing to this day (the myth behind Schwimmer's supposed loss near Lae was perpetrated through faulty Fifth Air Force paperwork).

Postscript
Joseph H. King, a devout Catholic, married his girlfriend Mary Lucille on 28th May 1943, almost immediately upon his return from the Pacific. He stayed in the U.S Air Force from which he retired as a colonel in 1968, then he then ventured into a second career as a stock broker. He fathered ten children, born from 1947 through 1963. Although he briefly owned a flying service in Valdosta, Georgia (his final duty station) after retirement, he discouraged his children from learning to fly. King, who remained reluctant to discuss his wartime experiences throughout his life, died in the year 2000 at the age of 80, after a protracted battle with laryngeal cancer. This article is respectfully dedicated to the memory of King and his fellow American aviators who helped defend Australia in 1942.