![]() All of Pfc Radford's skill, courage, and determination would be put to the test on that day. Ward was soon joined in the Dauntless' cockpit by Pfc Radford the two ran through their preflight checks in the still-unfamiliar bomber before being called to action by reports of a Japanese fleet within range of Midway-–their bomber needed to be off the ground soon, as much to evade the incoming enemy fighters and bombers as to hit the Japanese carriers north of Midway Atoll. In the early morning hours of June 4, 1942, Lt. In a series of briefings and chalk talks, he instructed his pilots that he would lead them in a fast power glide to 4,000 feet and then turn them loose to hit the carriers at very low altitude-500 feet or less. Henderson planned on a shallow glidebombing approach because it required less skill than a steeper vertical diving attack. This put the Americans at even more of a disadvantage without the speed and accuracy of a dive, and lacking fighter cover the neat formation of dive bombers was easy prey for the nimble Japanese fighters defending their carriers. He scraped together a hodgepodge of reinforcements, including VMSB's inexperienced pilots, and rushed them to Midway.īecause of insufficient time to train with the Dauntless bombers, Major Henderson (Radford's squadron leader) decided to go with the tactic his pilots knew best-–glideīombing-–which meant a shallower dive and slower approach on the attack run. Pacific Fleet, was determined to stop him. Chester W Nimitz, commander in chief of the U.S. Unbeknownst to Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, American codebreakers had succeeded in cracking the Japanese fleet code and knew his plan of attack. With his armament increased from a single gun to flexible mounted dual 30 calibre machine guns, Pfc Radford probably felt slightly more secure about the prospect of flying in an essentially unfamiliar aircraft to attack the Japanese fleet. machine guns-was effective against lightly built Japanese Zeros. M2 Browning machine guns and two rear flexible-mount. Their relatively heavy gun armament-two forward firing. Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, the Dauntless was rugged and dependable. The pilot doubled as the bombardier and also manned fixed forward guns featuring two 50 cal. The rear cockpit contained a trainable machine gun position. The Dauntless' cockpit accommodated two personel-the pilot in a forward area and the gunner/radioman in a rear cockpit, seated back-to-back. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a bomber made by Douglasĭuring World War II. At first, Lt Ward and Pfc Radford flew the Vought SB2U Vindicator, but in mid May, when the squadron received some of the newer Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless dive bombers, they switched to the newer and sturdier aircraft. In April, 1942, Pfc Radford was introduced to a fellow Missourian,Second Lieutenant Maurice Ward. While on Midway, Radford would have flown as many training flights as resources would allow only a few flights. Instead of flying, Radford and most of the other enlisted men of the squadron sailed aboard the USS Thornton in January 1942, arriving on Midway several days later. His squadron touched down briefly at Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, Honolulu before being sent on to the remote island of Midway. When the war broke out on DecemRadford-–then a Private First Class-made ready to depart San Diego. In 1941, Morty Radford was transferred to scout-bomber squadron VMSB-241. While there, Private Radford received additional training at the base Radio School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on Septemand completed Marine boot camp at San Diego, and in November was assigned to VMS-2 of the Second Marine Aircraft Group. Morty graduated Carthage High School in 1939. Morty was raised on the family farm in Jasper county, Missouri, until his father's death in 1931 Pearl remarried in 1937 to Henry Chipley, and relocated her family to Carthage. BIOGRAPHY: Harry Morton "Morty" Radford, born in 1920, was the son of Herschel and Pearl "Strecker" Radford. ![]()
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