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Ace Scores His 20th In Raid On Rabaul
Guadalcanal, Feb. 12, 1944 - Captain Donald Aldrich of Chicago shot down 20th enemy plane during an attack on Rabaul, New Britain, Thursday. With the victory, Capt. Aldrich became the fifth Marine to reach the mark in the South Pacific.
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Killer of 20 Jap Planes DecoratedCaptain Donald Aldrich (right), Marine Pilot who shot down a Tojo, newest Jap fighter plane, over Rabaul, Feb. 9, to become the fifth Marine flyer to kill 20 enemy planes, is congratulated by his Commanding Officer, Major James J. Neefus, of Belle Harbor, N.J. after he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal at a South Pacific Base. Captain Aldrich, 26, is from Chicago and flew with the RCAF before joining the Marines. (Top Photo Caption) RIGHT - Don Aldrich receives the Purple Heart _________________________________________________ Top Marine Flying Unit Back From Pacific Front
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Only 13 pilots of the Fighting Corsairs were lost — eight through enemy action. Other pilots of the unit who had not completed the prescribed 18 weeks combat duty still are in the South Pacific.
The pilot said that although the squadrons' planes often received extensive damage most managed to return to their bases safely. An exception was a plane piloted by Lt. George Cross, Chicago, whose right wing blew up. He dove through a rain squall which put out the fire and flew 230 miles to his airdrome, where he bailed out.
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Captain Aldrich Home On LeaveChicago - Marine Captain Donald N. Aldrich, Chicago's foremost Ace, arrived home on leave last night and was greeted by his pretty wife, Marjorie. Captain Aldrich, whose father was a commercial flyer, had almost 100 hours in the air by the time he was twelve years old. He shot down 20 Japanese planes in the Pacific in six months and is holder of the DSC. Captain and Mrs. Aldrich are shown together on the left. _________________________________________________ New Aces Strive To Trump RickenbackerBy The Associated Press NEW YORK, April 1, 1944 — On some fine tomorrow, a fighter pilot may alight at a southwest Pacific or English air base with the news that he has broken Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker's World war 1 record of 26 kills. |
The British always have been inclined to discount these enemy records on the theory that German requirements for official confirmation are not so rigid as their own.
The British World War I record of 73 planes, hung up by Maj. Edward Mannock before his death, seems fairly secure.
Wing Commander Brendan (Paddy) Finucane, an Irishman with the royal air force, had 32 planes, to his credit when his Spitfire was shot into the English Channel in 1942.
Flight Lt George Beurling, ace of the Canadian fighter pilots, had a bag of 30 planes in most recent reports.
Before his death in an accident in Italy in January, Wing Commander Lance Wade of Tucson, Ariz., was considered the RAF ace in the Mediterranean. He had 25 planes officially and many more probables.
Leading Russian ace is said to be Alexander Pokryshkin with 53 planes.
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FOES LOSE IN AIR TO AMERICAN ACES
Capt. Bong's 27 Planes Downed in Combat Puts Him at Top
(By The Associated Press) 13 April 1944 - Today's Southwest Pacific headquarters announcement that Capt. Richard Ira Bong has downed 27 enemy planes in combat makes him the leading American ace in number of planes shot down in combat, but second to Capt. Don S. Gentile of the European theater in the number destroyed both in the air and on the ground.
Gentile, the Piqua Ohio fighter pilot who flies from Britain, is credited with 30 planes destroyed — 23 shot from the skies and seven others destroyed on the ground.
Bong, who lives at Poplar, Wis., broke Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker's long-standing record of 26 planes shot down in combat in World War I by getting his 26th and 27th enemy plane over the Japanese base at Hollandia, New Guinea.
Only planes destroyed in aerial combat are tallied in the Pacific theater while all planes destroyed, both on the ground and in combat, are credited to Eighth air force fliers in Britain, the navy keeps no official counts of individual victories but Lt. (jg) Ira Kepford of Muskegon, Mich., is credited with 16 Japanese planes.
The Marine record of 26 planes downed is held jointly by Maj. Joe Foss of Sioux Falls, S.D. and Maj. Gregory Boyington of Okanogan, Wash., who is missing in action.
Nineteen other army, navy and marine corps fliers have destroyed 15 or more enemy planes, and while Mediterranean theater records list no fliers among the top 24 with 15 or more planes to their credit, the two leaders there are Maj. Herschel Green of Mayfield, Ky., with 13 and Lt William J. Sloan of Richmond, Va. with 12.
The leading aces are:
European theater: Capt. Don S. Gentile, Piqua, Oh., 30; Capt. Robert S. Johnson, Lawton, Okla., 22; Capt. Duane W. Beeson, Boise, Ida., 21; Maj. Walker Mahurin, Fort Wayne, Ind., (missing) 21; Maj. Gerald Johnson, Owenton, Ky., (missing) 18; Maj. Walter Beckham, De Funiak Springs, Fla., (missing) 18; Maj. Francis S. Gabreski, Oil City, Pa., 17; and Lt.-Col. Glenn E. Duncan, Houston, Tex., 15.
Pacific (Army): Capt. Richard Bong, Popular, Wis., 27; Col. Neel E. Kearby, San Antonio, Tex., (missing) 21; Lt.-Col. Thomas J. Lynch, Catasauqua, Pa., (dead) 19; Capt. Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., San Antonio, Tex., 17; Maj. Robert Westbrook, Hollywood, Calif., 16 and Maj. George S. Welch, Wilmington, Del., 16.
Pacific (Marines): Maj. Joe Foss, Sioux Falls, S.D., 26; Maj. Gregory Boyington, Okanogan, Wash., (missing) 26; Lt. Robert Hanson, Newtonville, Mass., (missing) 26; Capt. Donald Aldrich, Chicago, 20; Lt. Kenneth Walsh, Brooklyn and Washington, 20; Lt.-Col. John L. Smith, Lexington, Okla., 19; Maj. M. E. Carl, Hubbard, Ore., 17; Lt. William J. Thomas, El Dorado, Kan., 16 and Capt. Harold R. Spears of Ironton, Ohio with 15.
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Marine Air Ace Dies In Crash
Chicago, 3 May 1947 – Marine flying ace Captain Don Aldrich, who emerged from the war as Chicago’s top ace with 20 Jap planes to his credit, was killed today when his Corsair fighter plane turned over during a forced landing here.
Photo (by Cliff Oliver) shows Capt. Aldrich |
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Victories Include :
| 12 Aug 1943 25 Aug 1943 26 Aug 1943 2 Sep 1943 12 Jan 1944 14 Jan 1944 20 Jan 1944 22 Jan 1944 26 Jan 1944 28 Jan 1944 7 Feb 1944 9 Feb 1944 |
one Zeke one Zeke one Zeke one Zeke one Zeke two Zekes two Zekes one Zeke two Zekes two Zeke one Zeke one Zeke one Tony one Zeke 4 Zekes two Zekes one Zeke one Tojo |
destroyed & probable destroyed probable destroyed destroyed destroyed destroyed probable destroyed destroyed destroyed destroyed probable destroyed destroyed probable destroyed |
20 / 6 / 0
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Related Sites :
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Thanks go out to
On these pages I use Hugh Halliday's extensive research which includes info from numerous sources; newspaper articles via the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC); the Google News Archives; the London Gazette Archives and other sources both published and private.
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