Little item from my friend doing P-39 research:

7 P-39s escort 7 A-24s on an anti-shipping strike to Buna summer 1942. Flying
at 9,000 feet, 3 Zeros going the opposite direction at 11,000 feet spot them
and peel off in an attack. Descending dogfight ensues until Zeros break off at
4,000 feet. P-39 pilots make no claims, report no losses among themselves or
A-24s, which they catch up to as they make their bomb runs on a convoy of one
large and four small vessels escorted by one warship which they identify as a
destroyer. The flight home is uneventful, with no further enemy contact. They
confirm one bomb hit on the large ship, which seems to inflict no serious
damage, and six broad misses.
A-24s do not report any interception by Zeros on the way to the target and
mention no dogfight. Report attacking one 1,500 ton-class cargo ship in a
convoy of four 100-ton class coastal vessels and one subchaser escort. AA fire
downs one A-24 during the dive. This plane releases its bomb as it spins out
of control and crashes into the sea. No parachutes. It's bomb falls far from
the convoy. Five bombs bracket the large cargo vessel in a close pattern and
one strikes the ship amidships. This ship is left on fire, dead in the water,
heeled over and in a sinking condition. As they recover from their dives, the
A-24s are hit by Zeros. Two are shot down immediately, crashing in flames into
sea. Two more survive long enough to make it to the beach where they crash
land and the crews are observed to escape into the bush. A fifth is badly
damaged but manages to make it to an emergency strip where it crash lands.
Only one returns home.
The next day 4 B-25s go out to bomb the convoy but find no sign of it. Nor do
they see any debris or oil slick in the area of the A-24 attack. They were to
have a P-39 escort but it never shows up. They are intercepted by 6 Zeros
which circle them, then fly parallel to them for a few minutes performing slow
rolls before departing without making any attempt to attack. The B-25s sweep up
the Buna coast until they spot 6 beached barges being unloaded. They bomb and
strafe these, destroying them and the cargo offloaded onto the beach. They
report moderate AA fire, with one B-25 being holed several times and the
bombardier and co-pilot wounded. There is no fighter opposition.
The 6 P-39s dispatched as escorts report the B-25s are not at the rendevous
point so they proceed on a sweep of the Buna coastal area, discover Japanese
unloading 5 barges and strafe them, leaving all burning. They also strafe
supplies stacked on the beach and tents observed under trees just inland from
the beach, making repeated passes until expending all their ammunition. There
is no anti-aircraft fire. As they are departing they observe 9 Zeros
patrolling the beach at 6,000 feet but these make no aggressive moves and
maintain altitude.

If you were an intelligence officer evaluating these reports, what would you
make of them?


Chris Mark