When 13 Japanese Planes Attacked One P-51 — This Rookie’s Response Stunned Command

At 7:32 on the morning of January 11th, 1945, Captain William Shomo climbed into the cockpit of his F-6D Mustang at Muro Airstrip in the Philippines, watching the ground crew finish fueling his plane for what should have been another routine photo reconnaissance run over Northern Luzon.

26 years old, 203 combat missions, one aerial victory. The Japanese still had an estimated 300 fighters operating from airfields at Tuguegarao, Aparri, and Laoag in northern Luzon. Shomo had been flying combat missions since early 1943.

16 months in the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 16 months of moving from airstrip to airstrip along the New Guinea coast and then to Morotai. 16 months of photographing enemy positions and strafing ground targets.

16 months in obsolete P-39 Airacobras and P-40 Warhawks that were too short-ranged to reach areas where Japanese fighters operated. The P-38 and P-47 squadrons got the aerial combat, the glory, the aces.

Shomo got photos of empty beaches and wrecked supply dumps. Before the war, he had worked as an undertaker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, having attended the Cincinnati College of Embalming and the Pittsburgh School of Embalming.

He knew how to prepare bodies for burial. Now he was supposed to take pictures while other pilots became fighter aces. In December of 1944, his squadron finally received F-6D Mustangs, armed photo reconnaissance versions of the P-51.

Longer range, better speed, the possibility of finally encountering enemy aircraft. On December 24th, Shomo took command of the squadron and moved it to Muro to support MacArthur’s landing at Lingayen Gulf.

He led his first combat mission in the new Mustang on January 9th, a low-level reconnaissance run to determine Japanese air strength in northern Luzon. As they approached the airfield at Tuguegarao, Shomo spotted something he had never seen during all his months of combat flying: an enemy aircraft.

A Val dive bomber turning onto final approach to land. Shomo closed to firing range with six 50-caliber machine guns and fired one burst. The Val went down in flames for his first aerial victory.

After 202 missions and 16 months of waiting, one Val bomber was shot down while landing. 24 hours later, Shomo was airborne again on the same mission to check the Japanese airfields at Tuguegarao, Aparri, and Laoag.

His wingman was Lieutenant Paul Lipcomb, with two F-6D Mustangs heading north on the deck. They were flying at 500 feet below radar coverage, which was standard procedure for photo reconnaissance missions.

The weather was clear with unlimited visibility, providing perfect conditions for photography and spotting enemy aircraft. At approximately 0900 hours, Shomo looked up and saw a formation of Japanese aircraft flying south directly toward them 2,000 feet above.

Shomo counted 12 fighters, consisting of Kawasaki Ki-61 Tonys and one Nakajima Ki-44 Tojo, making 13 fighters total. They were not just flying alone, as they were escorting a twin-engine Mitsubishi G4M Betty bomber.

The smart move was to stay low, stay undetected, let them pass, complete the photo mission, and go home without anyone questioning that decision. Shomo had waited 16 months for aerial combat across 203 missions.

Yesterday, he got one kill on a bomber caught landing, which was target practice rather than fighter combat. Now he had 13 enemy aircraft 2,000 feet above him representing real combat and real odds.

Shomo keyed his radio to tell Lipcomb they were attacking, pulled his Mustang into a climbing turn, and executed an Immelmann up and over while Lipcomb stayed on his wing.

The Japanese formation continued south on a steady course and altitude without having seen the two Mustangs climbing below them. Shomo completed the Immelmann and rolled out directly behind the enemy formation with less than 40 yards separation at point-blank range.

The Japanese pilots still had not reacted because they thought the two Mustangs were friendly fighters joining the formation, with some Tony pilots opening their canopies to wave.

Shomo opened fire and the leader of the trailing element exploded first when his 50-caliber guns fired convergent patterns at less than 40 yards. The Tony disintegrated in midair with pieces of wing and fuselage tumbling through the formation.

Shomo shifted his aim to the wingman, and another burst caused the second Tony to catch fire and fall away burning for two kills in the first three seconds. The Japanese formation broke into chaos as pilots realized they were under attack.

Shomo attacked the second element from the left side, closed to minimum range, and fired so that the third Tony exploded and fell, giving him three kills in approximately 10 seconds.

The remaining Japanese pilots formed for a counterattack to use their numerical advantage, but Shomo gave them no time as he moved to the opposite side and hit a fourth Tony that exploded and dropped out of the sky.

The Betty bomber was trying to escape by diving away and losing altitude to get low where terrain might offer protection, accompanied by two Tony fighters staying on escort duty.

Shomo rolled inverted and pulled through a split-S maneuver, diving below the bomber and coming up underneath it where the Betty’s belly was unprotected by defensive armament.

Shomo fired a burst into the underside of the fuselage, and the bomber caught fire immediately as the pilot tried to control the burning aircraft for a crash landing, marking his fifth kill.

Shomo pulled up in a tight vertical spiral to regain altitude while the Nakajima Tojo locked onto his tail and fired close tracer rounds.

The Tojo was a fast interceptor with a good climb rate, but Shomo kept the spiral tight because the Mustang could outturn the Tojo at low speeds until the Japanese fighter stalled and slipped away into a cloud layer below.

Below him, the Betty exploded after its crash landing failed, and the blast wave was so close that Shomo’s Mustang lurched from the impact while debris pelted his aircraft.

The two Tony escorts that stayed with the bomber broke away flying low to escape, so Shomo rolled into a dive and came down behind them on the deck at less than 300 feet.

Shomo caught the first one with a short burst, causing it to crash in flames for his sixth kill. The second Tony was still running, so Shomo dived another 100 feet nearly to ground level, pulled lead, and fired to send the seventh Tony down burning.

Seven kills had been achieved in six minutes of combat, and the sky was clear except for smoke from burning wreckage and Lipcomb’s Mustang higher up.

Shomo checked his fuel and ammunition, finding he still had rounds left and enough fuel to make it home safely. Lipcomb had been fighting his own battle, shooting down three Tonys during those six minutes, resulting in ten Japanese aircraft destroyed total out of thirteen attacked.

Shomo turned south with Lipcomb forming up on his wing for the 40-minute flight back to Muro. Shomo had time to think about his seven aerial victories in one mission, which made him an ace many times over in just six minutes.

The ground crews at Muro knew the tradition of celebrating an aerial victory with a barrel roll over the airfield before landing, with one roll for each kill, meaning Shomo was going to need seven rolls.

Shomo crossed the coastline at Lingayen Gulf at 10:47 with Muro airstrip 20 minutes ahead, reviewing every maneuver and shot in his mind.

He contacted the tower to report two F-6D Mustangs inbound with no damage and ten enemy aircraft destroyed, before receiving clearance to land.

Shomo was not landing yet because he had seven barrel rolls to perform, coming in low over the field to execute the first smooth rotation while ground crews gathered and watched.

He climbed again for the second barrel roll as the crowd grew, followed by the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rolls before entering the landing pattern.

Lipcomb followed overhead to perform three rolls for his three kills, though his impressive feat was completely overshadowed by Shomo.

Shomo touched down at 11:09 local time, 2 hours and 27 minutes after takeoff, and taxied to the squadron area to shut down the engine and open the canopy.

The ground crew chief climbed onto the wing pointing at the gun camera while Shomo climbed out with a sweat-soaked flight suit and slightly shaking hands from the adrenaline wear-off.

The squadron intelligence officer arrived for an immediate debriefing while the gun camera film was developed to confirm the kills.

Shomo spent the next three hours describing every detail of the mission, which was fully confirmed by the gun camera footage showing clear footage of Japanese aircraft exploding and falling in flames within six minutes.

Lipcomb’s debriefing confirmed the same story, establishing that out of 13 enemy aircraft attacked, 10 kills were confirmed and 3 escaped.

By 1600 hours, Captain William Shomo was officially recognized for seven aerial victories in one mission, becoming an ace in a day and only the second American pilot to score seven or more confirmed kills in a single mission.

Word spread fast by evening as pilots from other squadrons came by to hear the story and ask questions about the tactics and shooting.

Shomo had flown 203 combat missions before that day, seeing exactly two enemy aircraft from his cockpit during all those missions prior to the Val bomber on January 10th and the 13 aircraft on January 11th.

Three months later, on April 1st, 1945, Major William Shomo stood on Luzon in front of Major General Ennis Whitehead to receive the Medal of Honor for leading an attack against overwhelming odds.

The story began in August of 1941 when William Shomo enlisted in the Aviation Cadet program wanting to fly fighters, though he initially got reconnaissance work instead.

The 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flew missions considered secondary work, such as photo reconnaissance and ground attack, using P-39 Airacobras in New Guinea.

The P-39 had a range limitation of approximately 525 miles total, keeping distant Japanese airfields out of reach and leaving Shomo without opportunities for aerial combat.

By late 1944, the situation improved when the squadron received F-6D Mustangs at Morotai, featuring cameras, six 50-caliber machine guns, and a range of over 900 miles on internal fuel.

On December 24th, Shomo took command of the squadron and moved to Muro on January 1st, 1945, positioning them to support the Lingayen Gulf landings.

January 9th was his first combat mission in the Mustang and his sixth flight in the aircraft type, where he shot down a Val dive bomber on final approach to Tuguegarao.

The mission on January 11th started as routine photo reconnaissance over northern Luzon before encountering the 13-aircraft formation.

Lieutenant Paul Lipcomb flew as Shomo’s wingman on that mission, protecting blind spots and engaging threats as they arose.

The Japanese were withdrawing strength from northern Luzon in January of 1945 following American landings at Lingayen Gulf, and the Betty bomber was likely carrying high-value personnel or cargo protected by 11 Tony fighters and one Tojo interceptor.

The F-6D Mustang offered superior speed and heavy firepower compared to the Japanese aircraft, but tactical advantage depended heavily on altitude and surprise.

Shomo utilized his lower altitude position to climb unseen into an attack position behind the unsuspecting Japanese formation.

The devastating firepower of his 50-caliber guns at point-blank range caused immediate chaos, allowing him to systematically destroy four fighters, the Betty bomber, and two escaping escorts.

The entire engagement lasted approximately 6 minutes across 15 miles of terrain, resulting in 10 total kills between Shomo and Lipcomb.

Following confirmation of the kills, recognition came fast through official channels, culminating in the presentation of the Medal of Honor by Major General Ennis Whitehead on April 3rd, 1945.

Shomo continued flying reconnaissance missions for the remainder of the war, finishing his service with a unique kill ratio based on sighting only 14 total enemy aircraft during his entire career.

His aircraft were famously named Snooks after his pre-war profession, evolving into the Flying Undertaker on later Mustangs.

The war ended in August of 1945, and Shomo continued his military career through the transition to the United States Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1968 after 27 years of service.

In later interviews, Shomo consistently emphasized luck and timing rather than superior skill, though fellow pilots recognized his performance as the result of rigorous preparation and flawless execution under pressure.

Shomo passed away on June 25th, 1990, leaving behind a legacy that demonstrated how years of dedicated training and preparation could make all the difference when a critical 6-minute window of opportunity arrived.