Missions in the China-Burma-India Theater

The P-61s of the 426th NFS went to China in November 1944 to protect B-29 bases from Japanese intruders. As elsewhere, the night fighters found the hunting poor, claiming only four kills by February 1945. Though shifted to primarily night intruder work, P-61 crews also attacked enemy personnel attending signal fires that guided Japanese night bombers to U.S. bases.

Within the CBI, the greatest success in night intruder work occurred in Burma, largely because the Japanese were forced to use a single net of north-south roads, one railroad, and the Irrawaddy River. Day fighters again drove the enemy to operate mainly at night, creating attractive targets for the P-61s of the 427th NFS and the B-25 Mitchells of the 12th Bombardment Group and the 490th Bombardment Squadron. Flying at 1,500 feet, these aircraft followed preassigned roads until they spotted truck lights. Diving to 150 feet, they swept down the road with guns blazing. Standard procedure called for a return twenty minutes later to restrafe burning vehicles and hamper the enemy’s recovery efforts.