19th February 1942, 

The bombing of Darwin, 33rd Pursuit timeline 

Japans four carrier's the Akaki, Kaga, Hiryu and the Soryu prepped all their planes early in the morning and by 7.45 am were in position to start launching its aircraft, all planes were in the air by about 8.30am and commenced their flight to Darwin. (Alford Bob 2017 pp39-41)

The attacking force consisted of eighty one "Kate" bombers, seventy one "Val" dive bombers and thirty six "Zero" Fighters, almost all bar a couple were veterans of multiple campaigns including Pearl Harbor. (Alford Bob 2017 pp18,36) Next the bombers for the second wave got airborne, twenty seven Betty Bombers from Kendari at 8.05am and twenty seven Nell's from Timor at 8.10am. This second wave attacked Darwin RAAF Base just after Midday in an unopposed attack devastating the RAAF base. (Alford Bob 2017 pp39-41)

At 9.15am The Japanese were approaching the Tiwi Islands just as Pell and the other nine P-40s took off to Timor following a B-17 Bomber named the San-Antonio Rose II as an escort. The flight was divided into two groups with A flight Led by Pell with Hughes, Rice, Glover and McMahon. Group B. flight Consisted of Peres leading with Oestreicher, Perry, Wiecks and Walker. Bob Vaught had to stay behind due to Pell taking his aircraft due to mechanical issues with his. Almost immediately after take-off Pell was advised of deteriorating weather over Timor and made the decision to turn back to Darwin rather than risk an inexperienced crew. Just two weeks earlier the 3rd Pursuit Squadron on a ferry flight the same route lost seven planes when lost and out of fuel they had to bail out or ditch with the death of one pilot. The 33rd Pursuit aircraft were back over Darwin by 9.34am. (Alford Bob 2017 pp38-39,42,49)

Pell advises Peres and B flight to maintain a top flight cover while his B flight goes in to land, Shortly after Peres receives several garbled radio communications advising his flight to land, attempts to clarify failed so he advised Oestreicher to take command while he landed to clear things up. (Alford Bob 2017 pp47-49)

At 9.37am Yoshikazu Nagahama had already appeared over the harbour ahead of the formation after already attacking and shooting down a US Catalina as Pell's A flight were landing. He spots the formation of four P-40s being led by Oestreicher and commences a dive towards them. Flying at eight thousand feet Oestreicher spots the Zero diving on their formation from two thousand feet above and shouts Zeros, he immediately heads off to the south east and isn't seen until two hours later. He lands at Darwin RAAF base with no damage except for a punctured tyre. (Alford Bob 2017 pp51)

2nd Lt. Elton Perry is shot down almost immediately after the warning and killed crashing off Nightcliff, this was witnessed by Australian Army personnel and was the first sign of the Japanese attack for many. 2nd Lt. Elton Perry became the first allied airman to die in battle over Australian soil and the second after Buel out of Darwin for US Pursuit Pilots. (Alford Bob 2017 pp51)

2nd Lt. Max Wiecks is next attacked by possibly multiple Zeros crashing into the sea approximately ten miles out and witnessed by observers from East Point. He drifts for twelve hours before making landfall and is rescued. (Alford Bob 2017 pp51)

2nd Lt. William Walker severely outnumbered is shot and injured in the shoulder but manages to land his aircraft at Darwin RAAF Base and taxi to the hangar and is assisted out by crew on the ground. (Alford Bob 2017 pp51)

The main Japanese force crossed the coast over the Vernon islands passing Koolpinyah station at approximately 9.45am and then turning towards Darwin around Noonamah. Arriving over Darwin the first bombs dropped at 9.58am. (Alford Bob 2017 pp56-59)

McMahon recalled in an interview with Bob Alford,

writing up the plane's faults [when] a crewman ran out and yelled the Japs are here! Then back to his slit trench! I called him back and asked him how he knew ... at that time a Bren Gun carrier ½ track came up with Peres on it. He jumped off and ran toward me pointing up (his chute on). I nodded, started up. He jumped back on the carrier and rattled off in the dust. - So I know he wasn't shot down on the first pass (as reported - and neither was I). (Alford Bob 2017 pp59)

Major Floyd Pell was first to take off after being held up getting his drop tank off and was immediately attacked by multiple Zeros, despite trying to get clear by staying low he eventually bailed out at low altitude and is killed. Zeros then raked his aircraft while on the ground witnessed by an Australian soldier. (Alford Bob 2017 pp63-64)

Next off is 2nd Lt. Charles Hughes who is almost immediately shot down and killed not far from the runway. Both 2nd Lt Burt Rice and 2nd Lt. John Glover are next up and bank sharply to clear the Zeros, gain altitude and speed. Rice is hit and forced to bail out and Glover saves his life as he descends in a parachute by warding off the attacking Japanese attempting to shoot him. In doing so Glover is injured and crash lands back at Darwin RAAF Base. (Alford Bob 2017 pp63-64)

Next off is McMahon who on take-off almost collides with B Flight's Walker as he comes into land severely injured, McMahon witnesses Pell being pursued and shot down by the Zeros. As he takes off his aircraft is damaged and the undercarriage stays down. He races across the harbour and at one point is witnessed passing low past the USS William B Preston and then climbs and eventually bails out into the harbour. Prior to bailing out he attacks a Japanese aircraft strafing some US Catalina aircraft and their crew moored in the harbour. He was witnessed parachuting down into mangroves and rescued shortly after. In an interview with Robert Alford he mention's that from start up to out of parachute was likely twenty six to twenty eight minutes of which eighteen to nineteen minutes was pure dogfighting. (Alford Bob 2017 pp63-64) (Alford Bob 2017 pp58)

The below picture is purported to be McMahon soaring over the Zealandia in the harbour, but the picture has since been put into doubt and thought may have been taken prior to the raid.

2nd Lt. Vaught attempts to take Walker's P-40 back up but is advised to jump into a slit trench for cover and luckily so as not long after Walker's P-40 is strafed by Zeros and catches fire. (Alford Bob 2017 pp50)

Last off is Jack Peres, his crash was not witnessed but he was pursued and shot down by Zeros almost immediately after take-off. (Alford Bob 2017 pp57-58,67-68) His crash site is approximately twenty five kilometres North/East from the Darwin RAAF Base and he crashed into woodlands located in what is now Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve. A P-40E takes off at 150mph approximately and after just over two minutes of climbing in ideal conditions only reaches 5000ft and about 160mph. Top speed in level flight is somewhere around 300mph at sea level meaning Jack Peres was likely airborne for between six minutes at minimum take off speed of 150mph, and perhaps four minutes if at 225mph(3/4 top speed) assuming he spent more time level rather than climbing to gain speed and evade the Zero's. (WWII aircraftperformance.org 2019)

In the space of approximately forty five minutes nine out of the ten Kittyhawks were shot down, four pilots dead, five injured (several of which missing) and one Oestreicher escaped flying into cloud and heading south.

Most early versions of the events of the B flight have centred around Oestreicher's report of 21st of July 1941 in which he stated that Peres was the first to go down almost immediately , that he put a burst into a Zero and later on shot down one "Val" and possibly another. After thorough research by Robert Alford and an Interview with McMahon, Oestreicher's reports of the events have been disproven and shown to be fabricated. In the Hospital ward when McMahon, Wiecks and Walker discussed the events they all agreed that Oestreicher's lack of action and flying out of the combat zone contributed to the events turning out the way they did. Later in other units he became known to embellish his kill counts. After returning to Darwin Oestreicher was noted to not have visited his fallen comrades in Hospital and only bumped into McMahon by accident in Brisbane later. Below is a copy of Oestreicher's report from Bob Alfords book "Darwin 1942, The Japanese Attack on Australia" (Alford Bob 2017 pp57-58,67-68)

"After receiving orders from Major Pell to take my flight to fifteen thousand feet I started to climb. At eight thousand feet I spotted a ship diving on the formation from about two thousand feet above us and in the eight o'clock position. Upon recognising him I radiod [sic] "Zeros, Zeros, Zeros." On his first attack he broke our formation and forced us to dive out dropping belly tanks at the same time. Climbing back into the sun I was able to get a small burst into one Zero who rolled in his climb and shot me. I spun out regaining control around four thousand feet. I again climbed and around twelve thousand feet I countered [sic] eighteen more planes in a lazy circle at what I would judge to be twenty thousand feet. I called up "B" Flight on the radio and advised heading for the clouds about five miles south of Darwin that were at an altitude of about two thousand feet to twenty-five hundred feet. After flying among the clouds for about half an hour I spotted two Series 97 dive bombers with fixed landing gear on a course heading for Batchelor Field. Intercepting them at about fifteen hundred feet I fired and saw one definitely burst into flames and go down. The other was smoking slightly as he headed for the clouds. I lost him in the clouds. At approximately 11:45 I landed at the RAAF Field with my left tire [sic] and wheel shot up. Service and armament crews immediately began to service the ship. Private Ceech and Private Bujold began to hunt for a wheel and tire I could use on my plane. Private Lindquist an excellent armorer, [sic] reloaded my guns. I went to Twelve Squadron Hangar and there reported to Captain Whela as [sic] and General Patrick Hurley what had happened and I thought I had shot down one plane and that the other might be classed as a "probable." The following morning I took off at dawn and flew to Daly Waters where a Squadron Leader Connely [sic] took charge of repairing my plane. Later that same afternoon a report came through that a coastal artillery battery had located both planes within a mile of each other. These were the first confirmed aerial victories on Australian soil. On February 27, I received telegraphic orders to fly south and report to the 49th Pursuit Group at Bankstown, N.S.W." (Alford Bob 2017 pp57-58,67-68)

McMahon, Walker and Wiecks discussing the attack in hospital, In Bob Alford's book "Darwin 1942, The Japanese Attack on Australia" (Alford Bob 2017 pp68)

that the other driver's [Oestreicher's] actions (or lack of) contributed to it, as they were circling to the Left headed North East to North. Oestreicher peeled off over them, headed to the South East in about a 40° dive - they were wondering what was wrong with him - when his belly tank came off and about 3 seconds later called "Zeros" but didn't give any direction - They thought at first he was diving on some but actually he dove directly away from the attacking Zeros and when the rest of the Flight looked around they all had Zeros on their ass!! [sic] ... and according to Walker when last seen, Oestreicher was heading directly for the cloud cover at Batchelor ... and was not seen in the fight again. (Alford Bob 2017 pp68)

The other claim made by Oestreicher is that he was the flight leader for B flight, this was not the case as Peres was appointed B flight leader back in Amberley QLD for the ferry flight, it is likely he may have been told to take command of the B flight while Peres returned to the RAAF base to confirm the radio transmissions. (Alford Bob 2017 pp48)

References

Alford Bob 2017, DARWIN 1942 The Japanese attack on Australia, Osprey Publishing Limited

WWII Aircraft Performance 2019, P-40 Performance Tests, https://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/P-40/P-40.html