This is a Ghost In The Machine tribute to 1Lt Joseph J Lesicka at the request of Gecko for the hero's son.
Some of the fiercest aerial fighting of the Pacific War occured during the Allies advance on NEw Georgia, in the Solomon Islands chain, as the Japanese aerial forces on Bouganville attempted to neutralize the vital airfield at Munda. In one of those clashes, 1Lt Joseph J Lesicka of the 44th FS/18th FG had the rare distinction of scoring five confirmed victories in one mission to become and 'ace in a day'.
On 15 July 1943 a force of 27 Japanese bombers, with 30 to 40 Zero escorts, was reported approaching Munda from the West. Fourty-four Allied fighters responded to the alert, including seven P-40s from the 44th FS/18th FG that were patrolling nearby Rendova Island when the call came.
As they reached 15,000 ft over Kolombangara, the P-40s encountered A6M Zero fighters which had scattered following an earlier clash with US MArine Corps F4Us. Flight Leader Captain Frank Gaunt led his P40s in a diving attach and took a shot at a Zero, but apparently missed. The Japanese fighter turned in front of Gaunt's element leader, Leisicka, who promptly shot it down from behind. Within the next few seconds all seven of the P-40s became involved in a running dogfight that ranged eastward toward Vella LaVela an then back to Rendova. The American pilots claimed 12.5 victories for the loss of a single P-40.
This is Lesicka's terse personal account of the battle; 'Got one Zero with a shot from the rear. Saw a torpedo bomber and over ran him on my first pass, but smoked him and on my next pass blew him up. Went after a "Betty" bomber and on my first pass his right engine started burning. An F4U made a pass and he went down on my second pass, giving me the "Betty". Then took two Zeros off a P-40's tail. I got both of them, and one was shot with one gun.'
Lesicka claimed 4.5 victories for the mission but was given credit for five. With or without the additional half share, Lesicka had become and ace, since he had scored three additional confirmed victories during the preceeding month. His final tally for the war was nine destroyed. Lesicka was the second 44th FS pilot to become an 'ace in a day', as 1 Lt Elmer Wheadon had accomplished the feat on 1 July 1943. The top-scoring Warhawk ace of the squadron with nine confirmed victories at the end of his first tour, Lesicka returned to the 44th FS as CO in 1944, and later moved to 18th FG headquarters.
Skinned as a P-40M, based On the original Curtis P-40K by Ed "groundhog" Wilson, Gregory "sarge" Pierson and John "Bravo4" Whelan. Lesicka's aircraft was named after burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, this being a reference to the fact that the P-40M was 'stripped' of weight in an attempt to improve performance. It also had a diving eagle design painted on its white wheel centres (these do not show up and are hidden in the wheel wells because of how the wheel cover textures are mapped). Two versions of his aircraft are provided one marked with the 3 kills at the time of his epic battle (the default P-40m_125_T and _S), and one showing his final tally of 9 (9_Kills_P-40m_125_T and _S need to be renamed for use in game).
Some of the fiercest aerial fighting of the Pacific War occured during the Allies advance on NEw Georgia, in the Solomon Islands chain, as the Japanese aerial forces on Bouganville attempted to neutralize the vital airfield at Munda. In one of those clashes, 1Lt Joseph J Lesicka of the 44th FS/18th FG had the rare distinction of scoring five confirmed victories in one mission to become and 'ace in a day'.
On 15 July 1943 a force of 27 Japanese bombers, with 30 to 40 Zero escorts, was reported approaching Munda from the West. Fourty-four Allied fighters responded to the alert, including seven P-40s from the 44th FS/18th FG that were patrolling nearby Rendova Island when the call came.
As they reached 15,000 ft over Kolombangara, the P-40s encountered A6M Zero fighters which had scattered following an earlier clash with US MArine Corps F4Us. Flight Leader Captain Frank Gaunt led his P40s in a diving attach and took a shot at a Zero, but apparently missed. The Japanese fighter turned in front of Gaunt's element leader, Leisicka, who promptly shot it down from behind. Within the next few seconds all seven of the P-40s became involved in a running dogfight that ranged eastward toward Vella LaVela an then back to Rendova. The American pilots claimed 12.5 victories for the loss of a single P-40.
This is Lesicka's terse personal account of the battle; 'Got one Zero with a shot from the rear. Saw a torpedo bomber and over ran him on my first pass, but smoked him and on my next pass blew him up. Went after a "Betty" bomber and on my first pass his right engine started burning. An F4U made a pass and he went down on my second pass, giving me the "Betty". Then took two Zeros off a P-40's tail. I got both of them, and one was shot with one gun.'
Lesicka claimed 4.5 victories for the mission but was given credit for five. With or without the additional half share, Lesicka had become and ace, since he had scored three additional confirmed victories during the preceeding month. His final tally for the war was nine destroyed. Lesicka was the second 44th FS pilot to become an 'ace in a day', as 1 Lt Elmer Wheadon had accomplished the feat on 1 July 1943. The top-scoring Warhawk ace of the squadron with nine confirmed victories at the end of his first tour, Lesicka returned to the 44th FS as CO in 1944, and later moved to 18th FG headquarters.
Skinned as a P-40M, based On the original Curtis P-40K by Ed "groundhog" Wilson, Gregory "sarge" Pierson and John "Bravo4" Whelan. Lesicka's aircraft was named after burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, this being a reference to the fact that the P-40M was 'stripped' of weight in an attempt to improve performance. It also had a diving eagle design painted on its white wheel centres (these do not show up and are hidden in the wheel wells because of how the wheel cover textures are mapped). Two versions of his aircraft are provided one marked with the 3 kills at the time of his epic battle (the default P-40m_125_T and _S), and one showing his final tally of 9 (9_Kills_P-40m_125_T and _S need to be renamed for use in game).
