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as we all know, the internationally accepted definition of an air combat ace is one who has shot down five or more aircraft. there are also "double aces" (10 aircraft) and "triple aces" (15 aircraft).

next up is "ace of the day", which is shooting down more than 5 planes in one day, and the most impressive one is shooting down more than 5 planes in a single mission.

the story i want to tell today is the most amazing version - shooting down 5 enemy planes in one mission. what's even more incredible is that this great man achieved such a result in his first combat and was awarded the medal of honor.

▲a photo circulating on the internet. there are many types of air combat aces. a "triple ace" is a pilot who has achieved 15 victories.

the protagonist of the story is james sweet, who was born on june 15, 1920, from seattle, washington, u.s. he joined the u.s. navy on august 26, 1942, and began flight training in september, after having obtained a private pilot's license and had 450 hours of flight time.

in early 1942, sweet completed flight training and ranked first. at that time, sweet could choose to go to the navy or the marine corps. in the end, he chose to become a glorious "fourth-class man" and was awarded the rank of second lieutenant.

after joining the marine corps, lieutenant sweet received training in aircraft carrier takeoff and landing. by the end of 1942, he was finally sent to the famous guadalcanal in the southwest pacific and joined the vmf-221 squadron. his aircraft was an f4f-4 named "melvin kill".

the saying "one minute on stage takes ten years of hard work off stage" is most suitable for lieutenant sweet. although he has not participated in a combat, his flying time is as long as that of the veteran pilots at that time, and even better than his rivals.

▲the protagonist of today’s story—james sweet.

on april 7, 1943, lieutenant sweet participated in the battle for the first time, showing us what it means to make a name for yourself by making a noise. in the morning of that day, lieutenant sweet led a four-plane formation of f4f-4s to conduct a combat patrol over the russell islands to guard against japanese air raids.

the russell islands are about 50 kilometers northwest of guadalcanal and are the barrier to defend guadalcanal. lieutenant sweet and his men patrolled for a long time without any results. it seemed that the japanese army did not dare to come again, so they returned to refuel.

however, at this moment, the enemy situation report soon came. the us military discovered a large formation of japanese aircraft. more than 100 japanese aircraft were approaching guadalcanal, including 67 "type 99 carrier-type explosives" and about 110 escorting zero fighters. their target was the us warships anchored near tulagi island.

28 f4fs from vmf-221, 8 f4u-1s from vmf-124, and 6 p-38fs from the 12th fighter squadron of the army air force took off urgently.

▲lieutenant sweet's f4f-4 belongs to vmf-221 squadron.

lieutenant sweet's four-plane formation was also among them, and they quickly climbed to the designated altitude to meet the enemy. soon the two sides encountered each other in the air, and the air battle quickly turned into a melee.

lieutenant sweet lost his wingman in the battle and pursued the "type 99 carrier bombing" formation alone. before the japanese planes began to dive and drop bombs, lieutenant sweet caught up with a "type 99 carrier bombing" formation of three planes.

although the self-defense machine gunners of the "type 99 carrier exploders" fired frantically, lieutenant sweet dodged flexibly and easily shot down two "type 99 carrier exploders" after entering the firing range.

when lieutenant sweet was avoiding the self-defense fire of the third enemy plane, his left wing was unfortunately hit by his own 40mm anti-aircraft gun, but fortunately it was not a big problem. he quickly stabilized the plane and shot down the third "type 99 carrier exploder".

▲a painting showing lieutenant sweet shooting down the japanese "type 99 carrier-borne explosive missile". note that the right wing of his plane was damaged by his own anti-aircraft gun.

some readers may ask: why didn't the japanese pilots choose to evade the attack? this is the flying discipline of bombers. when attacked, they must maintain formation and rely on self-defense firepower to repel enemy aircraft. they cannot scatter and flee.

this tactic was correct, as the lagging planes would only have one way to go: die. however, facing the american planes with excellent firepower and protection, these techniques seemed pale and powerless, like waiting in line to be shot.

lieutenant sweet found that five type 99 carrier-based bombers had just dropped their bombs and were flying away from the battlefield. the low-flying japanese planes had neither height nor speed, making them very good targets. he immediately pushed the throttle to the maximum and dived behind the enemy planes.

in order to avoid the self-defense firepower of the japanese planes, lieutenant sweet launched an attack from the rear of the "99 carrier explosion" formation. this was a blind spot for the japanese planes' rear machine guns. he successfully shot down two japanese planes at the back of the formation.

lieutenant sweet's shooting skills were excellent. every burst of fire hit the target accurately without wasting excessive ammunition. soon the sixth "type 99 carrier-borne explosive" was also shot down.

▲another painting showing lieutenant sweet shooting down the "type 99 carrier exploder", but the left wing was shown to be damaged.

the japanese pilots strictly abided by the regulations that the formation could not be disbanded, and they kept flying straight following the lead plane, resulting in the original five-plane formation being reduced to only two planes after lieutenant sweet slaughtered them.

the remaining two "type 99 carrier-bomb" planes no longer adhered to the rigid regulations and began to maneuver and evade continuously (hahaha, the formation is gone, how can they maintain a weird formation).

lieutenant sweet tried his best to circle around the japanese plane and fire from behind, but shooting at an angle was more difficult and most of his bullets were wasted. he finally shot down the seventh "type 99 carrier-borne explosive gunship".

at this time, lieutenant sweet's luck ran out. the 7.7mm bullet fired by the last japanese plane's self-defense machine gun accurately hit the engine and canopy of his plane, injuring lieutenant sweet.

lieutenant sweet endured the pain and fired at the last type 99 carrier-based bomber, but soon the engine failed and smoke appeared, and he only had time to see the japanese plane fall into a cloud. as the plane was severely damaged, lieutenant sweet was unable to confirm the results of the battle and was forced to make an emergency landing on the water, where he was rescued by a friendly pt torpedo boat.

▲the japanese "type 99 carrier bomb" formation. since it had to maintain formation, lieutenant sweet could shoot calmly.

in this air battle, lieutenant sweet achieved a brilliant record of 7 confirmed victories and 1 possible victories, which is rare in the history of world air combat. his superb flying skills, good shooting techniques and tenacious fighting spirit were the key to his victory.

perhaps to some readers, lieutenant sweet seemed to have taken shortcuts in achieving these results. could shooting down a nimble fighter be of the same difficulty as shooting down a clumsy bomber?

in fact, the hall master also partially agrees with this point of view. from the perspective of value, lieutenant sweet's achievements are not as good as marseille's shooting down 8 enemy planes in 10 minutes, but the latter is a world-class air combat expert. the fact that they can be compared in some of their achievements shows that lieutenant sweet is already very good.

later, vmf-221 squadron was equipped with f4u fighters, and sweet shot down "type 1 land attack" and "zero fighter" in subsequent battles. on october 12, 1943, sweet was awarded the medal of honor in recognition of his outstanding contribution on april 7.