As you read more about the Pacific air war you will begain to see a pattern in tactics and training, similar to that in Europe from 1937 thru 1942.

From WWI interceptor or fighter tactics revolved around tight squadrom formations and even massed wings. Once battle was started these were difficult to control and the air fight usuall converted into a furball of individual encounters. This melee scattered across the sky favored pilots with the fastest reflexes and uncommon situational awareness.

In the Spanish Civil war and over China from 1937 thru 1939 the German and Japanese discovered the value of the lead/wing man and the related finger four tactics. Pilots were paired with one attacking the enemy aircraft and a second covering his rear. Just following close behind and watching for enemy aircraft was enoumously valuable as the attacking pilot could focus on his manuver and shot and the wing man could focus on watching for danger. Creating a pair of pairs further increased situational awarenss and combat effciency.

Over Poland, France, Britian, and the South Pacific the inferior massed squadron and single plane tactics of the Allied pilots caused higher loss ratios. The Brits were the first to figure out better tactics, but the concept did not spread quickly. Over the Pacific in 1941-42 the fighter pilots started out not fully understanding the better tactics. A aggravating factor was the lower average experince of the Allied pilots. Most US pilots had less than 18 months service, with perhaps ten months of flight time in a squadron. They had entered the military after June 1940. The average Japanese pilot had a years more service, and combat experince fighting Chinese and Russian pilots, and triple the number of training flight hours a US, Dutch, or British pilot had over New Guniea, Java or Maylasia. It took the USAAF and USN about year to catch up in understanding good tactics.

Similarly the British had sent a high portion of newly trained pilots to the Far East. Their fight against the Japanese was in many ways the massacre of the innocents.

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