Fun Quiz. What? Who? and How? was Yamamoto killed by?

Who is the man who is credited with killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto? with what? and how?

I need the name of the pilot, and what type of aircraft he flew and what caliber of ammo was used and where did it hit Yamamoto.

 

Carl, Yamamoto was shot down by friend Rex T Barber of the 339th squadron, flying P-38's and equipped with 4 50 cal and 1 20mm. I believe he struck one wing and engine which started to burn and the Betty crashed in the jungle.

Sadly Rex passed away on July 26, 2001 in eastern Oregon.

E

 

Great guess but...... and according to Tom Clancy (Hunt For Red Oktober, Patriot Games et el) says its been proven to be a .50 cal bullet coming from Tex Lamphiers P-38 striking the Admiral in his head. I had always thought it was only credited to Rex Barber too but.........you know how things are always kept from us peons....

At least we are at least half right though, Barber did shoot off the bombers wing. I just wonder who and how they decided Tex Lamphier was the one whos buller struck the Admiral in the first place.

The only reason I debate this at all, is because Tom Clancy has more sources on things that the Govt does and one has to wonder........

 

His passing is sad indeed--dammit!! another great one gone

 

Carl :

Rex has too many eye-witnesses from his flight on this mission that proves that he got the kill and not his hot-shot commander that day.

E

 

Oh I totally agree with you but what im saying is that being that its far out at what Tom Clancy said about Tex Lamphier. Clancy claims one of Lamphiers .50 caliber bullets killed the Admiral while Barber actually shot down the Betty.

If this turned out to be true, I would like to know just how they determined that a .50 Cal bullet came from Lamphiers P-38 that was responsible for killing the Admiral? Wierd aint it?

But I DO totally agree with you that Barber was the one who did kill the Admiral and did shoot down the Betty.

Besides, I know you have much more Airforces connections than I do and know you know you know what time it is. I was wondering who would catch this err on Clancys part and disect it.

Feels good to catch a know-it-all in err, like we did here.

Good thing I wasnt drinking anything at the time I read this or I would have choked on it and spilt the glass of its contents whilst spitting it all over the keyboard and screen.

 

I think Tom Clancy went beyound Uranus this time......The Japanese found Yamamoto and what was left of the crew and removed them and for sure never said who was responsible for the kill. There is only 1 Japanese pilot still living or at least there was back in the 1980's when a panel was formed with the living US pilots and questions were rained down upon all the individuals.......well the C.O. cringed but still said that he was the one that shot down the Betty. But as said before Rex has too many eye-witnesses to support his version of the attack on the bomber. Lamphier was chasing another Zero at the time.

will we ever really know ? maybe not......makes from some intersting discussion though.

E

 

Sounds like another kennedy Assassination sort of thing

Could it be another "Conspiricy Theory"? har har. Im beginning to think Clancy is as bad as Lucas is.

 

Originally posted by C.Evans:
Who is the man who is credited with killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto? with what? and how?

I need the name of the pilot, and what type of aircraft he flew and what caliber of ammo was used and where did it hit Yamamoto.

i didn't look at other people's responses but hmmm i don't know the pilot's name but i do know he flew a P-38 out of not sure but would guess Guadalcanal or Australia, the Admiral was flying i believe to review troops at Bouganville, when US inteligence found out they launch i forget how many fighters...maybe 6-12? to intercept his bomber. The plane he was flying in was a Mitsubishi G4M3 "Betty" bomber i believe. I would guess he was killed either by machine gun fire/shrapnel, or killed when the plane finally hit the ground. i have no idea where he was hit?

 

Damn i knew it was .50 calibre ammuntion! i just forgot to put it before i submitted...although...i wonder where in the world Tom Clancy discovered info that the admiral was shot clean in the head by a .50 bullet from a particular person's plane? I'm a bit skeptical.

 

Great Guesses Ron.

I dont know where Clancy got his info from but, as Erich reminded me, it was Rex Barber who did the deed.

I wonder if Clancy is becoming the American version of James Lucas? I HOPE not.

 

A fantasy writer he is !

E

 

Erich--thats damn good, and I never even thought o fit that way, GREAT one indeed.

 

Does anyone know who trained the pilots who intercepted Yamamoto to get the best range out of their P-38's ? Since he was a fervent pro Axis supporter, I'll be surprised if anyone guesses this !

 

It was Charles A. Lindbergh and I don't think he was pro Axis any more at that time in war.

 

Since there were two Betty's, I wondered how they could tell Yamamoto's Betty from Vice Admiral Ugaki's Betty while on the attack and being attacked by Zero's.
I was also curious what happened to the pilots of the escort Zero's who let the two Betty's get shot down. It must not have been pleasant.

 

Death of Isoroku Yamamoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The red-headed guy at C.S.I. Miami performed ballistic testing on the slug in Yamo's brain pan. The rifling marks matched one of Lamphier's .50s. There was also a olive-drab fiber found in the Betty that was similar to clothing worn by Lamphier's ground crew. No arrests have been made at this time.

 

Great, as if we dind't have enough clowns in this forum :clown:

 

read Rex Barbers book and get the truth ............

E ~ the man was vibrant in a special way and answered all my questions