'Demonstrating My Douglas Dive Bomber'
By John Greaves

LT Clarence E. Dickinson, with his gunner, J. F. DeLuca, ARM1c, of Enterprise's Scouting Six, make their slow-speed escape from Kido Butai in SBD-3 S-10 (BuNo 03208) on June 4, 1942. After a long, gas-guzzling flight, Dickinson, along with the rest of Scouting Six and most of Bombing Six, attacked Kaga at around 1020. The ninth plane to dive, Dickinson saw his '500-pound bomb hit right abreast of the island.' This was the fourth direct hit on Kaga and the last recorded by the Japanese.

Upon completion of his dive, having spotted three A6M2's, Dickinson mistakenly lowered his landing flaps instead of retracting the dive flaps. Noticing the error only when he saw his SBD was making 95 knots and that he had 'undoubtedly grabbed the wrong handle' when trying to close up the dive flaps, Dickinson now 'really did some grabbing. Some of our people who were still around told me later on that to them it seemed as if I were demonstrating my Douglas dive bomber. Landing flaps were opening; diving flaps were opening; my wheels were up and down and my activity was like a three-ring circus.'

Upon clearing the screen, Dickinson nursed his SBD back towards Task Force 16. Short of fuel from the extended search for the Japanese carriers and alone for much of the return trip, S-10 ditched near the destroyer Phelps, a ship Dickinson served on for over two years before he earned his wings, and pilot and gunner were promptly rescued.

The original work was commissioned by and presented to me by John Greaves. Thank you John!! Portions of the above account are from The Flying Guns: Cockpit Record of a Naval Pilot from Pearl Harbor through Midway, by Clarence E. Dickinson.

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