Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943

As O'Hare closed rapidly from the right side of the enemy formation, some of the Japanese gunners opened fire....Ignoring the tracers, O'Hare took aim at the rearmost Mitsubishi and triggered a short burst.... The bomber piloted by FPO 2nd Class Ryosuke Kogiku careened out of formation, its starboard engine trailing smoke. O'Hare lined up his sights on the next aircraft and got the same result. Ribbons of vaporized gasoline streamed from the perforated wing of FPO 1st Class Koji Maeda's bomber, which also veered out of formation....

O'Hare let his fighter's momentum carry him under the formation... and then climbed back into firing position behind the last bomber on the left side of the formation.... [H]e squeezed the trigger, and again his aim was true. The bomber shuddered under the impact of the heavy bullets and quickly fell behind, its right engine damaged and the left wing tank punctured. O'Hare then fired a burst at the next bomber in line, which caught fire as he closed to nearly point-blank range. With just two brief firing runs, he had carved half of the bombers out of formation.