On January 7, 1945 USAAC Major Thomas McGuire led a group of four P-38s over
the Japanese held Fabrica Airstrip on Negros Occidental in the Philippine
Islands. This was an early morning "hunting expedition" in which McGuire
was hoping to claim his 39th and 40th and possibly 41st kills which would
make him the leading ace of all time. For superstitious reasons, and its
gaudy adornment with 38 victory flags, McGuire did not fly his famous P-38,
The "Pudgy V", feeling it had run out of luck, and borrowed another P-38,
the "Eileen Ann."
McGuire and his wingman, Edwin Weaver, became separated from their other
"loose deuce" element when they came upon a Ki-43 Oscar flown by Japanese
pilot, Akiro Sugimoto. In the wild turning melee that followed, another
Japanese aircraft entered the dogfight unobserved.