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Baker, Douglas, LTJG.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Lindley
Last Address McClain County
Casualty Date Dec 14, 1944
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Philippines
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Greenhill Cemetery - Muskogee, Oklahoma
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Lt jg Douglas Baker F6F Hellcat fighter pilot {ACE} VF-20, USS Enterprise, USS Lexington
Shot down 16.3 Japanese aircraft
Born in McClain County, Oklahoma in 1921 and son of John E. and Georgia Baker, Doug Baker enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June, 1942 after one year at Oklahoma University and completed flight training a year later. With his squadron VF-20, he sailed on USS Enterprise and USS Lexington from 31 August 1944 until his death on 14 December.
His first combat came during a fighter sweep over Formosa on 12 October, 1944. There were 350 Japanese planes on the island, nearly half of them fighters. The American Fast Carrier Task Force launched its dawn attack at 0600, and 230 enemy airplanes rose to intercept. It was one of the biggest aerial battles of the Pacific War. VF-20, under LTCDR Fred Bakutis, led three divisions of Hellcats over Einansho airfield and met about 30 bandits. Ensign Douglas Baker, on his first combat mission, downed four: 3 Tjos and a Zero. Altogether, VF-20 accounted for 20 Japanese planes that day.
Three days later, over the Philippines, Baker knocked down two more, IJA Oscars this time. He was an ace!
On 18 October, the Enterprise pilots of VF-20 ran a sweep over the Manila area, and engaged some Tojos and other fighters. Baker and Ensign Chuck Haviland both scored triples. In all, VF-20 counted 18 this day.
Ensign Baker ran his score to a dozen by November 14, the highest ever for an Ensign.
He was promoted to Lieutenant(jg) on 14 December and flew another mission over Clark Field that afternoon. Facing plenty of opposition, he downed three Zeros and was last seen destroying an Oscar. With twelve kills in five combat missions, 23 year-old Baker was one of the most successful fighter pilots in the task force. But that evening, when everyone else had landed back on board Lexington, the young Oklahoman did not turn up. He was noted as "missing in action." Later Filipino guerillas found his F6F and took his dog tags. With 16 kills to his credit, he was the highest scoring Navy ace to be shot down.
Strikes On Clark Field Area: 14-16 December 1944
The three days of strikes on the Clark Field area in December were perhaps the most trying experienced by our pilots up to that time. Anti-aircraft batteries of all sizes had been greatly strengthened since the previous strikes and were finding their marks with far greater accuracy. Six fighters were shot down by AA fire on the 14th although two of the pilots parachuted safely and were rescued by guerrilla forces. Several other planes were hit but managed to land aboard safely.
Fighter opposition was weak, only seven planes rising to intercept the first sweep on the 14th, all seven of which were destroyed. Lt. (jg) Douglas Baker accounted for four of the Jap planes making a total of 16 for him before he in turn was shot down by AA fire and killed
Tally Record: 16 1/3 confirmed
In just Two months of combat Ltjg Baker downed over 16 aircraft which Ranked him 7th highest ever in the US Navy
Decorations:
Navy Cross
Two Silver Stars
Three Distinguished Flying Crosses
Purple Heart
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.
The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from USS Lexington remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover. During the course of the battle, American submarines torpedoed and sank two of the largest Japanese fleet carriers taking part in the battle.
This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.