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''When we did hit Lae, it came as a complete surprise...The three flights criss-crossed over the airdrome, each flight dropping its 120 bombs...Our 18th flight laid 'em right down the hangar line...It did my heart good to see those buildings blow up - I felt sweet revenge for those boys who died in those hangars and barracks at Hickamâ...'' Immediately upon arrival in the Southwest Pacific, 22nd Bomb Group crews were pressed into action, flying against targets in northern New Guinea, where the Japanese army was poised to advance on a virtually defenseless Australia. From crude dispersal airstrips, the ''Red Raiders'' initially flew unescorted, through merciless weather conditions and withering enemy fire, hammering time and again at enemy bases, troop concentrations and shipping. They succeeded in helping to halt the enemy advance and bought precious time for the arrival of long-due reinforcements. B-26 Navigator Merrill Thomas Dewan gives a firsthand day-by-day account of that critical first year of Air Corps combat in the New Guinea theater.