Lady in the Dark, another P-61 from the 548th NFS, was one of the most photographed Black Widows in the Pacific theater. Captain Lee Kendall was Lady in the Dark’s assigned pilot. What this Black Widow did at war’s end bordered on unbelievable: It scored the final two kills of WWII—one on the last night and one almost 24 hours after hostilities had officially ended—without firing a shot!

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On the night of August 14, 1945, Lady was flown by another crew and in a low-altitude pursuit when the enemy fighter hit the water and exploded without a single round being fired. The war ended at 2400 that night, but there remained the possibility of night kamikaze attacks against American airfields. Therefore, the P-61s remained on alert.

The following evening, Captain Kendall took off at 1910 for a routine patrol. Less than an hour later the controller said he had a possible bogey coming toward the P-61 at an altitude of 4,500 feet. Contact was made quickly, and Kendall’s radar observer picked up window several times, which meant the intruder was using defensive tactics as he got closer to Ie Shima. As the Black Widow closed, the intruder made some hard turns in an effort to shake any pursuit.

Kendall recalled the chase: “Getting close enough for a positive identification proved to be difficult. He was taking violent evasive action and dropping window, which was bundles of tinsel-like strips of aluminum foil designed to confuse our radar. This guy knew we were behind him but I have no idea how he knew. My R/O, Lieutenant Scheerer, was talking me in closer to about 800 feet when all of a sudden the left side pilot’s window pop­ped open and the rush of air drowned out the communications with him. Down this low at such a high speed and not being able to understand my observer was very unhealthy.

“I had to back off, secure the window and then get back in touch with him. In the meantime, I lost contact with the bogey, but quickly picked him up again and was able to close on his tail again despite his defensive moves. I had one eye on my target and one eye on my altimeter. Suddenly, the window popped open again and once again I closed it, and as I picked him up for a third time the same thing happened again! Regardless, I went after him for a fourth time and control gave me permission to shoot him down even though we didn’t have a positive identification.”

Kendall locked on again, and a few seconds later the bogey completely disappeared off the scope and no more window was detected. According to witnesses on the ground, the intruder crashed and the debris was scattered over a wide area. It had been a Nakajima Ki.44 “Tojo” fighter that probably was up to no good. Lady in the Dark had prevented him from carrying out his mission, assuming he had one. This was not listed as an official kill because the war had already ended. But the fact remains that a Black Widow had made the final two kills of World War II without firing its guns.

Warren Thompson has been collecting material for 40 years on all aspects of military aviation from 1937 to the present. He spent more than 10 years researching and contacting WWII night fighter pilots, resulting in numerous articles and two books, P-61 Black Widow Units in World War II and P-61 Black Widow, which he recommends for further reading.

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