The Allied conquest of the Solomons was almost complete by April 1943. On 7 April, the Japanese made a massive almost last-ditch air raid, involving 80 planes, which strafed and bombed Tulagi, a small island in the Solomons.
James Swett, an American pilot who had never seen combat, was part of the defences on Tulagi. During a short time, he shot down seven Japanese planes before he was forced to bale out.
Chuck Caldwell and two other marines took turns firing a twenty-mm gun. He noticed a dive-bomber approaching. "The pilot made a fatal mistake," he later said. "He was flying low, steady, and in a straight line." Caldwell fired, and the plane careened left and crashed into a hill. "He flew right into my bullets," Caldwell said.
一九四三年四月，盟軍大致已奪取所羅門群島。四月七日，日本幾乎是背城借一，出動八十架飛機，大舉空襲。群島的圖拉吉小島，遭低飛掃射和轟炸。
美國飛行員詹姆斯．斯韋特是島上守軍的一員，以前從未參戰，這次卻不多久就擊落七架日本飛機，然後才不得不跳傘逃生。
查克．考德威爾和另外兩名海軍陸戰隊員合力，輪流以一挺二十毫米槍射擊。他看見一架俯衝轟炸機飛近，事後說：「那飛行員飛得低，平穩，而且直線飛行，是致命的錯誤。」他開火，看着那飛機失控，左轉撞到山上。他說：「那飛行員簡直迎着我的子彈飛來。」