The Marine pilots on Midway flew Brewster Buffalos. They were lost to a man attacking the incoming Japanese attackers over the Island.
In his book, Saburo Sakai mentions that the best pilot he ever faced was early in the war. He was a Dutchman flying a buffalo.
Everytime Sakai would have him in his sights the buffalo pilot would pull some maneuver and escape. He finally did get him but said it was simply because he was flying a far better plane.