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I WAS
LEADING GREEN FLIGHT, TURMOIL SQUADRON, ON A
DIVE
BOMBING
MISSION AGAINST AN ENEMY AIRFIELD NE OF
BONN, GERMANY,
AND
HAD BEEN ON COURSE HOME ABOUT FIVE MINUTES
WHEN WE MET
APPROXIMATELY
THIRTY ME-109'S HEAD ON AT ABOUT 13,000
FEET.
THEY
WERE FROM 500 - 1,000 FEET HIGHER THAN MY
FLIGHT. I
PUSHED
EVERYTHING FORWARD AND TURNED TO THE RIGHT
INTO A
FLIGHT
OF FOUR ME-109'S WHICH WERE IN STRING
FORMATION AT
2
O'CLOCK TO ME. THEY BROKE LEFT AND
AWAY FROM ME, SO I RE-
VERSED
MY TURN, GETTING ON THE TAIL OF THE NUMBER
FOUR MAN.
I
HELD MY FIRE UNTIL ABOUT 150 YARDS FROM HIM
THEN OPENED
UP
OBSERVING MANY STRIKES, THEN PIECES BEGAN
COMING OFF THE
E/A,
THE RIGHT LANDING GEAR FELL DOWN AND HE
STARTED TO SMOKE.
THEN I CLEARED MY ELEMENT AND STARTED
LOOKING FOR MORE
E/A.
I SAW SEVERAL SO PICKED OUT ONE AND WENT
AFTER HIM FAR-
ing
A SHORT BURST AT DEFLECTION AND OBSERVING
SOME STRIKES.
THEN
HE DID A VIOLENT SPLIT-ESS IN WHICH I
MANAGED TO PICK UP
AMPLE
LEAD ON HIM, SO I STARTED TO FIRE. I
SAW THAT I WAS
GOING
TO MUSH PAST HIM AS WE PULLED THROUGH DUE TO
MY GREATER
DOWNWARD
ACCELERATION, BUT I CONTINUED FIRING AND AS
I CLOSED
TO
ABOUT 50 YARDS MY FIRE CAUGHT HIM FROM ABOVE
AND HE EXPLODED
INTO
ONE MASS OF FLAMES. I DON'T THINK THE
PILOT GOT OUT. MY
WING
MAN LOST ME ON THE SPLIT-ESS SO DIDN'T SEE
THE PLANE
EXPLODE.
I CLAIM 2 - ME-109'S DESTROYED.
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