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I WAS FLYING TURMOIL RED 2 AND HAD REACHED
12,000 FEET AFTER
A
DIVE BOMBING RUN ON OUR TARGET. THE TOP
COVER FLIGHT, BLUE
FLIGHT,
HAD SIGHTED AND WERE INVESTIGATING SOME
UNIDENTIFIED AIR-
CRAFT
AT APPROXIMATELY 25,000 FEET. BLUE LEADER AT
THIS TIME
IDENTIFIED
THEM AS E/A, 190'S AND 109'S THAT THEY WERE
ATTACK-
ing.
I OBSERVED ABOUT 15 AIRCRAFT AT THAT TIME IN
A DOG FIGHT.
I
SAW ONE E/A EXPLODE AND TWO OTHER E/A DIVING
AND SPINNING, ONE
OF
WHICH WAS IN FLAMES. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN
DESTROYED BY BLUE
FLIGHT
AS THEY WERE THE ONLY FLIGHT AT THAT
ALTITUDE AT THAT TIME.
I WAS ON TURMOIL LEADERS WING, WHO AT THAT
TIME SPOTTED AND
GAVE
CHASE TO A FW-190. HOWEVER, WE LOST SIGHT OF
HIM AND SPOTTED
ANOTHER
HEADED EAST AND DIVING AT ABOUT A 60 DEGREE
ANGLE. WE GAVE
CHASE
AND HE LED US ACROSS AN AIRFIELD AND STARTED
IN A LUFBERRY
TO
THE LEFT. THE AA ON THE FIELD SHOT AT US
CONTINUOUSLY. CAPT.
BATES,
MY LEADER, FIRED A COUPLE OF BURST AT THE
E/A BUT I OBSERV-
ED
NO HITS. THE E/A KEPT TURNING BACK AND FORTH
AND AT ONE TIME
CAPT.
BATES OVERSHOT AND WAS OUT TO THE RIGHT AND
AHEAD. I TURNED
IN
AN GAVE THE E/A A GOOD BURST AT LARGE
DEFLECTION AND OBSERVED
HITS
ON THE RIGHT WING AND FUSELAGE. HE
STRAIGHTENED OUT AND ROL-
LED
OVER AND WAS ON HIS BACK AND HEADED FOR
CAPT. BATES. THEY HAD
ABOUT
300 FEET OF ALTITUDE AND WERE BOTH FIRING.
THE E/A PASSED
OVER
CAPT. BATES' SHIP AND DOVE FOR THE GROUND IN
AN INVERTED
POSITION.
HE CRASHED SOUTH OF LENZ AIRFIELD.
CAPT. BATES AND I WERE TOGETHER AGAIN AND
CLIMBING WHEN WE
SIGHTED
ANOTHER FW-190 AT ABOUT 6,000 FEET. WE
CONTINUED CLIMBING
AND
CIRCLED TO ABOUT 4,000 FEET AT WHICH TIME
THE E/A STARTED DOWN
AND
TURNED INTO US. WE STARTED INTO ANOTHER
LUFBERRY AND HE WAS
CLOSING
IN ON ME. I RACKED AS TIGHT AS I COULD. THE
E/A GOT ONE
BURST
AT ME, BUT I COULD SEE HE COULDN'T HIT ME. I
STALLED IN MY
TURN
AT ABOUT 2,000 FEET AND DOVE FOR THE GROUND.
I PULLED OUT
AND
CLIMBED RAPIDLY TO ABOUT 3,000 FEET. I HAD
NOTICED THE E/A
WAS
STILL IN A LUFBERRY WITH CAPT. BATES. I DOVE
AT THE E/A BUT
MISJUDGED
AND BY THE TIME I WAS IN RANGE THE
DEFLECTION WAS TOO
GREAT
FOR A LONG BURST. I GOT IN A SHORT BURST AND
NOTICED A FEW
(
second page
)
HITS
ON THE RIGHT WING. HAVING PLENTY OF SPEED I
CLIMBED
AGAIN
AND GOT IN A GOOD POSITION FOR ANOTHER PASS.
THEY
WERE
STILL IN A LUFBERRY AND WERE RIGHT ON THE
DECK. THE
E/A
WAS FIRING INTERMEDIATE BURSTS AT CAPT.
BATES, EACH
TIME
HE CAME A LITTLE NEARER TO HITTING HIM. I
CAME DOWN
AGAIN
AND FIRED AT THE E/A. I OBSERVED HITS ON THE
ENGINE
AND
COCKPIT. HE CONTINUED A SLIGHT TURN AND DOVE
FOR THE
GROUND.
HE WAS SMOKING SLIGHTLY BEFORE HE CRASHED
NEAR A
RAILROAD
TRACK AND EXPLODED.
I CLAIM ONE FW-190 DESTROYED AND CONFIRM ONE
DESTROYED
BY
CAPT. BATES.
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