"I made several passes on the airfield, all of them starting from around 1500 to 2000 feet. I came down to about fifty to a hundred feet and my speed must have been between 300 and 375 mph. My first pass was from south to north and I strafed three FW190s on the western side of the field. I observed strikes on all the aircraft, two bursting into flames and one smoking. I chandelled up to the left after this and came back again from the same direction for a second pass. This time I fired at one FW190 in a hangar in the dispersal area south of the field. The 190 burst into flame and the whole hangar had caved in and both the plane and the hangar were burning violently. On the same pass I finished off the plane that was smoking as a result of my initial attack. The aircraft blew up as I passed fifty feet above it the explosion forcing my P51 into a half snap roll. On my third pass I came in again from south to north and this time fired at an FW190 parked in the southwest corner of the field near a hangar. As I pulled off from this pass I flew a little to the left and let go a short burst into a barracks area. For my fourth pass I picked out an FW190 right next to the previous one and again this was burning as I passed over it. "I made several more passes on the field but by this time my guns were running short of ammunition and were firing sporadically. In the end I believe it was only my right wing guns that were firing. During these passes I sprayed the general area noticing a few hits on various aircraft but did not claim any of these. During a further pass on the barracks area about eight Germans ran across my line of fire towards the barracks and six of them were caught in the burst from my guns. My wingman Lt. William Fay and I were the last to leave the field and I counted thirty plus fires as I circled over the airfield before we left."


Vintage ad showing a P-51 Mustang at work

As the 77th pulled up off target at about 1340 hours a group of Me-109s began making several passes on the climbing P-51s as they tried to regroup. From the timing of the Germans' attack it would seem that they had been accurately vectored into a position to attack the 77th. Despite being somewhat surprised by the Germans attack the squadron did destroy two of these 109s and damaged another in the ensuing dog-fights. Lt Phillip Schallo, flying White Three in P-51D 44-14975 LC-K, was the first to score against the 109s:

"After our attack on Esperstedt Airfield I pulled off and started climbing through a break in the clouds, hoping to join up with the rest of the squadron. While passing three thousand feet I saw an Me-109 spinning down towards the ground and realised enemy aircraft were in the vicinity. I immediately poured on the coals and climbed as fast as possible. At about nine thousand feet I saw a 109 making a head-on pass at Lt Starke's P-51. I turned toward the 109 and opened fire at two hundred yards with sixty degree deflection and noticed many strikes in the cockpit area. As I slid by the 109 racked round and started spinning. I watched the plane until it went into the ground and exploded. "I saw another 109 after a P-51 and pulled over after him, firing a long burst at four hundred yards but noticed no strikes. Looking back to clear my tail I saw another 109 firing at me. I broke to the right and found myself in the middle of approximately twelve more 109s! I kept breaking and turning for about ten minutes but never got a chance to shoot. Finally, seeing an opening to the west, I put my nose down and ran for home; ducking into clouds at the first opportunity."

The second 109 fell to the guns of Lt Glen Hall flying White Four in P-51D 44-14824 LC-P:

"I was climbing away from the airfield and had reached somewhere between nine and twelve thousand feet, when I saw eight plus 109s at eleven o'clock to me two thousand feet above. They dropped their tanks and were preparing to make a pass on the six P51s in front of me that I was trying to join. As they made their attack the 51s broke. I saw one go into a steep dive to the right with a 109 after him. I broke and gave chase. He must have realised I was after him because as the P-51 broke right the 109 broke left. He then split-essed and pulled out with a sharp right turn. I had followed him through these manoeuvres and gave him two or three short bursts from five hundred yards as he broke right noticing several hits around the canopy. As he flipped left I again hit him. I think my first burst must have killed the pilot because the plane just rolled over and went straight down and crashed into the ground. The pilot made no attempt to get out, his canopy not even coming off."

Lt Frank Purse's P-51D 44-15379 LC-N was one of the six that Hall was attempting to join:

"I broke to the right as about ten 109s came through us at twelve o'clock, taking a short burst at one head on with no observed results. The enemy planes were dispersed and I started home with my wingman Lt Kerns. We had been headed 260 degrees for about ten minutes, with four other P-51s which had joined us and were flying at five o'clock to us. Suddenly someone called for a break. I looked around and these four P-51s were being bounced by fifteen or so 109s from six o'clock high. I made a break to the right and picked out one of the 109s which was making a tight climbing turn to the left. I started cutting him off and closed to within five hundred feet of him while firing a long burst. I observed strikes near the left wing-root and then had to stop shooting as my plane had stalled out. As I was breaking the stall my wingman called for me to leave in a hurry because about five 109s were on our tails shooting at us. Just as he called for me to leave the 109 that I had fired at made a very slow roll to the left and split-essed towards the clouds. After the plane pulled out of the dive, it started a diving spiral to the right and appeared to be out of control. My wingman and I then left the area since the rest of the 109s were ganging up on us."

Lt Purse claimed this 109 as damaged, probably destroyed. The 77th attack on Esperstedt had achieved complete success and set a new record (for the time being) for the number of enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by an Eighth Air Force squadron. 77th Squadron pilots who flew mission 258:
____________________

White Flight: Gilbertson, Starke, Schallo, Hall; Yellow Flight: Einhaus, Fay, Jones, Larsen; Red Flight: Cole, King, Reynolds, Pitz; Blue Flight: Jennings, Nuno, Purse, Kerns.
____________________
Enemy Aircraft claims made by 77th Squadron pilots on mission 258: Pilot Serial & Codes of Acf Claim:
Maj. Gilbertson (44-14822 LC-A) Three FW190s destroyed. One ME109 damaged.
Lt. Starke (44-13803 LC-P) One FW190 destroyed. One ME410 destroyed.
Lt. Shallo (44-14975 LC-K) Two FW190s destroyed. One ME410 destroyed.
Lt. Hall (44-14824 LC-P) One FW190 destroyed. One ME410 damaged. One ME109 destroyed (air).
Capt. Einhaus (44-13918 LC-V) Six FW190s destroyed.
Lt. Fay (44-11566 LC-Q) Three FW190s destroyed.
Lt. Jones (44-14823 LC-F) Three FW190s destroyed. One ME109 destroyed.
Lt. Larsen (44-15605 LC-M) Two FW190s destroyed. One s/e biplane destroyed.
Capt. Cole (44-11324 LC-U) Six FW190s destroyed. One FW190 damaged.
Lt. Reynolds (44-15321 LC-S) Two FW190s destroyed. Two ME110s destroyed.
Lt. Pitz (44-14598 LC-L) Two FW190s destroyed. One ME110 damaged.
Capt. Jennings (44-13798 LC-W) One FW190 destroyed.
Lt. Purse (44-15379 LC-N) One ME109 damaged (air).

In addition the following ground targets were destroyed or damaged:
One locomotive destroyed -Maj. Gilbertson
Four hangars destroyed - Capt. Einhaus, Lt. Jones, Lt. Larsen (two)
Two hangars damaged - Capt. Einhaus
One admin building damaged - Capt. Einhaus
One gun emplacement damaged - Capt. Jennings
Twenty freight cars damaged -White Flight.

RETURN TO MISSIONS PAGE   RETURN TO 20TH. FG

Unless otherwise noted, all content © copyright The Art of Syd Edwards 1998-1999. All rights reserved and reproduction is prohibited.