THE C.O. AND AN ACE ARE LOST

The 20th. Fighter Group was briefed to escort 1st. Division B-17s to Landberg, Augsberg and Oberaffenhafen, attacking aircraft components and assembly plants in South and Central Germany.         Lt. Col. Mark E. Hubbard had been with the 20th for just 15 days and had joined the group when it was suffering it's heaviest losses; from enemy action and technical problems with the P-38. Eager and agressive, he had the squadrons flying practice missions at every oppotunity in an effort to build the confidence of the hard pressed pilots.         For this mission, Maj. Franklin led the Group, leaving Hubbard with more freedom of action. Rendezvous was made with the bombers at 1300 hours near St. Dizer andan uneventful escort was conducted to Ulm, where at 1355 hours the 20th. withdrew as P-51s took over.         Whilst climbing through the overcast, the 77th. Squadron became seperated and White Flight, led by Hubbard found itself alone. Sighting 15 to20 enemy fighters above the bombers he instructed the flight to drop tanks and attack. Hubbard and his wingman, Lt. Alvin Clark each destroyedan Me-109 and shared a third. Hubbard now takes up the story:         "A new tactic was introduced that day called the 'bouncing squadron'. After our escort was over the Group turned north to attack any incoming enemy. The bouncing squadron was to follow the enemy down as fast as possible; hoping to keep them in sight as they always split-esses away and out dived us with our compressibility factor. The other two squadrons were to provide top cover.         "We ran into some enemy planes and sure enough about half split-essed. We managed to keep sight of some until we were at tree top level. I wound up with a flight of four P-38s, then three, then two. There were however, more targets than we could shoot at.         "After about ten minutes the five tracers came out, so I called my wingman and said we were going home; we had got three without a loss. There were several of the enemy chasing us quite well back, so I styaed close to the ground to build up speed. With 350 m.p.h. indicated, I zoom climbed into thick broken cloud at around 2,500 feet. Dead ahead I saw a large city (Augsberg) in flames and smoke - didn't wnat to test their flak - so I dropped down again to fly around it.         "Thud! I heard a distinctive heavy blow in what I thought to be the nose of the ship and believed I had taken a non-explosive shell there, as there was no change in handling. Within 15 seconds there was an explosion in the left engine with the cowling pushed up and a nice long flame trailing. I pulled both throttles back and pulled back the left mixture control, then pushed both throttles forward and had no power from either engine. With about 50 feet altitude and around 300m.p.h. I thought about putting the plane down on it's belly as there was lots of snow on the ground. Then it occured to me that there might be some stone fences in those fields and the gunsight was right in front of my face! I pulled up, released the canopy, rolled the plane on it's back and as she began to shudder, pushed out with legs tucked well in. I dinstinctly saw the tail go by my face and pulled the cord. The chute popped and opened fast - thank God- I had only one half swing before hitting the groundand badly spraining my left ankle.         "Now, what happened? I have thought about this many times. I could have taken a hit in my left engine. I know I did not open the inter cooler shutters after we got down near the ground, so it could have been carb heat had gotten too high. Or it might have been the good old 'Allison timebomb.*' I believe it was the latter, this having been my third engine failure in twelve missions. As to the right engine? I believe I pulled back the right (wrong) mixture control; end of Hubbard's command of the 20th!         "The last I saw of my wingman, he was heading northwest apparently alright. Incidentally, he was superb; don't know who he was, but he was not my original as his code letter was different."         Here is a little mystery, Col. Hubbard's original wingman, Lt. Clark was involved in most of this action. He filed a long and extensive encounter report that parallel's Hubbard's statements. Clark became seperated while they were attacking a pair of Me-109s, both claiming a destroyed. Completing White Flight were Lt. Davis and his wingman Lt. Ival Butler. Butler was reported as bailing out over the North Sea near Texel Island; could he have been the wingman mentioned? Unfortunately, Butler was not heard of again and so has no report to fill many interesting gaps.         While Hubbard was flying his last mission, a young 2nd. Lt. in the 79th. Squadron was taking part in his sixth. This was Lt. Arthur W. Heiden, flying 79th. Red Two; the Flight being led by the Group's second 'Ace' Capt. Lindol F. Graham.         As mentioned, the 79th. and 55th. Squadrons were providing top cover for Hubbard and the 77th. During this top cover, three Me-110s were seen tqaking off from an airfield south of Ulm. Maj. Franklin and Capt. Graham led 79th. White and Red flights down for an attack on these planes from 20,000 feet.         Heiden explains what happened next:         "We were at altitude when these Me-110s were seen taking off. So down we went, drop tanks chewing off chunks of flap, as they did when released at high speed; frost forming inside the canopy as usual in a steep dive. Now, these Germans were smart and saw us coming. So they slowed their 110's down as slow as possible, hugging the ground and dodging around trees. We tore in as fast as we could at over 400 m.p.h.! Everybody overrran his target first pass and most shooting missed. It soon settled down to running gunnerypatterns on the dodging, slow flying 100s.         "What took place with Capt. Graham as always seemed strange and a bit of a nightmare to me. I was somewhat new to the Group and didn't know him too well, but had gained considerable awe and respect for his ability and felt it a great honor to be his wingman.         "I sat back and covered him as best I could through several wild passes he made on an Me-110. Suddenly he stopped firing and moved out to the left side. I did not try to analyze the situation and was impatient for my first shot a German, barrelled in at full throttle.         "I observed a few strikes here and there all over the Me-110 but no concentration. Then, suddenly, realizing I was overtaking rapidly and the rear gunner was really letting me have it, I tried to draw a pip on the rear gunner with a last burst before I pulled away.         "Chopping the throttles to slow up, I broke sharply right and my P-38 started to buffet in a stall. Trees were appearing in front and to the sides with their tops above me; so getting out of the stall and over the trees took my concentration for a moment. When I looked around again, Graham was creeping up on the German very close, propellers just above his tail! He eased forward slightly to where the props were just over the Me-110's canopy; then very slowly eased down. The 110 was very low, very slow and less than 50 feet off the ground. So with the P-38s props about to chew his head off, it didn't take much reaction for the German pilot to belly his plane in the deep snow that covered the ground.         "This whole thing was getting beyond my comprehension and what followed was stranger yet. We, Graham and I, circled round while the two crew got out of the 100, stood for a moment, probably as surprised as I was. Then Graham made a pass straight at them; instead of going for cover of the timber a short distance away, they headed into the open. They had gotten about a hundred yards or so when Graham came in again. I was directly behind. As he came down the Germans stopped and turned before his P-38 blocked them from view. I felt he was too low, but I cannot say for sure. Graham pulled up into a sharp Chandell type of manouver to the right and as it traversed through 180 degrees, the P-38 rolled on to it's back, the nose dropped and it crashed vertically from around 1,000 feet.         "Why had that happened? I do not know. To me this was a nightmare and I was in a state of shock. There had been no R/T other than battles going on elsewhere. I have rehashed this many times, but have come to the conclusion that Graham had been badly wounded by the rear gunner, or had been shot by a pistol while buzing the German crew in the snow.         "What to do? Fighting the numbing shock of what had happened, I tried to use the R/T in the hope that someone could help me, but my voice would not work! A couple of Me-110s flew by going east -that did it!- get the h**l out of there! I remembered the safe course home, given at the briefing; more bombers were coming in so I climbed through them, got into the overcast, hid and came on home.         "There would be many more missions, some wild like the citation mission of April 8th., '44; others satisfying, like flying with Col. Wilson when he took our first P-38L out for the first time and 'tailgated' an Me-109, but none as traumatic as Mission 37!" RETURN TO MISSIONS PAGE RETURN TO THE 20TH.FG