October 1943 was a month of unprecedented change in the level of fighter and bomber activities by the Eighth Air Force. The by now, seasoned 353rd reached new levels of activity during October.

On the 2nd, with the 353rd flying inbound escort to Emden for the B-17s, the Luftwaffe mounted concentrated frontal attacks on the bombers. These head-on attacks were performed by formations and individual LW fighters. In countering these attacks Major Glen Duncan destroyed an Me 109G (his second victory) and probably destroyed another. Capt. Walter Beckham claimed the destruction of an FW 190 and probable destruction of an Me 109 but was eventually credited with two probables.

Two missions later on October 4, 1943, Duncan led the 353rd covering B-17s coming off of bombed targets in the Ruhr Valley. Duncan's flight went to the aid of stragglers being attacked by four Me 109s, and he latched onto and damaged one. Meanwhile, Beckham dove on two 109s which were also attacking straggling bombers, positioned himself behind one carrying the number "4" and destroyed it for his second confirmed victory . The 353rd stood down until the eighth of October with a single Me 110 shot down and an uneventful mission on the ninth as well. October 10 more than made up for the previous few days however; producing the 353rd's first ace.

The mission of 10 October gave withdrawal support to the 2nd Task Force of B-17s that had attacked Munster. Lt. Col. McCollom led and rendezvoused with the bombers at 1529 hours. Immediately to the rear of the heavies were some 60 enemy aircraft, mostly Me 110s with some Me 210s, Me 109s and FW 190s, which had been pounding the bombers unmercifully.

Following is the combat report of Captain (soon to be Major) Walter C. Beckham
written on October 10, 1943:

" As we were making R/V (rendevouz) at 29,000 feet with the bombers in the vicinity of Munster I observed several E/A attacking a straggling Fortress. Started down but observed an Me 210 much nearer and flying toward the rear box of bombers so attacked him. He saw me coming and evaded by doing an almost vertical dive. I cut throttle all the way back, fearing compressibility, and kept moving the stick around to see if it was getting stiff. Experienced no buffet or difficulty although my Number 2, Lt. R. D. Stanley, did run into compressibility and was not able to pull out until reaching 3500 feet.

"Closed rapidly on the Me 210 even with throttle closed and fired from astern til I overshot and pulled up, noticing an indicated speed, about the time I leveled, of 400 mph. I observed strikes, pieces, and black smoke as I went by.  "My Numbers 3 and 4, Captain C. L. Stafford and Lt. Thistlethwaite, had made a head-on attack on several more Me 210s that were diving to attack me and broke up their attack. This left us going in opposite directions, and we were not able to rejoin each other.

"I pulled the nose up in a steep climb to rejoin P47s that I saw above me. Was at about 20,000 feet when I saw an Me 110 coming at about right angles toward me, above and to the right. I turned to the right for a head-on attack, but the E/A declined and pulled up and to the left. I fired a short burst from underneath and at close range but at very large deflection, seeing no results.

I then swung around to the right and chased the Me 110 in a diving left turn firing very short bursts at 20 to 30 degrees deflection. Didn't see any real results until I was astern. The E/A flew straight away after the first burst or so from astern, and I fired until l was so close I was afraid of collision and dived below.

Such heavy smoke came from the E/A that I had difficulty seeing him clearly for an instant or so. Saw pieces coming off and got a glob of oil on the right side of the windshield and horizontal stabilizer as I went by. Fired from about 20,000 down to about 16,000 feet.  "Swung around toward home hoping to catch the bombers and other P47s Had climbed to about 21,000 feet when I saw a single plane off to the right just about my level and in the vicinity of Lochem.

Used a little more throttle, climbed up to 23,000 feet and swung right, hoping to get in between him and the sun. He was going away and it took quite awhile to catch him. This was in the vicinity of Gransbergen. Saw that he was an Me 110. As I was coming close enough to identify him, another Me 110 came driving in from the northwest, turning left, which placed him parallel with the first one but a little behind. This made him closer to me, so I picked him instead. Hoped to get in close for I knew I was low on ammunition. On either my first or second burst the tracers appeared that indicated 50 rounds each in four guns or a total of 200 rounds left.   "Waited until I was quite close, dead astern, and fired the rest of the ammunition. Saw strikes, pieces and smoke. Finished firing at about 100 to 150 yards. The first Me 110 was turning toward me now. I turned sharply toward him, and he broke violently downward, evading a P-47 with empty guns. Was at about 19,000 feet.   

"I turned toward home and looked around to clear my tail. Eight or ten single engine aircraft were behind, but a bit too far away to shoot. I used full throttle and nosed down at about a thousand feet per minute dive, and turned slightly off my home course to the left so as to be flying directly into the sun. Must have begun to pull away for after about five minutes I was about one third of the way across the Zuider Zee headed directly toward Amsterdam when these planes turned away to the left and headed south or east. I turned back to the right to miss Amsterdam and left the coast north of Muiden at 20,000 feet, at 1600 hours."

Captain Beckham's three victories had raised his score to five enemy aircraft destroyed and made him the first ace of the 353rd Fighter Group.

The 8th Air Force missions of the 8th, 9th and l0th of October opened what has since been referred to as "Black Week". In that period the Luftwaffe threw all of its might into fighter attacks with machine guns, cannons and rockets that were designed to annihilate the large 8th bomber formations. The German fighters took a terrible toll of bombers while they were beyond their fighter escort's range and broke off combat when the fighters appeared. The P47s, however, did score some victories, but more importantly they saved many B-17s and B-24s that would have been lost but for their presence.  

Above all else, the losses during "Black Week" demonstrated the great need for escort fighters with longer range.   Although the range of the P47s was eventually increased so they could escort the heavies wherever they wanted to go, the immediate answer came in the use of North American P-51s and, to a lesser extent, Lockheed P-38s. These planes had the range, with jettisonable fuel tanks, to go anywhere with the bombers. Their greater range also brought them, from 1944 on, into the greatest contact with German fighters and subsequently decreased the number of engagements between P47s and the Luftwaffe.

The climax of the "Black Week" came on Thursday, October 14, 1943. The target for the 8th's bombers that day was Schweinfurt and its ball bearing factories. Two months earlier, the same target had cost heavy losses when it was attacked jointly with Regensburg, and it would be even tougher now. With escorting P47s able to take the B-17s only a short distance beyond the German border, the Luftwaffe would, in almost all cases, avoid the P47s and concentrate its guns and rockets on the bombers as soon as they were unescorted all the way from a point near the German border to the target and back.

So successful was the Luftwaffe in avoiding the fighter escort this day that only two fighter groups made claims on "Black Thursday". . Hubert Zemke's 56th "Wolfpack" claimed 3-0-1 of a formation of twin engine enemy planes heading for the bombers near Aachen. The 353rd claimed 11 enemy aircraft destroyed, 1 probably destroyed and 4 damaged.  And it was a bitter day of engagements for the Slybirds.

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