In
the first two weeks of February weather held down 8th Air Force operations to
some extent. Nine missions were flown - three escorts to Germany, one to Belgium,
four escorts to France and one dive bombing mission, on the 14th. The latter was
flown against Gilze-Rijen Airfield and saw the P-47s drop 48 500lb General Purpose
bombs along with fragmentation bomb clusters from 6 to 13,000 feet.
February's first mission
came on the 3rd as Major Bailey led 46 planes in giving penetration support
over northwest Germany. Formations of 12 Me 109s and 7 FW 190s were encountered.
Major Beckham sent a 109 straight down and sent an FW 190 spinning down
for his 15th and 16th victories. Capt. Newhart also destroyed a 109.
During the action, however, Capt. Hurst’s plane mushed into Newhart’s
prop and the tail of his plane was chewed off.
Hurst went down and Newhart
was lucky to get back to base. Over the Channel on return, Lt. Thornell's
engine cut out, and he was lost when his plane stalled and crashed while
attempting to ditch. Another pilot failed to return for unknown reasons,
bringing Group losses to three planes and three pilots.
Two missions later on February
5th, a fourth plane and pilot were lost for unknown reasons, and Lt.
Col. Duncan shot an FW 190 down into a wooded area for his ninth victory.
While escorting B-17s over France on February 8, a number of small groups
of enemy fighters were encountered and seven were destroyed, four by
the 352nd Squadron, without loss.
On this mission Major Beckham
scored yet another double, his fifth, sending a 109 and a 190 crashing
into the ground. This brought his total air victories to 18! He
was clearly the top ranking ace in the entire 8th Air Force. Three more
enemy planes, a 109, a 190 and an Me 110, were shot down on February
10th after the Group had taken off in a raging snow flurry.
There were no claims on
the next mission. Thereafter the weather turned bad, and there were
virtually no 8th Air Force operations again until the 20th of February. That day
saw the start of “The Big Week.”
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