"Bill's Buzz Boys"

On 15 March 1944, 16 volunteers from four different groups reported to Col. Duncan for training in the art of ground strafing. The planes these men flew all received the new paddle blade propellers, which added greatly to the P-47’s low altitude performance. In characteristic disregard for awesome rank, they dubbed themselves “Bill’s Buzz Boys” in honor of General Kepner. From the moment they got together, life at Metfield changed in a big way for those on the ground. For the groundcrew, the only safe position to be in was to lay face down on the field while the "Buzz Boys" were practicing.

Beside Duncan, "Bill's Buzz Boys" was made up of the following pilots:

• 353rd Group - 1st Lts. Kenneth Chetwood, Charles 0. Durant, Francis Edwards and John A. Sullivan.
• 355th Group - Capt. Albert B. Starr, 1st Lts. Norman J. Fortier and Kenneth R. Williams, and 2nd Lt. Gilbert S. Wright.
• 359th Group - Capt. Charles Ettlesen, 1st Lts. Clifford E. Carter and Robert L. Thacker, and 2nd Lt. John W. Oliphint.
• 361st Group - 1st Lts. Eugene W. Kinnard, Martin H. Johnson and Joseph Kelly, and 2nd Lt. Johnny C. Wright.

Quickly the unit was trained in ground attack tactics developed by Col. Duncan, and beginning on March 26 they carried out eight missions as 353rd “C” Fighter Group. Two of these brought no results, one being a penetration support, fighter escort mission, the other being a strafing mission turned back because of a solid overcast.

The first mission for "Bill’s Buzz Boys" was led into the air from Warkinge by Col. Duncan at 1407 hours on March 26 and consisted of 12 P-47s, four carrying two each M4 frag clusters. The planes made landfall at Cayeux at 1440 hours and then proceeded to strafe airfields at Chartres, Chateaudun, Anet, St. Andre de L’Eure and Beauvais/Tille. Two aircraft each dropped one frag cluster on Chartres Airfield, and the others were returned to base. Claims were one twin engine aircraft destroyed (Lt. Oliphint), one Me 210 probably destroyed (Capt. Starr), and four damaged. Additionally, 1 large hangar, 3 blister hangars (of which one exploded), 1 flak tower, and 1 water tower were strafed at Chateaudun; 1 gun emplacement strafed at Chartres; and two airfield buildings strafed at Beauvais/Tille.

Lt. Williams was lost on the mission while strafing at Chateaudun and was later reported a POW. Three returning planes were slightly damaged and two were moderately damaged. Bill’s Buzz Boys,

The next day 11 P-47s led by Col. Duncan, gave penetration support to B-17s as far as La Rochelle, France on 27 March and returned without damage or loss, making no ground attacks. Two days later, the 29th, Duncan led 12 P-47s against airfields in northwestern Germany.  Attacks were made on 7 airfields at Quakenbruck, Vechta, Bohmte, Hesepe, Rheine, Twentel/Enschede and Bramsche. Following is Col. Duncan’s preliminary encounter report of this mission:

“I was leading a Squadron of 12 ships whose sole purpose was to attack ground installations and destroy any E/A or enemy installations. We preceded the bombers by a few minutes and arrived at Dummer Lake, Germany on time. The cloud layer was 6/10 to 8/10 at about 5,000 feet, making it ideal for ground work. As planned, the three flights went to designated airdromes previously picked for their importance. I took my flight of four down on Bramsche airdrome."

“We began our dive from about 10,000 feet from out of the sun and hit zero feet about two miles from the field. I pulled up to about 150 feet as I crossed my check point on the edge of the drome and began squirting a few bursts. No matter how hard I looked I could not see any E/A parked or hidden. The only thing of interest was a light flak tower on the northwest side of the field that shot to beat hell but couldn’t figure the correct deflection for 400 mph on a P-47. We four pulled up to about 5,000 feet on the far side of the field and surveyed the situation. A little bit of flak followed us but was not too great a bother."

“We had turned left trying to pick up another available target when we saw an airdrome (Vechta) off to the right. Due to the close proximity of the drome and our position, I called to the rest of the flight and told them to stay up and go on around to the edge of the field as I was going down. I passed across the front of the hangar line and saw many twin engine and single engine aircraft parked on the drome. I lined up two of the twin-engines and let go. The first one lit up quite well but never did blow up or catch fire while I was coming on it. The second one took quite a number of strikes and consequently caught fire. There were single engines dispersed in a line across the field from these two, and I was able to pick up many of those in my sights and get a few hits on each." There were about 5 or 6 of the single engines that I could see at the time. However, it is very hard to pick out a great number of objects going along lickity split."

“I pulled up from this and joined the flight dodging the various bursts of flak that were coming up. It seemed to haze the Hun quite a bit by our being out of reach of flak as he was shooting plenty of 40 mm but could not quite seem to get in contact with us. One of my pilots (Chetwood) seemed to be the center of interest of one group in the flak tower and (this) made him so mad that he dove down on them and silenced them - we hope forever."

“The flak died down quite a bit after this and in turning I saw a B-17 sitting on its belly in an open field. It seemed to be in good shape except for the belly landing, and I pulled around and went down on it. As I was going down, flak started coming up from unseen places and caused me to go down a little lower than I anticipated. I got plenty of hits on the B-17 and saw a good fire start on the inboard engine."

“I again assembled the 4 ships and pulled up to about 5,000 feet heading out. I looked back and the B-17 was burning fiercely and left a great column of smoke up to about 3,000 to 4,000 feet. It only took a short while for us to pick up another airdrome (Twentel Enschede), and this seemed to present a very likely target as a staff car was speeding across one end of it and there were several twin engine and single engine aircraft parked, clearly visible from our great range. I called for the flight to go down and believe me, the boys were really flying good this day. They stayed together very well. We dove down to the deck and came across the drome in good four ship line abreast, each individual picking a likely target. The staff car caught quite a lot of 50 cal. from both the man on my left and myself at which time my guns ran dry. There was a nice Me 410 sitting by the edge of the trees at which point the staff car went in, and he would have been a very good target had my guns been loaded again."

“The four ships came out of this in good order but when we pulled up, one of the boys (Lt. Edwards) said he had been hit. I throttled back and got all of us together so that we could lick our wounds and see how the trip home would be. One boy (Chetwood) had received a 20 mm in the left wheel, but (this) did not alter his flying characteristics other than leaving him with no air speed indicator or altimeter and a little shaky feeling. (Edwards) had been hit in his gas tanks and said the gauges were going down like a minute sand clock."

“This boy went all out so as to get the most of his gas supply and consequently ran out of gas about 40 miles off the English Coast, being picked up safely by the Air Sea Rescue. My salute to all the boys in the ASR. They do a wonderful job. I want to give credit to the other pilot with the 20 mm in his wheel as he made a very good land- ing on a rim only, leaving the aircraft able to be fixed up in a few days.”

Total claims for the mission of March 29 were: 7 enemy aircraft destroyed, including the B-17 that Col. Duncan shot up, 5 probably destroyed and 9 damaged....all on the ground. In addition the Group claimed 8 locomotives, 2 hangars probably destroyed and one hangar definitely destroyed, 1 barge damaged, 6 flak towers strafed, and strafing carried out on barracks, airdrome buildings, dispersal huts, control towers, soldiers, goods wagons, a staff car and a town. One P-47 was lost; that of Lt. Edwards who had been rescued, and four received minor damage.

Bill’s Buzz Boys carried out their 4th mission on April 1 against airfields in northwest Germany with Capt. Ettlesen leading 9 P-47s after two had aborted. Lt. Kelly destroyed two Ju 88s and Lts. Kinnard and J. C. Wright one each Ju 88 on the ground, while Lt. Carter received credit for a probably destroyed Me109 in the air. Thirteen locomotives were probably destroyed and three tug boats and two barges damaged. There were no losses and only two P-47s received minor damage.

• Mission 5 with 12 P-47s up and 2 aborting went to the same area, this time led by Capt. Starr, but was turned back by weather.
• Mission 6, Capt. Ettlesen leading 12 planes of which one aborted, also went to NW Germany on April 8. Two locos were destroyed and two probably destroyed, one tug boat was destroyed and two barges and one power launch damaged, one hangar damaged and two flak towers strafed. Lt. Carter was last seen in the vicinity of Bohmte Airfield and was never heard from again. Two other pilots suffered light damage to their planes.
• Mission 7, with eight planes taking off and one aborting, on April 10 saw the unit led by Capt. Starr giving target support to the 55th Fighter Group and then strafing in the area around Paris. Lt. Durant destroyed an Me 110 and Lt. J. C. Wright destroyed a 110 and damaged another. Two hangars were also damaged, but no P-47s were lost or hit.
• Final mission, Number 8, for Bill’s Buzz Boys came on April 12 with Capt. Starr leading 12 P-47s, one aborting, to NW Germany. Seven locomotives were destroyed and two rail cars set afire. Only one P-47 suffered minor damage.

For the eight missions, two of which were uneventful, 90 P-47s were dispatched and 83 made effective sorties. Three planes and two pilots were lost and 13 planes were damaged. Claims were 14 aircraft destroyed, 6 probably destroyed and 14 damaged on the ground, and one probably destroyed in the air. Additionally, claims were 17-5-3 locomotives, 1 - 9 - 0 boats, 1 - 3 - 6 hangars and 9 flak towers strafed.

Late on April 12, 1944 the following message arrived from General Kepner:

“Upon completion of today’s mission the flying unit known as Bill’s Buzz Boys will be dissolved and pilots and planes returned to their proper station. The Commanding General expresses his sincere appreciation to each pilot and to those supervisory personnel contributing to the successful development of new fighter tactics.”

Bill’s Buzz Boys would be no more, but they had developed the methods for low level strafing attacks and proved they could be carried out successfully against enemy airfields. In so doing they sounded the death knell for the successful Luftwaffe policy of saving planes by keeping them on the ground except when they could be used to the fullest advantage. From this time on the German Air Force would either fight in the air, where Allied fighters could master it, or be destroyed on the ground. Col. Glenn E. Duncan had opened the door leading to the final and complete destruction of the Luftwaffe.

Ch 15

Ch 17