Nuthouse Control
At 1420 hours, Nuthouse Control told the squadron
to patrol in the Rheine-Dummer Lake area. While proceeding to that location the
controller directed the planes back to their assigned area. With a heavy heart,
Blickenstaff led his charges south and swept uneventfully through the Hersfeld-Kassel
area. They then turned in a northerly direction and proceeded on that heading
west of Kassel, flying at six to seven thousand feet. It was 1515 hours when Seldom
Red Leader and Blickenstaff spotted enemy planes below, heading west. At about
3,000 feet there were 15-plus FW 190s carrying bombs while, some two thousand
feet above them, 15-plus Me 109s flew top cover. Both formations were in line
abreast formations.
Red (2nd) Flight turned into the enemy aircraft, and
Blick took White (1st) Flight down in a diving right turn to complete identification
of the lower planes. He pulled up behind and to the side of the right outside
aircraft, saw the Focke Wulf’s “big white cross on the fuselage”, slipped astern
of this plane and opened fire.
At the same moment Red Flight dove into
the middle of the enemy formations, going after the low gaggle too, and Blue (3rd)
Flight, led by Major Robert A. Elder, bounced the right flank of the top cover
109s. Just as Blickenstaff was ready to fire on his 190, its pilot saw him, jettisoned
his bomb and reefed to the right. Blick turned with him for a half circle, scored
strikes and sent the 190 rolling over and diving into the ground. Each of the
other White Flight planes had also picked a 190 before the enemy pilots broke
in all directions. White Two, Capt. Hartley, and White Three, Lt. Louis W. Lee,
followed their 190s and shot down both.
At the same moment Red Flight also
hit the 190s. Red One failed to get his as a handful of Me 109s bounced his flight.
Other 109s were being engaged at that moment by the three Mustangs of Blue Flight.
Major Elder and Blue Three, Lt. Guthrie, got onto two 109s before they broke formation,
Elder shooting the wing off his and Guthrie sending his down in flames. Blue Two,
Lt. William R. Hubbel, caught a 109 turning north, fired in to point blank range
and sent it winging straight into the ground.
Thirty seconds after the
first shots were fired, Mustangs, Me 109s and FW 190s were in a great whirling
dog fight, made up of a number of individual lufberry chases, just above the deck.
Into this swirling battle came Yellow (4th) and Green (5th) Flights, avoiding
the 109s and hitting the 190s. In the middle of the battle, Lt. John F. May lined
up on a 109 that had bounced his element leader, Red Three, and scored hits on
its fuselage and wings. The Messerschmitt split essed and exploded at 200 feet.
May looked back over his shoulder and saw four 109s bouncing him. He broke violently
left and crashed into another 109, losing his left wing. May was in a flat spin
but managed to bail out. While floating down to become a POW he saw a 109 on the
ground with a piece of his wing embedded in its cockpit - his second and last
victory for the day.
After destroying the first FW 190, Wayne Blickenstaff
had continued through in a climbing turn and picked up a 109 at 5,000 feet. He
opened fire, closed to zero range, getting strikes all over it, and then registered
more strikes as the German pilot obligingly leveled off. Pieces came from the
109’s wings and tail, then the canopy popped off and the pilot attempted to jump,
but the 109 smashed into the ground before he could get free. Hurriedly looking
around, Blick received a vivid impression of 109s and 190s going down in flames
and the fires of many destroyed aircraft on the ground.
As Blickenstaff
had gone up to get his second victory, Major Elder broke down toward the 190s.
He latched onto one and after some maneuvering closed to 300 yards and opened
fire. The 190 flamed up, went into a spin and hit the ground just after the canopy
came off but before the pilot could jump. Immediately, Elder found himself in
a big, turning fight with twelve 190s, between the deck and 1,000 feet. One Focke
Wulf reversed his turn and Elder got on his tail, fired and was still closing
when his third victim split essed into the ground. Pulling up to 1,000 feet over
the blazing wreckage, he found another 190 flying between trees straight away
from the fight. He dove down to within 100 yards dead astern, and his first shots
sent his fourth victim into the ground in “a big, long splash of black smoke and
fire.”
Above, Blickenstaff had gone into an orbit at 8,000 feet, planning
to reform the squadron as he felt the excitement was over for the day. He could
not have been more wrong. Clearing his tail, he saw a 109 coming down on him from
4 o’clock high. He went into a 360” turn and ended up on the 109’s tail in a 50”
dive. A few shots brought smoke from the Messerschmitt and then it half rolled
into some trees. Going by, Blick snapped a picture of his third victory with his
K-25 side camera. Climbing back up, Blickenstaff suddenly recognized Elder’s P-51,
by its camouflage, as Elder fired and damaged a 190. Tracers came from his guns,
indicating less than fifty rounds remaining per gun, and there were two 190s on
his tail and others circling. Blick called that he was covering him, and Elder
swung around, got on a 190 and out- turned him. This German reversed his course
and ended up straight ahead of Elder, who carefully fired from 100 yards. His
fifth victory flamed and crashed.
While this occurred, Blickenstaff came
in on the 190 on Elder’s tail, only to be dismayed to find that just one of his
guns was firing. But a few shots were enough. The 190 trailed smoke, split essed
and went straight in for Blick’s fourth victory. Once again he started a climbing
turn, thinking to reform the squadron, when he saw a 190 in a left orbit 1,000
feet below. With only one gun, he circled above him and called for someone to
come down and finish the FW. When no one responded, he slid in behind the 190
and raked the cockpit with his single gun. The plane smoked, slewed off and crashed
into the ground - Blickenstaffs fifth kill. Suddenly, there were only Mustangs
in the air, seventeen of them. The battle had been so fierce that beside the loss
of Red Four, Lt. May, four other planes and pilots were missing - White Four,
Yellow One, Green Three and Green Four. Despite these losses, the 353rd had had
its greatest single day’s air victory of the war with the destruction of 29 enemy
fighters, plus seven damaged.
- In White Flight, Blickenstaff had destroyed
3 190s and 2 109s; White Two, Hartley, had 2 190s and 1 109 plus a 109 damaged;
and White Three, Lee, had 2 190s and 1 109.
- In Red Flight, Red Two, F/O
Richard N. Gustke, damaged a 109; Red Three, Lt. Walter A. Prescott, destroyed
2 109s; and Red Four, May, got 2 109s.
- In Blue Flight, Blue One, Elder,
shot down 4 190s and 1 109 while damaging a 190; Blue Two, Hubbell, got 2 109s;
and Blue Three, Guthrie, destroyed 3 109s and damaged a 190 and a 109.
- In
Yellow Flight, Yellow Two, Lt. Howard H. Hakonen, damaged a 190; and Yellow Three,
Lt. George W. Robison, destroyed a 190.
- In Green Flight, Green One, Lt.
Clark, destroyed 2 190s; and Green Two, Lt. Francis O’Neil, destroyed a 109 and
damaged another.
The 352nd Squadron flight did not score. Major Elder’s
five victories, combined with four he had scored previously with another group,
brought his total of aerial victories to nine, and Lt. Col. Blickenstaffs five
doubled his score to ten. Their outstanding accomplishments in becoming aces in
a day marked the only time in the history of the 8th Air Force that two pilots
from the same unit destroyed five or more enemy aircraft in the same engagement.
A week later, Blickenstaff became Group Operations Officer, and Major Elder became
Commanding Officer for the 350th Squadron.
Ch
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