The Final Missions

As Allied armies fanned out across the Rhine after March 24th, 8th Air Force operations continued almost daily until the latter part of April when the 8th ran out of targets. The Luftwaffe that remained took to the air occasionally, often in the Me 262 jet fighters. The last day of March saw the 353rd escorting B-17s to Derben where 10 to 12 Me 262s were encountered. The Group broke into elements and went after the jets, but only Lt. Tordoff scored, hitting a 262 and chasing it until its left engine burst into flames and the pilot bailed out. It was his fourth aerial victory. Meanwhile, Lt. William M. Long found a 109 about to land and shot it down for the only other confirmed victory of the day.

April 7th, was an escort to Kaltenkirchen Airfield. Near the target some 50 Me 109s were engaged with claims of 7-0-l. All claims but one were from the 351st Squadron, that being a 109 shot down by Capt. Tordoff of the 352nd Squadron, his fifth aerial victory.

The grounded Luftwaffe was found again on the 9th, and again by the 351st Squadron. In 20 minutes of strafing an airfield near Munich, 6 enemy planes were destroyed and 4 damaged, including 3-3 Me 262s. Capt. Frank N. Emory destroyed four planes. Sixty-three P-51s escorted B-17s to airfields at Zerbst and Briest on April 10th. Jets were reported in the Zerbst area, and Capt. Compton found one flying on the deck near Dessau and shot it down to bring his total air victories to five and a half. Capt. Abernathy tacked onto an Me 262 around 18,000 feet, chased it, fired and set it afire whereupon its pilot bailed out. This was his fifth aerial victory.

Concurrently with these two kills, a pair of 350th pilots were teaming up on another 262. In 1st Lt. Jack W. Clark’s words:

“I was leading Seldom Green Flight with Lt. (Bruce D.) McMahan in #4 position when we found an Me 262 flying on the deck over the town of Dessau. We were directly over him so I made an ess and went down on him. We were in range before he could turn on his jets. Lt. McMahan and I both shot long bursts into him. I saw Lt. McMahan get hits on the right jet and fuselage, and he saw me hit the left jet and wings. The E/A was in a 60” climb when our combined fire knocked out both of his jets. He fired a red- red flare, rolled over and bailed out.”

The three aerial victories on the 10th were the last to be scored by the 353rd in World War II.

They were combined with ground claims of one He 111 destroyed and one damaged, during the mission. On April 16th, the Group had 64 P-51s flying to the Munich area where they were to attack plane-laden enemy airfields and then escort B-24s on withdrawal. At 1455 hours the 351st Squadron dropped down on Kircham Landing Ground and the airfield at Odernberg and carried out strafing attacks for 30 minutes before climbing and escorting B-24s out to Stuttgart. From 1530 to 1600 hours the 350th strafed the crowded Pocking Airfield and its two satellites and then withdrew. The 352nd searched four airfields without success and then at 1545 hours began attacks on Bad Aibling and the Autobohn to the south, continuing to 1630 hours when they withdrew. Total claims for enemy aircraft on the ground were 131 destroyed and 53 damaged. Three Mustangs failed to return, two from the 350th having bellied in near Pocking after flak hits which wounded their pilots. One plane from the 351st crashed on Odernburg Airfield after being hit by flak.

Highest squadron claims came from the 351st, a total of 61-22 with 20 pilots claiming aircraft destroyed. Leading the way were Lt. Gerald J. Miller with 6 190s, 2 109s and a Do 217 and Capt. Compton with 2 Ju 88s and 3 Ju 188s. The 350th Squadron claimed 55-8. The Group leader, Col. Rimerman, had 6 planes destroyed, including two each 109s and 190s. Capt. Herbert G. Kolb scored 9-4, including 5 190s, 2 109s and a Fi 156, and Lt. Bruce D. McMahan scored 4 190s. Five enemy aircraft were destroyed by each of four pilots - F/O Richard N. Gustke (2 Ju 87s and 3 190s), Capt. Melville W. Hightshoe (4 FW 190s and a 109, Lt. Joseph D. McMullen (5 190s) and Lt. James H. McClure. The 352nd Squadron claimed 15-13, including 5 fighters, 9 bombers and a liaison plane destroyed. The following day, the 353rd escorted the 34th, 385th, 490th and 493rd B-17 Groups through their targets and with- drawal. On the way out the 352nd Squadron, led by Major Wilton W. Johnson made a test pass at Muldorf Airfield but found the flak too heavy. The Squadron then withdrew to Ganacker Airfield and made six to eight passes there, claiming 19-22 enemy aircraft on the ground. Among the destroyed planes were 7 FW 190s 8 Me 109s and 4 Ju 88s. For these victories two pilots were lost, one bellying in north of Ganacker and the other bailing out east of Regensburg.

Colonel Glenn E. Duncan

On the 20th of April, a great event took place within the Group. Out of the past, a legend to most of the pilots and a revered leader to the Group’s old-timers, came Col. Glenn E. Duncan. Advancing Allied armies had relieved the Dutch underground unit with which he had been fighting, and now he had returned to his old unit, buzzing the field in the AT-17. There was a great welcome for the man who had led the 353rd to the heights and not a few parties. To cap all of this off, Ben Rimerman was transferred to command the 55th Fighter Group (where he was to die shortly after the war when his plane spun in during a routine night flight), and Col. Duncan again became C.O. of the Group on April 22.

Three days later, on April 25th, Major Elder led 47 Mustangs on an escort to RAF bombers and B-17s attacking Hitler’s once fabled retreat, Berchtesgaden, and Pilsen. After escorting the 398th Bomb Group over Pilsen, the black and yellow checker-nosed fighters headed home, making landfall out at Walchern, 1235 hours.

At 1320 hours the Mustangs swung in to land at Raydon. They had completed their 448th mission, the last mission they would fly in World War II. The 8th Air Force and the 353rd Fighter Group had done their jobs so well that there were no more targets for them. Thirteen days later, May 8,1945, the war with Germany would be over.

During 21 months of combat the 353rd Fighter Group had lost 152 aircraft in combat. A few of the pilots had safely returned to England before their planes were lost, some 50 others had survived as prisoners of war or escapees, but the majority had paid the supreme price in the service of their country. A total of 350 aircraft had been damaged in combat. Against these losses, the Group claimed the following:

• Enemy Aircraft (air) 346.5 -27-108
• Enemy Aircraft (grd) 440-230
• Locomotives 811-272
• Rail Cars 1228-2470
• Motor Vehicles 1104-525
• Gun Positions 83-52
• Buildings 14-18
• Horse Drawn Vehicles 6-10
• Bridges 4-2
• Tunnels 4-0
• Tanks 3-56
• Hangars 3-13
• Boats 2-5
• Barges 1-39

It should be added that following the war, the 8th Air Force Final Victory Assessments gave the Group credit for 330 2/3 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air and 413.83 destroyed on the ground.

After VE Day, the 353rd remained in England until the Fall of 1945. Then it returned to the U.S. and the Group was deactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 18 October 1945.

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