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FLIGHT JOURNAL | MAY/JUNE 2024

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6 ‹ Aerial Assault 4 ‹ Editorial
The day Fortress Europe fell
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EDITORIAL
MAY/JUNE 2024 | VOLUME 31, NO. 3

EDITORIAL
Editorial Director Louis DeFrancesco
Executive Editor Debra Cleghorn
CONTRIBUTORS
Bud Anderson, James P. Busha, Ted Carlson,
Eddie J. Creek, Doug DeCaster, Robert S.
DeGroat, John Dibbs, Robert F. Dorr, Jim
Farmer, Paul Gillcrist, Phil Haun, Randy Jolly,
Frederick Johnsen, Geoffrey P. Jones, Ron
Kaplan, Peter Lert, David Leininger, Rick
Llinares, John Lowery, George Marrett, Peter
Mersky, Paul Novak, Dan Patterson, Steve
Pace, Stan Piet, Alfred Price, Clive Rowley,
Brian Silcox, Robert Tate, Jan Tegler, Warren
Thompson, David Truby, Barnaby Wainfan,
Bradley Wentzel, Chuck Yeager
ART
Art Director Betty K. Nero
Wearing invasion stripes, Lt. Ike Davis’s “Tarheel Hal” was attached to the 366th FS, 358th FG in the
9th AF and was one of the most colorful fighters of WW II. P-47 “Jugs” were superb in the behind- DIGITAL MEDIA
the-lines role of ground attack on D-Day. This aircraft is owned by the Evansville P-47 Foundation. Web Development Cirrata Services
(Photo by Scott Slocum)
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David Pandy
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The scale of the operation literally redefined the military phrase “D-Day,” which
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 The day Fortress Europe fell
BY BARRETT TILLMAN

Today the numbers involved in Operation Overlord are unthinkable:

6,000 bombers, more than 5,000 fighters, some 1,600 transport
aircraft, and 2,500 gliders. All crammed into scores of airfields
throughout Britain, but mainly in southern England. All were serviced,
armed, and assigned aircrews, eager to take off on the day called “D.”
Flying above the clouds, John T. Sessions’ P-51B “Impatient
Virgin?” comes in close for the camera. By June of 1944, the
bubble-canopy D models began replacing B and C models,
some of which received the bulged “Malcolm hood” seen here.
(Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicture)
AERIAL ASSAULT

d-day stats
The World in
June 1944
JUNE 4
U.S. Fifth Army
occupies Rome

JUNE 9
Soviet offensive
in Finland

JUNE 13
First Buzz Bombs
on London

JUNE 15
Marines land on
Saipan in the
Marianas

JUNE 19-20
Battle of the
Philippine Sea

JUNE 22
British repulse
On the continent, an operations officer from the 368th FG coordinates a ground support mission with Army officers. Japanese at
Imphal, India

JUNE 23
In June 1944, the European War had ranks had been steadily depleted. While the
Soviet Bagration
dramatically reversed from four years Reich continued producing thousands of Bf offensive on
previously. When Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht 109s, Fw 190s and other fighters, pilot training Central Front
conquered Western Europe in 10 weeks, Nazi and quality steadily declined. By the summer
Germany seemed unstoppable. But since the of 1944, Lt. Gen. Adolf Galland’s day fighters
Battle of Britain in 1940 and the growing Allied sometimes incurred a ghastly attrition of 25
bomber offensive, with German defeats in the percent aircrews and 40 percent aircraft per
Mediterranean and Russia, the grand alliance month.
stood poised to pounce from Britain, across The Luftwaffe fought a four-front war: in
the English Channel, and liberate Occupied the West, the East, the Mediterranean, and at
Europe. home. When the crunch came in Normandy,
That spring, the American public avidly perhaps 900 German aircraft were available
followed the European Theater “ace race” in the West to oppose a crushing coalition
as Thunderbolt and Mustang pilots vied for numbering some 13,000 aircraft—a disparity
the highest score. The 4th Fighter Group of nearly 15 to 1.
competed with the 56th to produce the top
gun, and by June 5, the highest scores were Leading to D-Day
Capt. Robert S. Johnson, rotated Stateside Under the Supreme Allied Commander,
with 27, Maj. Francis S. Gabreski with 22, and General Dwight Eisenhower, heading Allied
Capt. Don Gentile, also rotated, with 21.83. expeditionary airpower was Air Chief Marshal
But the Fourth’s public affairs officer had the Trafford Leigh-Mallory while Air Marshal
wider view. Captain Grover Hall said, “After Arthur Coningham led the RAF’s tactical air
D-Day, a pilot with 90 planes won’t be worth arm.
five column inches of print.” The senior American airmen were General
The Luftwaffe, though highly experienced, Carl Spaatz, commanding U.S. air forces
had felt the effect of prolonged air combat. in Europe, with Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle
After the fighter arm’s glory days in the fall of of the Eighth and Maj. Gen. Elwood “Pete”
1943, when as many as 60 American bombers Quesada with the Ninth. All were experienced
were hacked down at a time, the Jagdwaffe’s professionals; Spaatz and Quesada had set an

8 FlightJournal.com
The Fighter Aviation endurance record together in 1929. or transport routes. Both had merit, but
Engineering Ltd.’s re-
The buildup of forces necessary to invade Eisenhower favored the “transport plan” over
stored P-47D “No Guts,
No Glory!” soars above Northwest Europe took a full year. The first the “oil plan.” He reckoned—correctly—that
the English countryside priority was defeating the U-boats that interrupting enemy rail and road networks
as it may have 80 years
preyed on vital Atlantic convoys from the New would hinder the Germans faster than the
ago during D-Day. The
Jug was the heavy hitter World to Britain. That campaign was largely lengthy period necessary in reducing fuel.
of the ground support won in May 1943, permitting delivery of men In April, Allied heavy bombers turned most
team with its eight .50
and materiel in ever-growing numbers. of their attention from strategic targets to
Brownings and heavy
rocket and bomb loads. Between June 1943 and June 1944, the tactical realm, supporting the upcoming
(Photo by John Dibbs/ American strength in the UK grew ground offensive. For instance, most of the rail
Facebook.com/
enormously: from two army divisions to 17; bridges over the Seine River were destroyed
theplanepicture)
from 24 aircraft groups to 101. The latter were by medium bombers, especially Ninth Air
divided between the strategic Eighth Air Force Force B-26s, preventing rapid German
and the tactical Ninth, which would support reinforcement of the landing zones.
the ground campaign and deliver airborne In May 1944, the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces
units behind enemy lines on the night before lost nearly 550 aircraft while the RAF wrote
D-Day. off nearly 1,000. But the momentum clearly
The Anglo-Americans conducted an belonged to the Allies, as Luftwaffe fighter
extensive deception effort, both through chief Adolf Galland recalled, “The British and
actual operations and false intelligence, American tactical air forces, successfully
indicating that the landings would occur extending their attempts to interrupt the
in the Pas de Calais, only 26 miles from the bringing up of German reserves deep into
English coast. Consequently, the pre-invasion France, made any move by daylight almost
interdiction campaign focused on railroads impossible. In June alone they destroyed
and bridges both in the Calais area and in 551 locomotives.” He cited a report by the
Normandy. commander of a panzer division: “The Allies
On a larger scale, Allied air commanders have total air supremacy. They bomb and
argued whether they would benefit more shoot at anything which moves, even single
from bombing Axis petroleum production vehicles and persons. Our territory is under

May/June 2024 9
AERIAL ASSAULT

constant observation. The feeling of being the invasion. We entered France just south
powerless against the enemy’s aircraft has a of the invasion beach, Utah, made it past all
d-day stats
paralyzing effect.” the parachutes and gliders on the ground Airpower in
Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force reshuffled
its tactical deck. While Bomber Command
and headed toward the Laval area, 125 miles
inland.” East and his wingman ambushed a
Europe 1944
continued attacking German urban-industrial flight of Fw 190s and left three burning. FEBRUARY
areas, Fighter Command was divided into East’s mission represented the Allies’ most “Big Week” by 8th
Air Defense Great Britain, protecting English under-rated asset: aerial reconnaissance. and 15th Air Forces
airspace, and Second Tactical Air Force with Low-level photography of Normandy had
MARCH
fighter-bombers and twin-engine types such been underway for years but the combined
Discussion of
as Mosquitos, Bostons (A-20s) and Mitchells staff ignored crucial imagery. Despite
Transport vs. Oil
(B-25s). thousands of photos, Normandy’s bocage, Plan
Time, weather, and tides drove the Allied thick hedgerows, went unappreciated until
schedule. The landings had to occur in early GIs and Tommies confronted well-entrenched APRIL

June or wait until month’s end—a seeming Germans just inland. French & German
rail networks vs.
eternity. Therefore, preparations went ahead. The 387th Bomb Group was prominent
CBO
among the Marauder Men on D-Day, leading
The day of days the wing attacking the area around Utah MAY
Some groups painted black and white Beach. The 557th Squadron history recorded, Axis petroleum
“invasion stripes” on June 4 because “At 0130 hours the crews were awakened and targeted
originally D-Day was to be June 5. Yet told to go to briefing at 0230. At briefing they
everyone knew what was coming. At Debden learned it was the day we had waited for, and Luftwaffe fighters
north of London, Col. Don Blakeslee said amongst great cheering the briefing started. heavily attrited
he was prepared to lose the entire Fourth “The weather was very bad, rain and low EARLY JUNE
Group in defending the beach head. At 0230 clouds predominated. As Major (Joe) Whitfield Widespread
on the 6th, at Chilbolton in Hampshire, Col. with the formation behind him approached interdiction
Gilbert Myers told his 368th Fighter Group Cherbourg Peninsula, he found the clouds bombing in NW
Thunderbolt pilots and ground crews, “Men, down to 3,000 feet, and took his formation Europe
the time we have been preparing for is here.” down to that altitude, 7,000 feet lower than
Actually, D-Day began the night of the 5th they had ever bombed before and exposing
as nocturnal trains of transport planes towing them to all the small arms and light flak
gliders streamed south from the English guns in the area. He crossed Barbleur just
coast, bound for the Norman darkness. But after 0600 and proceeded along the coast
even before dawn, American and British to the target, which was light flak guns and

No one who was on that trip will ever forget the spectacle of invasion ships
below, aircraft blowing up on all sides, hundreds of gliders and parachutes of
all colors on the ground. It was a fitting opening for the coming show.
fighters and bombers were airborne. A P-47 defended positions at Les Dunes de Verreville.
squadron commander recalled, “There were “All went well until they reached San Vast,
all kinds of aircraft; you almost had to put then the flak came up, scads of it. Ships were
your hand out to turn. The barrage of gunfire falling all about but the formation kept on.
from the Channel was terrific. We could see From this time until the formation reached
hundreds of flashes as the Navy laid down the western coast of the peninsula, they
their barrage.”Amid some 13,000 sorties in were subjected to flak, both heavy and light.
a fairly small area, collisions were inevitable. The target was bombed successfully, and
The 394th Bomb Group lost four Marauders in miraculously, every ship because of the
two midairs with only one survivor. brilliant leadership, came back to base safely,
Aircrews gawked at the spectacle in the but not free of battle damage. No one who was
Channel. Lieutenant Clyde East, a 22-year- on that trip will ever forget the spectacle of
old recon pilot, recalled, “It would have been invasion ships below, aircraft blowing up on
darn near impossible to get lost on our way to all sides, hundreds of gliders and parachutes
France. All we had to do was follow the endless of all colors on the ground. It was a fitting
string of ships in the Channel in support of opening for the coming show.”

10 FlightJournal.com
 The invasion fleet included battleships, Spierling gave range and ground speed data to Omaha Beach showing
cruisers, and destroyers providing naval the bombardier, who cranked the information transport ships bringing
fresh supplies and
gunfire support for the ground troops. Among into his Norden bombsight. Charlie Eager, transport after the
the airborne observers were U.S. naval aviators our bombardier from the 381st BG, looked for Normandy landings.
flying Spitfires as part of the fleet Gunfire a break in the clouds so he could take over Note the balloons over
the area to help deter
Spotting Pool with nine British squadrons. visually. But it never came. Nevertheless, our any Luftwaffe low-level
In the half hour before the landings, 1,365 training paid off. We had confidence the Gee strafing attacks. (Photo
heavy bombers attacked coastal defenses Box course line was reasonably accurate, and courtesy of EN Archives
Collection)
with nearly 2,800 tons of ordnance. But our practice bombing had proved the ‘Mickey’
weather forced bombers to drop by radar with operation and bombardier could hit the
poor results. The north-south heading caused beachline with good accuracy.”
concern of “dropping short” prompting The heavies were followed by 205 medium,
Ike’s 30-second delay, equaling a 1 1/2-mile light, and fighter-bombers. Later in the day,
miss inland. As Doolittle recalled, “Since the the heavies returned but encountered worse
bombardiers had a definite bomb line and weather.
didn’t want to undershoot for fear of hitting In round numbers, 1,700 of 2,700 Eighth Air
our men, I suspect they added a fudge factor Force bomber sorties were rated effective
to their aiming points.” (64%) dropping 3,600 tons of ordnance. But
When bombing by radar, some lead 36% aborted due to weather. Mighty Eighth
crews absorbed pathfinders from other fighters flew 1,880 sorties: sweeps and
units. Stephen Darlow’s “D-Day Bombers” escorts, day and night.
contained such a description of Lt. John The Ninth Air Force logged 3,050 sorties
Howland, a “Gee” electronic-beam navigator and delivered two airborne divisions. Fighter-
in the 91st Bomb Group. The B-17s tracked bomber effectiveness on the beaches
over Gold Beach, Howland with his “eyes was almost none. Inland it was significant,
glued to the blips of the Gee box keeping us especially against transport.
on course. H2X [‘Mickey’ radar] operator John VIII Fighter command launched 73 patrol

12 FlightJournal.com
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 “Can't Get Started,”
a 9th AF B-26B from
the 323rd BG, drops its
2,000-pound ordnance
load on a roadway in-
terdiction mission near
Torigini, France, post-
invasion. First Lt. Dale
E. Sanders and his crew
were later shot down
by a Me 262 in late April
1945 and held as POWs
for a scant two weeks
before V-E Day.

D-Day Air Forces

TYPES USAAF RAF ALLIES LUFTWAFFE RATIO
All Bombers 3,700 c. 2,300 6,000 400 15-1
Fighter/Recon 2,900 2,400 5,300 425 12-1
Transport * 1,200 475 1,675 65 25-1
Totals 7,800 5,175 13,000 890 15-1
D-Day sorties 8,700 3,500 12,200+ 130-300 40-1
* Plus 1,400 US and 1,100 RAF gliders

• AAF a/c: USAF History Office • RAF/RN a/c: Fleet Air Arm Museum • GAF a/c: F.H. Hinsley,
British Intelligence in the Second World War.
ABOVE: A hastily applied set of invasion
stripes contrast this RAF Gosfield-based
A-20G from the 644th BS of the 410th
BG as it overflies a small portion of the
invasion fleet heading for the Normandy
coast on D-Day.

RIGHT: “Joisey Bounce,” a B-24D-25, was

from the premier Liberator group in the
ETO the 93rd BG. Soon re-named Utah
Man, it was later lost in a mid-air over
Bremen, Germany.

LEFT: Douglas C-47 Skytrains dropping

paratroopers over Arnhem on September
17, 1944. (Photo courtesy of EN Archives)
AERIAL ASSAULT

and 34 fighter-bomber missions with very B-17s and B-24s during June, with the two
little contact. Allied fighter pilots only claimed U.S. air forces writing off 205 Thunderbolts.
d-day stats
30 aerial victories while losing at least eight Some 160 Mustangs went down, and nearly Losses
aircraft in combat. Hardest hit was the Fourth 100 Lightnings. Considering the defenses and
USAAF: 70
Fighter Group, which wrote off 10 Mustangs to the operating conditions of A-20s and B-26s,
25 P-51s
all causes. medium bomber losses were light with 34 17 C-47s
Overall D-Day losses were surprisingly combined. (The Douglas A-26 Invader went 10 P-47s
slight from 13,000 sorties: 70 American operational in September.) 6 B-24s
aircraft and 33 British to all causes. The month’s RAF losses included 383 5 A-20s
Contrary to legend, JG-26’s Kommodore, bombers, 178 Spitfires, 93 Typhoons, 45 3 P-38s
Lt. Col. Josef “Pips” Priller, did not make the Mosquitos, and 53 Mustangs or assorted types. 2 B-26s
only aerial attack. He and his wingman made For the French, liberation came at a steep 1 F-5
a pass at Sword Beach but other Luftwaffe price. At least 25,000 civilians were killed 1 Spitfire
planes followed. Throughout the day about 30 from the pre-invasion bombing through the
RAF: 33
Junkers 88s attacked the British beaches in end of Normandy fighting in August. Army
14 Spitfires
daylight with little effect, and about 70 Fw 190s cartoonist Bill Mauldin captured the essence
11 Typhoons
and Bf 109s strafed the landing areas. Some 40 of the situation with two GIs surveying a 3 Bostons
Luftwaffe planes were known lost to all causes. ruined town, saying, “We sure liberated the 3 Mustangs
On the night of the 6th-7th, the Germans hell out of this place!” 1 Mosquito
flew about 175 sorties against Allied shipping. Meanwhile, advanced airfields sprang 1 Halifax
Through D+2 only five U.S. Navy vessels were up across Normandy. Largely unheralded,
Compiled from John
sunk, none by air attack. but fervently appreciated by ground forces, Foreman’s Over the
The Luftwaffe seldom launched more than were aviation engineer battalions that began Beaches.
250 daily fighter sorties in the Normandy arriving on D+11. Initially operating under IX

The Luftwaffe seldom launched more than 250 daily fighter

sorties in the Normandy campaign. It was a losing effort.
campaign. It was a losing effort. As Adolf Tactical Air Command with portions of three
Galland recalled, “Wherever our fighters Ninth Air Force groups, the expeditionary
appeared, the Americans hurled themselves air arm went to work supporting infantry
at them. They went over to low-level and armored units against stiff German
attacks on our airfields. Nowhere were we opposition. By the end of June, the
safe; we had to skulk on our own bases. engineers had about 15 fields operating
During takeoff, assembling, climbing, and with Thunderbolts and Typhoons for close
approaching the bombers, once in contact, on air support, Mustangs and Spitfires for air
our way back, during landing, and ever after defense, and C-47s providing resupply and
that the American fighters attacked with casualty evacuation to England.
overwhelming superiority.”
But despite control of the air, Allied losses “A fighter bomber racecourse”
mounted. It was no surprise, as the AAF Allied air superiority grew into outright air
and RAF flew against the most practiced supremacy, extending well beyond the front
antiaircraft gunners on earth. A Typhoon lines. Wide-ranging fighter bombers made
pilot, Charles Demoulin, wrote, “In Normandy road, rail, and barge traffic difficult throughout
the Germans had undisputed flak supremacy. northern France, and often impossible.
It was estimated to be about 20,000 batteries, Throughout Normandy, German forces
from 105mm, 88, 40, 37 down to 20mm. Hence, spent daylight hours looking over their
the odds in favor of the enemy stood at four to shoulders for aircraft, which inevitably bore
one against the number of Allied aircraft.” stars or cockades. Black crosses were rare,
Consequently, throughout June, the Anglo- prompting “Jabo jitters” after successive
Americans lost more than 1,600 planes, attacks by Allied fighter-bombers.
almost equally divided between the AAF At the Soldat level, Germans said,
and RAF. Combined transport aircraft and “American planes are silver. English planes
miscellaneous losses were 47. are camouflaged. Our planes are invisible!”
The Mighty Eighth lost more than 200 The Hawker Typhoon grew to near-

16 FlightJournal.com
ABOVE: Dubbed the legendary status in Normandy with “cab casualties over Normandy. Some 37% were
“Eyes of the Eighth,” rank” tactics. Formations of “Tiffys” orbited on destroyed or damaged beyond repair, second
F-5s and Spit XI’s of the
7th Photo Group were call to ground-based forward air controllers. among RAF aircraft only to the Mustang with
operating around the Certainly the rugged Hawker airframe packed nearly 44%.
clock in the summer of a punch with four 20mm cannon and eight In comparison, a P-47’s typical loadout was
1944 providing much
needed aerial intelligence 60-pound rocket projectiles. the eight .50 calibers, two 500-pound bombs,
of tactical and strategic A New Zealand Typhoon pilot, Desmond and/or six HVARs. But whatever the “Jabo”
targets throughout the Scott, wrote, “Whereas the Spitfire always aircraft, its mission was the same: inflict
continental battlefield.
behaved like a well-mannered thoroughbred maximum damage on German transport.
RIGHT: Top aces from on first acquaintance, the Typhoon always Lieutenant General Bodo Zimmermann of
the 4th FG, Capt. Don reminded me of a low-bred carthorse whose Army Group D said, “No road movement by
Gentile (R) and his
frequent wingman, First pedigree had received a sharp infusion of hot- day was possible under the air umbrella.”
Lt. John Godfrey (L) pose headed sprinter’s blood.” A more colorful description came from Lt.
with Gentile’s mount Despite its rugged airframe and powerful Gen. Fritz Bayerlein of the elite Panzer Lehr
“Shangri-la” during the
spring of 1944 at their engine, the Typhoon sustained heavy division, who famously described the route to
home base at Debden.

eTO TOp 12 aCES JUNe 5, 1944

NAME GROUP SCORE TOTAL/STATUS
Maj. Robert S. Johnson 56th 27 Rotated out
Maj. Francis S. Gabreski 56th 22 28, POW 7-44
Capt. Donald S. Gentile 4th 21.83 Rotated out
Capt. Walker M. Mahurin 56th 19.75 SD, rotated
Maj. Walter C. Beckham 353rd 18 POW
Maj. Duane W. Beeson 4th 17.33 POW
Capt. Gerald W. Johnson 56th 17 POW
2nd Lt. Ralph K. Hofer 4th 15 KIA 7-44
Capt. Joe H. Powers 56th 14.5 Rotated out
1st Lt. John T. Godfrey 4th 14.33 16.3, P 8-44
Maj. Glenn Duncan 353rd 14 19, SD 7-44
Maj. James A. Goodson 4th 14 POW

• SD: Shot down, evaded (2) • KIA: Killed in action (1) • POW: Prisoner of war (5) • 8 of 12 were casualties: 66.6%

May/June 2024 17
AERIAL ASSAULT

The Luftwaffe on D-Day

By 1944, the Luftwaffe had been driven from North Africa and the Mediterranean but
still fought in Russia, Italy, and Western Europe. Spread thin and sustaining horrific
losses (as much as 25 percent of fighter pilots per month), Goering’s forces had been
worn down by the relentless Anglo-American Combined Bombing Offensive. The British
bombed by night, the Americans by day—the latter escorted by long-range fighters.
Though Germany worked successive miracles of production, the experience level of
Luftwaffe pilots had entered an unrecoverable spiral.
In preparation for Operation Overlord, Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL)
announced that 10 combat wings would be committed to the invasion front. However,
because of growing Allied air superiority over France and Western Europe, and the
increasing need to defend the Reich itself, few aircraft were immediately available.
Luftflotte Three, responsible for the Channel front, probably had fewer than 200
fighters and perhaps 125 bombers on June 6, and few of those were within range of
Normandy. Various German sources are extremely contradictory, ranging from about 300
to more than 800 planes. Colonel Josef Priller’s postwar history cites 183 fighters in
France, and that number seems more reliable than most, as Priller was a 90-victory wing
commander who reputedly led the only attack on the beaches in daylight.
The invasion caught the Luftwaffe in a state of flux, and in JG-26 only Priller and his
Major Josef "Pips" Priller is shown wingman, Sergeant Heinz Wodarczyk, were available at Guyancourt to fly against the
here wearing the Ritterkreuz with Oak
Leaves and was one of the Luftwaffe's Allied armada. The two Focke-Wulf 190s made a low-level strafing pass against Sword
leading personalities flying both the and Juno Beaches, surviving a storm of antiaircraft fire, and escaped.
Bf 109 and Fw 190 with JG 26 on the Despite numerous accounts, Priller’s apparently was not the only air attack on the
Western front. He was one of the leading
Aces flying 307 missions against the beachhead. Other small formations struck portions of the beaches or the invasion
Western Allies achieving at least 101 fleet, but without much effect.
aerial victories, including 11 four- Most Luftwaffe sorties were flown against the invasion forces after dark, and few of
engined bombers. He ended the war
with the rank of Oberst and received the promised reserves materialized from the Reich. Luftwaffe bombers made almost
the Swords to his RK on July 2, 1944. He nightly attacks on the Allied fleet and port facilities from June 6 onward but they
survived the war but died on June 20, accomplished little in exchange for their heavy losses.
1961 aged 46. (Photo courtesy of the EN
Archives Collection) The U.S. Army Air Forces chief, General Henry Arnold, wrote that the Luftwaffe had an
opportunity to attack 4,000 ships—a target unprecedented in history. Accounts vary, but
reputedly only 115 to 150 sorties were flown against the Allied navies that night. German
aircraft losses on D-Day have been cited as 39 shot down and eight lost operationally.

Normandy as “a fighter-bomber race course.” His division 222 armored vehicles but only 13 of the total 388 found
lost few panzers but many of his transport and support destroyed were attributed to RPs, or 3 percent.
vehicles were destroyed by air attack. Nonetheless, Allied airmen owned Norman airspace. Not
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel would have agreed. On only did they hinder or destroy enemy communications,
June 10 he informed Fuhrer headquarters, “Air superiority but they largely prevented Luftwaffe attacks on Anglo-
has a very grave effect on our movements. There’s simply American ground forces.
no answer to it.” Five weeks later, Spitfires strafed his staff When Dwight Eisenhower went ashore in France he
car, sending the Desert Fox to the hospital. surveyed the massive logistics operation on the beaches.
After the Normandy campaign, Allied analysts Ships, vehicles, and men were wide open to bombing,
examined causes of German armor losses in Normandy: prompting his newly commissioned son John to offer,
65 percent by Allied tanks or anti-tank weapons “You’d never get away with this without air supremacy.”
10 percent by aircraft The general replied, “Without air supremacy I wouldn’t be
25 percent abandoned, broken down or out of fuel. here.”
Of 223 Mk V Panthers destroyed in 1944, 14 were killed
by aircraft (11 by rocket projectiles). Visit Barrett Tillman at btillman.com.
In the Falaise pocket during August, Typhoons claimed

18 FlightJournal.com
 The fighters get down and dirty
BY JAMES P. BUSHA

Eighty years ago, this Thunderbolt would have flown low over the beaches of
Normandy in a ground support role. This Duxford UK Fighter Collection’s rare
“Razorback” P-47G “Snafu” is one of only two Curtis-built examples left in
the world. (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicture)
THEY MUST HAVE BEEN A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES to the
soldiers on the beach as wave after wave of fighters, bombers,
and paratrooper-stuffed transports, some towing gliders, passed
overhead, all of them adorned with black and white painted stripes.
The invasion was on, and many of the fighter pilots expecting
a Luftwaffe slugfest were disappointed by the dismal numbers
that showed up. But there were still plenty of targets both on the
ground and in the air for those lucky enough to be at the right place
at the right time. Follow along with these “little friends” about the
historic day known as D-Day: the 6th of June, 1944.
LITTLE FRIENDS OVER THE BEACH

big Stud on a gaggle of Fw 190s on the deck moving RIGHT: A badly wounded
First Lt. Jake Blazicek
Lt. Col. F. C. Gray south near the city. I finally saw them and of the 367th FS 358th
78th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force tagged on, passing him and coming up on FG is lifted from the
Encounter Report—June 6, 1944, tail-end Charlie. I was catching the German cockpit of his P-47D s/n
42-76436 CP+D at A-3
Plan “Stud” 1540 hours near Alencon without water injection until he threw his airstrip, France. First Lt.
supercharger in when I had hit mine. I caught Blazicek’s Thunderbolt
I led the 78th Group flying P-47s to the him easily and he started turning. All those was hit hard by light flak
while strafing a German
Alencon area with the mission of destroying boys I taught back at Matagorda (a bombing vehicle column on June
of lines of communication. We arrived over and gunnery range in Texas) would have got 16, 1944.
the area at 12,000 feet and stooged around a a kick out of my sorry deflection shooting.
couple of holes in the overcast. My wingman I finally got him going straight and got four
saw a train and I sent him down for it, pretty good bursts into him. He jettisoned
following on his wing since I had not seen it. his canopy as his engine cut and started out.
We broke out at about 3,000 feet and dropped I was about to overshoot him and skid out to
our bombs at the train with poor results, the side, when Lt. Massa gave him a burst.
getting only near misses and a few on the He overshot him, eased up alongside, and
track. We then strafed it and allowed it to blow watched him laboriously crawl out, his jacket
off steam. While the rest of the section was and helmet on fire. He got out about 600 feet
working it over, I moved north and located a and his chute worked beautifully.
loco in a small marshaling yard in Le Hutte. I I then broke for another, but just as I was
moved in on it and got a considerable number about to try my deflection shooting again, my
of strikes all over it. It practically blew up. second element leader Lt. Caulfield beat him
While my wingman Lt. Massa was strafing it, up. The German turned into me and snapped
I found another in the other end of the yard, into the ground, making one hell of a beautiful
which I also got. I got dozens of strikes, as did explosion that I caught on my camera—only
Lt. Massa, but it was cold. now they tell me the damn thing jammed!
I then took my flight up the line to Alencon I claim three of the damaged locos as shared
and out each rail line from the city for about and one destroyed Fw 190 as shared with Lt
20 miles without sighting any rail traffic Massa. I also confirm the destruction of one BELOW: An unassigned
other than two locos in the marshaling yard Fw 190 by Lt. Peter A. Caulfield. I think these P-47D-22 from the
63rd FS, 56th FG taxis
at Alencon, which I passed up due to the were the ones (the Fw 190s) Spicer referred to out from its Station
presence of many civilians in the immediate when he said, “They fly like Basic students.” 150 Boxted hardstand
area who were waving at us. Hit the deck! outfitted with a pair of
215 gal. steel ferry tanks.
At this time, my Red Leader sounded off
2100 hours near Croisy then kicked the
Polish Air Force Captain Michael Gladych bottom rudder,
61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, getting on the
8th Air Force enemy’s tail. I
Encounter Report-June 6, 1944 fired and didn’t
see the strikes,
I was flying Red 3 (Whippet Red Three) to but the enemy
Capt. Rutkowski. We were circling the convoy aircraft reacted by
on the road (in P-47 Thunderbolts) when I tightening the turn.
saw four aircraft that I thought were Me 109s. I pulled some more
I called my flight leader and dove on them. deflection and gave
After about a two-minute chase, I was close him another burst.
enough to recognize the aircraft as P-51s. The enemy aircraft
I started to turn, as I intended to rejoin the spun and hit the
squadron, when I saw four or five Me 109s ground.
coming from the east at 100 feet. I reversed In the meantime, the remaining enemy Capt. Boleslaw "Mike"
my turn to meet them. The nearest one of the aircraft were scared by eight P-51s, which Gladych of the 61st FS
climbs into the cockpit of
enemy aircraft apparently spotted me against came from the south. I tried to get another his P-47D Thunderbolt at
the ground and peeled toward me in a shallow one of the Me 109s. I pulled up, closed in from Boxted, England, during
dive. The rest of them proceeded to climb in a underneath and astern, and fired a short May 1944.
wide, slight turn. I turned with the attacking burst at the last one. The Hun emitted some
enemy aircraft and had no difficulties in black smoke but kept flying. I abandoned the
closing on it. I had switched the water on, and pursuit because my gas was running low. I
after a couple of seconds, I began to overtake headed for home, flying on the deck.
the enemy aircraft. I slid on the outside and I claim one Me 109 destroyed.

May/June 2024 23
LITTLE FRIENDS OVER THE BEACH

Live bait: fighting with the

pioneer Mustang Group
Captain Clayton “Kelly” Gross
355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group,
9th Air Force

Because of the war, new fighter groups were

forming at a rapid pace. With 65 hours of
P-39 time under my belt, I was assigned to
the newly formed 354th Fighter Group and
became a flight commander with the 355th
Fighter Squadron. We continued to train in the
P-39 until we received our orders to ship out
and head to England, where we would join the
fight. Although we flew Airacobras, we were
told we would not be flying them in combat,
but instead would be flying a “new fighter”
that was just coming on line. We arrived in
England in early November of 1943, and that’s
where I met the airplane of my dreams: the
P-51 Mustang! Actually, the first model I
checked out in was the dive-bomber version
called the A-36 Apache. This early model, with

the Allison engine, had only three propeller gear airplanes and had to go back to my LEFT: First Lt. Kelly Gross
of the 355th FS sits in
blades, had machine guns in the nose and early tail-dragger days to taxi the Apache
the cockpit of his P-51B
wings, and had dive brakes embedded in both without hitting something. The A-36 had a Mustang at the 354th
the upper and lower surfaces. It looked fast long, slender nose and you couldn’t see out FG’s base at Lanshenden,
England, during May
just sitting on the ground! the front end. We had to “S” turn from side to
1944.
After spending two days going over a side until we were ready for takeoff. I felt the
very thorough cockpit checkout and some power to be somewhat similar, especially with
last-minute demands by my instructor to the familiar Allison engine out in front of me
emphatically, “Leave the dive brakes alone,” (instead of behind) like it was in the Airacobra.
I was sent on my way to check out this new But once airborne, it was quite different. I
thoroughbred. This was definitely no P-39! could tell right away that it was much more
I guess I had become spoiled with tricycle- responsive and lighter on the ailerons. After

24 FlightJournal.com
ABOVE: Beautifully two flights in the A-36, I was deemed ready to The P-51B was an entirely different animal.
restored in the colors
check out the rest of the squadron pilots. It was powered by the well-built and reliable
of Capt. Gross’s P-51D
“Live Bait,” Charles We continued to train, and this time it was Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and instead of
Somers’ Mustang is in the P-51A models—same as the A-36 but getting tired above 12,000 feet, it only became
striking as it flies over
without dive brakes. We only spent a couple stronger as it literally took us to new heights.
Danville, Illinois. Pilot
Vlado Lenoch is at the of hours on the A model before the more The B model had four propeller blades instead
controls. (Photo by David powerful P-51Bs arrived in mid-November of three, but only carried four guns instead
Leininger)
of 1943. From then on, the 354th FG would of six. With less weight, we were able to
always be known as the Pioneer Mustangs— carry more gas and we could now escort the
the first U.S. Army Air Force group to take the bombers to and from the target area. With the
new Mustang into combat. entire group checked out and equipped with

May/June 2024 25
LITTLE FRIENDS OVER THE BEACH

P-51Bs, we were moved to our first airfield

called Boxted, near Colchester. Before we went
on our first combat mission we were visited
and instructed by the commanding officer of
the 4th Fighter Group, Colonel Don Blakeslee.
He was already considered an “old hand” as
he had been fighting in the Eagle Squadrons
after the Battle of Britain. The thing I remember
most was that he emphasized to us that during
a head-on attack, the guy who broke first
would be at a disadvantage. I silently thought it
would be more of a disadvantage if we rammed
into one another!

Baptism of fire
On December 11, 1943, I flew my first combat
mission—a B-17 escort over Germany. Some
of the guys in the squadron already had nose Frankfurt, and Magdeburg as the bombers C-51B Mustang s/n
43-12451 GQ+I Peggy
art on their Mustangs, and at first, I was going continued to pound the Axis hard. The has 75-gallon drop
to put my wife’s nickname, “Lil Pigeon,” on it. Germans, however, did not simply lie down tanks fitted on by Sgt.
The problem was, it had a history of bringing and take our attacks lightly. On May 28, the Segar and SSgt .Smith at
Boxted, England, during
bad luck. I had given my first P-39 that name Luftwaffe thickened the skies over Germany April 1944. "Peggy" was
and someone made a wheels-up landing. The as swarms of fighters, like fireflies on a hot SSgt. Smith's wife while
second P-39 suffered a worse fate when the summer night, came roaring into our bomber the left side of the P-51B
carried the name “Live
pilot cartwheeled it. The third time was not formations. Bait!”
the charm when another pilot crashed that I picked out an Fw 190 and almost got him
one as well. I agonized over it until the name before I had to disengage for fear of ramming
came to me on one of my missions. another fighter that crossed closely in front
We had been out on an escort and I became of me. Separated from my flight, I latched
separated from the group. I was able to latch onto another Mustang as we set a course
onto another Mustang flown by Bob Stephens for home. On our way out, our flight of two
as we turned for home. Bob suddenly called encountered a stricken B-17 that was having
me over the R/T and said, “You stay where engine troubles—probably due to all the
you’re at and I’ll climb above you into the sun cannon and machine gun rounds it absorbed
and then hopefully we can draw some action.” from Luftwaffe attacks. Suddenly, an Me 109
Although I relished the thought of tangling was coming in fast from 6 o’clock, hell-bent
with the Luftwaffe, I wasn’t too thrilled with on finishing him off. I rolled the Mustang over
being the lure. I replied to Bob, “What the heck and shoved my throttle forward. I was still
do you think I am? Live bait?” He just said yes, over 200 yards away when I noticed the 109
and because he outranked me, that’s what we let loose with his cannon and machine guns.
did. My neck was never the same after turning I responded with my own machine guns and
it from side to side looking for an attacking saw them tear into his wing root and cockpit
German! When we got back, I had my crew area; he snapped over and dove straight down
chief paint the name “Live Bait” on the side of before crashing.
the Mustang. Our missions increased during I flew two missions on D-Day, and although
that time frame as things were really getting we didn’t encounter any German airplanes,
busy during the spring of 1944. the scene below on the beaches of Normandy
was surreal. There were ships of every shape
Work up to the big day! and size out in the channel with landing
Our group continued to fly escort missions craft zig-zagging back and forth. Intense
during the entire month of May 1944. You ground fire and flak were everywhere, and
could tell something was in the works as we did what we could to help the guys on the
more and more ships were seen in and ground. We continued to fly in support of our
around the harbors of England, and countless advancing troops, sometimes three missions
supplies filled up their docks. Most of my time a day as they pushed inland and pushed the
was spent over Germany at places like Berlin, Germans back.

26 FlightJournal.com
Bud Anderson and his On June 14, we were escorting some B-26 200 combat hours under my belt, I was sent
well known P-51B, Marauder medium bombers over France and home for 30 days of rest and relaxation. There
“Old Crow,” were
hyper-active over
the Luftwaffe finally showed back up. We would be plenty of war left when I returned.
the beach although had a heck of a fight and I tacked onto a 109.
he, like other fighter Closing fast, I let him have it at less than 100 Captain Gross ended the war with six
pilots, was frustrated
that the Luftwaffe had
yards. He turned over slowly as flames shot victories during his two tours and owes his
declined to join the out from beneath his engine cowling. I saw no survival to the P-51 Mustang. The Pioneer
party. (Photo by Jim parachute, and he crashed below. I was one Mustang Group was officially credited with
Koepnick/koepnick
photography.com)
away from becoming an ace. 701 aerial victories and was crowned the top-
By the end of June, the Pioneer Mustang scoring Fighter Group of the European Theater
Group had already shot down 370 enemy of Operations.
aircraft. And we weren’t done yet! With over

May/June 2024 27
LITTLE FRIENDS OVER THE BEACH

Twin-Tailed Trouble
Captain Stanley P. Richardson, Jr
338th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group,
8th Air Force

In early June of 1944, my original P-38J, CL-

X, had been wrecked by a fellow pilot while I
was on leave. I returned to see my pride and
joy lying on its belly from a combat encounter.
My bunkmate, who was at the controls of my
Lightning, told me he had an engine shot out
while tangling with the Luftwaffe and made
it all the way back to base in England when
he got cut off by a landing B-17. With wheels
down, flaps out, and only one prop turning, he
ran out of options, raised the gear, and bellied
it in. Thankfully, with a war going on, there
were many P-38s sitting around waiting to be
assigned.
I was issued a new P-38 and my ground
crew got it ready to fly. Unfortunately, the
day I was supposed to give it a test hop,
everything was grounded so the ground
crews could paint black and white stripes on
our airplanes—invasion stripes. I would have
to perform double duty on my next flight, a
combat mission and test hop all rolled into
one.
On June 5, I was slotted to fly a night
mission over the English Channel to cover
the invasion beaches along the French coast.
The P-38s were selected because they were
extremely recognizable with twin engines
and twin tails, and nothing else looked like
them. Our instructions were simple: “If you
see anything flying over the beaches, shoot it
down—no questions asked. Destroy anything
that is not a P-38 entering your assigned
patrol area.”
We departed our base at Wormingford very
late in the afternoon. The weather was terrible
with low ceilings and heavy rain as we struck
out for our patrol area. From 1,500 feet, I saw
countless numbers of boats of all shapes and
sizes all over the channel heading for France.
What a sight! We orbited the beaches and I 20th and the 479th Groups milling around Everything that could
saw some sporadic gunfire, but nothing that overhead with us. There was not a German fly was called into
action on D-Day. The
would compare to the next day. We landed airplane in the sky that we saw, but had one Lightnings were greatly
well after dark and trudged to our bunks for shown up, it would have been torn to shreds outnumbered by other
some rest. with the combined firepower of our cannon Allied fighters and
their most important
It was short-lived, however, because very and machine guns we carried in our noses. I contribution may have
early the next day, June 6, we were rolled out flew three missions on D-Day and am proud been the F-5 versions
of our bunks at 3:00 a.m. and, after eating to say the Allied air forces owned the airspace in the photo recon
role. (Photo by John
breakfast and receiving our briefing, we were above the beaches. But as our troops on the Dibbs/Facebook.com/
once again over the beaches by 5:30 a.m. ground moved inland, we followed from above theplanepicture)
There were P-38s all over the sky with the and went after targets of opportunity.

28 FlightJournal.com
 Personally, I liked going after trains, but the The combat reports that debriefing officers
Germans didn’t take too kindly to that. Early had to filter through after D-Day, and the
in the war it was a piece of cake to shoot up following weeks could fill a very fat book.
locomotives and freight cars; that was until They give a three-dimensional window into
the Germans added “Q-cars” (like Q-ships) the fall of Fortress Europe.
to the mix. They looked like any other freight
car until the sides dropped and exposed quad
20mm cannons able to fire in all directions.
Our loss rate of fighters shot up dramatically
with these Q-cars. Strafing trains became
dangerous work and a lot less fun!

May/June 2024 29
pilot’s View
D-Day from the cockpit
BY BARRETT TILLMAN

In his memoir, Lt. Col. Richard E. Turner recalled

D-Day for the Ninth Air Force’s 354th Fighter
Group at Maidstone, Kent. He described the
“Pioneer Mustangs’” rare D-Day missions: night
escort of troop carrier aircraft and gliders.
Since the 25th of May, the group had been discovered a small detail of cameramen
informed that it was on a six-hour alert among us who had been assigned to cover
status, and it had been assigned two officers our first-day activities on D-Day.
from General Patton’s Third Army to stay “On the 3rd and 4th of June, a couple of
with us and set up liaison procedures. Our short missions were run over France. Rumor
flying hadn’t changed much except that more and speculation ran high on the 5th and 6th
dive-bombing, fighter sweeps, and strafing as we awaited the event with bated breath,
missions were being thrown in with our and when it was revealed that the first day’s
normal escort duties. operations had already been completed
“It didn’t take much brain power to know without our participation we felt very much
that the invasion of the Continent was let down.”
imminent. The clincher came when we

In a scene reminiscent of D-Day, two P-51 Mustangs are dressed in the colors of the 361st
Fighter Group, the “Yellowjackets.” Mark Watt flies “Lou IV” and wingman Chuck Greenhill
pilots “Geraldine” over Lake Butte des Morts, Wisconsin. (Photo by David Leininger)
PILOT’S VIEW

D-Day fighting spirit Cherbourg where the C-47s and gliders were to Major Dick Turner,
11 kill ace and CO of
“Our fighting spirit came to peak pitch when penetrate the enemy coast. Normally, escorting
the 356th Fighter
after supper we were summoned to an fighters move in advance of convoyed planes Squadron, stands
immediate briefing. We found that we were to but tonight we were strictly followers, glued by his P-51D s/n
44-13561 AJ+T
escort a C-47 and glider mission that night. We close to our charges. I divided my time between
“Short-Fuse Sallee”
were to man our planes immediately, and to keeping one eye fixed on the ghostly C-47s, at airstrip A-66 near
remain in them ready to take off upon signal avoiding the deadly tow lines between them and Orconte, France
upon completion
from the tower. We were in our Mustangs at the gliders, and watching for other wandering
of his combat tour
9:00 that evening and at 10:00 we finally got the fighters that cut in front of us. Altogether a cliff- on October 2, 1944.
green take-off flare. hanging mess! The extra victory
flags reflect ground
“Forming up in the settling dusk proved to be “After 2 1/2 hours of heart-seizing flying,
and V-1 claims plus
no problem, and when we rendezvoused with we crossed in over the coastline and the Dick’s 11 aerial kills.
the southbound C-47s and gliders a half hour C-47s cut loose their gliders and dropped their
later over southern England, we could still see paratroopers. I knew the mission had been
them fairly well in the twilight. My flight had a completed only because without warning, the
box of 16 C-47s and gliders to escort, and by the air burst into a maelstrom of crisscrossing
time we passed over the coastline and the Isle of tracer fire from the void below. I made a
Wight, it was black as the ace of spades. A cloud sweeping level turn to the right with my flight
cover obscured even the faint starlight. The only away from the drop zone, and beat it for the
way I could keep track of my charges was to south coast of England.
concentrate on the blue flame of their exhausts. “Yet now we were presented with an even-
I couldn’t help wondering how I was supposed stickier problem. I knew our group alone had 48
to tell the difference between our planes and churning Mustangs in the black void ahead, and
theirs if the Germans attempted an interception. all of them were converging for the pundit light
I left the problem to be solved when it arrived, at Christchurch for landing and refueling before
and strained to stay with my C-47s and gliders returning to home base. The pundit light was a
without running them down in the process. powerful hooded searchlight throwing its beam
“When we got to mid-channel we were straight up, a marker for friendly aircraft. The
supposed to turn east and proceed off beam is invisible until you are directly over it,

32 FlightJournal.com
and there would be terrifically heavy congestion forlornly on the oily water, a grim reminder of
tonight. God knows how many planes from last night’s mission. Arriving over the Bay of the
other groups were being diverted to the same Seine we could see ships, boats and LSTs spread
light, and it was with mounting apprehension out for miles, extending out of sight into the
that I approached the Bournemouth area to Channel. At that low altitude, they could clobber
search the blackness for the pundit. us if they fired upon us. None of the warships
“There had already been six hair-raising near- fired, but we drew a few shots from trigger-
collisions with other homebound flights. As we happy gunners on smaller craft.
flew on, I debated chucking the whole mess to fly “As we flew back and forth patrolling the

I DIVIDED MY TIME BETWEEN KEEPING ONE EYE FIXED ON THE

GHOSTLY C-47S, AVOIDING THE DEADLY TOW LINES BETWEEN THEM
AND THE GLIDERS, AND WATCHING FOR OTHER WANDERING
FIGHTERS THAT CUT IN FRONT OF US.

directly to our base, but I resolved to follow the beach, I could see a steady movement of
flight plan even if it killed us all—as it could! personnel through the beaches to the inland
“It was a case of which was greater, your woods. All looked orderly and peaceful from
patience or your fear, and my patience was 4,000 feet but now and then a half-sunken
wearing exceedingly thin. After discovering ship, a burning vehicle or some unidentifiable
the light by chance, I flew a wide, careful orbit, wreckage would be visible. I noticed the wreck
avoiding other fighters that loomed near us. of a C-47 and P-47.
Finding the Christchurch runway, I decided “After our first sweep of the area, we started
that the safest way to land my flight was to use looking for the German fighters we expected to
a 1,000-foot overhead, 360-degree landing find trying to hit the invasion forces, but except
pattern in formation. It was not the usual for ourselves, the sky was empty. The only
system but it would keep the flight together, German aircraft I saw tried to sneak in at water
which was essential for our safety. level from the northeast only to be caught in
“With the flight in close formation, it would be murderous crossfire from two cruisers, and it
easier for individual fighters to see us, and make fell into the Channel in a long splash of flame.
them give way by force of numbers. The system “I led the flight toward the crash in hopes
worked perfectly. I set up in close formation of finding other venturesome Nazis. We saw
1,000 feet over the runway with wheels and no more fighters, however, until a squadron
flaps down and flew a wide descending circle of P-47s arrived to relieve us. I gathered my
with slow power reductions, finally skimming Mustangs and flew up the coast to Calais where
the approach end of the runway in perfect we jumped across the Strait of Dover to our
formation. We had it made! The pilots in my base at Maidstone. We arrived in time for lunch,
squadron were of the best. They could and did and to find that our squadron was scheduled for
perform any maneuver I asked of them.” another C-47 and glider escort that afternoon.
“We flew down to the southern tip of England
Another mission and picked up another long string of ‘Gooney
The night’s missions had diminished the number Birds’ dragging gliders, and took them across
of available fighters, and after his P-51s were to Utah Beach where they penetrated five or 10
serviced, Ninth Air Force asked Turner to provide miles and cut their gliders loose. I watched the
an impromptu patrol over the landing beaches. gliders in fascination as they made their tight
He readily accepted and takes up the tale: little spirals; they didn’t waste much time and
“Shortly before dawn I assembled my pilots many of the landings I saw looked pretty rough.
and briefed them. The plan was to fly straight Knowing that glider pilots had to join the ground
to the beachhead and provide cover from the troops to fight their way out, it seemed to be
mouth of the Seine to the Cherbourg Peninsula a pretty rugged job, and as we took the C-47s
for one hour. back to the Channel, I thanked the Lord again
“The cloud cover had dropped and we were for making me a simple fighter pilot.”
forced to fly at about 4,000 feet. Crossing the
Channel, I saw the debris of C-47s floating Visit Barrett Tillman at btillman.com.

May/June 2024 33
Why did so many paratroopers miss
the drop zone on D-Day?
BY MARTIN K.A. MORGAN
 Doug Rozendaal pilots a Douglas
C-47 Skytrain owned and operated
by the Commemorative Air Force,
Central Texas Wing, over the Iowa
countryside. Dressed in the scheme
of “That’s All, Brother,” the lead
aircraft on the D-Day invasion, this
C-47 is based out of San Marcos,
Texas. (Photo by David Leininger)

ON THE AIRFIELD at Barkston-Heath (USAAF

Station AAF-483) near the city of Grantham
in Lincolnshire, 72 Douglas C-47 Skytrain
transports from the 61st Troop Carrier Group
sat waiting. Soon they would carry 1,230
paratroopers from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions
of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment to
Normandy as a part of Mission Boston, the
code name of the operation to move the 82nd
Airborne Division to France on D-Day. Just seven
miles away on the airfield at Fulbeck (USAAF
Station AAF-488), 45 C-47s of the 442nd Troop
Carrier Group were preparing to load the
regimental headquarters and the 1st Battalion,
507th—an additional 770 paratroopers. By
mid-1944, the flight crews of those two troop
carrier groups had gone through just as much
intense training as the paratroopers they
would carry into battle.
IMPOSSIBLE TARGET

First came training, then the trip, Ulan started flying the C-47 at Bergstrom C-47 Skytrain #42-
93096 shortly before
then more training Field near Austin, Texas, and was then departing for Normandy.
For the pilots, copilots, radio operators, transferred to Sedalia, Missouri, where the This aircraft flew as
navigators, and crew chiefs, their military 441st Troop Carrier Group was formed. On Serial 5, Stick 17 on its
first combat mission
service had begun as much as two years March 1, 1944, Ulan’s squadron—the 99th during the pre-dawn
earlier with primary, and then advanced, TCS—departed Homestead Army Airfield in hours of June 6, 1944
training. They were by then intimately familiar Florida: destination England. The first leg of as a part of Operation
Neptune/Overlord—
with the venerable Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the trip took them from Florida to Borinquen the Allied invasion of
which the U.S. military relied on throughout Army Air Field, Puerto Rico—a distance of Normandy. As chalk
the Second World War as one of its primary 980 miles. From there, they flew 1,200 miles 17, this aircraft carried
Pathfinder team #2 of
military movers. After earning their wings, to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, and then 1,325 the 508th Parachute
the fresh aviators of the 61st and 442nd Troop more miles to Forteleza, Brazil. After a short Infantry Regiment/82nd
Carrier Groups spent three or four additional 270-mile hop to Natal on Brazil’s Atlantic Airborne Division to Drop
Zone N near Amfreville
months of training and familiarization coast, the squadron then flew 1,437 miles west of the village of
with the C-47 learning the idiosyncrasies across the open ocean to the RAF airfield on Ste.-Mère-Église. Note
of its flight characteristics. That phase was Ascension Island. After resting and re-fueling how everything on the
fuselage that might catch
inevitably followed by assignment to a troop there, the 99th covered another 970 miles the jumper or parachute
carrier squadron and then deployment of trans-Atlantic flight to Greenville, Liberia, D-ring static lines was
overseas. then 883 miles to Dakar, West Africa, then faired with tape. (Photo
courtesy of author)
Sidney M. Ulan of Chester, Pennsylvania, 1,435 miles to Casablanca, and finally 1,151
received his wings at Moody Field in March miles to RAF St. Mawgan near Newquay in
1943 and, like so many other new Skytrain Cornwall. By the time the squadron’s C-47s
pilots, he was immediately assigned to the touched down on the tarmac at Langar Field
Troop Carrier Command. He recalled that, in Nottinghamshire (USAAF Station AAF-
at the time, the Army needed pilots “to drop 490), they had completed a 10,000-mile
airborne troops in the invasion of Europe, so repositioning. It should be remembered that
my entire graduating class was sent to the many of these pilots were just out of flight
Troop Carrier Command.” school.

36 FlightJournal.com
 The 61st and 442nd Troop Carrier Groups it is not well known that the 507th was
arrived in England at about the same time in scattered over a wider geographical area than
March as Sidney Ulan’s squadron did after its any of the other regiments that night. While
epic trans-Atlantic repositioning. Once they a few 507th troopers landed in the correct
settled in at Barkston-Heath and Fulbeck place, others landed in 101st drop zones.
respectively, it was time to get to work. Elements of the regiment’s 2nd Battalion
Much had to be accomplished to ready both landed far north of where they were supposed
groups for their participation in the assault to, with one unfortunate stick of 18 troopers
on fortress Europe, so training schedules did being dropped among the hedgerows
not relax in England. Thus, when the men of between Valognes and Cherbourg. Some
the 507th Parachute Infantry walked to the troopers came down well to the east of the
flightlines at Fulbeck and Barkston-Heath drop zone, between Ste.-Marie-du-Mont and

“Suddenly, all hell seemed to break loose ... It seemed almost impossible
to fly through that wall of fire without getting shot down, but I had
no choice. There was no turning back”

on the evening of June 5, their lives were La Madeleine. A few men even ended up on
placed in the capable hands of two groups of Utah Beach itself. Finally, nine sticks from the
thoroughly trained military aviators. 3rd Battalion, 507th came down 16 miles south
The 117 C-47s that waited for the men of of the DZ near the village of Graignes. In all, it
the 507th thus represented much more than is estimated that the regiment was spread out
merely the product of American industrial over sixty square miles.
capability. Having those aircraft sitting on So why did such well-trained and, in some
those fields that evening with full gas tanks cases, combat-experienced troop carrier
and 117 well-trained flight crews standing by squadrons produce such an imperfect drop
represented an incalculable amount of human on D-Day? Why did the 61st and 442nd
effort and energy. It had taken years for Troop Carrier Groups distribute the 507th
their families to raise and educate the young Regiment across 60 square miles of Norman
American boys who were there to provide the countryside instead of putting them all down
airlift for those 2,004 paratroopers that night. within Drop Zone “T”? Some of the aircrews
The U.S. government had picked up where of the 61st Troop Carrier Group’s 14th Troop
their families, high schools, and colleges left Carrier Squadron had flown four previous
off, spending even more time and money combat missions, so being under enemy fire
turning them into skilled flight crews. While was nothing new to them.
the crews had undergone countless hours Why did nine C-47s from the 61st Troop
of training, and many of them had already Carrier Group’s 53rd Troop Carrier Squadron
flown combat missions in the Mediterranean drop almost 170 paratroopers of the
the previous summer, nothing could have Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion,
prepared them for what they were about to 507th in the marshes south of the city of
experience in the airspace over Normandy’s Carentan? Although a number of factors can
Cotentin Peninsula. be blamed for the broad dispersion of the
507th across Normandy, two factors above
Drop Zone “T”: The impossible target all produced this outcome: the regiment’s late
All 117 of the C-47s that carried 507th arrival, and poor visibility.
paratroopers that night had a common
destination: Drop Zone “T” near the village of The weather became the enemy
Amfreville—three miles west of Ste.-Mère- As they approached Normandy, the 61st
Église. But in the end, Drop Zone “T” would and 442nd Troop Carrier Group’s C-47s
have only symbolic significance. While it is encountered a disorienting cloud bank. The
generally well understood that the 82nd and low, dense clouds broke up the formations
101st Airborne Division drops experienced and set them off course moments before they
scattering during the Normandy operation, flew into the fire of the enemy’s air defenses.

May/June 2024 37
IMPOSSIBLE TARGET

Paul Smith, who commanded F Company, Captain Sidney M.

Ulan of Chester,
507th at the time, could not see any other
Pennsylvania. On
aircraft in formation with his C-47 (#42- D-Day, he was a C-47
24204 of the 14th Troop Carrier Squadron, pilot with the 99th Troop
Carrier Squadron, 441st
61st Troop Carrier Group). Hoping to get a
Troop Carrier Group,
better view, he moved forward and looked out 50th Troop Carrier Wing.
of the astrodome, but he could see nothing. (Photos courtesy of
author)
“I could hardly even see the wingtips,”
he remembered. As the C-47s began to
drift farther apart, much of the 507th was
already set up to be misdropped. It did not
help that only two of the regiment’s three
pathfinder teams landed on the drop zone,
or that they came under enemy fire almost
immediately upon landing. Had they been
able to accomplish their mission, the C-47s
carrying the rest of the regiment would have
been guided in toward Drop Zone “T.” Instead,
those C-47s approached unguided through
obscuring cloud cover.
Then came the enemy ground fire. Because chewing gum, and the saliva in my mouth
the 507th was based in an area of England two completely dried up from the fright. It seemed
and half hours farther north than any of the almost impossible to fly through that wall of
other parachute regiments, it consequently fire without getting shot down, but I had no
had to contend with a longer cross-channel choice. There was no turning back.”
journey that made it the last to arrive over After dropping his stick of paratroopers
Normandy. The first paratroopers to jump from the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute
that night — a planeload of pathfinders from Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division,
the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Ulan put his C-47 in a nose-down
101st Airborne Division—jumped at attitude and leveled-off just above the deck
approximately 12:15 a.m. The 507th, on the to avoid ground fire. Flying just above the tree
other hand, arrived over the area starting at tops at full throttle, Ulan’s Skytrain eventually
approximately 2:30 a.m. Thus, as the C-47s passed over the beach and then came out
of the 61st and the 442nd came thundering skimming the water of the English Channel.
in toward Drop Zone “T” to drop the 507th, The aircraft of Ulan’s formation then climbed
German anti-aircraft gunners were ready. and formed up for the trip back to England.
Seated by the door of his 442nd TCG When he landed safely at Merryfield, Ulan
aircraft, Lt. Robert H. Parks of C Company, inspected the outside of his C-47 and found
507th, “noticed an impressive fireworks several small holes in the skin from flak over
display” outside. He observed flashes of red, the Cotentin peninsula. He breathed a sigh of
yellow, blue, and white as they streaked past relief because he had survived the ordeal.
his troop carrier formation. “I admired the
show until I realized what they were: anti- And then there was the weight
aircraft shells,” he remembered. and navigation
First Lieutenant Sidney Ulan from the 99th Just before arriving over the drop zones, the
Troop Carrier Squadron, 441st Troop Carrier C-47 pilots were supposed to throttle back to
Group remembered that, “Suddenly, all hell 90mph and hold an altitude of approximately
seemed to break loose.” From the cockpit of 800 feet while the paratroopers exited. But
C-47 #42-101013, he had a front row seat for under the circumstances of the night drop,
the spectacle: that 90mph airspeed was not always possible,
“The sky was filled with red and green and many planes were significantly faster
tracers, and searchlights beamed up at the than usual when the paratroopers jumped.
planes just ahead of me. I could also feel the There was one major factor—weight. Generally
vibration of the flak coming up and shaking in both the 82nd Airborne Division and the
the plane. I realized that the flak suits we were 101st Airborne Division, the C-47s that flew
told to wear might come in handy. I remember that night were heavier than they should have

38 FlightJournal.com
ABOVE: Currently known as “D-Day Doll”
(N45366) and sporting invasion stripes,
Douglas C-53D AAF-43-68830 is an actual
veteran of the Normandy Invasion. It flew
three missions over Normandy on June 6
and 7, 1944, as well as airdrops later on over
Holland. It also flew supplies into Bastogne
during the Battle of the Bulge and took part
in the final airdrop across the Rhine River in
1945. Now owned by the Inland Empire Wing
of the Commemorative Air Force in Riverside,
California, she continues to drop jumpers at
air shows and special events. (Photo by Frank
B. Mormillo)

RIGHT: The view aft in a fully restored,

combat-ready C-47: the trip from England
to their drop zone in France was brief so
comfort wasn't a consideration. Skytrains
were long on function and utility but short on
luxury. (Photo by Moose Peterson)

BELOW: These 436th Troop Carrier Group

survivors of D-Day supported the invasion
of Southern France in August 1944 before
returning to England.

May/June 2024 39
IMPOSSIBLE TARGET

been. 101st Airborne Division author and historian Mark ABOVE: The cockpit of a C-47. South Plains Army Airfield, Lubbock,
Texas (January 10, 1945).
Bando described the situation:
“The recommended safe maximum weight for a C-47 BELOW: Cpl. Joe Oleskiewicz, a pathfinder with the 506th Parachute
with cargo aboard is 27,900 pounds. Troop carrier planes Infantry Regiment , stands in the door of his C-47 Skytrain S/N
42-100920 6Z+L “Chalk 21” of the 96th TCS 440th TCG at Exeter,
routinely flew ETO missions at 30,000 pounds. On the England on the evening of June 5, 1944. (Photo courtesy of Jack Cook)
D-Day night drop, the C-47s were hauling equipment and
overloaded paratroopers, which brought their weight up to
as much as 34,000 pounds.”
The increased weight had a strong adverse effect on the
C-47’s flight characteristics. Under normal loading, the
plane was capable of maintaining stable, controlled flight
at the relatively slow forward airspeed of 90mph, but the
overloading on D-Day increased the stall speeds to the
point that 90mph was dangerously slow. To compensate
for the higher stall speeds, pilots were forced to drop their
paratroopers at a forward airspeed approximately 20
to 30mph faster than normal. Thus, the Skytrains were
dropping their paratroopers at speeds of 110mph, 120mph,
or even faster.
The aircrews also struggled with a number of other
significant complicating factors. First of all, only about
two out of every five C-47s carried a navigator. This two-
to-five ratio had never presented much of a problem
previously, but in the less than ideal, disorienting
conditions of the Operation Neptune night drop, that ratio
became a major problem.
Secondly, strict adherence to radio silence eliminated
the possibility of the pilots adapting and adjusting their
plans to mitigate the problems encountered during the
approach to the drop zones. Third, 20- to 30-knot winds

40 FlightJournal.com
 While the cases of disastrous misdrops on D-Day are undeniable,
there were also countless cases of pilots who went above and
beyond the call of duty to make sure that the paratroopers they
were carrying were delivered to their drop zone.

were blowing over the drop zones that night. Those winds hundreds of airplanes. The pilots obviously did not want to
generated sudden patches of turbulence that buffeted the drop paratroopers in the English Channel. They obviously
C-47s and knocked many off course. Finally, the airspeed did not want to drop paratroopers far away from their
and altitude of the troop carrier C-47s was such that the assigned drop zones with little or no hope of assembling.
pilots had only a very narrow window of opportunity They obviously did not want to turn around and fly head-
to line up on their drop zones before they turned on the on into approaching C-47s to make another drop zone
green lights. approach. Doing so would jeopardize their lives, the lives
When the formations ran into that unexpected cloud of the 18 paratroopers they were carrying, and the lives
bank over the 24-mile-wide Cotentin peninsula, they of the men on the other C-47s. Clearly, the troop carrier
were at an altitude of 1,500 feet, moving at 140mph. Once pilots had a difficult job to do under near-impossible
they got out of the clouds, the pilots had less than four circumstances that night.
minutes to orient themselves and make the necessary
course corrections that would take them over the target A good effort in a bad situation
drop zone. Again, due to overloading, the pilots could not As a result of the myriad of influences and circumstances
slow their airspeed to buy themselves more time to solve affecting the 61st and 442nd Troop Carrier Groups, the
their navigation problems. men of the 507th Parachute Infantry were scattered on the
D-Day night drop. The reality ultimately led to accusations
So many complications that the pilots had behaved irresponsibly and/or cowardly.
Another ever-present concern that was almost certainly But the actions of those airmen seem far less irresponsible
in the mind of every pilot that night was that, if they when the full circumstances are considered and all of
hesitated too long to turn on the green light, they stood the the facts are appreciated. On D-Day, there were near-
chance of dropping paratroopers in the English Channel on perfect drops, mixed drops, and totally disastrous drops.
the eastern side of the peninsula. That was what happened The exercises that the groups had flown in preparation for
to Sergeant Leonard S. Goodgal of I Company, 506th the operation had not even approached what would be
Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. After jumping a gauntlet of fire over the Cotentin Peninsula that night.
during the pre-dawn hours of D-Day, he landed in shallow Those circumstances made it impossible for the pilots to
water. He then waded ashore, climbed up on the beach, get their jobs done with the same level of precision that
and realized that he was at the foot of a tall cliff. When the had been achieved in training.
sun rose a few hours later, Goodgal found that his plane Although they have been somewhat criticized in the
had overshot the drop zone by 12 miles and dropped him at past, the Troop Carrier aircrews who flew Operation
the base of Pointe du Hoc. Neptune did the best they could have possibly done given
For C-47s that overshot the drop zone on the Cotentin the circumstances, and the reality is that, despite the
Peninsula, making a second approach was not an option scattering, the mission was a success. While the cases
because it would mean flying back through the enemy’s of disastrous misdrops on D-Day are undeniable, there
anti-aircraft defenses. But there was yet another danger: were also countless cases of pilots who went above and
a total of 801 Troop Carrier C-47s flew in Operation beyond the call of duty to make sure that the paratroopers
Neptune air drop that night (Mission Albany, the aerial they were carrying were delivered to their drop zone.
repositioning of the 101st Airborne, consisted of 432 C-47s Despite the fact that they flew the mission in unarmed and
and Mission Boston, the aerial repositioning of the 82nd unarmored aircraft, they faced enemy fire and completed
Airborne, consisted of 369 C-47s). Those 801 aircraft were the mission as half of the team that made vertical
all operating within the same airspace at night under envelopment operations possible and contributed to the
combat conditions lit only by dim blue lights designed ultimate success of the Normandy Invasion.
to be visible only from behind. The traffic pattern for the
Neptune parachute drop ran from west to east over the
peninsula. If a pilot missed the drop zone on the first
go-around and decided to make another approach, he
would be flying against the flow of traffic in airspace with

May/June 2024 41
 IN THEATER

The Glorious Gooney The first two operational units were

reorganized from existing Southwest Pacific
transport units while training began in the
States for what would eventually add another
THE BACKBONE OF THE INITIAL ALLIED ASSAULT 26 groups to all theaters of war.
The subject of this Kodachrome spread,
against Erwin Rommel’s Atlantic Wall was the unsung
“Mary Co-ED II,” carries the ID-X squadron
heroes of the AAF’s Troop Carrier Command. Evolving code of the 74th TCS of the 434th TCG. It was
from the pre-war Air Service & Ferrying Command, photographed at Mount Farm, Cambridgeshire
by Robert Astrella of the 7th Photo Group in the
a specific need for the Army’s expanding parachute
late summer of 1944. The 434th was activated
units led to the division of the now AAF’s transport in February 1943 at Alliance AAF, Nebraska,
units into the more commonly recognized Air where the unit went through endless hours of
precision training in night and day formation
Transport Command and new Troop Carrier Groups
flying, glider pick-up, tow, and drops with
(TCGs). Dedicated to the mission of delivering actual paratroop operations. The group’s
airborne combat troops, gliders, and equipment three squadrons moved to the UK in October,
assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command of
directly to the battlefield, the first Troop Carrier
the 9th Air Force and further assigned to the
Command was established in June 1942. 50th Troop Carrier Wing (TCW).
 For the next seven months, the 434th and The afternoon of D-Day, the group returned
other TCGs in the UK went through intense to Normandy with 32 aircraft delivering Horsa
training for all phases of their intended gliders for resupply and performing the same
deployment for Operation Overlord. In March mission for the 82nd Division the next day.
of 1944, the 434th was reassigned to the From there, the group was drafted into basic
53rd TCW, which had been given the task transport duties, as noted on the fuselage
of transporting the 101st Airborne Division mission record of “Mary Co-ED II,” performing
for the initial Normandy night assault. A full supply, Medevac, and specialized equipment
night para-drop exercise was successfully runs.
conducted in mid-March, but as airborne Drafted twice again for its primary mission,
invasion planning evolved, more glider drops the 434th made several successful daylight
were added. The 53rd Wing was then tapped to drops for the Market Campaign at Arnhem,
specialize in the perilous night glider delivery Holland, in September and again for the
mission with several full-scale exercises in Varsity crossing of the Rhine in March, 1945.
May to bring the groups up to full combat The group was instrumental in supporting the
capability. lightning push through Germany that needed
The morning of June 6, the 434th was massive quantities of gasoline and supplies
tasked to deliver the second wave of the 101st, to keep the Allied armies sustained. The war’s
arriving at their release area right before end in May gave the group its most treasured
0400. Forty-nine of 52 C-47s towing WACO mission of transporting 17,500 Allied POWs
CG-4s made it to the target, delivering troops, to relocation centers and hospitals in France
anti-tank guns, jeeps, ammo, and equipment, and Belgium. Relieved in mid-June, the air and
then returning to their base at Aldermaston. ground units arrived back in the States by
Sixteen months of difficult training were over early August, ending their brief but honorable
in just five hours! war service. —Stan Piet
over Normandy!
RAF Spitfire pilot survives
D-Day invasion
BY CLIVE ROWLEY, MBE RAF (RET.)

RAF Spitfire pilot Flight Lieutenant Walter “Johnny”

Johnston was lucky to survive when he was shot
down over Normandy by enemy anti-aircraft fire on
D-Day+8. This is his remarkable story, putting you in
the cockpit of a Spitfire under fire.

Flt. Lt. Walter “Johnny” Johnston of

234 Sqn. was flying a clipped-wing Mk
Vb Spitfire when he was shot down by
flak over Normandy on D-Day+8, June
14, 1944. (Photo by Clive Rowley)

LEFT: Spitfire pilot Walter “Johnny”

Johnston began his operational career
as a Sergeant Pilot with 152 and 92
Squadrons in 1941, flying fighter
sweeps over France. Here is seen in
the cockpit of his 92 Squadron Spitfire
Mk Vb at Biggin Hill in July 1941.
(Photo author’s collection)
SHOT DOWN OVER NORMANDY

D-Day Spitfires
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, a total of 57 Royal Air
Force Spitfire squadrons were available to No
2 Tactical Air Force (2 TAF) and Air Defence of
Great Britain (ADGB)—the new and temporary
title allocated to RAF Fighter Command—for
offensive operations in support of the D-Day
landings.
Most of these squadrons were equipped
with Mk IX Spitfires, but 11 squadrons under
the command of ADGB were still operating
the older Mk Vb Spitfires. One of these was
Spitfire Mk Vb BL415 AZ-B of 234 Squadron,
which flew on two beachhead cover patrols
on D-Day, one of those in the hands of Flight
Lieutenant Walter “Johnny” Johnston. Later
in the day on D-Day it was used to escort 37 perhaps with a comment such as “Nice Chap.” Spitfire pilots of 234
C-47 Dakotas towing Horsa gliders to the One page alone records the loss of six fellow Squadron at Coltishall in
Caen area. Spitfire pilots in a matter of days. He lost 13 February 1944. “Johnny”
Johnston is in the front
On D-Day+8, June 14, 1944, Spitfire BL415 friends during those early years of the war row, fourth from left. He
was to meet its end on another patrol of and later another seven while flying with 234 had been cleaning and
the invasion area, falling victim to German Squadron. polishing his Spitfire
when the other pilots
88mm flak gunners while being flown by In December 1941, Johnson started a long came to the dispersal to
Johnston, who was very fortunate to survive stint as an instructor at a Spitfire Operational rib him and a photograph
the subsequent crash landing unscathed. Training Unit and then at the Central Gunnery ensued. (Photo author’s
collection)
Of 152 Spitfires destroyed or damaged from School.
all causes during the month of June 1944,
only 21 fell to German fighters. There may not 234 Squadron
have been much threat from German fighter In November 1943 Johnston was posted back
aircraft during the D-Day period, but there to operational duties as a Flight Commander
certainly was from flak, which claimed most with 234 Squadron, flying Spitfire Mk Vbs.
of the Allied aircraft lost to enemy action During the spring of 1944 he was involved in
during the Battle of Normandy. the squadron’s operations in the build up to
D-Day, including low-level strafing missions.
Walter “Johnny” Johnston For example, on May 21, 1944, he flew on a
By this stage of the war, Walter “Johnny” train-busting strafing sortie in the Antwerp
Johnston was a highly experienced fighter area, after which he wrote in his logbook:
pilot with over 1,100 flying hours in his “Good Day! 11 trains by Wing, two by our
logbook. He had started his flying training as section.”
a volunteer reservist pilot in 1939, before the
Second World War started. His operational D-Day
career began in February 1941, as a Sergeant On D-Day Johnston flew twice on beachhead
pilot flying Spitfires with 152 Squadron and cover patrols, the first taking off at 0430 from
then, from July that year, with 92 Squadron. the squadron’s temporary home at Deanland,
With those units he flew on numerous fighter a temporary Advanced Landing Ground in
sweeps over enemy-occupied France, during Sussex, near the south coast of England. On
which he was involved in combat with enemy this mission the squadron lost 22-year-old
fighters, claiming three Messerschmitt Bf Flight Sergeant Dennis Simms “missing
109s probably destroyed and one as damaged. presumed killed,” one of the first British
In November 1941 he was commissioned as an fighter pilots to be killed on D-Day. His aircraft
officer. was simply blown to smithereens after being
Johnston flew with many of the famous hit over the sea, most likely by an Allied
fighter pilots and fighter leaders of the era, naval shell being fired from ship to shore.
no doubt learning much from them, and he Simms has no known grave and his name is
also lost many friends and colleagues. Each commemorated on the Commonwealth Air
of those is recorded in his logbook by name, Forces Memorial at Runnymede, Surrey.

46 FlightJournal.com
 “The next thing there was a hell of a bang and a great big flash ...
The shell burst just underneath my starboard wingtip and blew the
aircraft some 200 feet upwards and upside down.”

D-Day+8 “We started our patrol along a line roughly

The beachhead cover patrols continued between Bayeux and Caen, just north of the
over the next several days and on June 14, main road, at a height of about 1,500 feet. We
1944, D-Day+8, 11 Mk Vb Spitfires of No 234 thought we were over our own lines at the
Squadron took off from Deanland at 1450 time and according to the map and with the
hours for a patrol over Normandy between marker of the road, we should have been.
Bayeux and Caen. Johnston was flying “The next thing there was a hell of a bang
clipped-wing Spitfire L.F. Mk Vb BL415 AZ-B. and a great big flash. I assume it was a very
This version of the Spitfire was fitted with a near miss from a German 88mm anti-aircraft
Merlin 45M engine, the M suffix indicating battery because you don’t get hit directly
that the blades of the supercharger had been by one of those and stay airborne. The shell
cropped to optimize the aircraft performance burst just underneath my starboard wingtip
for low-level operations. These older L.F. Mk and blew the aircraft some 200 feet upwards
Vb Spitfires were sometimes referred to by and upside down. I was flying a clipped-wing
their pilots as “Clipped, Cropped and Clapped”! Mk Vb and the explosion took another two
Johnston takes up the story: feet off the starboard wingtip, opening up
the end of the wing like blowing up a paper
bag and leaving the aileron dangling by
a piece of cable. While I was on my back I
caught a split-second glimpse of the extent
of the damage, but then almost immediately
another explosion caught me directly beneath
the port wing root, loosening the studs on the
A German 88mm anti-
aircraft gun in action. The port and top engine cowlings and smashing
8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37 the cockpit hood. The cockpit side door was
were extremely effective forced open at the front runner, the Perspex
anti-aircraft weapons
with a high rate of fire of the hood was smashed and the windscreen
and lethal high-explosive was starred. Something had grazed the right
shells. It was a salvo
from this type of anti-
aircraft artillery that
shot down Johnston’s
Spitfire. (Photo author’s
collection)
SHOT DOWN OVER NORMANDY

British Army Royal Engineers laying Square-Mesh Track on an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) under construction in
Normandy in June 1944. Johnston crash-landed his Spitfire alongside the work in progress at ALG B-6 Coulombs on
June14, 1944. (Photo author’s collection)

side of my flying helmet above the ear piece, on and goggles down, which prevented any
luckily without injuring me. By this time my facial injuries; I didn’t even get a black eye.
prop had stopped and I was coming round in “The next thing I knew was that I’d stopped
the roll to the right way up. Then yet another and my Spitfire was immediately surrounded
burst took out the radiator under the port by men in khaki who, it transpired, were
wing, along with a huge square of the skin from the British Army Royal Engineers unit
above the wing. building the airfield that I’d crash-landed on,
“I couldn’t get out of the cockpit because which became Advanced Landing Ground
the hood had jammed closed, so I couldn’t (ALG) B-6 at Coulombs. One of them shoved a
bail out, and I could only fly the aircraft with rifle into the hood and tore it off to get me out
both hands and the stick right over to port of the cockpit. “Johnny” Johnston’s
logbook pages for June
as far as it would go. It took all my strength “I came from the Newcastle area, where 7-30, 1944. In his entry
to stop the aircraft turning over and at one the people are known as ‘Geordies.’ I was for June 14, he recorded:
point I even cocked my leg over the stick to surprised when as my rescuers hauled me “Hit by flak, crash landed
France (Coulombs).
get the aircraft into the turn and keep it there. out of the cockpit one of them said in a broad Reached B-2 airfield,
I was now coming down in a screaming flat Geordie accent, ‘By Christ man, ye ’aven’t ’arf got a lift home with TLM
turn. Funnily enough my pitot head was still been hit!’ himself” (even recording
that it was in Dakota
working and I saw that I had about 200mph As I was led away, I suddenly realized that I BJ170). Then against his
on the clock.” had lost my gold watch, so I staggered back to Spitfire sortie on June
the wreck to find it. The impact of hitting the 15 he wrote: “Not bad
going—back home and
Crash landing ground had been so great that it had removed over again in less than 24
“At that moment I spotted a small flat strip the watch from my wrist and over my hand. I hrs.” (Author’s collection)
of ground in front of me. I had made a mental found it lying neatly over the throttle, not that
note of this flattish line on the ground from there was an engine to throttle!”
previous passes over the area and now I
thought I could get my crippled Spitfire down On the ground in Normandy
on it. Johnston’s was not the only 234 Squadron
“As I thumped onto the ground at about Spitfire to be hit by the salvo of 88mm flak. He
180mph I thought, “Please don’t let me burn.” was soon joined by two other pilots from his
The Spitfire hit the ground with a hell of a squadron, Flying Officer Bill Painter and Flight
smack, broke its back and spun round and Sergeant “Joe” Fargher, both of whom had
round. The impact snapped my right shoulder also been hit by the barrage of anti-aircraft
strap and I was flung forward onto the fire and were forced to land at the same
gunsight. Fortunately, I had my oxygen mask partially-constructed airstrip.

48 FlightJournal.com
234 Squadron Spitfire pilot Flight Sergeant Dennis
Simms was one of the first British fighter pilots to be
killed on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when his aircraft was hit
by a naval shell. He was 22 years old. (Photo author’s
collection)

Left to right: Flt. Sgt. Joe Fargher, Fg.

Off. Bill Painter and “Johnny” Johnston
standing by Air Chief Marshal Sir
Trafford Leigh-Mallory’s Dakota at
B-2 Bazenville ALG on June 14, 1944,
prior to getting a lift home. (Photo
author’s collection)

May/June 2024 49
SHOT DOWN OVER NORMANDY

Air Chief Marshal Sir

Trafford Leigh-Mallory,
the Commander-in-
Chief Allied Armies’
Expeditionary Air Force
(left), talking with Flight
Sergeant “Joe” Fargher,
who has a dressing on
a head wound, at B-2
Bazenville on June 14,
1944, after Fargher had
been shot down in his
Spitfire. (Photo author’s
collection)

“We probably looked like a bunch of desperados with our holstered revolvers on gun belts
slung around our waists and knives sticking out of our flying boots. The Army officer who
met us was somewhat taken aback and exclaimed, ‘Good God, what happened to you lot?’”
Fargher had been unfortunate because, stopped several times by British soldiers, but
having landed with his wheels down, his eventually reached a British Army HQ. There
Spitfire had tipped up on landing and he had a was a battery of 4.5-inch artillery firing away
badly gashed forehead from headbutting the like hell nearby and we went inside the HQ to
gunsight. Apart from that, all three pilots were find the officer in charge.
uninjured. “We probably looked like a bunch of
The British Army engineers who were desperados with our holstered revolvers
building the airfield had brought a crate of on gun belts slung around our waists and
beer to Normandy with them, to share with knives sticking out of our flying boots. The
the first pilots to land at their brand-new Army officer who met us was somewhat
airfield when it was finished. They reckoned taken aback and exclaimed, ‘Good God, what
that the three crash landings qualified, so happened to you lot?’ After we had explained
the pilots enjoyed a bottle of beer with the our situation and the need to get back to
soldiers. England and to operations as soon as possible,
Johnston takes up the story again: he wrote us a note to flying control at the B-2
Bazenville ALG, asking them to provide any
“The commanding officer of the Airfield assistance possible.”
Construction Unit provided us with a staff car, The pilots had ideas of their own though;
complete with a Bren gun on the roof and an they sent their Army driver away to get some
Army driver, and we set off along the main dinner and then stole his vehicle!
road from Caen towards Bayeux. We were

50 FlightJournal.com
On June 14, 1944, VIPs prominently in the morning edition of a
Johnston was flying Johnston takes up the story again: national daily newspaper. Johnston’s logbook
234 Sqn. clipped-wing
Spitfire Mk Vb BL415 entry for his next flight records another
AZ-B. (Artwork: Chris “Arriving at the newly-completed ALG at beachhead cover patrol with the remark: “Not
Sandham-Bailey/ Bazenville, we spotted a Dakota transport bad going—back home and over again in less
inkworm.com)
parked on the airfield. We drove the staff than 24 hours”!
car, with its Bren gun on top, right up to Bill Painter’s luck ran out on June 17, just
the Dak and to within a few feet of a group three days after their Normandy adventure,
of people standing near it. My heart sank when returning in the dark from another
when I recognized two of the group as Air beachhead cover patrol his section was
Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, fired on by the British anti-aircraft batteries
the Commander-in-Chief Allied Armies' situated on the English south coast near
Expeditionary Air Force, and Air Vice Marshal Brighton. As the Spitfires took evasive action,
Harry Broadhurst (AOC 83 Group, 2 TAF). The two of them collided. Bill Painter was killed in
Air Marshals appeared unimpressed with this the mid-air collision although the other pilot,
unscheduled interruption to their business by Flying Officer George Sparrow, managed to
a bunch of scruffy hooligans and demanded land his damaged Spitfire safely at Deanland.
an explanation. I obliged and handed over the Joe Fargher’s good luck continued to hold,
piece of paper provided to me earlier by the just! He was shot down by flak for a second
Army officer. Leigh-Mallory chuckled and time on July 11, on this occasion over enemy-
offered the three of us a VIP lift home in his occupied France. His colleagues thought that
Dakota.” he had been killed, but he survived a second
crash landing, evaded capture with the help
First though, the Air Chief Marshal milked of the French Maquis Resistance fighters,
the situation for the PR opportunity it and escaped back to England in a Navy motor
provided, by getting the accompanying press gunboat, returning to re-join the squadron
photographers to take several photographs of only three weeks later, on July 31.
the pilots standing by the Dakota.
Eventually, they all piled into the Dak and Sequel
were fed chocolate and drinks on the way “Johnny” Johnston remained with 234
back to Thorney Island, where they stopped Squadron and converted to Mustang IIIs
the night in the Officers’ Mess (with Flight when the squadron was re-equipped at the
Sergeant Joe Fargher masquerading as a Pilot end of September 1944. He was promoted to
Officer). acting Squadron Leader in November 1944
and survived the war, remaining in the RAF
Luck—good and bad for some years afterwards. Walter “Johnny”
All three pilots were flying operationally Johnston died in 2009, aged 88.
again the next day, June 15, having featured

May/June 2024 51
IN THEATER

56th FG Jugs: War Paint

AS THE LONG-LIVED THUNDERBOLT group in
the ETO, the 56th FG certainly sported some of
the most varied camouflage plus squadron and
individual markings in England. Upon arrival at
Kings Cliffe in January 1943, its first combat-
ready P-47C models bore a factory-standard
olive drab over neutral gray livery.
As the Thunderbolt was the first and only radial- here, the “Belle of Belmont”, a P-47D-22 from the 63rd
engined U.S. fighter in the ETO at the time, its similarity Fighter Squadron was “restored” to a standard OD-
to an Fw 190 quickly forced visual augmentation with over-gray scheme while many of the D-25 bubble-tops
24-inch white nose cowl bands and later matching were given an RAF-style shadow-shading green/gray
bands on the horizontal and vertical tails. A further upper pattern. Red nose cowlings were then adopted
enhancement was a second star cockade added to the throughout the group to enhance their identity.
left side underwing and a short-lived red surround to Invasion striping came next and that was soon over-
the fuselage star. painted topside but extra-large star and bar insignia
RAF-style group/squadron three-letter codes were were added when low-level strafing was added to the
soon added as new U.S. units arrived in theater. group’s mission. When the late model natural-metal M
Markings remained pretty uniform until early 1944 models were introduced early in January 1945, each
when group theater nose bands were replaced with squadron came up with its own distinctive appearance
squadron colors of red, yellow, and blue, and later that included matte black upper surfaces with red
partly applied to the rudders of two squadrons. codes, a gray-green disruptive pattern with yellow
Theater bands were also generally removed but when lettering, and a rather flamboyant shadow-shading
the initial uncamouflaged replacement P-47D-21s and scheme in indigo and sky blue with the squadron codes
-25s began arriving in the late spring of 1944, the group left in natural metal. True to its earned uniqueness, the
immediately began painting many of its new charges 56th FG maintained its distinctive legacy through its
in several different and unique patterns. As pictured pilots, personnel, and its visual appearance. —Stan Piet
 The glider gang behind the lines
BY SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

During the National WW II Glider Pilots Association’s

41st reunion in Oklahoma City in October 2011, glider
pilots George L. Williams of Idaho and Norman C.
Wilmeth of Oklahoma shared memories of their D-Day
glider missions with the author.
Twelve glider infantrymen of the 193rd Glider Infantry
Regiment prepare to climb aboard a Waco CG-4 named
“Sad Sack” for a D-Day training mission at Camp MacKall,
North Carolina.
SILENT MISSIONS

Flight Officer
Mission elmira George L. Williams.
Normandy D-Day
Flight Officer George L. Williams flew seven
glider missions during World War II. Fresh
out of high school when he enlisted, he was
excited to be a part of the war. He had the
opportunity to fly both the large British
Airspeed Horsa glider and the relatively
smaller American Waco CG-4A Hadrian
glider. The wooden Horsa’s fuselage was 67
feet long, its wingspan was 88 feet, and it
had a loaded weight up to 15,500 pounds. The
American Waco’s tube-and-fabric fuselage
measured 48 feet, 8 inches long, its wingspan
was 83 feet, 8 inches, and it had a loaded
takeoff weight of 7,500 pounds (or up to 9,000
pounds at emergency load weight).

Horsa vs. CG-4A

When asked to compare the two gliders he
flew, Williams recalled, “During Normandy,
I flew the Horsa glider. It was like a Mack
truck—you couldn’t maneuver it very well. A was going just as fast as he could. He wasn’t
Horsa really shouldn’t be cross-controlled (for 10 feet over that runway, and he told me just
example, performing a slipping maneuver to before I lifted off the ground, ‘If you don’t get
lose altitude), especially with a load in it—it that thing off the ground by the time we get to
might not recover to controlled flight again. that building, you’re going to be off the [tow]
But the CG-4A—that was a Mercedes by rope.’ That is bad news when he disconnects
comparison!” his end of the rope—it has a big hook up there
Several glider missions were flown on and the nylon rope approximately 10% before it
D-Day in Operation Overlord. Mission Elmira snaps—so if he disconnects his end, that thing
was flown during the early evening of June is stretching and boom! It’ll tear the whole nose
6. Williams related his experience of flying a apart practically!
Horsa glider during that mission:
Overloaded
Teenager on D-Day “I got off the ground at the last second and
“Briefing and training were extensive and very was just mushing for half an hour. I wasn’t
good for D-Day,” reflects Williams, adding, really climbing very much. We circled for a
“They made a great big mosaic map of the long time because there were thousands of
whole area and told me the name of every gliders coming in. I finally got up to about 600
farm close to where I was landing. I had a feet and asked the commanding officer of the
38-year-old copilot and I was barely 19 then. I ground unit on board to come forward behind
flew a British Horsa glider with a jeep, a trailer the pilots’ compartment. I asked him, ‘Did you
full of ordnance and mortar ammunition. I supervise loading this glider?’ He said, ‘No,
had 19 fully equipped airborne troopers. I was I didn’t, and I’m mad—I saw what you did to
overloaded by approximately 3,000 pounds struggle off the ground.’ Well, I knew it was
when we took off from Greenham Common— overloaded because we had figured out a way
that was the base in England about 60 miles of testing before we took off. We jumped up in
west of London. The runway length was way the air and grabbed the glider’s tailskid, and
more than we should have needed, and there if the tail came down like this [gesturing to
was a construction area down at the end. It a height above the ground], it was okay. If it
was a pretty smooth road leading out from the came down like this [gesturing with a quick
runway. Anyway, I got to the end of the runway downward motion], it was tail-heavy—and
and still wasn’t off the ground! The C-47 was that’s what this Horsa did. So I knew that,
off the ground, and that tow pilot knew what and I had rolled the trim tab forward and did
my problem was, so he held the C-47 down and everything I could to try and keep the nose

56 FlightJournal.com
ABOVE: C-47s of the 72nd and 74th TCS, 434th
TCG are waiting to queue up with their Horsa
gliders at Aldermaston in preparation for the
KEOKUK afternoon resupply mission on June 6.

RIGHT: One of the primary design functions

of the Waco CG-4A glider was to bring light
transport and field artillery to the battlefront.

BELOW: Hastily applied invasion stripes greet

this somber group of airborne infantry as they
ready to board a Horsa glider for their June 6
daylight delivery to Normandy.

May/June 2024 57
SILENT MISSIONS

down because I couldn’t buck all that weight. nylon tow ropes on the ground. Normally
“The air was very smooth and there was we released about 300 feet above the
no turbulence, so when the [towplane made a ground. Well, after I released, I lost 290 feet
quick maneuver], the jeep suddenly got loose immediately! I did that on purpose. I could see
and rolled forward! The Horsa’s nose came we were going to land in water because the
down all of a sudden, and I thought, ‘Oh, God!’ I Germans had opened some irrigation ditches
could feel the difference in my stomach! That and flooded that field until the water was
is the only time I ever got scared.” several feet deep. I went down and hit that
water hard and fast, and that quickly stopped
Landing hazards my forward speed—and that’s what can kill
“We got the glider level again and I asked you. The Horsa didn’t have the protective nose
the tow pilot, ‘What the hell did you do back device like the CG-4A, which was equipped
there? You’re jerking me all over!’ Then I told with a bolt-on Griswold nose consisting of
the crew that because of the load I had, I four pikes that came down a big steel plate
was going to come in really fast. I could see that could knock down small trees or poles.”
Normandy, but it was a little ways away. I
said, ‘When we come in, we’re going to be hot. Behind enemy lines
Normally, too much speed coming in means “As soon as we landed, I told everybody to get
you’re asking to be killed because you can’t out of the glider, but not to unload anything
get the damn thing stopped. But, I said to until we knew where the enemy was. If we’d
myself, ‘I don’t have spoilers, I’ve got ‘barn landed one field over, we’d have known
door’ flaps.’ They were big things, like this immediately! The 88th Squadron really got it.

The air was very smooth and there was no turbulence, so when the
[towplane made a quick maneuver], the jeep suddenly got loose and rolled
forward! The horsa’s nose came down all of a sudden, and I thought, ‘Oh, God!’

[gesturing with arms spread wide]. So first, I I had quite a few bullet holes in the tail of the
rolled the trim forward and both of us grabbed glider, but I didn’t know that until I got out.
hold of that control wheel because I didn’t At that time of the year, they were in double
want the nose to come up—the glider would daylight saving time. It was pretty light out,
have stalled. Then I dropped those flaps just but it did get dark after midnight for a while.
before I was going to land. I was going about After we got down on the ground and it was
115mph—way too fast—when I pulled those finally dark, we used hand-operated ‘cricket’
flap handles on.” clickers for communicating.”
The Germans had erected hundreds Along with other pilots in his squadron,
of wooden poles, nicknamed “Rommel’s Williams was interviewed afterward, by
asparagus,” which were sunk partway war correspondent Ted Malone, on the
into the ground and strategically placed radio. [Unknown to Williams at the time, the
throughout the fields in Normandy as hazards interview was recorded by Westinghouse
to glider landings. Williams saw those in his Corporation, and a copy was later given to
target landing area, so he chose another field his father back in the States.] The interview
about two miles south of Sainte-Mère-Église. reported that the glider pilots had landed in
Newspaper accounts reported: “On reaching German territory and “spent three-and-one-
the French coast, Williams’ plane drew fire half days filtering through the German lines
from 20mm antiaircraft guns and rifles. back to friendly soil. While making their way
Farther inland, German soldiers used machine back to their own lines, the men surprised
guns to try to bring the plane down.” 43 Germans and took them prisoner. They
Williams recalled, “The tow pilot had a were forced to hide in trees, holes, or barns
certain way he was supposed to fly to avoid of peasants while attempting escape. After
ground fire—if the intelligence was correct. meeting American troops, the men piled in
After the glider released, he’d bank a wing Jeeps and started back to the beaches to join
over an area where they dropped the their forces.”

58 FlightJournal.com
TOP: Before Allied soldiers reached the beaches, U.S. and
British paratroopers were landed behind German lines
in Normandy. Shown here on the right is a British Horsa
glider and on the left and the background are two Waco
CG-4A gliders. (Photo courtesy of EN Archives)

RIGHT: A nice view of a CG-4 glider in flight from the

cockpit shows a slight climb with an airspeed of 110mph.
Both the 350-foot nylon towline and the left wing of the
C-47 Skytrain tow plane are visible through the glider’s
canopy.

BELOW: A C-47 Skytrain flown by First Lt. Gerald Berry

of the 91st Troop Carrier Squadron about to snag the
pick-up line and make the first recovery of a glider from
liberated France on June 23, 1944, near St. Mere-Eglise.

May/June 2024 59
SILENT MISSIONS

Getting back to base Second Lt. Norman

Williams recalled that the glider pilots had C. Wilmeth. (Photo
been ordered to “proceed [by walking] to courtesy of author)
Utah Beach for evacuation, first by an Army
DUKW from Utah Beach to the LCI [Landing
Craft Infantry], and next by LST [Landing Ship
Tank]—but it was having engine trouble, so
we transferred to a PT boat for the trip back
via the Channel to England. There, C-47s took
us back to Greenham Common. Our main
job after landing was guarding prisoners and
crossroads.”
A hometown Idaho newspaper ran a story
about Williams’ participation in D-Day,
stating that he was awarded an Air Medal for
“outstanding gallantry” in his glider mission.
A portion of the Air Medal citation reads as
follows: “Magnificent spirit and enthusiasm
was displayed by F. O. Williams, and combined
with skill, courage, and devotion to his duty,
he remained at the controls of his glider,
without regard to personal safety, against
most severe enemy opposition and landed his finally wrestled it off the ground. Once we
glider astride Hitler’s Westwall.” were airborne, and passed 90mph indicated, it
flew fine.”
Mission hackensack
(Normandy D-Day + 1) Antiaircraft fire
Second Lieutenant Norman Wilmeth flew six “Our flight was uneventful until we passed by
glider missions during World War II. At age the east coast of Cherbourg, when I noticed
26, he was older than many of his peers in splashes in the water off our right front. I first
the service. Briefly reflecting on his missions, thought the splashes were from dropped
Wilmeth commented, “Most people only have belly tanks from fighters in the area. Then
one experience in their life like that and I have one of the splashes was a surface burst, and
had several. I flew four glider combat missions I realized that we were at the extreme range
and two more, which were special missions of shore ground fire. The splashes were from
into Germany.” projectiles, not belly tanks. And soon we
During Operation Overlord, Mission would receive the green light to cut loose and
Hackensack was one of two glider missions land. We were briefed to do a 270-degree turn
that were made on the morning of June 7, to the left, instead of a standard glider release
1944. Wilmeth recalled his mission: turn to the right. That was odd, and I never
have figured out why we did that, when we
Heavily loaded Horsa could have done a 90-degree turn to the right.
“I flew the Horsa glider and had 30-some But anyway, we did a 270-degree turn to the
troops aboard; our D-Day mission had been left, and what I observed was that when I’d roll
postponed by one day because of weather. back my airspeed—if my memory’s right—to
That gave the troops time to think about about 75 or 80mph indicated, the needle on
wanting to have another bandolier—another the rate-of-descent instrument was pegged
round of mortar ammunition. Because of straight down. So, I increased the airspeed to
this, my load was more than normal, since 90mph indicated, and that reduced my rate of
the fellows had been in combat before and descent.
thought that they needed extra supplies. “The Horsa had a cockpit with a door
We were heavy, and when we took off, the behind the pilot and copilot, and the sergeant
towplane was airborne with the wheels up was standing there in the doorway, and I told
in the well, but we were still on the runway, him, ‘Sit down, shut the door, and prepare for
trying to get off. We traveled the full length a crash landing’—because I figured we were
of the runway, and then the grass, before we going to land in the trees. And he did. I rolled

60 FlightJournal.com
A restored Waco CG-4A out on a heading and prepared for a crash pretty golden boy, since they were all safe and
on display at the Silent landing in the trees. All of a sudden a little sound.”
Wings Museum in
Lubbock, Texas. (Photo area opened up, and I called for full flaps, and
courtesy of Silent Wings on the Horsa, the bottom of the wing flaps Firefight
Museum) would be as large as a conference table on “As soon as we got organized, I started
both sides, so it would really come down at walking down a road and got into a firefight. I
a very steep angle. Well, my copilot was also got hit from the back with the first round—if
a power pilot, and he was a little slow about I’d been playing football, it would have been
putting the flaps down. So, I reached over and a 15-yard penalty for clipping. The sergeant
slapped the control down myself and got the assigned a trooper to look after me, after we
flaps lowered.” got through that firefight, but I said, ‘Sergeant,
you go ahead and take this trooper and put
Crash landing him somewhere else. I’m a trained infantry
“The flaps and brakes were operated by officer and I’ve got enough sense to get
compressed air, and before we took off, they down out of the line of fire—I don’t have to be
came around and aired up every Horsa’s knocked down.’ So that took care of that. We
air tank. We touched down fast at 90mph went on and I joined some other glider pilots
indicated, and I struck one of those glider and we meandered along toward the coast.”
poles [‘Rommel’s asparagus’]. I saw it just fly
up out of the ground, like a toothpick flipping The long way home
up into the air, so it wasn’t planted very deep. “A half-track came by and we hopped on
I had time to hit right-rudder, left-rudder, and board, going on down to the coastline. We
correct my direction of flight. When I came to got on board a ship and the next morning
a hedgerow, I had enough forward speed to we were in Portsmouth, England. The glider
pull back on the yoke and raise the nose up, pilots were the first ones off of the ship, even
where I could hit the belly on the hedgerow. though they had prisoners and those who had
So, the Horsa took the shock of the crash been wounded aboard. They had trucks there
on its belly, and we opened the door and for us, and we loaded up and drove about an
everybody jumped out. The only injury on that hour to this camp area they had set up with a
flight was one of the troopers, who sprained mess hall. We went over to the mess hall, and
his ankle on the jump out of the door. We what did they feed us? Steak! Oh, was it good!
were high enough off the ground that it was Then we loaded back up and drove a few miles
quite a fall. to another camp area where we were going
“We had the windshield shot out; some to stay all night. And what did they feed us?
other gliders had come to this same field and More steak! So we had two steak dinners in
they had received small arms fire. One of less than six hours—that was their reward for
them had gone kind of slant-ways through us coming back from behind enemy lines. We
the trees, and the Horsa was all wood—so stayed there until a troop carrier plane came
there was a lot of splintering on it from going by that airfield and picked us up. Then they
through the trees. My troops thought I was a dropped us off at our different air bases.”

May/June 2024 61
 IN THEATER

Keeping ’Em Flying

THE GROUND CREW CHIEF, his mechanics and armorers are true unsung heroes of the aerial D-Day
invasion. The complexity of their job—and the battle environment in which they had to perform to
keep the aircraft airborne—were immensely challenging. Keeping any multi-cylinder radial engine
like a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 or Merlin V-12 combat-ready was a feat in itself, not to mention all
the other key aircraft systems. Dealing with battle damage created yet another set of problems. In
addition, there was a good chance that a year or two prior, the crew in this photo were just kids on
a farm or sitting at the local soda fountain in some small American town. Most had never been out
of the country and never worked on anything more complex than a flathead Ford engine or tractor.
One could only imagine the energy that day 80 years ago by these young warriors, knowing that
they were part of this incredible history-making event.
In this photo from June 6, 1944, a P-51B of the 364th FS, 357th FG at the old RAF Leiston Airfield—
actually located in Theberton, Suffolk, England—undergoes maintenance and refueling and is
readied for another mission. Note the 15 mission markings painted on the nose above the exhaust
stacks. (Photo courtesy of EN Archives collection) —Louis DeFrancesco

62 FlightJournal.com
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May/June 2024 65
 TAILVIEW

War’s Ultimate Weapon

BY BUDD DAVISSON

THERE’S A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF ELITISM attached to what Take a look at this photo and try to remember that most of
we do here at Flight Journal: all of our focus is on aircraft those pictured are barely 21 years old. We don’t know the fate
and their pilots. In fact, as you worked your way through the of those captured in this single frame, but ask yourself, “Which
preceding articles to this final page, you probably couldn’t ones didn’t make it?” And what effect did that day, and the
help but glory in the deeds accomplished by those winged weeks that followed, have on those who survived? And on the
warriors during the D-Day experience. This even includes the families of those who didn’t return? It’s a sobering image.
ugly ducklings, like the gliders. Our focus is on everything They were among the roughly 140,000 who made their
that’s airborne, so, without meaning to, we give the impression entrance on D-Day huddled down behind the ramp of an assault
that World War II was won by the aerial heroes we venerate in craft bounding through the cold surf. They hoped their slow-
these pages. In so doing, we sometimes overlook what, in the moving, tub-like craft made it to the beach before an 88mm
final analysis, actually wins wars: a dogface with a rifle. Foot round found them. Then they hoped a machine gunner hidden
in the bluffs above didn’t have his
sights zeroed in on them, ready to
mow them down the instant the
ramp was dropped. Finally, they
hoped they weren’t cut down while
wading through the waist-deep
surf or while inching their way
across the exposed beach on their
bellies. All of this happened before
they were even in a position from
which they could return fire.
Brains flooded with adrenaline
eventually become numb to their
probable fate. At first terrified and
overwhelmed at the carnage around
them, their thought processes
quickly mutated into another mode.
Their goal became the goal of the
unit and they thought no further
than the next step, the next firing
position, the next way to thwart
the enemy and keep advancing.
And they did everything possible
to protect their buddy lying next to
them.
We pay tribute to those who were
soldiers are the point of the lance, and everything else exists there. Their actions changed history and marked the beginning
to make their mission possible. Airplanes included. of the end of an evil so enormous that later generations can’t
WW II was won by kids from small towns, cornfields, and begin to comprehend it.
urban ghettos carrying M1 Garands, Enfields, or Mosin- When we talk about the role of aviation over the beaches
Nagants. Period. Transports, gliders, landing ships, aircraft that day, it’s important we remember why those pilots were
carriers, bombers, and fighters all existed to transport them, there in the first place. As they looked down at the sand
support them, protect them, and clear the way for them. But, crawling with ant-like figures that were their brothers in arms,
airplanes and ships don’t take the next hill. They don’t clear the they knew deep in their gut that every strafing pass, every
next house or flush the enemy out of the next cave. They can rocket launched, might be saving a GI’s life. And they would
only assist, because, as has often been said, the ugly business take any risk necessary to complete that mission.
of war always comes down to one young man with a rifle trying In the final analysis, worldwide freedom was won by
to kill another young man with a rifle and take control of the history’s most perfect and most effective weapon system: the
soil on which he’s standing. It is unspeakably dirty and bloody infantryman and his rifle.
and stretches every molecule of a youngster’s ability to cope
with horrific realities. Visit Budd online at budddavisson.substack.com

66 FlightJournal.com