Wilhelmshaven, November 3, 1943
Sure, we’re braver than hell; on the ground all is swell
In the air it’s a different story;
We sweat out our track through the fighters and flak,
We’re willing to split up the glory.
Well, they wouldn’t reject us, so Heaven protect us,
And, until all this shooting abates,
Give us courage to fight ‘em—one other small item—
An escort of P-38s!
—from “Lightnings in the Sky”
Anonymous
The P-38s that some of the Hell’s Angels had seen on the Second Schweinfurt journey were better equipped to help the “Big Friends” when November arrived. At this time the Eighth had two groups of Lightnings in the ETO; the 55th, located at Nuthampstead, and the 20th, based at Kings Cliffe. Only the 55th Group was fully operational, but the 20th Group had enough aircraft to serve as a “fourth squadron” for its sister unit. Thus, the Eighth’s planners were able to put 45 long-range Lightnings into the air to complement the 333 P-47 Thunderbolts from the seven groups it had in England.
For this first mission of November 1943 Pinetree had planned a maximum effort. More than 566 heavy bombers were to attack Wilhelmshaven, an ideal objective for another new weapon the Americans had: H2X, code-named “Mickey,” a U.S. version of the H2S “Stinky” radar the Eighth had borrowed from the British for its early PFF missions against Emden.
All First Division B-17s available were to take off to form four combat wing formations. The 40th CBW would lead; a Composite Wing drawn from all of the Division’s groups would make up the second combat box; the 1st CBW would be third in line; and the 41st CBW, led by the 303rd, would bring up the rear.
The 482nd PFF Group, based at Alconbury, was tasked with supplying H2X ships to each of the Division’s wings: two each to the 40th CBW and the Composite Wing, one each to the 1st and 41st CBWs. The Second and Third Divisions were to follow the First into the target at five-minute intervals.
Though the total number of bombers was impressive, the emphasis was on the fighter escort. The naval dockyards of Wilhelmshaven were the primary target, but the field order stipulated that the secondary target could be “any German industrial target which will not disrupt fighter support.”
Two groups of P-47s were to escort the First Division on the first inbound leg; a second P-47 group would overlap on the way into the target. The Lightnings of the 55th Group and their 20th Group contingent would escort the bombers into and out of the target area, and a final group of P-47s was to take the B-17s home. A “special note” to the First Division field order stated: “There will be additional groups of American fighters with 2nd and 3rd Divisions which together with 1st Division fighter support will put several hundred friendly fighters on this route within approximately a 30-minute period.” All in all, the mission amounted to a major demonstration of American airpower.
The 303rd’s contribution was a force of 23 B-17s. Six bombers from the 358th Squadron—including Captain Gamble’s crew in Sky Wolf— would form the low squadron of the Composite Wing’s low group. The balance of the 303rd would take up position two wings back at the head of the 41st CBW.
Captain David Shelhamer’s crew was leading the high squadron in Vicious Virgin; Hullar’s crew was flying second element lead of the high squadron in B-17F 42-29823, and the Group was headed by a 482nd PFF ship with the Wing Air Commander, Lt. Colonel Eugene A. Romig, aboard. Romig was no stranger to the 303rd. He had commanded the 359th Squadron during the 303rd’s early days and he would go on to a distinguished career as Commander of the First Division’s 351st Bomb Group.*
The 303rd got off between 0940 and 1000 and began to assemble above Molesworth. At 1035 the PFF ship joined the Group over the base at 8000 feet. Wing assembly was next, and in his Group Leader’s Narrative Colonel Romig commented: “The Combat Wing assembly was effected smoothly and this was about the best coordinated mission I have ever seen.” The 303rd climbed to its assigned altitude of 22,000 feet without difficulty, and before long it and the rest of the Wing were over the enemy coast.
303rd Bomb Group Mission Route(s): Wilhelmshaven, November 3, 1943, (Map courtesy Waters Design Associates, Inc.)
The P-47s assumed their normal escort formation, crisscrossing above the bombers at 27,000 feet. Looking to the rear from the radio room, George Hoyt did not see them, but about 15 minutes into enemy territory he did spy another group of aircraft:
“I was looking at the vast sky behind us devoid of any other planes. My eyes picked up a large formation of planes approaching us from five o’clock level. They were very far out, and from that distance looked like a group of bombers. I called Bob Hullar to inform him, and he said, ‘Keep an eye on them, because there are not supposed to be any more B-17 groups behind us according to the briefing.’
“Slowly these planes gained on us, in a tight formation that looked like one of ours. Finally, about 1200 yards out, they were close enough for me to identify. They were P-38s! They throttled back and stayed about that distance behind us. It sure felt good having them there.”
The P-38s were employing a new “close escort” tactic, staying right with the bombers to ward off enemy fighters. Two wings ahead of Hullar’s crew, Captain Gamble also noted their proximity: “Get high P-47 protection at coast and on in. P-38s come in close.”
The tactic soon bore fruit, all along the bomber stream. Lt. Bill McSween wrote: “Just before the IP I saw approximately 25 fighters break through the clouds below. I called Don and he called the P-38s.”
Don Gamble wrote: “All 25 or 30 enemy aircraft break out of the clouds below. I call the P-38s and they come right down to protect us from these bandits. They fly in close and only one bandit gets through but he doesn’t attack the formation.”
McSween happily concluded: “They came right in and definitely saved our hides. Jerry stayed well out of range. There was very little flak at the target, 10/10 cloud cover, the bombs dropped, and we drove out unscathed.”
Another group of Germans popped up through the clouds in front of the 41st CBW. In the nose of No. 823 Elmer Brown was with Sgt. Royal Plante, a “togglier” whose primary job was to drop the bombs when they went from the lead PFF ship. As the Germans formed for a head-on attack, Brown could not resist the temptation to take the front seat and fire from the .50-caliber in the Plexiglas nose.
“I acted as both bombardier and navigator. The only time I got a good shot at enemy fighters was when we were on the bomb run. I had to keep one hand on the toggle switch, but I managed to fire the machine gun with the other hand.”
In the radio room Hoyt “heard Brownie call ‘Bandits at twelve o’clock!’ which meant they were attacking us head-on. I knew it would only be seconds before they would be barreling through our formation towards the rear. I shot at them as they zipped over the radio room hatch and then those gray 109s really ran into a surprise!
“I saw the P-38s suddenly break formation like a swarm of angry hornets. An intense dogfight ensued, with a P-38 on the tail of a Messerschmitt everywhere I could see. Directly behind us at six o’clock an Me-109 climbed almost straight up with a P-38 right on his tail. I saw 109s pull this maneuver many times to shake off P-47s that could not climb as fast, but that twin-engine Lightning closed right in and parked right behind this 109 at what must have been less than 50 feet.
“The P-38 let go with his nose guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and a 20mm cannon, and pieces flew off the German fighter right and left. Then he started down in a blaze, leaving a trail of black smoke. It all happened in a matter of seconds.”
From the tail, Miller saw another kill: “I remember a P-38 with a 109 on his tail. He was maneuvering around, and pulled up into a climb straight up, which he could do pretty well with his twin engines. The 109 tried to follow him and stalled out. Just as he did, the P-38’s wingman came in and chopped him in two.”
Bud Klint saw the same combat from the cockpit: “The Lightning’s big advantage seemed to be its rate of climb. I clearly remember seeing one P-38 with an Me-109 on its tail. The Lightning pilot stood his plane up on its tail and the 109 tried to follow him. The Kraut was hanging on his prop and looked about to stall out when a second ’38 came roaring in and cut him to shreds. I watched four Jerries come out of dogfights on the losing end that afternoon. Those Lightnings were beautiful that day.”
From Vicious Virgin, David Shelhamer was similarly impressed: “The P-38 pilots were very much aware that their primary duty was to protect the bombers. I’m prejudiced, but I always felt that the P-47 pilots just loved to make pretty contrails about 5000 feet above us while the Germans were shooting the living hell out of our formations. The P-38s came in quite close to us, and the moment they were aware of enemy activity, they were right on the German fighters. In my book those P-38 pilots were just great.”
The dogfight between the P-38s and the German fighters—about 30 Me-109s and FW-190s in all—took place near the IP as the 303rd turned left and began its bomb run through meager, inaccurate flak and dense cloud cover. The fight lasted less than five minutes, but it was not all one-sided—Captain Shelhamer’s crew saw a Fortress ahead of the Group go down two minutes before the 303rd dropped its bombs at 1314. It exploded above low clouds at about five to six thousand feet. Once “bombs away” was called, the Group made another left turn and headed for home.
In one sense the flight back was uneventful; there were no other aerial combats and only a few bursts of flak for the bombers to avoid. But for George Hoyt there was a sight that has stayed with him all these years as a symbol of what took place that first day the Group had an escort of P-38s:
“After we left the French coast I looked out the starboard window of the radio room at the B-17 flying next to us. Under the protection of the bomber’s wing, almost glued to its ball turret, was a P-38 with its right engine out and its propeller feathered. I went back to the waist to get a better look from Marson’s large open window and as I did the P-38 pilot looked at me and gave me the ‘thumbs up’ sign. I answered with a ‘V for Victory,’ and felt a surge of emotion which brought tears to my eyes.”
P-38 escort [Photo courtesy National Archives (USAF Photo).]
The 303rd landed back at Molesworth between 1530 and 1600, bringing the mission to a close without a single lost ship. But the sense of elation and victory that George Hoyt and the others had spilled over into the interrogations the crews underwent. Crew after crew registered their praise for the job the Lightnings did. Bob Hullar summed up the escort in a word: “Beautiful!”
Lt. “Woodie” Woddrop’s crew judged the “P-38s very good, especially so.”
Lt. G.S. McClellan’s crew saw that they “gave crippled Forts excellent coverage.”
Lt. Carl Fyler’s crew said, “Good cover, especially the 38s.”
Lt. W.C. Heller’s crew reported that “P-38s were right in there giving us personal attention. Very good support.”
And lastly, Lt. Ambrose Grant’s crew—the one that had flown the crippled Cat O’ 9 Tails back from Schweinfurt—spoke for everyone when they said: “More P-38s—they’re eager.”
The P-38s and the mission as a whole made a positive impression on more than the B-17 crews. The numbers looked good. The score was seven B-17s and two P-47s against 16 German fighters: 13 claimed by the P-47s and three credited to the P-38s.
The American press reported favorably on the operation, describing it as a “thousand plane raid,” which it was when all the heavy bombers, fighters, and twin-engine B-26s flying diversions were taken into account. Thus, the mission did much to restore a measure of public confidence in the Eighth’s ability to bomb the enemy without extreme loss.
The reality was more complex. The damage done by the PFF bombing was difficult to assess, and much of the P-38’s success in safeguarding the bombers flowed from its novelty. The history of war is filled with cases where a new weapon momentarily throws an enemy off balance, and so it was with the Lightnings and the Luftwaffe. In time, German fighter pilots adjusted their tactics to the twin-engine fighter’s weaknesses—inferior diving ability, ongoing mechanical problems with engines and superchargers, and poor high-altitude performance—and the odds evened out.
Moreover, the Eighth’s leaders realized that the P-38, despite its advantage in range over the P-47, still did not have legs long enough to escort the bombers to all critical targets in the Reich.