I thought I'd share some info on one group of folks who really did a bang up job in WWII. These guys started with P-400's in England in 1942 and worked thier way through several models of the P-39 till they FINALLY received an upgrade to the P-47 AFTER the Anzio battle in 1944.
I met one pilot and have had a few years of correspondace with another. These guys are about as close as they get to real life heroes
for me.
So. If you have time, check out the links to some colelctions put togther by a couple of other friends over the past two years and read the story below, if first hand history is your thing. It is for me
http://www.msawest.com/contentpage.htm#devilhawks http://web.a-znet.com/rmwinks/vets/earlspage.html -Westy
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"The following was sent to me by Hugh Dow after I told him about the websites created by +mia, Greenhorn, etc.
earl
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The 350th FG, (made up of the 345th, 346th and 347th Squadrons) originally based in England, stood longer than any other USAAF
Group, against the Luftwaffe over the troopships, merchantmen and warships of the Allied Nations plying the Mediterranean. For Eighteen Months, the 350th's part was to stay with the vital shipping, alert for the Luftwaffe to make the first move. They operated in the Mediterranean Theatre from November 1942, to May 1945.
There were several distinct campaigns in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations.
November 11 to November 17 1942: Moroccan Campaign culminating in the capitulation of Algeria and French Morocco.
November 8, 1942 to May 13, 1943 The Tunisian Campaign. Victory was celebrated by the 350th elements at La Senia Warnier and
Le Sers, where the Germans were penned up in Tunisia and then trapped at Cap Bon, concluding the effort to sweep the Axis from
North Africa.
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Added info beginning here:
The 350th FG, (made up of the 345th, 346th and 347th Squadrons) was activated in England on 1 October 1942. As far as has been determined, it was the only USAAF combat Group to activated from scratch in Europe in WW II. (The Eagle Squadrons became the 4th Fighter Group on transfer to USAAF in September/October 42). The 350th was organized under extremely urgent circumstances in an attempt to provide one additional US Fighter Group for combat operations in North Africa. The invasion was scheduled to take place there the on 8 November 1942. The plan was to equip the Group with P-39 Airacobras and pilots, already in England, to check out new pilots and then to fly the P-39s down to Africa so as to be ready for combat six weeks after activation, on D+ 6.
Its pilots came from three sources; one fourth from the US 31st Fighter Group and another fourth from the 52nd Fighter Group, these being the first two USAAF combat groups to arrive in England, in May and June of 1942. These pilots had flown P-39s in the States but were equipped with Spitfire Mark Vs on arrival in England. Many of the 31st Group pilots had flown some fighter sweeps over the English Channel and had participated in the ill fated Dieppe raid in August 42. Some of the 52nd Group pilots also reportedly flew a few combat missions. The other half of the original pilot cadre came from American volunteers in the RAF who were offered transfers to the USAAF
at the end of September 42 and immediately assigned to the new Squadrons of the 350th Fighter Group, plus fillers for the just depleted 31st and 52nd Groups. Some of these pilots had flown on operations with RAF Spitfire or Hurricane Squadrons (a few had considerable combat experience) but many were pilots who had only recently completed Operational Training Unit courses on Hurricanes or Spitfires and were standing by for assignment to their first RAF combat Squadron.
The plan proved to be too optimistic almost from the beginning. Many of the aircraft were still in crates and those that were not had been in storage since the deactivation several months earlier of the only RAF Squadron that had been equipped with the P-39/400. In addition, the English, Burtonwood depot, charged with assembling the P-39s and the completion of critical modifications before further flight, proved totally inadequate to the huge workload posed by the forthcoming invasion of North Africa. As a result, the Group had to borrow Spitfires from the RAF to maintain some pilot proficiency in the three Squadrons with most Airacobra aircraft not becoming available until the middle of December 42, or January 43. Despite the severe weather conditions prevailing in England in the middle of winter the first pilots took off for their 1200 mile flight over the ocean to French Morocco on 3 January 1943. Over the next two months the Group's 75 pilots
all launched on these flights to Africa. Most of the former RAF pilots had acquired only about 20 hours in the P-39 prior to the six hour plus flight down to Africa, some having no more than 17 hours in type, on launch. Sixty one arrived at the destination airport of Port yautey, French Morocco, one of these being
wiped out on landing when it ran into an inadequately filled bomb crater in the runway. Ten, on one flight, ran short of fuel after the B-25 they were following took too extended a tour of the sights over the Bay of Biscay, and landed in Portugal, where they were interned. The pilots were eventually released (after 3
months restriction at a remote Army installation) but the aircraft were lost. Another pilot made a cautionary landing at Lisbon after losing all electrical power and suffered the same fate. Another flight of five ran into a severe frontal storm over the Bay of Biscay and broke up. Two pilots penetrated the storm and proceeded on their own, without the aid of the navigator on board the lead bomber, and landed in at their destination. One pilot attempted to return to England but missed and ended up over southern Ireland where he eventually crash landed. One of the other pilots, after turning east and intercepting the French coast eventually landed at an airfield
in Spain, after calculating that he did not have sufficient fuel to reach Africa. He too was interned but reached Gibraltar after a several weeks, like those who had landed in Portugal. These interned pilots were smuggled out of Portugal and Spain in civilian clothes, at night, and proceeded by small coastal steamer down to Gib. The last pilot in this flight of five became the Group's first combat casualty (its
second pilot loss, one having been killed in England on his first or second flight in a P-39). He was shot down by a Ju 88 fighter assigned to a special unit stationed on the west coast of France to intercept the Allied flights to and from Africa. To obtain maximum range the P-39s were flown at approximately 165 mph, making a lone aircraft a sitting duck when ambushed by the Ju 88s. (Another P-39 from a different Group and at least one P-38 were also shot down over the Bay of Biscay by this Luftwaffe unit, as were several other USAAF
and RAF aircraft).
There were several distinct campaigns in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations.
November 11 to November 17 1942: Moroccan Campaign, culminating in the capitulation of Algeria and French Morocco.
While the 350th Fighter Group's pilots had been organized in England its ground elements were organized in the United States.
The plan called for the air and ground echelons to come together at an airfield in Africa in November on D+ 6. As a consequence,
the ground echelon had sailed to Africa with the invasion fleet and had disembarked shortly after the fighting ceased in French Morocco. These troops spent two months unloading ships and performing other support duties while waiting for the pilots to fly down to join them.
November 8, 1942 to May 13, 1943 The Tunisian Campaign.
The first pilots of the 350th Fighter Group to arrive in Africa closed with the Group's ground echelon at Oujda airfield in eastern Morocco on 7 January 1943. Three weeks later a Detachment of 10 pilots and aircraft of the 346th Fighter Squadron were dispatched to Thelepte 2 airfield in Tunisia to augment two Squadrons of the other P-39 equipped Fighter Group in Africa, the 81st Group. The Group Commander and the Group Operations Officer joined the Detachment a few days later. Tunisia was the first serious testing ground of the war in Europe/Africa for US Army and USAAF combat operations. Pre war doctrines and operating procedures were put to the test and were found lacking in numerous respects. But, faced with the unforgiving realities of actual combat against the experienced German and Italian forces, survival became an urgent teacher. During a period of some two weeks duration in Tunisia, the 346 Squadron Detachment flew between 80 and 100 strafing sorties. All aircraft refueling was done by hand from 5 gallon flimsys or 55 gallon drums and the only items above ground were the aircraft themselves. On the night of 16 February, 43, the Detachment personnel watched the sky light up in huge columns
of flame, and listened to a constant rumble of explosions as the American field supply depot of fuel, munitions and rations, were put to the torch a few miles south of the airfield. Ground crews worked through the night to put as many aircraft as possible into flying condition. At dawn the unflyable aircraft on the field were put to the torch and all available
aircraft were flown on a final mission against a Panzer Division bearing down on the American depot and airfield. The flight recovered at Le Kouf, an airfield in eastern most Algeria. Here, it was withdrawn from further tactical
operations in Tunisia and its remaining aircraft were given to the 81st Fighter Group. At this point the 350th Fighter Group became a part of the newly established North West African Coastal Air Force. During its two weeks of combat the Detachment had shot down two Me-109s and damaged another that were attacking the airfields at Thelepte, had probably destroyed one Ju 87 on the ground, destroyed or damaged a considerable number of enemy trucks and armored vehicles and had killed at least several dozen enemy troops. The cost was not insignificant. One pilot was KIA, two became POWs, another was shot down but later made contact with American
ground troops and returned to the Squadron. However, he was evacuated with battle shock and did not return for duty. Finally, a fifth pilot was wounded but was able to return to base--where he was grounded for a few weeks while his wound healed. All losses were due to enemy ground fire.
While the 346th Squadron Detachment was in Tunisia, the 345th Squadron, which had lost 10 of its aircraft in Portugal, was busy flying escort to C-47 transport aircraft moving supplies from Algiers to the forward airfields on the edge of Tunisia, throughout the month of February 43.
On the 21st of April 43 the 347th Squadron, which was the last of the three Squadrons to reach Africa, flew to an airfield near Le Sers, Tunisia to participate in the final phase of the Tunisian Campaign. While there they flew 333
combat sorties. All but one mission were counter-air, Squadron fighter sweeps, the one exception being a Squadron strafing mission. Two pilots were KIA during an engagement involving Spitfires and Airacobras on one side and Me-109s and Macchi 202s, on the other. It appears, from a Luftwaffe pilot claim, that one of the P-39s could have been shot down
by an Me-109, (though the claim does not fit exactly, position or time wise) but it was never determined conclusively whether one or both of the P-39s were downed by enemy fire or by "friendly fire" from the Spitfires. Another
pilot was shot down by AAA but after crash landing was able to make contact with French troops and returned to the Squadron after a short stay in a hospital to recover from a head injury. Victory in Tunisia came on the 13th of May 43 and was celebrated by the 350th Group's Squadrons being widely separated, a factor that would characterize its operations for months to come. While the Group Headquarters was still at La Senia airfield, outside of Oran, Algeria, the 345th Squadron was at Maison Blanche, at Algiers, while the 346th Squadron was at Warnier field near Orleansville, Algeria. The 347th Squadron was at Le Sers, in Tunisia, where the Germans had been penned up and then trapped at Cap Bon, concluding the effort to sweep the Axis from North Africa. The Group headquarters and two
of the three Squadrons would all move again within the next month, another factor that would characterize the Groups operations for many months to come.."
-Westy
