Here is some more on this that I thought would be nice to share with folks. I recieved a few replies that gave a couple of questionable excuses as to how Galland could possibly not won the fight. None replied they thought the sotry was fake or that Galland wasn't there btw. First excuse was Galland was outnumbered, alone and had to deal with ALL the P-38's. Or also Galland was flying a war torn aircraft from base to base showing how much damage thier aircraft could take (I imagine to boost moral). Well,, I posted the story and that should clear up some misconception.
Anyway.
I got a very nice, surprise response from C.C. Jordan, author and publisher of one of my favorite web sites.. Here is his post for you folks.
-Westy
====================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2000 13:30
Subject: Re: Looking for USAAF P-38 aircombat story....
From: Jordan@worldwar2aviation.com (C.C.Jordan)
Organization: Jordan Publishing
>> > Maybe Galland was having hard time with all those extra *guys* and
>> > not with the Lightning per se?
>> >
>> > That would be the most obvious conclusion.
>>
>> The other P-38s did not engage, they flew top cover. However,
>> it is safe to assume that had Galland gotten the upper hand on
>> Lowell, the others would have pounced.
>>
>> My regards,
>> C.C. Jordan
>
>
>
> ... not quite Galland wasn't alone and he wasn't flying a
> "beater" base to base either. -Westy
Thank you for the details. I got the story from notes made by
George Ceuleers who was the eventual commander of the
383rd FS, 364th FG. George was not present during the combat.
He wrote his recollection of the story in the 1980s. The last
time I spoke with George's wife (Eleanor), he was still in a
nursing facility in Denver. His mind was failing him, although
his overall physical health wasn't too bad. I really should
call Eleanor for an update. George had spent years writing
his memiors, only to throw much of it into the trash during
an episode when his mind simply failed him. Very little of his
papers remain and his wife guards what survived very closely.
I don't know if many people know this outside of George's
inner circle, but George had a very nasty feud with Joe Foss
and Tom Lanphier back in the 1970s. George even resigned
from the American Fighter Aces Association over this dispute.
IRRC, George was one of the founding members.
Ceuleers P-38J-15-LO carried the squadron numbers N2-D.
The serial number is unkown (to me) as all existing photos
show that the S/N was painted over by the squadron's white
disk on the rudders.
Lowell's P-51D-20-NA Mustang (44-73045) carried the
squadron numbers 5Y-L.
>
> (btw C.C. Jordan, I enjoy your website very, very much. I've
> been wondering why no updates these past few months and hoping
> all was well.)
Thank you for your concern.
My wife's health has been poor, although steadily improving.
Additionally, I have been doing a great deal of writing with Warren
Bodie, which has reduced my spare time to next to nothing.
Meanwhile, I received a promotion at my regular job (engineering)
that added considerable responsibility and placed a greater demand
on my time.
The web site will be extensively updated between Christmas
and New Years day. I have the week off and will be uploading
a lot of material that has been ready for formatting for some
time now. One piece is especially interesting. This is the story
of the Reggiane RE-2000. The piece was written by Max Cappone
and translated from Italian to English. Several rare photos are
included. I expect to have this article up this weekend.
[snip Lowell's great story]
Over the past several years, I, along with several others, have
tried to break through the myth that the P-38 was somehow
inferior to the Luftwaffe's single engine fighters. One of our
most repeated arguments is that the P-38 was more than a
match for any German fighter IF the American pilot had sufficient
training and experience to extract the available performance
from this operationally complex aircraft. Lowell gives us an
excellent example of how fearsome the Lightning could be.
Moreover, when we take into account that this particular
Fw 190D-9 was flown by one of the Luftwaffe's very best,
perhaps readers will realize that the P-38J was not a fighter
to be under-rated. Especially at lower altitudes where it did
not suffer from compressibility problems. Had Lowell been
flying a P-38L with another 300 hp, boosted ailerons and dive
flaps, Galland may not have avoid destruction until Lowell
ran low on fuel allowing him to escape.
Lowell's story certainly makes it difficult to understand Galland's
P-38 comments that he included in his "The First And The Last".
I have been told by several pilots who knew Galland personally
that much of his post-war remarks and writing were very self-
serving. As I have stated before, if Galland really believed that the
Lightning was no better than the Me 110 before his encounter
with Lowell, he certainly could not have believed it afterward.
It still sounds like sour grapes or at best, faulty rationalizing.
My regards,
C.C. Jordan
http://www.worldwar2aviation.com http://www.cradleofaviation.org