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MISSION
NO. 371 / August 25, 1943
Foggia,
Italy - A/D
MISSION: Strafing
of Foggia A/Ds.
Target: Foggia
satellities #3, #7, #9, and #10.
AIRCRAFT and
CHRONOLOGY: 68 P-38s plus 7 spares (24 - plus
3 of the 95th, 20 of the
96th, 24 - plus 4 of the 97th) took off at 0630 - 0715. 16 P-38s
returned early ( 7
made land fall in Italy, but returned prior to reaching targets)
( pilots get sorties). 59
over targets at 0941. 50 returned at 1310 to 1745, having first
refueled at A/Ds in
Siciliy. Lt. Barker at Comiso with shot up engine. Lt. Solem at
Gerbini #7, Lt. Gray at
Catania, and Lt. Strumpell at Gerbini #3.
ASSUALT: From
the Assualt Point ( Junction of road running NE from Foggia and
Candalaano River, lying 15 miles W of Manfredonia, the I.P.), the
96th & 97th
Squadrons
proceeded on a course of 265 degrees - 275 degrees at an I.A.S.
of 300
MPH
and at an altitude of 20 - 30 feet, 3 P-38s of the 96th and 1 P-38
of the 97th
ataacking Foggia #9, the remaining a/c of the 96th & 97th attacking
Foggia #7. Three
to four flights of the a/c attacking #7, proceed directly from Foggia
#7 to Foggia #10,
which they attacked. The 95th Fighter Squadron proceeded from Assualt
Point on
course of 240 degrees - 245 degrees at an I.A.S. of 300 MPH and
attacked Foggia #3
from an altitude of 20 - 30 feet. After leaving the targets all
flights turned left, the
95th passing to the E & S of Lucera, and the 96th & 97th
passing to the N & W of
Lucera.
RESULTS OF
TARGET STRAFING: 21 planes destroyed, 34 damaged.
12 - Ju88s
destroyed,
24 damaged. 2 - Me109s destroyed, 4 damaged. 2 - Ju52s destroyed.
2 -
Ma202s
destroyed, 1 damaged. 2 - Fw190s destroyed, 3 damaged. 1 unidentified
s/e
a/c destroyed. 2 piessler storch damaged. All destroyed planes were
seen to explode
or burn. 4 - Ju88s destroyed, 2 damaged. 1 - Ma202 damaged were
on #9 satellite. 8
- Ju88s destroyed, 22 damaged. 1 - Me109, 1 - Ju52, and 1 - Ma202
destroyed were
on #3 satellite. 2 - Fw190s destroyed, 3 damaged. 1 - Ma202 destroyed,
1 - Me109
destroyed and 4 damaged, 1 - Ju52 destroyed, 2 - Fi damaged, and
1 undentified
s/e/a/c
destroyed were on #7.
STRAFING: The
following pilots damaged or destroyed planes by strafing: H. Butler
-
1-
FS damaged; Schneider - 1 undentfied s/e a/c destroyed; Stahl -
4- Ju88s
destroyed; MacNicol - 1-Fw190 destroyed; R. Williams - 3-Fw190s
damaged; Karam -
1-Fw190 destroyed; Kicks - 1-Me109 damaged; McGuffin - 1-Ma202 destroyed;
Solem
- 1-Ju52 destroyed; Vantrease - 1-Me109 damaged; Mackey - 2-Me109s
damaged;
Nott
- 1-FS damaged; Ellis - 1-Ju88 damaged; Holeman - 1-Ju88 damaged;
Tillapaugh
- 1-Ma202 damaged; Hodgson - 1-Ma202 destroyed; Muse - 1-Ju88 damaged;
Lippert
- 1-Ju88 damaged; Austin - 1-Ju88 destroyed; Hoagland - 1-Ju88 damaged;
Langdon
- 1-Ju88 destroyed & 2 damaged; Rogers - 2-Ju88s damaged; Edmondson
- 2 Ju88s
destroyed & 3 damaged; Sloko - 9-Ju88s damaged; Dickie - 2-Ju88s
destroyed;
Winnie - 2-Ju88s damaged; Woodrum - 1-Ju88 destroyed & 1 damaged;
Lucini - 1-
Ju88
& 1- Me109 & 1-Ju52 destroyed. In addition to aircraft the
following strafing
occured: McGuffin - flak position silenced on #7 N & W of target;
Strozier - freight cars
S of Sapri; Anderson - electric locomotive destroyed NE Sapri; Sheppard
- RR cars on
switches just beyond #7; Pollock and Strumpell - Bridges 5 miles
SW target; Pape - 1
locomotive exploded before target; Selle - last car in train just
past #7; Farrell -
powerline between #3 and Lucera, train and 7 cars and locomotive
at Monteguto, RR
yards of Monteguto, 4 locomotives with steam escaped from one; Hodgson
- 2-SL
damaged on #3; Pollock - powerline 3 miles SW Lucera; Dean - 2-ETs
SW Lucera, one
burned; Stahl - station at Lucera; Austin and Lippet - 4-tank cars
on RR at #3;
Shoemaker
and Congdon - 2 boats off Cap Pallnura; Cooke and Litchfield - truck
N of
#3; Schneider - building in #7 area; Rodgers - storage tank along
RR; Skinner -
storage
tanks near Lucera; Austin - silenced flak battery in NW #3 and insulatorss
of
powerline;
Hoagland - gun emplacement SW #3; Langdon - tranformers S Lucera;
Gant - 1 large and 1 small gun emplacement NE #3; G.E. Moore - troops
on RR track.
ENEMY AERIAL
ACTIVITY: Two Ju52s, apparently preparing
to land, were observed at
0940 hours proceedingin a N NE direction from the area of Foggia
#9, at an altitude of
500 feet. Two Me109s and an Fw190 fired, while out of range, upon
flight of P-38s,
shortly
beyond target. The P-38s turned in on the e/a, but the latter did
not press the
attack. Two Ma202s attacked from the rear and sides, the rear flight
of the 95th
Fighter Squadron 5-8 miles SW Foggia #3, damaged one P-38 ( Lt.
Hodgson), and
probably
destroyed 1-3 P-38s of the flight. Three Ju52s observed on return
route
proceeding
S on W coast of Italy at approximately 800 feet. One T.E. bomber
oberved
on return route, circling Pt. Licoea at 500 feet.
FLAK: At
#7 slight heavy at field at 5000 feet - slight light increasing
to moderate
mostly trailing. Gun positions 2 miles SW #7 at Mattodelupo-slight
to moderate tardy
light flak- 6 burst heavy #3. 5 bursts 25 miles S #3 at 8 a.m. Sossio.
Machine guns
east side #3. Also small arms and rocks, small arms from #7 and
#10. Small arms and
black late bursts at 1000 feet from #9. Slight light accurate from
destroyers in
Manfredonia.
Slight in accurate heavy from a harbor Manfredonia. Returning 15
bursts
from Valley N Palomonte. Machine gun and small arms from boats off
Palininuro.
ENEMY NAVAL
SHIPPING ACTIVITY: Two small D/Rs, one which
appeared to be loaded
with personnel, one E/Y and one medium M/V oberved in Gulf of Manfredonia
at 0935
hours. One a/l and barge observed at 1010 hours S of Lisona Pt.
proceeding towards
shore.
ENEMY GROUND
ACTIVITY: At 0945, 2 trains 2 miles SW #3
going toward Lucera. 4
tank
cars and several good cars on siding at #3. RR cars N Sapri. Electrified
engine N
Sapri.
Locomotive and train going N of #9, 150-180 goods cars, 4 locomotives
at
yards
at Monteguto. Locomotives and cars NW Monteguto, not moving. 10
M/T going
on highway N Prala H Mare. 2 large canvas trucks burning N. #9.
15-20 M/T convoy
going SW on road to Potanzo at 1000. 2 M/Y W Lucera. Small troop
concentrated 12
miles N #7. 2 M/T going R of Lucera. 2 M/T N of Lucera.
ENEMY A/D
and A/C ON GROUND: Following E/A observed
on targets: #3 30-40 Ju88s
,
1-Ju52, 1-Me109. #9 12 unidentified E/A. #7 7-S/E, #10 a few unidentified
A/C.
ROUTE:
From Oran to Zembra (rendezvous); thence to Salina; thence to Prairamare;
thence
to Lalfetta; thence to Manfredonia (I.P.); thence to targets; thence
left turn to
??? a 190 course; thence to Coriso; thence to base.
WEATHER: ?
enroute and over target. Haze right at Martredonia.
RADIO: Reception
okay. Transmitter on.
ENEMY LOSSES:
None.
OUR LOSSES:
2nd Lt. Paul Paskiowcz, 0-740539, Detroit,
Mi.; 2nd Lt. Eugene F. Phillips
0-732350, Plymouth, Oh.; 2nd Lt. James R. Rudy, 0-733991, Harbor
Creek, Pa.; 2nd Lt
Warren L. Singer, 0-740575, Oak Park, Il.
ASSESSMENT
and DAMAGE TO OUR PLANES: A: seriously damaged,
1-Repairable/1-
non-repairable.
Slightly damaged - 1.
COMMENTS: Ma202s
attacked from rear and side. Some A/C on ground camofluged
under
nets. One looked like hay stack. Fields difficult to distinguish.
No revetaents
seen.
Few buildings on or near A/Ds. Northern fields no. 7, 9, 10 had
few A/C
compared
to No. 3 where most planes were destroyed. Only 4 P-38s over No.
10.
Group leader considers flight best low level formation he ever saw.
The flying of all
A/C
on Deck, 100 feet or less above water and land from Salina to target
contributed
greatly
to the surprise of the attack evidenced by lack of aerial opposition.
Numbers
od
civilians waved to pilots as they went over. Lt. Hodgson last saw
his flight of
Paskiewicz,
Phillips, and Rudy over target. Lt. Singer turned back to be with
Lt.
Hendrix at coast, when Hendrix dropped behind because of inability
to release belly
tanks.
This was the last seen of Singer. Hendrix after releasing tanks
joined 14th
Group
in strafing mission, but he saw and strafed nothing. One P-38 believed
to have
been seen to crash in target area. Lt. Dolan landed out of gas on
beach at Stefano and
returned at dark. Lt. Visscher hit by flak at Lauria enroute in
to target.
AIR/SEA RESCUE:
None.
SORTIES: 66
(sixty-six); Capt. Smith, Lt. Visscher, Lt. Collins, F/O Carpenter,
Lt.
Lewis, and F/O Shannon get sorties having turned back after being
over Italy.
FLIGHT LEADERS:
Lt. Col. MacNicol, leader of coordinated mission
of 82nd, 1st, and
14th Fighter Groups; Capt. Strozier, Lt. Solem, Lt. D.W. Johnson,
Lt. Pape, and Lt.
Tillapaugh of the 96th; Capt. Muse, Lt. Murphy, Lt. Langdon, Lt.
Moore, Lt. Hodgson of
the 95th; Capt. Smith, Lt. Barker, Lt. Shoemaker, Lt. Visscher,
and Lt. Litchfield of the
97th.
NOTE: Lt.
Gen. Spaatz, Maj. Gen. Doolittle, and Air Marshall Tedder were on
the field at
the time of the return of the mission. After presenting the DFC
to several pilots who
had
been previously recommended for such, Lt. Gen. Spaatz turned to
Lt. Col.
MacNicol and spontaneously presented him with the DFC for his outstanding
leadership
on this mission.
Lt. Solem
returned at 1030 hours, 25 August 1943, having landed at Paligonia,
Sicily.
He reported
strafing of miller grain elevator by Lt. VanTrease and strafing
of train N of
target by
himself. High power line was just W of No. 7. Highway bridges and
RR
bridges appeared
to be well camouflaged.
Signed: J.
A. Roth, Major, Air Corps, Intelligence Officer
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