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    4th Fighter Group: Debden Eagles
    4th Fighter Group: Debden Eagles
    4th Fighter Group: Debden Eagles
    Ebook305 pages3 hours

    4th Fighter Group: Debden Eagles

    By Chris Bucholtz and Chris Davey

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    With first-hand accounts and colour artwork, this title describes the planes and pilots of the famous 4th Fighter Group 'Fourth but First' that became the highest-scoring unit of the mighty 8th Air Force in World War 2.

    Formed around a nucleus of pilots already seasoned by their experience as volunteers in the RAF's Eagle Squadrons, the 4th Fighter Group was established in England in October 1942. Initially flying Spitfires, the Debden Eagles went on to fly the P-47 and P-51, becoming, in July 1943, the first Eighth Air Force fighter group to penetrate German air space.

    The group's record of 583 air and 469 ground victories was unmatched in the Eighth Air Force, and the group produced a cast of characters that included legendary aces Don Blakeslee, Pierce McKennon, “Kid” Hofer, Duane Beeson, Steve Pisanos and Howard Hively. Involved in the D-Day landings, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the crossing of the Rhine, the group's achievements came at a high price, with a 42 percent casualty rate.

    Packed with pilots' experiences, detailed aircraft profiles and full combat histories, this book is an intriguing insight into the best-known American fighter unit in World War II.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateDec 20, 2012
    ISBN9781782008736
    4th Fighter Group: Debden Eagles
    Author

    Chris Bucholtz

    Chris Bucholtz embarked on a writing career after a six-year stint in the US Navy. His books include bestselling titles for Osprey's AEU and ACE series. He has written about military aviation for Aviation Enthusiast, Flight Journal and Scale Aircraft Modelling. An avid scale modeller, he is the managing editor of the IPMS/USA Journal, and runs his own scale model detail parts company, Obscureco. Chris, a California native, lives with his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Amelia in Alameda.

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      4th Fighter Group - Chris Bucholtz

      BIBLIOGRAPHY

      ‘EAGLES’ TO THE ARMY AIR FORCE

      When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, its as-yet untapped capacity to manufacture weapons was unmatched anywhere in the world. What it did lack was military experience, and especially experienced fighter pilots. Europe had been at war for two years, and Asia for longer than that. This meant that the air arms of Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Italy had a tremendous head start when it came to developing combat-seasoned flyers.

      While the US Army Air Corps prepared to carry out its doctrine of strategic daylight bombing, the fighter took a back seat. But observers to the first two years of war in Europe saw how badly unescorted bombers, first British, then German, fared by daylight when opposed by fighters. If the American philosophy of daylight bombing was to succeed, a substantial effort needed to be made to build a formidable force of both fighter aeroplanes and pilots to accompany the bombers.

      In England, at least, the core of this group of pilots was already in place. The 4th Fighter Group (FG) was born on order of VIII Fighter Command on 12 September 1942 at Bushey Hall, in Hertfordshire. The group’s real purpose was to absorb the men of the RAF’s ‘Eagle’ Squadrons (Nos 71, 121 and 133 Sqns), which would become the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons of the USAAF.

      These American volunteers had been flying combat missions since long before the US entry into the war, and as such they were accorded status in the press in both the UK and back at home that was in excess of their accomplishments. In fact, at one point, Air Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas, head of RAF Fighter Command, accused the ‘Eagles’ of being prima donnas, and during a fact-finding mission Commander-in-Chief of the USAAF, Gen Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold said that if they did not show improvement soon the RAF should consider disbanding the squadrons and sending the pilots home!

      Plt Off Don Gentile claimed a Ju 88 and an Fw 190 destroyed whilst supporting the disastrous Dieppe landings on 19 August 1942. Flying with No 133 Sqn at the time, he became a founder member of the 4th FG’s 336th FS when the ‘Eagle’ Squadrons switched from RAF to USAAF control the following month. Gentile is seen here posing with his Spitfire VB BL255, which bore the nickname BUCKEYE-DON and two victory symbols on its port side. The fighter’s name referred to its pilot’s Piqua, Ohio, origins (via Wade Meyers)

      Three pilots pose with a 336th FS Spitfire VB freshly painted in US markings. The new insignia did not come with USAAF codes, 4th FG Spitfires instead retaining their RAF codes – in this case, ‘MD’ for the 336th FS. The group flew its final Spitfire mission on 8 April 1943 (Jack Raphael via Wade Meyers)

      In any event, the ‘Eagles’ were credited with 73.5 aerial victories, and in exchange 82 pilots gave their lives in combat and in accidents from September 1940 through to September 1942. The pilots also gained something other US aviators were sorely lacking – combat experience.

      As this administrative shift was taking place, the squadrons continued to fly missions in their Spitfires. On 21 September, 2Lts William Kelly and John Slater of the 335th FS flew a shipping reconnaissance mission and spotted a German convoy escorted by a number of flak ships off the Dutch coast. Former bus driver ‘Wild Bill’ Kelly decided to make a strafing pass, during which flak hit Slater’s Spitfire. He radioed that he was baling out, but before he could jump his aeroplane suddenly dove into the English Channel. Slater became the 4th FG’s first combat fatality.

      Three days later the 335th FS received a contingent of pilots from the RAF, including Maj William Daley, who assumed command of the squadron. On the 26th, in a mission supporting B-17s, 11 of 12 Spitfire IXs from the 336th FS were lost to a combination of German fighters, fuel starvation, bad weather and poor navigation. Four pilots were killed – 1Lt William Baker and 2Lts Gene Neville, Leonard Ryerson and Dennis Smith – six were taken prisoner and one, 2Lt Robert Smith, evaded back to England. One of the PoWs, Flt Lt Edward Brettell, was later executed by the Germans for his role as the mapmaker in the ‘Great Escape’ of 76 PoWs from Stalag Luft III. One Fw 190 fell to Capt Marion Jackson.

      Only 2Lt Richard Beaty made it back to England, and he was badly injured when he crash-landed his Spitfire on the Cornish coast. There was also one abort that day – 2Lt Don Gentile had engine trouble and returned to base.

      On 29 September, the men of the former ‘Eagle’ Squadrons assembled at RAF Debden, in Essex, as their command was officially handed over to the newly formed US Eighth Air Force. The ranks stood in a driving rainstorm as Air Marshal Sholto Douglas handed over the units, officially consolidated as an American fighter group, to Maj Gen Frank Hunter, commander of VIII Fighter Command, and Maj Gen Carl Spaatz, head of the Eighth Air Force. Col Edward Anderson was named the group’s first commanding officer, while Wg Cdr Raymond Duke-Wooley was assigned as operational air commander.

      ‘Eagle’ Squadron personnel stand at attention on 29 September 1942 as control of RAF Debden is turned over to the USAAF (National Museum of the USAF)

      The group’s heritage was reflected in the way its pilots spoke. Instead of ‘the 335th Fighter Squadron’, they referred it to as ‘335 Squadron’, in typically clipped RAF fashion. Aeroplanes were ‘kites’, missions were ‘shows’. Indeed, the use of RAF jargon was another aspect that would set the 4th FG apart from other VIII Fighter Command groups.

      The group flew its first major mission – escorting bombers to the Calais/Dunkirk area – on 2 October. The 334th and 335th FSs engaged enemy fighters at 24,000 ft, and Fw 190s fell to Capt Oscar Coen and Lts Gene Fetrow and Stanley Anderson. Wg Cdr Duke-Woolley and Lt Jim Clark shared in the destruction of another Fw 190.

      On 20 October, two Spitfires from the 334th FS were on convoy patrol (a duty left over from the unit’s RAF days) when 2Lt Anthony Seaman’s Spitfire VB suffered an engine problem and crashed into the channel ten miles east of Harwich. The pilot’s body was never found.

      Following a month of fruitless sweeps over France, the group finally stirred up some action on 16 November when 2Lts Jim Clark and Robert Boock led an attack on Saint-Valery-en-Caux, in Normandy. For Clark, the trip was made more exciting when he hit a tree while ducking flak at low-level. Another ‘Rhubarb’ (offensive patrol) three days later concluded with Lt Frank Smolinsky of the 335th FS shooting down an Fw 190 over the English Channel.

      Future six-kill ace 2Lt Roy Evans bagged a rare Fieseler Fi 156 army communications aircraft on 20 November near Furnes, but he was soon hit by flak. His damaged Spitfire carried him to within a few miles of the English coast before he had to bale out. Smolinsky circled overhead the downed pilot until Evans was recovered safely by an RAF rescue launch.

      Two 4th FG Spitfire VBs beat up Debden before departing on one of a seemingly endless series of convoy patrols in the late autumn of 1942 (National Museum of the USAF)

      On 22 November, Maj Daley’s tour of duty was complete and command of the 335th FS passed to the vastly experienced Capt Don Blakeslee. The hard-charging Blakeslee was already something of a legend, having seen combat with the RCAF since mid-1941. He initially resisted a transfer to the ‘Eagle’ Squadrons due to the units’ reputation for overclaiming. Fellow 4th FG ace James ‘Goody’ Goodson also recalled that Blakeslee was not fond of authority, recalling in his autobiography Tumult in the Clouds, ‘While no one questioned his talent in the air, many in the top command had less confidence in his behavior on the ground’.

      According to Goodson, Blakeslee firmly established his already colourful reputation at the time of his transfer to the 4th by choosing the night before Gen Hunter’s visit to Debden to entertain two female WAAF officers in his barracks room. Hunter started his tour early the next morning. ‘Warned of the approaching danger, the two WAAFs just had time to cover some of their embarrassment and scramble out the barracks window, right into the path of the general and his staff’, wrote Goodson. ‘Told that Blakeslee would be demoted and transferred, Gen Hunter remarked, For one, maybe. But for two, he should be promoted!’ Blakeslee’s personality would duly leave an indelible mark on the group.

      Sneaking in missions between bouts of bad weather, the 4th FG flew a ‘Rodeo’ along the French coast on 4 December, and two days later escorted B-17s to the Lille/Fives locomotive works. On the way home Lt Gene Fetrow tangled with an Fw 190 and was credited with a probable.

      Lt Col ‘Pete’ Peterson, Maj Oscar Coen, Capt Don Blakeslee and 2Lt Evans talk with Lt Gen Ira Eaker, commander of the Eighth Air Force, at Debden in late 1942 (National Museum of the USAF)

      Small-scale ‘Rhubarbs’ and convoy patrols occupied the 4th FG for the rest of December. Two group missions escorting bombers were launched on 13 January, marking its first major missions of 1943. The next day, Anderson and Boock were concluding yet another ‘Rhubarb’ near Ostend when they were bounced by a pair of Fw 190s. Anderson chopped his throttle and skidded violently, causing the German fighters to overshoot, then straightened out his Spitfire and followed the enemy aeroplanes in a right turn, opening fire at 200 yards. One of the Fw 190s skidded and crashed into the ocean.

      2Lt Steve Pisanos and Capts Don Blakeslee and Vernon Boehle pose in front of a Spitfire VB in late 1942. Boehle was the only one of the three to start as an ‘Eagle’, Pisanos having previously flown with other RAF units, as had Blakeslee, who resisted transfer because he thought the ‘Eagles’ played fast and loose with kill claims. Note the unofficial 336th FS emblem on the aircraft parked behind them (via Wade Meyers)

      Meanwhile, Boock had spotted two more Focke-Wulfs closing in on Anderson from astern. Turning his Spitfire VB into them, he fired, and the leading Fw 190 climbed abruptly and then dived into the Channel.

      On 20 January the 335th FS set out on another ‘Rhubarb’ over France, and Boock shot up a locomotive during the unit’s brief sweep over enemy territory. That same day, future five-kill ace 2Lt Spiros ‘Steve’ Pisanos of the 334th FS crashed his Spitfire VB whilst taking off from Debden and suffered minor injuries.

      After two uneventful escort missions on 21 January, the 335th FS took the bombers to St Omer the next day. As they flew over the French coast they were bounced by Fw 190s, one of which was shot down by 2Lt Boock northwest of Dunkirk. His fighter was also shot up, however, with German rounds shattering the Spitfire’s cockpit and ripping Boock’s goggles away. 336th FS CO Maj Coen and Lt Joseph Matthews also claimed kills. Later in the mission, the Spitfire VB of 335th FS pilot Lt Chester Grimm was hit by flak and he baled out. Although the young pilot was seen in his dinghy, he was never recovered.

      On 26 January, the 336th FS flew a ‘Ramrod’ to Bruges, in Belgium, during which Lt Boock was hit by flak. His aircraft quickly caught fire, but Boock stayed with the Spitfire until the flames started to melt his boots and he lost control of the fighter. He baled out six miles off the coast, and Fetrow, Kelly, Frank Fink and Victor France orbited his position for fear that he would be strafed by Fw 190s reported in the area. A merchant ship had to weigh anchor to get underway to rescue Boock, who was having difficulty with his dinghy in the frigid waters. Luckily, he was picked up safely and returned to base.

      Sitting in its revetment at Debden in February 1943 is Spitfire VB BM309/AV-V of the 335th FS. On 22 January it had been used by 2Lt Robert A Boock to destroy an Fw 190 northwest of Dunkirk in the 4th FG’s last big engagement with the Spitfire (D Young via R C B Ashworth)

      SPITFIRES TO THUNDERBOLTS

      From early January 1943 onwards, the battle-weary Spitfire VBs assigned to the 4th FG would soon be replaced by another aircraft on the Debden flightline – the Republic P-47C Thunderbolt. The largest single-seat, piston-engined American fighter to see combat, the immense P-47 was more than twice the weight of the Spitfire. Pilots, especially the old hands who had flown with the ‘Eagle’ Squadrons, were dubious about the Thunderbolt. ‘Goody’ Goodson recalled discussing the machine with a horrified Don Blakeslee. Goodson said that the Thunderbolt would catch anything in a dive, to which Blakeslee shot back, ‘It damn well ought to be able to dive – it sure as hell can’t climb!’

      Full group conversion to the P-47 would not be complete until late March, so in the meantime squadrons continued to fly Spitfire VBs in combat. On 5 February, Capt ‘Wild Bill’ Kelly spotted a large convoy near Walcheren Island, off Holland, and as he dove in to attack his aircraft suffered a direct hit from a destroyer’s guns at 1200 ft. With his fighter on fire, he initially tried to make the Dutch coast, then turned back to ditch near the convoy. As his aircraft was consumed by fire, Kelly tried to roll it onto its back and take to his parachute, but he became stuck halfway out of the cockpit. The aeroplane nosed into the water and sank immediately.

      The Channel claimed another victim eight days later when the Spitfire VB of 2Lt Jap Powell suffered engine failure during a convoy patrol. The pilot baled out, but by the time rescuers reached him Powell had drowned.

      After now-Maj Blakeslee led a ‘Ramrod’ to St Omer on 19 February, orders were received at Debden to apply identification markings to the group’s growing ranks of P-47s. These consisted of a white band to the leading edge of the cowling, a star-and-bar insignia below each wing, a 12-inch stripe on the vertical fin and an 18-inch stripe on the horizontal stabilizers. The still-unfamiliar fighter was being misidentified as an Fw 190, and these touches, it was hoped, would avoid mistakes.

      On 26 February, the group flew three missions escorting bombers sent to strike an armed raider docked at Dunkirk. The next day, another mission to Dunkirk found the raider had departed, so the group shot up and bombed the docks instead.

      By 8 March, the group had gone 17 days without seeing an enemy aircraft, and although the 335th and 336th FSs spotted seven Fw 190s menacing RAF bombers during a ‘Ramrod’ to Rouen that day, the Germans fled the moment the Spitfires turned to engage them.

      Forty-eight hours later, the 334th FS gave the P-47 its operation debut in the ETO when 14 aircraft, led by 4th FG Executive Officer Lt Col Chesley Peterson, were sent on a sweep of Ostend. All the fighters returned safely to Debden. The 335th and 336th FSs took their Spitfires to France on 12 March, where they were bounced by two Fw 190s. One German fighter was damaged, but at a cost of a 336th FS Spitfire VB shot down and its pilot, 1Lt Hazen S Anderson, captured.

      Lt Col Chesley Peterson (leaning over the chart table) briefs two sections from the 4th FG prior to the group flying a ‘Rhubarb’ over France in the spring of 1943. Peterson survived a close call when flying 1Lt Victor France’s P-47C Miss Dallas on 13 April 1943, as the fighter’s engine failed over the Channel and he was forced to take to his parachute (National Museum of the USAF)

      On 16 March, the 335th FS officially spent its final day flying Spitfires. Men from the unit who had been temporarily assigned to the 336th FS to learn how to fly the Thunderbolt returned to the 335th to teach their fellow pilots about the idiosyncrasies of the P-47. A week later the first Republic fighters were issued to the 335th. A dozen more Thunderbolts arrived on 27 March. After several days of bad weather, 334th FS CO Maj Coen went up on 3 April for a recognition flight with B-17 crews and, at 25,000 ft, his supercharger caught fire. When he baled out, the shroud caught on his arm and he broke his shoulder. That same day, 2Lt Frank Smolinsky of the 335th FS was killed when he too suffered engine failure in a P-47C and stalled in from 150 ft while attempting a forced landing at Sawbridgeworth airfield, in Hertfordshire.

      10 April saw two pilots from the 335th FS fly the group’s last mission with the Spitfire. The following day, Maj Blakeslee led six P-47s on a sweep over France that was intended to draw enemy fighters up before Allied bombers launched their mission. No German aircraft were sighted, however. On 13 April, a ‘Ramrod’ to Bruges and a ‘Rodeo’ to Berck were again uneventful, but one P-47 was shot down by British anti-aircraft after flying over Dover at low altitude. The pilot was able to walk away from his destroyed P-47.

      Groundcrew survey the landing gear of P-47C WELA KEHAO. Assigned to 1Lts Stanley Anderson and Walter ‘Lulu’ Hollander of the 334th FS, the Thunderbolt’s art was created by prolific 4th FG groundcrewman Sgt Don Allen to honor Hollander’s Honolulu, Hawaii, home, but the pilot was transferred to the 6th Fighter Wing before he could fly any missions in this particular aircraft. WELA KEHAO was eventually passed on to

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