The sky over the English Channel at midday on July 28, 1943, was partly cloudy, an early indicator that the past week of clear weather over northwestern Europe was coming to an end. Fifteen miles west of the Dutch coast, the 40 olive drab and gray, white-nosed P-47 Thunderbolts of the 78th Fighter Group eased their slow climb out of England behind them to 23,000 feet and leveled off to cross into enemy airspace ahead. Each big fighter carried a bulbous tank attached to its belly beneath the semi-elliptical wings. Standard Operating Procedure was for the fighters to make their entry into the enemy’s air at 29,000 feet, above the flak. But this time, 84th Fighter Squadron commanding officer (CO), Major Gene Roberts, who led the formation, was attempting something new. He recalled:

We started with the usual 48 fighters – three squadrons of 16 fighters per squadron. However, two of the pilots reported mechanical problems and had to abort as we crossed the English Channel. In each case, per our standard procedure at that time, I had to dispatch the aborting airplane’s entire flight of four to provide an escort back to base. That left us with 40 fighters for the mission by the time we reached Holland.

Brand-new group commander Lieutenant Colonel Melvin F. McNickle flew beside Roberts as White Three element lead on this, his first mission. Deputy group commander Lieutenant Colonel James Stone was Red One of the second flight while Captain Jack C. Price, who had scored his first Fw-190 on July 14, was Blue One of the third flight. First Lieutenant Quince L. Brown – victor in his first air combat 30 days earlier – led the fourth flight as Yellow One; his wingman, Flight Officer Peter Pompetti, also a one-victory pilot, was known in the group as a “maverick.”

Above Roberts’ squadron, the 83rd Fighter Squadron flew high cover, led by Captain Charles P. London, Red One, the group’s top scorer with three. Major Harry Dayhuff, another single-victory pilot, led the 82nd Fighter Squadron in the low position.

At this altitude, Roberts reckoned the Thunderbolts could draw the last of the fuel from the unpressurized ferry tanks they carried. For a fighter that was as thirsty for fuel as the P-47, every gallon mattered, as the pilots attempted to get as far into enemy territory as possible. The Thunderbolts crossed the coast north of Rotterdam, high enough that the sound of their roaring Pratt & Whitney R-2800, the P-47’s powerplant, was unheard on the ground below. They flew past Nijmegen, where all the pilots switched to their internal fuel tanks as they pulled back on their sticks and followed Roberts up to 29,000 feet, where they leveled off and entered German airspace over Kleve. From this altitude, they could see the city of Haltern on the horizon. Roberts thanked the lucky tail wind they must have found for pushing them so far east. This was the deepest penetration of Germany yet made by VIII Fighter Command fighters. Only the day before, the 4th Fighter Group had used the troublesome, unpressurized belly tanks for the first time to set a new penetration record, making it as far east as the German border. Roberts’ decision to delay climbing to penetration altitude as long as possible was proven right as – for the first time ever – American fighter pilots looked down from their cockpits on western Germany. Their mission was withdrawal support to bring the bombers out of Germany, after which the Debden Eagles of the 4th would provide final cover across the Channel.

Good summer flying weather in the latter part of July 1943 had allowed VIII Bomber Command to mount 14 strikes ever deeper into Germany since July 24, the first sustained air offensive by the Eighth Air Force against Germany proper since the Americans had commenced operations from southern England a year earlier. Eighth Air Force leaders saw it as the opening blow of the Combined Bomber the most important day

Offensive that would over the next ten months prepare the way for the cross-Channel invasion and the liberation of Europe. The seven days of good weather would be known among the aircrews afterwards as “Little Blitz Week.” Today, July 28, the “blitz” would end with three missions against the Focke-Wulf factories at Oschersleben, Warnemünde, and Kassel, respectively. They were deep penetration missions beyond the range of escort fighters, and drew maximum opposition from the German defenders.

One group of bombers executed a feint in the direction of muchbombed Hamburg-Kiel, then swung inland toward Oschersleben, 90 miles south-southwest of Berlin. Despite a cloud deck over the target, 28 B-17s bombed the A.G.O. Flugzeugwerk – a major Fw-190 constructor – when a small hole in the nine-tenths cloud cover opened and the lead bombardier was able to recognize a crossroad only a few miles from the aiming point. Calculating quickly, he dropped by timing the flight to the group’s ETA. The next day, reconnaissance photos showed a tight concentration of hits on the target. British intelligence estimated that the attack, despite being only 67.9 tons, resulted in four weeks’ loss of production. The Flying Fortresses were able to head into the westerly wind at 22,000 feet, thankful that the wind allowed them to continue straight on for home. As the bombers came out of the flak field over the city, defending German pilots in Bf-109 and Fw-190 fighters slashed through the bomber boxes. Defending gunners in the bombers fired at the gray fighters as they streaked through the formations, cannon flashing. Three Fortresses were hit, catching fire and heading down. The sky filled with blossoming parachutes. A B-17 in the lead box took hits in an engine and dropped below, out of formation; the pilot added power to the three engines left as he desperately tried to keep up with the squadron for protection.

The bombers neared Haltern, where rocket-armed Bf-110G twinengine fighters attacked from the rear, firing their missiles outside the range of the bombers’ defensive fire. The missiles were far from accurate, but if one rocket found its mark and the B-17 it hit exploded in the middle of the formation, it might take down a second and damage others.

At that moment, the 78th arrived on the scene. Roberts spotted the enemy fighters. “We were outnumbered by at least three-to-one odds but were able to maneuver into attacking position with very little difficulty. The main reason for this success was that the German fighter pilots didn’t believe we could possibly show up that far inland and were not expecting to see a defensive force at all.”

The American pilots took full advantage of German confusion. Roberts remembered:

There was one B-17 beneath the main formation, and it was being attacked by around five German fighters. The bomber was pouring smoke and appeared to be in deep trouble. From my position in the lead of the group, I dove down on the enemy fighters that were attacking the cripple. However, the Germans saw us, broke away, and dived for the ground. There wasn’t much more we could do to help the crippled B-17, so I pulled up on the starboard side of the main bomber formation, about 1,000 yards out. I discovered on reaching this position that my second element – Lieutenant Colonel McNickle and his wingman – had broken away and was no longer with me. I had only myself and my wingman, Flight Officer Glenn Koontz. We immediately saw enemy aircraft ahead of us and above the formation. I judged that there were over 100 enemy aircraft in the area, as compared with our 40.

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