DARRELL BESCHEN
20th Fighter Group 01/14/1945
A. BESCHEN
a. Combat
b. 14 January 1945
c. 7th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group
d. 1240
e. East of Wittenberge
f. 1 E/A
g. Me 109
h. 1 Me 109 Destroyed
i. I was flying Blue 5 when the squadron leader called out E/A and told us to drop tanks. I saw a bogey in a starboard turn about 2,000 feet and got to my right. Blue Flight leader turned left and I right into the enemy formation. I joined the artillery, which was turning to right. We circled for three or four minutes at 5,000 altitude and until finally the Me 109 was in my sights. I closed to 500 yards from which distance I scored firing a 2 second burst. 15° deflection E/A and it dived to the right. I saw the forward left bird side of the engine took to the cockpit. Smoke - first white, then alarming black - poured from the plane. I started over running him and broke off fire at 50 yards. E/A nosed over and fell lead fire to the ground. At 5,000 feet the E/A exploded. I claim 1 Me 109 Destroyed. j. Ser. No. of A/C: 44-14327 A/C Markings: NC-R Ammunition Expended: 510 rds. 50 cal.
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by DARRELL BESCHEN of the 20th Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of DARRELL BESCHEN's combat experience.
Donations
Do you have WWII memorabilia that you are not sure what to do with it? The children don't want it? Then let us help you preserve this history by donating these items to the Army Air Corps Library and Museum.
We are accepting donations in the form of uniforms, medals, ribbons, patches, photos, memorabilia, papers, gear and equipment.
We also accept monetary donations to support our operations and long term plans.
This website is part of the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, and as a 501(c)(3) Non-profit, your qualifying donations are tax deductible.
Contact us if you are contemplating a donation of any kind.
Volunteering
Are you an AAC, AAF or USAF Veteran, family member, historian or WW2 enthusiast? We Need YOU! Contact us today to see how you can help the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, a Texas Not-For-Profit Corporation.
We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks.
(1) Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one. (2) Photography and Document Scanning.
Historical Artifacts
We are looking for photos, documents and other types of artifacts including uniforms and gear of the 8th Air Force in World War II as well as other units and commands. We accept electronic/scans or originals of pictures and paper records. A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. Special Orders may contain transfers or other information. Flight records, accident reports, maintenance logs, after action reports, pilot encounter reports, diaries and biorgraphies; all of these types of documents help us support or mission: preserving your history! Contact us today for instructions on sending us this material.