WWII Pilot Combat Report - Donald Bryan

Donald Bryan

352nd Fighter Group 04/10/1944

ENCOUNTER REPORT CAPT DONALD S. BRYAN A . Combat

B . 10 April 1944 C . 328th F ighter Squadron D . 0920 E . Dor mans F . Visibility unlimited, broken clouds at 500 ft G . FW 190 H . 1 FW 190 Destroyed – shared with Lt Laing I . I was flying Blue Leader with Lt Laing, Lt Long and Lt Powell, flying Nos 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Just after the bombers started to abort about 10 FW 190s made an attack on them. I picked one and started after it. I began combat at about 15000 ft and went down to the deck. When I had closed to about 350 yds it (the E/A ) began to wigwag its wings. I closed a bit fa r ther to make a positive identification - – it was an FW 190. When I first hit it, it nosed over very sharply. I couldn't follow it that way so I rolled over and was then able to follow it OK. I fired many burst from about 350 yds to about 100 yds, when I had to break off to keep from crashing. I observed many strikes on the fuselage and on both wings. I then pulled up and as I did so I passed the E/A about 50 yds to its starboard side, and I could see that quite a bit of cowling and fuselage skin was missing. When I pulled up Lt Laing, Blue 2, closed and fired. I gave him top cover. Shortly after he got behind it I saw the E/A crash into the ground. Lt Laing saw the pilot attempt to get out but I saw no chute open. I then reformed my flight and returned to home base without further incident. I C laim : 1 FW 190 Destroyed – shared with Lt Laing.

j. Ser No of A/ C : 4 2 - 8508 A/ C Markings: PE- Z Ammo Expended: 1 4 2 0 rds /s/ Donald S. Bryan DONALD S. BR Y AN, Cap t , A ir C orps, 328th Fighter Sq. /s/ Otto A. Ziebell OTTO A. ZIEBELL, Cap t , A ir C orps, S-2 O fficer. A TRUE COPY : GERALD F. COSTELLO , Capt ain , A ir C orps , Ass't A-2 67FW (D-2)

Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by Donald Bryan of the 352nd Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of Donald Bryan'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.

Donate

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.

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.