Frank McCauley
56th Fighter Group 08/17/1943
E. McCauley Keyworth White Three a . Combat s b . 1 7 August , 1943 c . 6 1st Fighter Squadron , 56 th Group d . 1 624 hrs, 1627 hrs, 163 0 hrs e . North of Liege and near Hasselt f . CAVU g . One M E -1 1 0 , two FW-190's h . One ME-110 and one FW-190 d estroyed , one FW-190 damaged i . I was on the left of the rear box of bombers and saw the ME-110 coming in at 10 o'clock to them flying straight and level. He was at 21,000 feet, about 1,000 feet above the bombers, and I was 500 feet above him. I got to within 300 yards of him and then pulled around dead astern. I closed to 150 yards and fired a two second burst. He exploded. I pulled up but couldn't completely avoid the flames. My altitude was then about 22,000 or 23,000 feet and I was on the right of the last box. I glanced down and saw three FW-190's flying "V" formation out to the side and parallel to the bombers at 19,000 feet. Going into a steep dive I came up dead astern of them. I chose the right wing man and fired a burst at 300 yards hoping that maybe I could get him and then one of the others. I saw strikes and pieces flying off. There was also white and black smoke coming from the engine. He did not leave formation immediately so I gave another burst at 200 yards and more pieces flew off and the pilot bailed out. In the meantime the other two broke for the deck . I pulled up again to about 22,000 feet and saw another FW-190 below at about 19,000 feet off to the right of the lead bombers. I dove and ended up astern of him about 400 yards back, and fired a burst. I fired another burst at about 300 yards and saw tracers going all around him and believe there were strikes on the left wing. He broke right immediately after the tracers were fired. I could not turn with him so pulled up to 21,000 feet. Two of my starboard guns were out of ammunition. If I had closed before firing at this last FW-190 I believe I could have had another destroyed. I claim one ME-110 and one FW-190 destroyed and one FW-190 damaged . FRANK
E. MCCAULEY, 1st Lt. , Air Corps . See Supplementary Report of 1st Lt. Albert Biales.
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by Frank McCauley of the 56th Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of Frank McCauley'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.