WWII Pilot Combat Report - HERBERT FIELD

HERBERT FIELD

353rd Fighter Group 04/22/1944

ENCOUNTER REPORT Combat . 22 April, 1944. 35 1 st Fighter Squadron . Approximately 1850 hou rs. N orth of Hamm. 4 /10 c irrus at 26,000 feet. Two FW 190 s . One FW 190 destroyed .

Narrative: I was leading Lawyer Red Flight on penetration support to our big friends . As the bombers turned into their target run our squadron made a left orbit. Shortly thereafter approximately 20 FW 190s flying in groups of 5 abreast broke out of the clouds in front of us and were on us before we realized what they were. I immediately made a fast climbing left turn making 2 or 3 orbits. 47s, 51s and 190s were going in all directions. Seeing 2 FW 190s heading NE and for the ground, I did a fast wingover and started in pursuit. I lost my flight during these violent maneuvers and the e/a's evidently seeing me started in a tight left orbit. We were at about 1 or 2 thousand feet by this time, going round and round and still losing altitude. I kept peppering away at the tail end e/a who was on the inside of the turn, but never observed any strikes because my plane blocked out my view. I finally ran out of ammunition and was down to about 100 feet when the e/a on the outside of the Luftberry (sic) tried slowing down by pulling his nose up, and to get on my tail. Instead he stalled out and spun into the ground. After the next orbit I saw a big puff of black smoke on the ground where he went in. Out of ammunition, I decided to straighten up, throwing everything to the firewall and heading for home. The remaining FW 190 evidently had enough by this time because he did not follow me. J. Ammo Exp 2000 rounds

HERBERT K. FIELD, 1 st Lt . , A . C .

Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by HERBERT FIELD of the 353rd Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of HERBERT FIELD'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.