JACK PRICE

Date 14 July 1943 Unit 84 th Fighter Squadron Type & Mark of Our Aircraft P-47 C Number of Enemy Aircraft One (1) Type of Enemy Aircraft FW 190 Time of Attack 0800 hours Place of Attack 20 miles north of Abbeville Weather Clear Height of Enemy 24,000' Enemy Casualties One (1) FW 190 d estroyed Statement of Claim : I was flying as Bayland Red Leader in Major Roberts' Section. We crossed the French Coast at Le Treport at 31,000', indicating 180 MPH. We observed the bombers while they were still over Amiens . They were being attacked by heavy, intense flak. We picked up the bombers north of Amiens after they hit their target, and made our run over them. No e/a had been sighted. Bayland White Leader (Maj Roberts) called a 360 deg. t urn to port to enable us to make another run over the bombers shortly after completing this turn. Five bursts of flak (apparently fired from some place in the Abbeville area) were seen behind and approximately 4,000' below us. As we approached the bombers, Bayland Red Four reported two bogies at two o'clock below. They turned out to be four e/a at about 8,000' below us, and they were approaching the bombers from five o'clock. We identified the e/a as FW 190s (they were slate gray, with black crosses on top of the wings, outlined in white and had red noses). They were making a slight left turn. The e/a were flying in two-ship elements, with elements line abreast about 300 yards apart. The two ships in each element were in trail. I called Bayland White Leader and told him we were going down. As we approached the e/a, the three leading ships straightened out, and the fourth continued his turn to the left. I closed in to approximately 350 yards and opened fire, allowing a ring and a quarter deflection. I held the burst for about four seconds. The speed of the e/a I attacked was less than 300 MPH, ground speed. I saw what appeared to be hits from the midsection to the tip of his left wing. I stopped firing, and corrected for line of flight, and gave him another burst of about two seconds duration, seeing no visible hits. At this time I was approximately 200 yards from the e/a, at which point I broke away as there were two more e/a 1,000 yards to our left and in a position to attack my Number Four man. As I broke away, the e/a I had been firing on rolled slowly to the left and started down. The other two e/a flipped over and dived straight away. At this time Bayland Red Three called over the radio, saying , "You got him, Price. He baled (sic) out—there's his chute!" This combat took place at 24,000', 20 miles north of Abbeville. I fired a total of 579, .50 calibre (sic). We crossed the French Coast between Berck-sur-Mer and Le Touquet at 24,000', indicating 210 MPH, and came on home.