James Fields

22 Feb , 1944 62 nd Fighter Squadron Approx. 1 230 hours Vicinity Breda Clear Fw 190 and Me 109 One Fw 190 claimed destroyed, sharing with Capt. Quirk ; One Me 109 claimed destroyed , sharing with Capt. Schreiber and Lt. Bryant. "I was flying Woodfire Red Four with Capt. Quirk, Red Leader, and Lt. Bryant, Red Three. We were flying east in Squadron formation when we saw a box of B-24's being attacked by 4 to 6 Fw 190's. Red Flight attacked them and all got away except 2. Red Leader attacked the wing man and destroyed him, the pilot baling out. I saw the 190 crash in an estuary of one of the Dutch Islands, exploding when it hit the water. I also saw the parachute land in the water. Red Leader then engaged the remaining 190 – the leader. They went into a Lufberry, and kept turning from 16,000' down to 200' although Red Leader got a few hits on the 190's tail, he would not roll out of the Lufberry. Red Three made two head-on attacks on the 190, b ut he still wouldn't roll out, no r did he shoot back. I then broke into t he Lufberry, behind the 190 and in front of Red Leader, gave the 190 a short burst at about 25? deflection from about 200 yds, and observed many strikes on the canopy and fuselage. I then had to break off. The 190 rolled out and went down at about 45? angle. Red Leader then closed from dead astern and gave him a long burst. The Fw 190 crashed into a field, with a beautiful explosion of brilliant red flames and black smoke. He was a dirty slate grey color with a yellow tail. We then started climbing, and had reached 9,000' when Red Three saw a Me1 09 at 700' altitude, about 2,000 yds ahead of us. We dove for the attack and Red Three opened fire at about 150 yds. The 109 had a belly tank, which exploded with a brilliant flash and lots of smoke. He had many hits all over the 109 . Capt. Schreiber, who was W oodfire White Leader, then approached the 109 from the rear and gave him a good burst from about 300 yds, dead astern . He had many hits all over the 109 and left him smoking badly. I was 50 yds to the left and abreast of Capt. Schreiber at the time. The 109 still flew straight and level, so I moved over and opened fire from 150 yds, with about 5? deflection . I gave him a good burst and saw many hits all over the e/a. He gushed flames and started down at an angle of 30 to 45?. I saw him crash in a field spreading flame and burning deb r is over about 300 yds. I claim one Fw 190 d estroyed , sharing it with Capt. Quirk; and One Me 109 destroyed, sharing it with Capt. Schreiber and Lt. Bryant. "