John Bennett
352nd Fighter Group 11/26/1943
ENCOUNTER REPORT
LT. JOHN R. BENNETT
LT. ROBERT H. BERKSHIRE
a. COMBAT
b. 26/11/43
c. 487FIGHTER SQUADRON
d. 1310 HOURS
e. 20 MILES E/O GRONINGEN
f. GOOD
g. Me 109
h. 1 Me 109 DESTROYED
i. I WAS FLYING ABOUT 23000 FEET 20 MILES E/O GRONINGEN AT 1310 HOURS, LEADING BLUE FLIGHT WHEN 2 E/A STARTED TO ATTACK 2 B-24’S AHEAD AND BELOW US. YELLOW LEADER BLEW UP THE SECOND OF THESE AS THEY BROKE OFF FROM THE BOMBERS WHILE THE OTHER ONE HAD CHANDELLED TO PORT AND APPEARED TO BE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING HIMSELF INTO POSITION TO ATTACK YELLOW LEADER. I LED MY FLIGHT DOWN OUT OF THE SUN AND APPROACHED HIM FROM DEAD ASTERN. IN DOING THIS I LOST MY WING MAN AND BLUE THREE, FLOWN BY LT. BERKSHIRE AND BLUE FOUR CLOSED INTO POSITION. THE ENEMY MUST HAVE SIGHTED ME BECAUSE HE STARTED TO DIVE AWAY BUT I FOLLOWED AND OPENED FIRE AT ABOUT 300 YARDS, CLOSING TO 150 YARDS FIRING INTERMITTENTLY. I SAW MANY STRIKES IN THE FORWARD PART OF HIS FUSELAGE. HE CAME OUT OF HIS DIVE SLUGISHLY AND STARTED A SLIGHT TURN TO STARBOARD. AT THIS TIME I WAS LESS THAN 100 YARDS AWAY AND FIRED AT HIM AGAIN USING ABOUT 10O DEFLECTION AND SAW A HEAVY STREAM OF MIXED BLACK AND WHITE SMOKE COMPLETELY ENVELOPE HIM. I HAD CLOSED TO WITHIN 75 YARDS WHEN I BROKE AWAY. I COULD NOT SEE HIM FROM THAT POSITION BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE AND WAS AFRAID OF RAMMING HIM. HE WAS TAKING NO EVASIVE ACTION OF ANY KIND. AS I BROKE AWAY MY WING MAN, LT. BEKSHIRE MOVE PAST ME AND INTO RANGE. HE FIRED FOUR SHORT BURSTS INTO HIM HITTING HIM IN THE WING ROOTS AND FUSELAGE. THE SMOKING INCREASED AND FLAME APPEARED BACK OF HIS COWELING. HE WAS GOING STRAIGHT DOWN OUT OF CONTROL WHEN WE LAST SAW HIM SO WE PULLED UP AND AWAY AT ABOUT 14 14000 FEET AND CLIMED AS FAST AS WE COULD TO REJOIN OUR FORMATION
CLAIM 1 Me 109 DESTROYED, SHARED BY LT. JOHN R. BENNETT AND LT. ROBERT H. BERKSHIRE.
SERIAL# 42-8421 MARKING HO-Y AMMO. EXP. 653 API-T
42-2515 HO-U 421 API-T
JOHN R. BENNETT
LT. AC
ROBERT H. BERKSHIRE.
LT. AC.
ROBERT H. BERKSHIRE
1ST. LT., AC.
ASST. S-2 OFFICER
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by John Bennett of the 352nd Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of John Bennett's combat experience.
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