John Kavanaugh
55th Fighter Group 04/16/1945
PILOT’S PERSONAL ENCOUNTER REPORT
A. Combat.
B. 16 April 1945.
C. 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group.
D. 1600 - 1630.
E. Bad Aibling A/D and autobahn between Munich/Brunnthal A/D and Munich/NeuBiberg A/D.
F. CAVU.
G. 2 U/I T/E, 1 Me 262 and 1 Me 109.
H. 1 U/I T/E destroyed, 1 Me 262 destroyed, 1 U/I T/E damaged and 1 Me 109 damaged (Ground).
I. I was flying Hellcat White 3 (I was originally Hellcat Spare Leader but filled in this position when the original White 3 had to head for home because of gas shortage) on a fighter sweep in the Munich area when Bad Aibling A/D was spotted off to our right. We circled around in a 360 and made a 1 pass from north to south. I picked out 1 Me 109 (28, see illustration 1) and gave it about a 4 second burst. I fired a little short but I left my sight a little and the bullets worked up through the enemy plane. I claim this E/A damaged. (Flak on this field was fairly heavy). Our Squadron then drove up on autobahn in a northwesterly direction where we spotted a number of T/E planes parked along the road and in a wood northeast of Brunnthal A/D. The planes were well camouflaged and very hard to see. I made 6 or 7 passes at three different planes and on each I fired a 3 or 4 second burst. One Me 262 (29, see illustration 2) was burning and another U/I T/E (30, see illustration 2) was smoking. Another U/I T/E (31, see illustration 2) just wouldn’t even put out a spark even though I observed numerous hits. I claim the first 2 planes destroyed and the last one damaged.
J. Ammunition Expended – 1600 Rounds.
JOHN W. KAVANAUGH, O-677047,
Captain, Air Corps.
S T A T E M E N T
I was flying Hellcat White Two on the above mission. As I pulled up off Bad Aibling A/D, I glanced back to observe any damage and saw Captain Kavanaugh getting strikes on an Me 109.
Later when the Squadron was strafing planes on the autobahn south of Munich, my luck was nil in distinguishing the planes from the trees. As the flak was light I made high pull-offs to sight the planes better. On my second pull up I looked back to see Captain Kavanaugh pouring lead into an Me 262. This plane burst into flames almost immediately. Two passes later I again observed Captain Kavanaugh getting strikes on another plane, U/I T/E. This plane started smoking and subsequently burst into flames. A third plane, a U/I T/E, Captain Kavanaugh fired at wouldn’t burn but I observed numerous strikes.
JOHN T. MALONEY, O-829723,
2nd Lieut., Air Corps.
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by John Kavanaugh of the 55th Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of John Kavanaugh's combat experience.
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