KENNETH DOUGHERTY

a . combat

b. 25 February, 1944.

c. 83 rd Fighter Squadron, 78 th Fighter Group.

d. 1350.

e. Boekingen .

f. Excellent visibility, patches of low cloud.

g. Me 109.

h. Me 109 destroyed. i . I was leading Lockyear White flight, at an altitude of 25,000 feet at 1350. We had been with the bombers about 20 minutes when Goldsmith 13 reported he was being attacked. None of the boxes we were covering were bothered so we started looking for Goldsmith 13. It was impossible to tell which box was Goldsmith 13. At this time four Me 109's swung over us into the sun and one dropped down and attacked Stedman Yellow flight which turned into the e/a. The Hun fired, with no results, and continued in his dive. I immediately followed, drawing 55 inches. A few seconds later, the e/ a started zooming up to join the other three of his flight. I cut him off. He saw me and started another dive. I again cut him off, and he started another zoom. This put me in firing position dead astern at 350 yards. I opened fire from an altitude of 18,000 feet with a one second burst. He lit up like a Christmas tree, pieces flew off, and he poured off white smoke. He rolled to the right. I pulled one ring deflection at 20 degrees and fired a one second burst, again observing more hits. I turned to follow him but my speed was too great. I had difficulty recovering from my dive. As the Jerry pulled out, he waggled his wings. His prop was windmilling and he was losing altitude rapidly. I could not lose speed to get behind him. I "S-d", did 360 degree turns and zooms, but each time he turned into me. These tactics continued until I watched him crash land, immediately after which I strafed the e/a with a two second burst, observing many hits, pieces flying off and finally disintegration. The pilot did not get out of the ship. My wing man followed and strafed. As he pulled up he spotted a train, and strafed it. I observed steam spurting from the boiler after his pass. We formed cross cover and came home. The trip was uneventful. I wish to commend my wing man, Lt. Hotchkiss, on an excellent job. He covered me all the time, through violent maneuvers and drawing maximum merury , despite the fact that his belly tank would not release.