Kenneth Williams

a . Combat b . 20 February 1944 c . 486 th F i gh t e r Sq uadron d . 1 52 0 e . Vicinity of Charleroi - 8 ,000 ft. f . 10 /10 at 4 ,000 ft . g . Me 109 G h . One ( 1 ) Me 109 G D estroyed i . I was number four man in Handspun White Flight. We bounced eight Me 109s at 15, 000 feet. My leader, Lt. Cutler attacked and destroyed one Me 109, it was in flames as it spun into the overcast. After this, he chandelled up on the tail of another 109. This E/A started down and Lt. Cutler went down with him. As they started down, there was another 109 to the left which I turned into and he turned away. This left me about 1000 yds behind and about 1000 ft. above White three, (Lt. Cutler). I immediately peeled down to cover his tail and noticed a 109 come up from his left, chandelled up to White 3's right, and started to initiate an attack. I had full throttle and was about 800 yds when I opened fire to distract his attention . I saw several strikes on the port side of the fuselage, in the engine and cockpit. I also saw a large puff of smoke which lasted several seconds. This was the only burst that I actually fired at the plane for he started to turn into me. I chopped throttle and fired three or four bursts from my guns to kill my speed. This put me slightly behind him and by "re efing into my gut" I stayed with him about 75 yds behind. I could not pull in tight enough to get any deflection but I notice that he already was flaming underneath. After a few seconds the fire began to grow and he suddenly flipped over on his back and his right wing crumpled and came off. I was turning with him at seven thousand feet and an airspeed of 115 mph, and about 25 yds behind him when he blew up. He had a red spinner, white bell and blue fuselage and wings, with conventional markings on top. The pilot did not bail out. I pulled up and joined White Flight Leader and White two. I claim o ne ( 1 ) Me 109 G D estroyed .