LEROY SCHREIBER

C ombat . 16 March, 1944 6 2nd Fighter Squadron . Approx. 1 1 00 hours Vicinity St. Dizier 8-9/10 cloud at 5 to 6,000'. Visibility good. ME 109 and FW 190s One ME 109 and one FW 190 claime d destroyed , and one FW 190 claimed damaged pending assessment. Narrative: I was lead ing Woodfire Squadron on F.O. 270. We rendezvoused with the bombers on time and started climbing to intercept enemy contrails forming at 12 o'clock to the lead box. The e/a came overhead and let down in a diving attack at 6 o'clock on the second box of bombers. We circled for top cover over the bombers while the P-47s engaged the e/a that broke for the clouds. Seeing no more enemy attacks coming down, I went down below the bombers to attack the e/a below. These all broke through the cloud cover and finally I went through the clouds myself, engaging 2 ME 109s in a turning dogfight at about 4,000'. I fired at one head-on and he broke away. I closed behind the other e/a and shot him down from about 250/300 yds., observing several hits in the cockpit, which started to burn. The e/a rolled over and hit the deck, exploding. No chute was observed. I engaged two FW 190s from about 300 yds. and shot one on the deck. The pilot pulled up to bail out and I hit him again. The canopy and a few miscellaneous pieces exploded, a small piece cracking my windscreen. I ducked underneath the e/a to avoid collision and pulled around, observing my wingman, Lt. Canizeres shoot at the same a/c. He got several hits around the belly and wing roots of the e/a and evidently killed the pilot. This ship also crashed near the town of St. Dizier. I engaged two more FW 190s coming in to land at an enemy a/d near the town. We turned on the deck for several minutes. I fired a few short bursts at the second e/a but, because of the large deflection, did not observe any hits. The e/a broke off and started straight for a flak tower on the a/d and I broke off pursuit. I claim one ME 109 and one FW 190 destroyed, and one FW 190 damaged, pending assessment.