Mark Boyle

1 st Lt. Joseph R. Curtis Combat 4 July 1944 6 3 nd Fighter Squadron . 56 th Fighter Group 1800-1830 hours Bernay-E vreux Are 8/10 cloud cover Vis. excellent Me 109 s One Me 109 destroyed. One Me 109 destroyed (shared with Lt . Frederick) "I was flying number 3 in Daily Yellow flight consisting of Lts . Porowski, Magel, myself and Timony. After dive-bombing the M/Y south of Bernay, Daily B lue and Yellow flights regained altitude to give cover to Platform squadron. They were preparing to dive-bomb Conches airdrome, when a member of Platform squadron noticed a gaggle of about 30 plus Me 109s. Platform squadron immediately engaged the 109s. Fairbanks announced that the fight was taking place about 30 miles NE of the target we had just bombed. Daily Yellow flight headed for this area. On the way there we made two uneventful bounces on two M e 109s that we lost in the clouds. Lt. Timony, my wingman, gave me perfect cover all during this time. As we approached the area, I picked up the dog-fight that was ensuing on the deck. I dove into the attack, hoping to g ive someone some help. I immediately saw two e/a explode in mid-air, apparently they wer e t wo of the fourteen o r fifteen that Platform squadron destroyed. Shortly after this, I found myself on the tail of a 109, but as I was getting the e/a in line of my gun sights the pilot bailed out, almost hitting my prop. I pulled up t o the left and flicked my gun switch to camera only, and took a picture of the e/a just as he hit the ground and exploded. I pulled around to the left and saw the parachute floating to the g round, so I also took a picture of the parachute just as it billowed to the ground. As I was climbing to regain some altitude, a lone Me 109 got on my tail and was firing like made. I broke into him and we started turning. The 109 continue to fire and turn with me. Another P-47 entered into the turning and shot the 109 down. It has s i nce been established that Lt. Merrill, of Platform Sqdn, wa s the pilot of the P- 47 that destroyed this Me 109. I was getting low on gasoline and started out by myself. I picked up another Me 109 at 4,000 feet and started after him. I was using water and getting about 65 inches of manifold pressure. I closed very quickly on the e/ a and he broke into me. We started turning in a tight circle. I fired three short burst s at him with no apparent results. The e/a reefed his airplane in and started into a spin at about 3,000 or 4,000 feet. I didn't think he could recover at this altitude, so I broke off my attack. Lt. Frederick was covering me, and after I broke off my attack he made an attack on the e/a while in the spin. Lt. Fredick then saw the pilot bail out and the airplane explode as it hit the ground. I claim one Me 109 Destroyed."