PLEASE SUPPORT THE 8AF.ORG PROJECT! [MORE]
Target – Burg Airfield, Germany.
Squadron Mission #336. (Penetration, Target and Withdrawal Support of 3rd Division B-17’s).
Eighth Air Force Field Order #1936A.
Date - 10 April 1945.
Take Off Time - 1223. Landing Time – 1737.
Squadron Leader – Captain John W. Kavanaugh.
Flight Leaders:
Captain Oliver W. Griswold
1st Lt. Clifford C. Gould
1st Lt. Millard O. Anderson
1st Lt. Keith R. McGinnis
Other Pilots making flight:
1st Lt. William B. Staggs
1st Lt. Joseph W. Mirando
1st Lt. Ralph E. Morrow
1st Lt. Donald T. Menegay
1st Lt. Harold B. Mooers
1st Lt. John W. Cunnick
2nd Lt. Roger B. Mooers
2nd Lt. John T. Maloney
2nd Lt. Robert M. Conners
2nd Lt. Donald J. Best
2nd Lt. Robert V. Bender
2nd Lt. Laurence E. Bectett
2nd Lt. Darrel B. Bachman
2nd Lt. John E. Anderson
2nd Lt. Richard F. Quinn
The following flew as spare:
1st Lt. Walter T. Achramowicz
Two Early Returns as follows:
Lt. Staggs at 1310, Oil Leak.
Lt. Quinn at 1310, Escort.
Course Flown:
Landfall Middleburg, 1315 at 18,000 feet [unreadable] R/V’ed at 5210-0800, 1400 at 20,000 feet – Target, 1452 at 20,000 feet – Broke Escort at 5210-0730, 1620 at 18,000 feet. (Flight Plan Attached).
Enemy Aircraft Encountered:
(Air) – While Program White Flight was escorting on port side of Vinegrove 2-9, same level (21,000 feet), after making turn at I.P. and headed on a course of 144 degrees at 1450, White Leader spotted two smoke contrails approaching from 3 o’clock (southeast southwest) very high in a dive. By the time we identified them as Me 262’s and dropped our tanks, the jets were under bombers. Lt. McGinnis gave chase and after momentarily losing them, spotted one 1500 yards directly in front of him at 14,000 feet in a tight turn. Just as he was about to fire, the enemy pilot bailed out and the jet rolled over and in, crashing at about 3212-1144. At the same time, Lt. Bachman called in two more and chased them almost to Dessen getting in a few hits on one, but they put on the juice and pulled away. (Encounter Report Attached).
(Ground) – At 1545 Yellow Section spotted about 10 E/A on Wessendorf Airdrome, 4 parked at northwest end of field and 6 in southwest dispersal area. On one pass from southwest to southeast Lt. Gould destroyed 1 T/E U/I A/C in northwest corner and Lt. Maloney destroyed 1 Me 109 at same place. Lt. Anderson’s flight attacked southwest dispersal area on a south to north pass and he accounted for 1 T/E U/I A/C destroyed. Flak became intense at this end of the field so we ceased further attacks.
Meantime Lt. Cunnick and Lt. Best had spotted about 10 to 15 E/A on a woods bordered field about a mile northwest of Wessendorf Airdrome. Setting up a gunnery pattern, making all passes from north to south, Lt. Cunnick destroyed 1 He 111 and 1 Me 109 and damaged 3 He 111’s. Lt. Best destroyed 2 He 111’s.
Going northwest from the Airdrome for 7 miles Lt. Gould and Lt. Maloney spotted a grass field with about 10 E/A mostly dispersed under trees and covered with nets. Lt. Gould made three passes from south to north, destroying 2 Me 109’s and damaging another. Lt. Maloney made 2 passes from south to north destroying an FW 190 and an Me 109. (Encounter Report Attached).
Claims:
Air – 1 Me 262 destroyed – 1st Keith R. McGinnis.
1 Me 262 damaged – 1st Keith R. McGinnis.
Ground – 1 He 111 destroyed – 1st Lt. John W. Cunnick.
1 Me 109 destroyed – 1st Lt. John W. Cunnick.
3 He 111’s destroyed – 1st Lt. John W. Cunnick.
2 He 111’s destroyed – 2nd Lt. Donald J. Best.
1 T/E U/I destroyed – 1st Lt. Millard O. Anderson.
1 T/E U/I destroyed – 1st Lt. Clifford C. Gould.
1 Me 109 destroyed – 2nd Lt. John T. Maloney.
2 Me 109’s destroyed – 1st Lt. Clifford C. Gould.
1 Me 109 damaged – 1st Lt. Clifford C. Gould.
1 FW 190 destroyed – 2nd Lt. John T. Maloney.
1 Me 109 destroyed – 2nd Lt. John T. Maloney.
Scheduled Formation, 10 April 1945.
White Leader - Kavanaugh
2 - Anderson, J.E.
3 - Mooers, H.B.
4 - Menegay
Red Leader - Griswold
2 - Beckett
3 - Mirando
4 - Morrow
Yellow Leader - Gould
2 - Maloney
3 - Cunnick
4 - Best
Blue Leader - Anderson, M.O.
2 - Bender
3 - Mooers, R.B.
4 - Conners
Spare - Achramowicz
Program White Leader - McGinnis
2 - Bachman
3 - Staggs
4 - Quinn
FLIGHT PLAN
S/E 1211 T/O 1218 S/C 1238
TO. MI. CC. ETA.
Clacton 20 115 1244
Middleberg 96 118 1312
Osnabruck 196 86 1358
Steinhuder 62 74 1422
Wahrenholz 62 89 1442
Kalbe 26 73 1450
Target 36 144 1459
Genthin 12 59 1502
Wieren 76 306 1525
Osnabruck 118 257 1556
Middleberg 196 264 1631
Home 116 290 1652
transcription of the official field order for mission 336, 10 April 1945.
Do you have WWII memorabilia that you are not sure what to do with it? The children don't want it? Then let us help you preserve this history by donating these items to the Army Air Corps Library and Museum. We are accepting donations in the form of uniforms, medals, ribbons, patches, photos, memorabilia, papers, gear and equipment. We also accept monetary donations to support our operations and long term plans. This website is part of the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, and as a 501(c)(3) Non-profit, your qualifying donations are tax deductible.
Historical Artifacts: We are looking for photos, documents and other types of artifacts including uniforms and gear of the 8th Air Force in World War II as well as other units and commands. We accept electronic/scans or originals of pictures and paper records. A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. Special Orders may contain transfers or other information. Flight records, accident reports, maintenance logs, after action reports, pilot encounter reports, diaries and biorgraphies; all of these types of documents help us support or mission: preserving your history! Contact us today for instructions on sending us this material.
Are you an AAC, AAF or USAF Veteran, family member, historian or WW2 enthusiast? We Need YOU! Contact us today to see how you can help the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, a Texas Not-For-Profit Corporation. We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks. Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one.