WWII Pilot Combat Report - RICHARD STEARNS

RICHARD STEARNS

353rd Fighter Group 02/24/1944

ENCOUNTER REPORT C ombat . 24 February, 1944 3 5 0 th Fighter Squadron Approximately 1245 Vicinity of Obernkirchen Excellent FW 190 One FW 190 destroyed

I. Narrative: After breaking off my first combat and being alone, I started climbing and was around 3-4,000 feet when two more FW 190s jumped me. I broke into them and we started a Luftberry (sic) that lasted several minutes. One e/a would pull out to the side, and as I would turn with the other one, he'd come at a quarter head-on attack. We traded head-on attacks quite a few times and it was on one of these that I downed another e/a. I opened fire with a short burst at about 350 yards, and saw strikes around the engine and on his left wing. By this time we were down around 1,500 feet. The e/a flipped over on his back and hit the ground in almost a vertical dive and exploded. I didn't see the pilot get out. I made one more turn with the e/a that was left and then hit the deck. He followed me down, and we were both going balls out on the tree tops. The range was too great for him to get any hits on me—about 1,000-1,200 yards and with the water injection I soon outdistanced him. When the e/a was out of sight I climbed to 10,000 feet and came on out alone. I claim one FW destroyed.

J. Ammo Exp. 916 rounds RICHARD A. STEARNS, 1 st Lt., A ir Corps.

Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by RICHARD STEARNS of the 353rd Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of RICHARD STEARNS's combat experience.

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