78th Fighter Group 03/21/1945
I was flying Surtax White 3. White leader had left us and I was leading the flight and we were returning from bomber escort. At the Giebelstadt a/d 3 jets were seen taking off. Surtax Sqdn. was flying at about 14,000 ft. when these planes were sighted. We went on a bounce. The last one to take off made a large circle to the left and I cut him off. Just about the time I got into range, he went over the a/d. They chucked everything in the book at us and I was hit several times by flak at this point. I took a short burst, getting a few hits, when one filiment of my sight burned out. The Me-262 got out of range, but I kept after him. He made another turn apparently trying to lead me over the a/d again. I cut him off in this turn, got a good long burst, and observed several hits in the cockpit and left side of the fuselage. We were about 50 ft. at the time. The plane went into the ground and exploded. I noticed I had no rudder or elevator trim, some of the trim cables had been shot off. I claim 1 Me-262 destroyed.
Robert H. Anderson 0-757438
1st Lt., Air Corps.
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by Robert Anderson of the 78th Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of Robert Anderson's combat experience.
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