WWII Pilot Combat Report - ROBERT WISE

ROBERT WISE

78th Fighter Group 02/24/1944

OFFICE OF THE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 83RD FIGHTER SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE COMBAT REPORT REFER ENCE F . C .F.O. NO . 2 50

a . Combat . b . 24 Febr uary, 1944 . c . 83rd Fighter Squadron , 78 th Fighter Group . d . 1 2 30 . e . Furstenau . f . 5 /10 low cloud in patches , excellent visibility . g . FW 19 o, unidentified t/e aircraft . h . 1 FW 19 o destroyed , 1 t/e a/c probably destroyed . i . I was flying number three in Cleveland Black flight. My flight leader went down to the low box of bombers. A fortress disentegrated and five to seven chutes opened. My flight leader attacked several Me 109's and FW 190's and I got on the tail of a FW 190. I was at about 1,000 yards. Closing slightly, I opened up with short bursts using 1 ½ rings at about 30 degrees. No hits were observed. I kept firing and closing until I was dead astern, observed heavy strikes on the fuselage and small pieces flying off. I closed to 50 – 100 yards and he exploded. I pulled up over him and last saw him in a 80 degree bank going down at 2,000 feet. He made no attempt to pull out. I got on another FW 190's tail and fired two short bursts from 1,000 yards. I then saw a Me 109 back of me, so I shook him off and saw the 109 go to a grass field to land. I circled and came down on the field from 1,000 feet , I fired at what appeared to be a t/e a/c parked on the edge of the field. It was camouflaged with netting and so couldn't assertain its type. I fired on it and saw hits and flashes. As I pulled up over it, I think I saw a propellor fall off and it was smoking badly. Then joined some P-47's and returned to home base. The 109's and 190's were painted a dirty brown which made them very hard to see on the deck. 25 Febr uary, 1944

ROBERT E . WISE , 2nd Lt. , Air Corps , 83rd Fighter Squadron.

Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by ROBERT WISE of the 78th Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of ROBERT WISE's combat experience.

Donations

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.

Donate

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.

Volunteering

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.

(1) 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. (2) Photography and Document Scanning.

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.