Donate      Newsletter Signup

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS 8TH AIR FORCE (8AF.ORG) PROJECT! [MORE]

WILLIAM McDERMOTT

78th Fighter Group 02/22/1944

OFFICE OF THE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 83 RD FIGHTER SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE COMBAT REPORT REFERENCE F.C.F.O NO. 247
Combat . 22 February, 1944 . 8 3 rd Fighter Squadron , 78 th Fighter Group. 151 0 . Nijmegen. 5/10 low cloud. FW 190. Destroyed. Narrative: I was flying number two position in Black section on a bomber escort mission. Number three man had to drop out due to belly tank trouble, so Lt. Roff, F/O Kochanek and myself continued as a flight of three. Approximately five minutes after rendezvous, we spotted three bandits attacking a straggler. Lt Roff turned away from me on the bounce and Kochanek stayed on his left. As we started the bounce one of the FWs broke left, one right, and the other, half rolled and went to the deck. Roff and Kochanek started after the one that broke left, so I chose the one that broke right. I was almost in range when he ducked into a cloud. I then turned back to the other two of my flight who were in a tight Luftberr y (sic) with the FW 190 at about 700 feet. I intended to join the Luftberry (sic) but changed my mind and broke up and took a look around and then started making passes across the Luftberry (sic) . I pulled up to the side, waited until they turned away from me, and then dived in and fired. I missed on my first one and one half second burst, but on the second pass I closed in from ninety degrees and closed down to approximately 30 degrees at an IAS of 225. My range was from 175 down to 50 yards . I started firing with about 2 rings deflection and let the e/a fly through the sight. I observed hits around the canopy and lef t wing root. He jettisoned his canopy which almost hit Lt Roff, and bailed out.

WILLIAM M. McDERMOTT 2 nd Lt., Air Corps, 83 rd Fighter Squadron Supporting statement of claim: I followed Lt Roff down after a FW 190. We got into a Luftberry (sic) with the e/a, starting at 4,000 feet., going down to 700 feet. While in the Luftberry (sic) I saw a third man of our flight who was Lt McDermott, come in under me and get in a burst after which I saw the canopy fly off. We went around once more and then I saw the pilot bail out and a dark chute open. FRANCIS J. KOCHANEK, F/O, Air Corps, 83 rd Fighter Squadron

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

Arrow  78th Fighter Group

PLEASE SUPPORT THE 8AF.ORG PROJECT! [MORE]



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.

Contact us if you are contemplating a donation of any kind.

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.