WILLIAM STREIT
353rd Fighter Group 03/29/1944
I. Narrative: I was flying Wakeford Yellow #3. Just after we left the bombers we spotted two gaggles of 109s below us at about 10 in each bunch. Captain Forkin, Yellow Leader, called, "Let's go get them," so down we went. It was very simple, I just pulled in behind one of them and let go. He did a little evasive action, but about as much as a glider pilot could do. I kept moving in—getting a few strikes. He then quit turning and began to receive the full benefit of my 8 guns. I continued firing and the e/a blew up, with pieces coming back over my a/c. I started firing at 400 yards and closed to 175 when he blew up. At the same time my wingman was doing a good job of flying formation with me. We pulled up and started home when another flight of 109s popped up so we positioned ourselves and went in for a kill on them. My wingman, Lt. Callans, took the one on the left and I took the one on the right. Ahead of these two were five more. I saw Lt. Callans open up and get strikes on his e/a. Then I opened up on mine. This was at about 350 or 400 yards and I fired about 100 rounds. This boy was a little wiser and split S'ed down. I believed I damaged this one. I then moved up on the other 5 e/a and they split S'ed down also. I didn't get a shot at them. We then headed for home. I claim 1 ME 109 destroyed, and 1 ME 109 damaged pending assessment of film.
Official US Army Air Forces Combat Report by WILLIAM STREIT of the 353rd Fighter Group. This material is a transcription of official reports-testimonials of WILLIAM STREIT'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.
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.