Until the last bullet
Text: Jan Zdiarský
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Cat. No. 84172
On September 11, 1944, one of the wildest days of the Allied strategic bombing offensive over Germany, the 352nd Fighter Group escorted the last combat boxes in the bomber stream of the 3rd Bombardment Division of the 8th Air Force.
At around 1150h, pilots of the 328th FS spotted a group of around thirty German fighters located about halfway between them and an unspecified group of American bombers. The latter were most likely B-17s from the 1st Bomb Division headed for Merseburg/Lützkendorf. The squadron leader, Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, later reported: ‘They were pulling contrails and appeared to be forming up. We headed towards them and as we got closer they dove out of contrails level in ones and twos. Contrail level was 28000´plus. At 29000´, I identified them as Me 109s and attacked one as he headed down in a 60° dive. The whole squadron then engaged small groups of the E/A after their original gaggle had been split up. At about 17000´ the E/A I was chasing leveled off and I closed rapidly. He saw me and started in a steep climbing turn, my first burst was about 20° deflection at 300 yards. I observed few hits. I closed on him in the climbing turn and at 30° deflection and 200 yards I got hits on the rear portion of his fuselage, pieces coming off. He split S´d, recovered and turned into me. I had little difficulty in overtaking and in turning inside of him. At 20° and 300 yards I got good strikes on wing root and E/A started to smoke. It rolled over and crashed straight into the deck from 8000´. Pilot seemed inexperienced, his breaks were conspicuously non-violent. He was hesitant in all his maneuvers.’
John C. Meyer did not get the described kill while in the cockpit of his iconic Mustang s/n 44-14151 HO-M, named ‘Petie 2nd’, which remained on the ground. Good fortune on this day was bestowed on Meyer by a borrowed, and a little orphaned, Mustang named ‘Stardust’, which carried the serial 44-13597 and code HO-F, who’s pilot, Lt. William E. Fowler, had just completed a combat tour.
After getting that first kill of the day, Lt. Col. Meyer felt a little abandoned. He spotted another group of German fighters, made up of around fifteen Bf 109s and Fw 190s, a little higher than himself in altitude and further to the northwest. He climbed about 2,000 feet above the level of his foes and attacked a mixed pair of aircraft, one of each type: ‘They had belly tanks and appeared to be forming up. I approached them from out of the sun and attacked the #2 of a pair of E/A that were farthest from the mass. I fired at 15° deflection from 300 yards to point blank range. The E/A burst into flames, I broke into the sun, cleared my tail and attacked the element leader, at 300 yards I got few strikes on his right wing tip and he broke. As he broke I got strikes in the vicinity of the cockpit and wing roots. The E/A rolled over and spiraled down, crashing into the ground.’
Shortly afterwards, Meyer spotted his final victim of this fight: ‘A lone Me 109 was emerging from a cloud in the vicinity of the large enemy gaggle. And as I was not yet under attack, I attacked the E/A. Only my right wing guns were now firing so I opened at 200 yards and no deflection closing to point blank range and 10° deflection. I saw strikes all over the E/A and pieces flew off the tail and fuselage. He caught fire at his left wing root. I broke off the attack and headed for the deck and home.’
The combat that lasted only a few minutes brought Lt. Col. Meyer the rare triumph of four kills. The drama, though, was not at its end. After his last kill, pretty much out of ammunition and his fuel reserves leaving much to be desired, he turned for home and dropped down to a lower altitude where he would be safer. At that point, he spotted two Bf 109s below him that glued themselves to his tail. For a short period of time, he set his throttle to emergency boost and began climbing again at a rate of 980 ft per minute. The enemy aircraft pursued him at a distance of almost 330 yd, and still 100 to 120 yd from below. Every now and again, they would be able to lift their noses up and get off a few rounds, but to Meyer’s luck, without success. This unlikely group flew almost 100 miles between Kassel and Bonn, and when they reached the Rhine, the German pilots turned back.
During his WWII combat tour, John C. Meyer achieved 24 confirmed aerial victories. He passed away on December 2, 1975, at the age of 56, holding the rank of General. The full story about this combat can be read in Info 02/2021, in the article 'Stardust: Four Trips To Hell On a Borrowed Horse.