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a mission and when the field came in sight,
we saw all these P-51s parked there.” On landing,
Powell was informed by his crew chief that he
was expected to take one of the Mustangs for an
initial flight in 30 minutes. Powell was surprised
and initially resisted the idea of not even
studying the flight manual. “But that’s what we
did. Our engineering officer showed me how to
start it, and the next thing I knew, I was at 15,000
feet. To get the feel of it, I did some tight turns,
a chandelle in both directions, and a barrel roll.
I tested the stall by putting the wheels down,
cutting power and bringing the nose up till she
stalled. I was surprised by how stable it was.
I went back and landed and we flew our first
mission in the new planes the next day.”
Berlin had been listed as an especially
suitable target in USSTAF’s original assignment
of priorities issued in January. The purpose
of attacking Berlin was not just to destroy the
several important industries located within
the city, or to shake the enemy’s morale. The
desire was to goad the Luftwaffe into defending
a target, so the defenders became targets of the
fighters escorting the bombers, inflicting losses
of pilots as well as aircraft. If there was a target
the Germans could not ignore regardless, Allied
planners believed it was Berlin
Since January, the P-51's range had been
extended. The P-51 with two 75-gallon tanks
had an escort range of 650 miles, and with two
108-gallon tanks that range was 850 miles;
no target in Germany was out of range. The only
holdup was a bottleneck in the supply of P-51s.
By March 1, VIII Fighter Command had a second
Mustang unit, the 4th Fighter Group flying their
first Mustang mission on February 28. There
were now some 150 P-51s available to the 354th,
357th and 4th groups. The airplanes were still
not fully reliable as the “bugs” were worked
out and changes made on the production line.
North American opened a second production
line for the fighter in their Dallas, Texas, factory
in addition to those produced in Los Angeles.
the weather that had closed in at the
conclusion of Big Week didn’t really open up all
that much through the month of March. It took
three tries to get the maximum force over Berlin.
On March 3, the first Berlin mission was
launched, but the bombers ran into steadily
worsening weather over the North Sea. On March
4, 29 B-17s of one combat wing got through the
weather and bombed the Berlin suburb Klein
Machnow, but the rest of the force had to turn
back or bomb targets of opportunity in the Ruhr.
Steve Pianos later remembered, “Eight Mustangs
from our squadron and almost an equal number
from the other two squadrons had to abort for
various mechanical problems.” Finally, March
6 saw the Eighth Air Force over Berlin The 354th
managed to arrive with 33 P-51s after suffering
15 aborts, led by James Howard; they claimed
eight. The 357th claimed 20 victories, the group’s
first “Big Day.” The Fourth claimed 15. Of the 600
bombers that hit the city, 60 were. The Eighth
returned to Berlin on March 8 with 623 bombers
escorted by 725 fighters; 37 bombers and
18 fighters were lost. On the third mission, flown
on March 11, the defenders didn’t show up. Eighth
Air Force replaced their losses by mid-month.
The Luftwaffe never replaced their crucial
losses of experienced pilots..
Allegedly, after the war, when he was
questioned by American interrogators at the
Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, Reichsmarschal
Hermann Göring said "When I saw Mustangs over
Berlin, I knew the jig was up." Whether he said
that to his interrogators or anyone else is open
to question, but the fact that American fighters
did show up over Berlin, the capital of Nazi
Germany on March 6, 1944, with the Luftwaffe
failing to appear on March 11, was proof that
the only question remaining was how long the
Second World War would last. The winners were
already known.
ARTICLES
Major James H. Howard (l), CO of the 354th group’s 356th Fighter Squadron was awarded the Medal of Honor for
single-handedly defending the B-17s of the 401st Bomb Group from Luftwaffe attack over Ochersleben, Germany,
on February 11, 1944, becoming the only fighter pilot in the ETO so honored. (USAF Official)
1st Lieutenant Willian T. Whisner of the 352nd Fighter Group with his P-51B “Princess Elizabeth” in June 1944.
(USAF Official)
INFO Eduard12
May 2024