The 356th Fighter Group in World War II in Action over Europe with P-47 and P-51

334 Pages·2003·59.63 MB·English

by  Kent D. Miller

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in Rction ouer Europe
with the P-47i1nd P-51
The 356th Fighter Group in World War II
AlsobytheAuthor
FIGHTERUNrrs& PILOTSOFTHE8THAIRFORCE:SEPTEMBER 1942-MAY1945
Volume I: Day~to-Day Operations·FighterGroupHistories
Volume2:AerialVictories·AceData
THE363RDFIGHTER GROUPINWORW WARIf: INACTIONOVEREUROPEWITHTHEP-51 MUSTANG
THE 356TH FIGHTER GROUP
in World War II
in Action over Europe with the P-47 and P-51
Kent D. Miller
SchifferMilitary History
Atglen, PA
Dustjacketand aircraft profileartworkbyS.W. Ferguson,ColoradoSprings,CO.
all theCOl'er: TH\VAITESWADESIN
ByMay19, 1944,DavidThwaites,eventuallytobethefirstaerialaceinthe356thFighterGroup,had
scored two and one halfvictories while flying with the 361st Fighter Squadron. On this date, the
356th Dew a penetration supportand ran intoover 100enemy fighters in theCelle-Quackenbruck
Hanoverarea.Thwaitesand hiswingman tookon25·plus Fw 190sthatwereattackingsomeB~24s,
and in amatterofminuteshehad shotdownoneFocke-Wulfanddamagedanotherthree.
Bookdesignby Robert Biondi.
Copyright©2003 by Kent D. Miller.
LibraryofCongre.<:>sCatalogNumber:2002114157.
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Contents
Introduction 7
The 356th Fighter Group in World War II ,., , , , 8
Appendices
Appendix J: Distinguished Unit Citation 117
Appendix 2: 356th Fighter Group Battle Honors/Assignments 118
Appendix 3: 356th Fighter Group Commanders 119
Appendix 4: 356th Fighter Group Squadron Commanders 120
Appendix 5: Squadron Operations Officers 121
Appendix 6: 356th Fighter Group Statistical Report 122
Appendix 7: Air and Ground Aces of the 356th Fighter Group 124
Appendix 8: 356th Fighter Group Scorers 125
Appendix 9: Pilot List 128
Appendix J0: Aircraft Markings 167
AppendixJJ: Representative Aircraft 168
Appendix 12: Non-Flying Personnel 180
Photo Section 192
356th Fighter Group Aircraft in Profile 320

Introduction
Thisis thestoryofanAmericanfightergroupwhich flew ratio, the gratitude and praise from the bomber crews more
intheEuropeanTheaterofOperationsduringtheSecondWorld thanoffsetthis misnomer.
War. Known officially as the 356th Fighter Group, the unit While the majority of the information contained in this
spent over two years in England, occupying the airfield at history came from the official group and squadron records,
MartleshamHeath, inthecounty ofSuffolk. muchwasalsosuppliedbymembersofthe356th.Alargenum
Originallyenteringcombatflying P-47Thunderlioltsand berresponded to my requests for assistance and photographs,
laterswitchingtoP-51 Mustangs,the356thdispatched itsair andtoallofthemIamextremelygrateful.Unfortunately,quite
crafton407 missionsacrosstheChannel. Betweenthetimeof afewofthemhavesincepassedaway,anditistotheirmemory,
thefirst, on October 15, 1943,andthefinal missiononMay7, and toallthosewhogave theirlives in Europe, thatIdedicate
1945,the356thwascreditedwithdestroying277enemyplanes, this book.
probably destroying23 more, anddamaging 192. Inaddition,IwouldliketothankthestaffsofboththeAir
Because the principle of bomber escort was strictly ad ForceMuseum and theAir Force Historical Research Center,
heredtobythe356th'sleaders,pilotsofthegroupoftenhadto Henry Kidd, SteveBlake,TedDamick, andTom Ivie.
pass up opportunities to engage enemy fighters and increase
theirscores.Whilethis fact helpedearn the356thareputation Kent D. Miller
as being a"hard luck" outfit, due to their low victory to loss Hicksville, Ohio, October2002
7
The 356th Fighter Group in World War"
The 356th Fighter Group was formally constituted on the pilots worked closely with radio-navigation aids and un
December 8, 1942, pursuant to War Department Letter AG dertook instrument and cross-country flights. The 356th was
320.2. Four days later, the 356th was officially activated at splitintoairandgroundechelonsonAugust 13,withthepilots
Westover Field, Massachusetts, and placed under the control flying the P-4Ts to Newark, New Jersey.The ground person
oftheFirstAirForce. Initial commanderwas Lt. Joseph Mor neltraveledtoCampMylesStandish,Massachusetts,andpre
ris,Jr.,whotookchargeonDecember28. Hisdurationwasbut pared for overseas staging. They boarded the "Queen Eliza
oneday,asCapt. HaroldJ.Listertookcommandthefollowing beth" on August 20, and after a five day journey, arrived at
day. Gourock, Scotland.
The 356th began to take shape in early January of 1943, After dis-embarking, the ground echelon settled into the
as the 359th, 360th, and 361st Fighter Squadrons were acti group's first English home, Station F-345, Goxhill,
vated on the 7th. Then on February 9, 1943, Maj. Harold J. Lincolnshire. On the same day, August 26, the 356th was at
Rau tookcommandofthe356thandthenext few weeks were tached to the 65th Fighter Wing, VIlJ Fighter Command, of
spent procuring supplies, equipment, and most importantly, the 8th Air Force. Meanwhile, the air echelon sailed aboard
pilots. The initial cadreoffliers came from the 326th Fighter the "HMS Orion" on September 5, 1943. They arrived at
Group (a IstAir Force ReplacementTraining Group) and by Glascow,Scotland,on the 15th, then proceeded to Goxhill.
theendofFebruarythesquadronswerealmostatfull strength. Once things were organized the group moved one more
Beginning on March 9, Headquarters and the 359th and time, leaving Goxhill on October 5. The 356th's permanent
360thmoved toTrumbull Field, Connecticut, while the 361st home was to be F-369, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, situated
flew out of New Haven Army Air Base, Connecticut. P-47B betweenIpswichandWoodbridge.Theaircomponentsarrived
Thunderbolts were assigned to the group and both flight and on the 9th, with the 361st pilots taking up residence on the
ground echelons attended various schools. Topics of lectures baseitself,whilethe359thand360thpilotsresidedin Kesgrave
includedhighaltitudeflying,aircraftidentification,intelligence Hall and Playford Hall, respectively, both located ashort dis
reports, first aid, and subjects relating to the various depart tance from thefield.
ments within each squadron. To assist the 356th, the 85th Service Group (later desig
May 30saw the group moveto Mitchel Field, NewYork. nated the 447th Air Service Group), commanded by LtCol.
WithHeadquartersatMitchel,thesquadronsrotatedoutofWest AustinL.Sands,wasstationedatMartleshamHeath.The85th
HavenMunicipalAirportandBradleyField,Connecticut.Here, wascomprisedofthe54thStationComplementSquadron, the
P-47D'sweretakenon andtrainingconsistedoftransition fly 394thServiceSquadron, the IlOlstSignal Company, aQuar
ing, gunnery and gun camera practice, aerobatics, formation, termaster section, the 1834th Ordnance Supply and Mainte
navigation, high altitudeand night flying, instrumenttraining nanceCompany,andthe II84thMilitaryPoliceCompany.With
and Link trainer time. On the 8th of June, the 361st moved everythingnowinplace,the356thFighterGroupwasreadyto
once more, this timeto SuffolkCountyAirfield,NewYork. entertheairwaroverEurope.
The356th'sfinal phaseoftrainingbeganonJuly4, 1943, Thefollowingpagescomprisethe356th'soperationalhis
as the group moved to Grenier Field, New Hampshire. Here tory. All 407 combat missions arecovered with the following
8
The356th FighterGroup inWorldWarJl
information supplied (where known): date, mission number, seven RAF Spitfires in the Bruges area. Maj. Baccus was the
leader,detailsofthemission itself,alistingofeachpilotonthe sole 359th pilot on the mission as the rest were still enroute
flight,andalistingofclaimsmade.Therearegapsinthesquad from Goxhil\.
ron line-ups in several instances; early 359th FighterSquad
ron records omit pilots for October and November of 1943, Line-up
and the othersquadrons have agap ortwo in 1944and 1945. 359th: none (see 360th)
An (*) indicates a pilot who aborted, and here only the 359th 360th: Kinnard, L'Heureux, Koczak, Halverson
keptaccuraterecords. Johnson, Kress, Cook,Withers
Also throughout the mission summaries, sections of Ellingson, Hockmeyer, McCullough, McLaughlin
"Notes"appear,filling inotherhappeningsofthedaywiththe Evans, Bennett,Adams, Baccus(359th)
356th. Chief among these are command changes, accidents, 361sl: Edner, Rau, Roberts, Von Holzhausen
and the names ofpilots completing their tours. Unless other Montgomery, Porter, Hyde, Perrin
wise indicated, apilot was sentback tothe States afterfinish Wood, Metzger, Strait,Bailey
inghistour. Scoringisindicated inthefollowingmanner: 0-0 Price, Racine, Korhorn, Gansberg
o
forairclaimsisdestroyed-probables-damaged,while0-0for
ground claims (aircraft and other targets) is destroyed-dam October16
aged. (#2) LlCo\. Rau led a sweep from 1516 to 1726. The P-4Ts
Belowaretheradiocallsignsforthegroupandeachsquad crossed in at 1551 near Noordwaal with the spares returning
ron. Duringthecourse ofthetextthesenames will appearand earlierwhentenmilesfromlandfall.Aftercrossingin,thegroup
thesewill give the readeran ideaofwhatunitis involved: turned north over Waordin, flew to Amsterdam, then turned
west and made landfall-out at 163I near Noordwaa\. Solid
Group Leader: Soundwave untilApril 22, 1944 then; overcastwasencounteredfrom mid-Channel onwardsand the
"A"Group: Lampshade only other planes seen were some55th FighterGroup P-38's
"B"Group: Notebook nearRotterdam.
"c" Group: Seaweed
Line-up
359th FtrSqn: Beachhouse untilApril 22, 1944then; 359th: Rau, Edner, Baccus (restare unknown)
"A"Group: Farmhouse 360th: Kinnard, Halverson, Borelli
"B"Group: Bucket Bennett, Johnson, Hockmeyer
Evans, McCullough,Walters
360thFtrSqn: Plasteruntil April 22, 1944then; Fletcher,Asbridge (spares)
"A" Group: Vortex 361st: Montgomery, Metzger,Wood, Johnson
"B"Group: Deansgate Hyde, McDowell, Price, Gibson
Campbell, Porter, Hewett, Hayden
361stFtrSqn: MolecoatuntilApril 22, 1944then; Dendle, Erickson,Tuckey, Martin
"A"Group: Chinwag
"B"Group: Webber October17
(#3)LlCo\. Rau led asweep from 1625 to 1808. Landfall was
madeat1705eastofCalaisandthepilotsthenswepttheCalais
• • •
St.Inglevertarea.The360thspottedfourGennanfightersover
Calaisbutnocontactwasmadeandeveryonelatercrossedout
at 1730.
October15,1943
(#1)WithMaj. Seldon R. Edner(on loan from the4th Fighter Line-up
Group) inthe lead,32P-4Tstookoffat 1411 forasweep.The 359th: Baccus (restare unknown)
fighters crossed in at 1458overWesthoofd, thenflew south to 360th: Rau, Withers (restare unknown)
Haistand latermade aninety degreeturn towards Ostend.All 3618t: Roberts, Leyser,Wood, Vangos
oftheplanes crossedoutnearOstendfrom 1522to 1532with Porter, Campbell, Erickson, Tuckey
the361stlanding at 1553, followed by the 360that 1600. No Strait, Gibson, Metzger, McDowell
enemyaircraftwereseenontheflight, though360thpilotssaw Johnson, Gansberg
9