VIII Fighter Command FO 222 BOMBER ESCORT

24 January 1944
A P-47 Thunderbolt (LH-T, serial number 42-74665) nicknamed "Fatty Patty II" of the 353rd Fighter Group flown by Captain Charles W Dinse shoots down a BF 110 during a mission. Gun camera image. Printed caption on reverse: '50416 AC - Discovering an Me 110 below him, Capt. Charles W. Dinsa, 304 Touhy Ave., Park Ridge, Ill., dove down and destroyed it. The pictures were taken by his automatic camera as his bullets found their mark. Credit for the kill was shared with Lt. Richard A. Stearns, Jr., 102 Forest media-400787.jpg FRE 2900 A P-47 Thunderbolt (LH-T, serial number 42-74665) nicknamed "Fatty Patty II" of the 353rd Fighter Group flown by Captain Charles W Dinse shoots down a BF 110 during a mission. Gun camera image. Printed caption on reverse: '50416 AC - Discovering an Me 110 below him, Capt. Charles W. Dinsa, 304 Touhy Ave., Park Ridge, Ill., dove down and destroyed it. The pictures were taken by his automatic camera as his bullets found their mark. Credit for the kill was shared with Lt. Richard A. Stearns, Jr., 102 Forest Hills Apts., Augusta, Ga., who was also firing at the plane. The Nazi fighter dives towards the ground in a vain attempt to get away. U.S. Air Force Photo.'

Pipeful Red flight, led by Capt Charles. W. Dinse, reported:

‘At the same time Col Duncan started his attack on 4 Me110’s, my wing man, Lt. Winder, reported one twin engine ship flying directly beneath me. I tipped up on a wing, saw the e/a and immediately started down, calling my flight to follow. I opened fire at about 800 yards and held my burst until breaking off at about 20 yards. I observed numerous strikes on the fuselage and wings. Large pieces came off of the right engine. The a/c was on fire when I broke off the attack’.

2nd Lt. Richard A. Stearns then closed in to finish the attack and share an Me110 destroyed with Capt Dinse:

‘As Capt Dinse made a pass at this e/a, pieces started falling off and pretty soon the left engine caught fire. By this time I had closed to firing range and gave him a burst from about 200 yards and saw strikes around both engines and along the cockpit. I broke off around 75 yards. The e/a was trailing very black smoke and continued to move or less glide down in a straight line, when just before reaching the cloud layer, which was around 2000ft, it seemed to roll on is back and went into the clouds going straight down’. Roger Freeman Collection

353rd Fighter Group Archive Records

Object Number - FRE 2900 - A P-47 Thunderbolt (LH-T, serial number 42-74665) nicknamed "Fatty Patty II" of the 353rd Fighter Group flown by Captain Charles W Dinse shoots down...

Description

A combined force of 638 fighter aircraft of three different types :P-38s, P-47s and P-51s are despatched to provide escort the heavy bombers attacking the Zukufnt power station at Eschweiler, Germany. A new escort tactic - area patrol - is attempted whereby fighter escort is provided to the bomber stream as it passed through a designated area of fighter cover. The attempt is abandoned in favor of continuous support when many of the bombers were recalled because of weather. The mission summary is as follows:



101 P-38s are despatched from: 20FG & 55FG. 4 fighters Failed to Return (FTR) - 3KIA 1POW. The fighters in this element claim 2-2-1 of attacking German aircraft.



535 P-47s are despatched from: 4FG; 56FG; 78FG; 352FG; 353FG; 355FG; 356FG; 388FG; 359FG; and 361FG. 3 aircraft Failed to Return (FTR) - 3KIA. 6 other aircraft sustain battle damage. The fighters in this element claim 17-1-6 of attacking German aircraft.



42 P-51s are despatched from IX Fighter Command, 354FG. 2 aircraft Failed to Return (FTR) - 1POW 1EVD. The fighters in this element claim 0-1-2 of attacking German aircraft.

Mission Details

ESCHWEILER

Description: FIGHTER ESCORT

Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning

Notes: 42 P-51s from 9th Air Force (354th Fighter Group and 357th Fighter Group) are included in the bomber escort (totals not included in tables) two pilots Missing in Action (MIA). For the first time a new strategy is tried for escorting the bombers. Fighters were-assignedpatrol areas along the bomber route and were to protect the bombers as they passed through. With so many of the bombers recalled, this strategy was abandoned and the fighters provided direct escort.

Mission Statistics

  • People killed in action: 3
  • Prisoners of war: 1
  • Enemy aircraft destroyed by fighter: 2
  • Enemy aircraft probably destroyed by fighter: 2
  • Enemy aircraft damaged by fighter: 1
  • Aircraft sent: 104
  • Aircraft missing in action: 4

ESCHWEILER

Description: FIGHTER ESCORT

Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt

Mission Statistics

  • People killed in action: 3
  • Enemy aircraft destroyed by fighter: 17
  • Enemy aircraft probably destroyed by fighter: 1
  • Enemy aircraft damaged by fighter: 6
  • Aircraft sent: 535
  • Aircraft missing in action: 3
  • Aircraft damaged: 6

Eschweiler, Germany / Frankfurt, Germany

Description: BOMBER ESCORT

Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang

Notes: 42 P-51s from IX Fighter Command, 354FG are despatched to escort B-24s attacking near Frankfurt, Germany. However, weather causes the bomber mission to be abandoned before any B-24s take off. The P-51s participate anyway providing escort to B-17 units.

Mission Statistics

  • People evaded: 1
  • Prisoners of war: 1
  • Enemy aircraft probably destroyed by fighter: 1
  • Enemy aircraft damaged by fighter: 2
  • Aircraft sent: 42
  • Aircraft effective: 42
  • Aircraft missing in action: 2

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-809350
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 354th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron 353rd Fighter Squadron Headquarters (354th Fighter Group) No 71 'Eagle' Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-885101
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Unit: 354th Fighter Group 353rd Fighter Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2016. Added New Mission event for iX Fighter Command, 354FG participation based on "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freemena and "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2016. Added fighter claims on emeny aircraft to P-47 element statistics per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2016. Added fighter calims on enemy aircraft to P-38 element statistics per "The Mighty EIghth War Diary" ROger A. Freeman.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 13-Jan-2016. Added Mission Narrative based on "The Mighty Eight War Diary" Roger A. Freeman and "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Added participation of 354th FG

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'.

VIII Fighter Command FO 222 BOMBER ESCORT: Gallery (3 items)