John Adams Brooks III
MilitaryLt. Colonel John Adams Brooks led 17 B-24s on the low level bombing mission to destroy the German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, with the 389th Bomb Group.
Later, after returning to Britain after the ploesti mission, Col. Brooks also formed, founded, and commanded the 8th Army Air Force's 2nd Scouting Force. He flew one B-24 tour, and t two P-51 tours over Europe.
He flew his personal P-51D, 44-14309, YF-X, Calamity Jane, (L) "Punkin" (R). See "Little Friends" website for a photograph: http://littlefriends.co.uk/gallery.php?Group=sf&Style=searchItem&Item=1…
In air combat, he destroyed 2 ME109s SE of Magdeburg. 9 Feb 45.
Awards: DSC, SS, DFC (2OLC), LOM (OLC), AM (5OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Lt. Col. John A. Brooks III
Lead Pilot, 2nd Scouting Force, Steeple Morden, England
Late in WWII, the 8th Air Force realized that it would be beneficial to have a reconnaissance force precede a bomber strike. There were many reasons for the forming of this recon force, including weather changes, changes in the positions and numbers of ground flak batteries, poor visibility at the target, which was sometimes cloaked by smoke from smoke pot fires set to hide them. Of these, changes in the weather was the most important reason for reconnaissance because weather briefings in England often didn’t match weather conditions present over the European continent. So that, sometimes, the bomber groups would suffer heavy loses by fighting all their way to a target that, ultimately, they couldn’t bomb.
The 8th Air Force Scouting Force was primarily composed from former lead bomber pilots who had volunteered for a second tour in fighters. For many, it was a dream come true to fly the fast and agile P-51 Mustang after flying 25 or 30 missions in bombers. Eventually, each of the 8th Army Air Force’s three Air Divisions would have it's own flying Scouting Force.
Even though the scouting force’s of P-51s were armed with their usual six, fifty caliber machine guns, recon scouting, not attacking German fighters, was their primary mission. But, of course, they happily took on that attack role whenever the opportunity presented itself, which was often.
On February 9,1945, Lt. Col John A. Brooks, was the commander of the 2nd Air Division Scouting Force. While leading a flight of eight P-51s on a mission near Magdeburg, Germany. He spotted a formation of an estimated 100 German fighters in two large “Vs” heading directly for the bomber stream that he was scouting for.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lt. Col. Brooks took on the dangerous risk of attacking such a huge force with only eight P-51s, although he knew very well that the attrition among German pilots over their long years of war, and the extreme shortage of fuel and lubricants caused by Allied bombing meant that many of the German fighter pilots were totally inexperienced and had very little, or even no, real training in their ME-109 fighters, and the veteran pilots would always be at the head of the German formations in the lead elements. Boldly and aggressively, Col. Brooks, signaled his wingman, Lt. Whalen, and flew right into the middle of the formation of German fighters and shot down most of the front element's planes where he knew their flight leaders would be, immediately throwing the entire German formation into chaos with German fighters breaking in every direction causing multiple air collisions by the young and panicked German pilots, who appeared to be dogfighting, in total confusion, with each other. Brooks and wingman Lt. Whalen dove away and escaped the chaotic German melee, totally undamaged, unscathed, and credited with a total of five confirmed victories, likely having accounted for several times that number. Meanwhile, the B-24 formation slipped by with only a very few straggler enemy fighters able to press home any sort of attack on them.
We’ll never know exactly how many American bomber crewmen's lives were spared that day, although, surely, such a large force of German fighters that size could have inflicted significant losses on the 2nd Air Division bombers, if they had been left on their own. For his actions on that mission, John Brooks was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. 9 Feb 45.
Sources : " I met and spoke with Col. Brooks at two Scouting Force reunions, but most of the facts l have, were gleaned from Dick Atkins’ definitive book on the subject, “Fighting Scouts of the Eighth Air Force 1944-1945” Taylor Publishing Company 1996. "
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15045876 / 0-325990
- Highest Rank: Major General
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-1699045
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 567th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 20th Combat Bomb Wing 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 453rd Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-18619
- Highest Rank: Brigadier General
- Role/Job: Commanding General
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 20th Combat Bomb Wing 389th Bomb Group 565th Bomb Squadron Headquarters (14th Combat Bomb Wing)
- Highest Rank: Major General
- Role/Job: Chief of the British-American Air Component, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces Mission to Franc
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description:
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
20 May 1917 | Son of John Adams and Irma Ordelia [Richey] Brooks. | |
Other E/A Destroyed [2] |
9 February 1945 | Destroyed 2 ME109's SE of Magdeburg on 9 Feb 45. | |
Died |
7 September 2001 | ||
Buried/ Commemorated |
11 September 2001 | Newaygo CemeteryNewaygoNewaygo CountyMichigan, USA | |
Based |
Assigned to 389th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. 25 missions in B-24's. | ||
Based |
Transferred to 2nd Scout Force, 8th AF. | ||
Other Graduated |
Graduated West Point Jun-41. | ||
Other Flight training |
Completed pilot training. | ||
Born |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
“Fighting Scouts of the Eighth Air Force - 1944-1945”. Taylor Publishing Company 1996. " by Dick Atkins - Little Friends Websight : http://littlefriends.co.uk/gallery.php. Group=sf&Style=searchItem&Item=1&searchString=brooks.
“Fighting Scouts of the Eighth Air Force - 1944-1945”. Taylor Publishing Company 1996. " by Dick Atkins
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 99.
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 99.
Combined several duplicate entries. This one is now drawn from a combination of sources:
1996 355TH FG Assoc. Directory / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self & SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Company, D790.A2S45, 1998, page 218