In April 1941 under the leadership of Col. Rau large scale strafing did much to increase the combat usefulness of the Group and thereby inspire greater morale and pride among our pilots. On the afternoon of the 8th the Colonel led a low level attack against ground targets in Central Germany with extraordinary results. (See Intelligence Bulletin, 8 April 1944, Mission No. 43, and Presidential Citation reprinted on page 5.) It was important to the '10th, not only as a great achievement of arms, but because at one blow it altered the balance sheet in the battle against the enemy in favor of the 20th, and provided the key to the profitable use of the P-38 in the ETO. The smashing success of the heavy bombers' assault on the German aircraft industry, which reached its climax in February, was soon reflected in a rapid decline of German opposition, and escort missions, which continued to be our principal occupation, saw fewer of the large scale air battles typical of operations during the winter months. So the policy of "hitting the (leek" was pursued with a vengeance whenever weather permitted.

Spark-plugged by Lt. Col Wilson, the 20th literally scourged everything that moved along the rails and roads of Germanv and German occupied Europe, and set the pace for 8th Air Force Fighter Groups in the destruction of ground targets., The campaign was intensified as D-Day approached and the. smashing up of everything German that moved near and behind the battle lines became "Priority One" until the end of August. The effect of these attacks was enormous. They not only helped to paralyze the enemy communications system, which many German war leaders such as Field Marshal Von Runstedt and Reich Marshal Goering have declared the most important single factor in the defeat of Germany, but also threw- terror and despair into the hearts of German troops and civilians.

Ground attack missions were always dangerous, the most dangerous that fighters could engage in, but our pilots pressed them home with daring and skill, as the record shows. Between April 8th and July 24th, when the Group converted to P-51s, the 20th destroyed or damaged 315 locomotives, 100 ammunition cars, 87 oil tank ears, 1000 freight cars, and 370 motor vehicles, including armored vehicles Barges, boats, radio stations, railway stations. military barracks, radar installations, high tension towers. small factories and hangars had also been attacked. Roughly 630 German soldiers were killed and approximately 300 wounded.

Our pilots machine gunned, dive bombed, skip bombed and even high level bombed enemy targets. On 11 April 1944 the 20th, along with the 55th Group, pioneered high level precision bombing by fighters, using the so-called "Droopsnoot" technique. The lead plane in the formation, the Droopsnoot, was equipped with a plexiglass nose, and instead of machine guns and cannon carried a N orders bombsight and a bombardier in the nose. On the signal of Bombardier Captain "Easy Does It" Ezell, a veteran of 25 Fortress missions, it was "bombs away" for the entire Group, flying a tightly packed formation and carrying as high as 2 - 1,000 pound bombs per airplane.

Tradition has it that fighter pilots became heroes in individual combat with the, enemy high in the skies. But never did fighter pilots acquit themselves with greater courage, more guts, determination and ability than (lid those of the 20th in this campaign against the enemy oil the ground.