Capt. Harley L. Brown
6 Confirmed

    The era of the P-38 came to an end on 19 July 1944 when Lt. Col. Wilson led 49 Lightnings on a bomber escort mission to Southern Germany. On 20th July, 2 Squadrons of 38s operated with one squadron of 51s and the following clay saw the last P-38 airborne from King's Cliffe on a combat mission. Here is how the score stood on 24 July 1944 for claims against enemy aircraft: 87 of our pilots were lost while flying P-38s over Germany and German occupied Europe. 89 enemy planes were destroyed in the air and 31 on the ground.

 :   It was naturally with some misgiving that our pilots first stepped into a P-51, particularly the war weary crates they checked out in. Many had not touched a single engined airplane since their days at basic flying school. Lt. Col. Wilson, who was Group Commander at the time, had strong feelings on the matter, however; and he very effectively conveyed them to his charges. "Well boys," he'd say, "pretty soon we will be flying fighter planes. instead of airborne ice wagons." The switch over was accomplished with remarkable speed and efficiency. No casualties were suffered, and only one aircraft, a war weary, was washed out, though 2 others sustained minor damage. Not a single day of combat was lost; the 20th carried out its combat commitments throughout the transition period without a hitch.

   The meaning of Col. Wilson's exhortations on the '51 soon became apparent to the most confirmed P-38 jockey. First blood was drawn 5 days after the switch over had been accomplished when Lts. Monerieff and Adams of the 77th performed a remarkable feat of daring which would have been suicide even to attempt in a P-38. (See Intelligence Bulletin, Mission Number 142.) While flying alone in Central Germany they surprised and attacked a formation of 50 Me 109s, destroyed 3 and probably another, and when attacked themselves a few moments later by another formation of 50 Me 109s, were able to make a getaway through the sheer power and superior performance of their aircraft.

    From 24 July '44 to the end of operations our intelligence reports commonly contained the words "15 FW190s were spotted by one of our squadrons. They were attacked and in combat from 28,000ft to the deck, 6 were destroyed, without loss." When enemy aircraft were encountered on P-38 missions the narrative of operations would commonly read: "at 1115, 20 Me109s were spotted queuing up to attack the bombers. 79th Squadron prevented the attack but were unable to engage as the Hun split-essed and left the scene."

    During the 1st month of operations with P-51s the Group destroyed 70 enemy aircraft. This was the same number the group destroyed from February 22 to July 24, 1944. The destruction of those 70 aircraft in P-38s cost the 20th 51 pilots killed or missing in action. 70 victories in one month of operations with P-51s cost the group 14 pilots. Even this low ratio of loss to victories improved as time went on.

   That first month, August, was climaxed on the 25th by a smashing attack carried out by the 55th Squadron, led by Lt. Col. Randolph, against the airdrome and seaplane anchorage on Kubitzer Bay where 30 German planes were destroyed and 21 damaged.

    Two days later, however, the Group suffered a severe blow in the loss of its gallant Commander, Lt. Col. Wilson, Lts. Kent and H. Anderson of the 55th Squadron and Lt. Doering of the 77th in a strafing attack against an airdrome on the West Coast of Denmark. It was a strange coincidence that Col. Rau returned to the Group the same day after 2 months leave in the United States.

    The amazing range of the P-51, which figured so greatly in the success of the 8th Air Force daylight offensive changed to a considerable extent the nature of the missions the Group performed. Continuous escort was provided to the bombers wherever they went and it was not unusual for our pilots to be airborne as long as 7 hours. The average P-38 mission was airborne 4 hours and 2 minutes. Ample gas supplies made it possible for the Group to range the skies of Germany with much greater freedom, and after escort assignments had been carried out, to hit the deck to strafe and harass the Hun on the ground. The Group could for example, escort bombers to Berlin drawing only from external drop tanks, and after dropping them still have 41/2 hours of internal fuel to work on.

    Tactical activities were by no means abandoned with the advent of the '51 and the 20th with bombs and by strafing did its share in smashing German rail and road communications in Northern France and thus did so much to speed the ruin of the German armies. Bridges were knocked down, tunnels blocked, hundreds of locos, freight cars, and motor vehicles destroyed, and several ammunition trains completely blown to hell.

    Our engineering and maintenance staffs did a remarkable job with their new charges, with which most bad no previous experience at all. 54 P-51 s were airborne on that first "all '51" mission, 24 July 1944, and not a single one failed to carry out the mission. On 1 August 63 planes took off on a long escort mission with similar results. For the month of August, the 20th maintained a higher percentage of its aircraft on a fully operational basis than any Group in the 8th Air Force, and that position was maintained through most of the remaining period of operations.