Útoky spojeneckého stíhacího a bitevního letectva na pozemní cíle v českých zemích 1944-1945
TIP: Fórum o letecké válce nad českými zeměmi (Československem) zpřístupněno!
TIP: Útoky hloubkařů podle dne, místa nebo čísla lokomotivy zjistíte v databázi.
Víte o nějakém případu, který zde není dosud zaznamenán? Napište mi, prosím, na hloubkari[@]seznam.cz
Dlouho očekávaná kniha badatele Jana Mahra o haváriích spojeneckých letadel na území Moravy a Slezska - Vzpomínky na neznámé letce - právě vyšla! Objednávejte v muzeu v Kovářské.
94th Squadron strafe a freight train south of Strakonice
Pilots of the 94th Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, 15th USAAF, were following a rail line south from Strakonice, Czechoslovakia, to Passau, Austria, when they sighted a freight train approximately one mile north of Vimperk (Winterberg). As this run is not confirmed in local records (as far as I can tell) I have to count on documents available in the AFHRA (thanks for the copy to Mr. Jim Graham, a former member of the 1st FG). Lt Long claimed a locomotive destroyed, Lt Eberhardt and Lt Parker each three cars damaged and two more were hit by Lt Griffith.
Source: Air Force Historical Research Agency, 94th Fighter Squadron – 1st Fighter Group, Narrative Mission Report No. 1333 – 2 April 1945
The other day a blog reader sent me a photo of the original memorial to 1/Lt Robert W. Whitehead, who was killed in a dogfight on April 11, 1945 south-east of Ceske Budejovice, Czechoslovakia. 1/Lt Whitehead with his flight of the 37th Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 15th USAAF, had destroyed a couple of locomotives and railroad cars in the area when he encountered a pair of FW 190s returning to the base from a fighter-bomber mission in Austria or Moravia. The winner was subsequently shot down by 1/Lt Whitehead's wingman 1/Lt Harry R Morris Jr.
I have recieved the other images from Mr. Vladimir Kos from the town of Trebon, who is an aviation fan.
Current commemorative desk crash site (The components are not definitely original – does anynone identify what aircraft were they taken from?)
Detail of the text
Symbolic memorial composed of a remaing blade of 1/Lt Whitehead's P-38 in the neighbouring cemetery where he used to be buried. Notice the incorrect name: Bob Weit.
Current state of the memorial – notice the desk under the blade with the correct name.
Wrecks of the above mentioned Fw 190 lying next to a country road four miles away... The German pilot bailed out and survived.
What is the most accurate expression of the state of locomotives that were hit in strafing runs – destroyed, out of service or damaged? As far as I am concerned and in general, the correct answer is out of service. The reason is simple: This describes what really happened to these locomotives and was, by the way, widely used in police and railroad administration reports (dienstfähig or betriebsfähig in German).
As steam locomotive was in principle similar to a pressure tank even a single bullet penetrating the boiler or another crucial component of the engine caused that steam pressure to decrease immediately, which eventually brought the locomotive to a halt and it had to be towed to the repair shop. The period of maintenance obviously varied depending on how seriously the locomotive had been damaged.
Many locomotives that were initially considered only damaged (i.e. were able to keep on moving from the accident site) were subsequently, after further examination, denoted out of service. There is no statistics available to confirm this presumption, which is based on the "CVs" of locomotives kindly provided by blog readers.
On the other hand, the only case of total loss of a locomotive due to action of fighter-bombers I am familiar with occured at a RR station north of Pilsen on April 18, 1945. The others remained in service for twenty years, for instance, after being fixed.
U. S. fighter units made distinction between destroyed and damaged locomotives in mission reports but it's not clear (at least to me) whether pilots were really able to judge whether a particular locomotive was destroyed or damaged from their view when strafing or leaving the target area. I haven't found out any criteria for this classification.
The locomotive depot in Rakovnik, approx. 20 miles west of Prague, suffered heavy losses to U. S. fighters in the second half of April and in early May 1945. On April 20, 1945 at 1.25 p.m., for instance, seven locomotives were put out of service and other three and seven diesel railroad cars were damaged in a strafing run performed by what is very likely to be 395th Squadron of the 368th Fighter Group. On one of the group's nine armed recce missions on that day the pilots found 13 to 15 locomotives (some of them without steam) and 100 plus cars of various type in "M/Y Rokevnik". Claims of the flight led by 2/Lt Gradon E. Mongar were slightly lower than those mentioned in the report of the Railroad Directorate in Pilsen: four destroyed and five damaged locomotives: Lt. Onusseit (1+1) Lt. Lawrence Marsch (2+1 and he also left one box car burning in the yard) Lt. William Ponton (0+2) 2/Lt. Mongar (1+1)
Sources: Národní archiv, fond Ministerstvo železnic, karton č. 4767, inv. č. 1380-45 Air Force Historical Research Agency, 368th Fighter Group – 395th Fighter Squadron, OPSFLASH No. 2 – April 20, 1945 (courtesy of Tim Grace, the 368th FG Association)
According to Arthur C. Fiedler's post to the 12 O'Clock High! discussion forum (thanks to Michal Plavec for letting me know), who served in the 317th Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, 15th USAAF, his fellow pilot, 2/Lt William C. Margetts, didn't die on an escort and strafing mission to the Pardubice oil refinery on December 28, 1944 but was seriously injured. He had to belly-landed due to a mechanical failure of his P-51 (Ser. No. 44-15357) north of the town of Pelhrimov, Czechoslovakia, as he didn't manage to open the canopy and to bail out.
There is no evidence of 2/Lt Margetts having joined other pilots of the 325th FG shotting up rolling stock in this area.
Mr. Zdenek Bicik, Czech historian dealing with the air war over Czechoslovakia, wrote 2/Lt Margetts had been captured and stayed in the local hospital until January 3, 1945 when he was transferred to Prague. He died in 2004 in the United States.
Copy of the report of the local police station on this event (in German)
BTW, Capt. Arthur C. Fiedler achieved eight aerial victories during the war and became eight-highest ranking ace of the 325th Fighter Group.
Source: BIČÍK, Zdeněk. Epizoda z prosincového náletu na Pardubice. Zprávy Klubu přátel Pardubicka. 1978, č. 1, s. 6-7.
The U. S. foundation National Combat History Archive announced that they had succeeded to recover original gun camera footages of the 8th Air Force's fighters (including Yeager, Anderson, Gentile, Zemke a Christiansen) from the period of March 1944 to May 1945. To be honest, I have read the press release several times but it isn't clear to me under what conditions this unique material will be available to general public...
On April 18, 1945 three locomotives without stream were hit in the RR station of Kaznejov, approx. 10 miles north of Pilsen, at 6.15 p.m. While two of them may have been simply left bullet-ridden as usual the last one was thrown to the field in the distance of tens of yards due to explosion of ammunition that was loaded in a box car standing on the side track! It remained there as it was for a couple of weeks until it went directly to scrap. As far as I can tell this is the only case of a total loss of a locomotive to fighter-bombers in the Czech territory.
Two pictures show what happened to the locomotive (copy: courtesy of Mr. Pavel Spěvák).
Some of ten aircraft strafed a personnel train heading to Pisek near the RR station of Cervena nad Vltavou at 10.30 a.m. on April 24, 1945. Despite the fact the train stopped immediately and passengers and the staff got out to protect from being hit by machine gun seven people were killed (including two German soldiers) and 22 others (including six soldiers) suffered wounds. Two local police officers were present so that first-hand account could be written down. The locomotive was, of course, shot up and not able to move further and all eleven cars were damaged. First aid was provided on the spot and then they were taken to the hospital in Pisek.
As there was no other accident of similar circumstances reported on that day one can be fairly sure that attackers were pilots of the 397th Squadron of the 368th Fighter Group, who dropped bombs on the town of Tabor before, even though their description is different little bit (but it was obviously common when one compares Czech and American archival sources) and no particular coordinates were given: "They also strafed a troop train of 5 cars slightly west of the M/Y (i.e. Tabor), damaged all of the cars and killing or wounding about 100 personnel as they left the train."Cervena nad Vltavou is located 20 miles south-west of Tabor.
Sources: Air Force Historical Research Agency, 368th Fighter Group – 397th Fighter Squadron, Ops. Rep. – Sq. mission 544 – April 24, 1945 (courtesy of Tim Grace) Národní archiv, Zemské četnické velitelství Praha, karton. č. 904, inv. č. 7389/45
Once again, I have been going through summaries of operations on the Ninth Air Force's fighter units. These can't certainly replace detailed mission reports but are good enough to get an overview. Copies of these documents from the Air Force Historical Research Agency are stired on 16-milimeter microfilm I received ten years or so ago so that it's necessary to be patient to find out what one is looking for – I keep on complaining about the technology in such cases... It is blessing digital cameras are available:-)
Unguided air-to-ground missiles definitely increased firepower and efectiveness of Allied tactical air force. Americans seemed to get left behind the British in this case. The first unit of the Ninth Air Force to be armed with 5-inch HVAR rockets (High-Velocity Aircraft Rocket) was the 513th Squadron of the 406th Fighter Group. The target of the premier mission of its Thunderbolts carrying 48 HVARs was the railroad hub in Nevers in eastern France. Explosions destroyed 25 locomotives, a flak tower and the maintenance depot.
Ian Gooderson of University of London in his article Allied Fighter-Bombers versus German Armour in North-West Europe 1944-1945: Myths and Realities summarizes the score of the 513th Squadron from July to September 1944: 1117 rockets were released and pilots claimed 85 tanks knocked out and another 29 damaged and 164 other vehicles knocked out and 23 more were damaged (in reality, the figures were lower, I pressume, as later investigation teams usually confirmed only a smaller portions of such kills byaircraft weapons). Even though the training of American pilots was not that extensive as of British counterparts, the experimental phase of using HVARs was considered fairly successful.
Ninth Air Force's fighter groups which were operated in Bohemia in April and May 1945 were also equipped with HVARs – the 368 FG was particularly active on April 29 and 30. According to their mission reports they fired 24 and 20 rockets, respectively, at rail and road traffic in Bohemia, which is in total one fourth of all rockets used during this month!
Sources: GOODERSON, Ian. Allied Fighter-Bombers versus German Armour in North-West Europe 1944-1945: Myths and Realities. Journal of Strategic Studies. 1991, vol. 14, No. 2, s. 210-231. ČERNÝ, O. Letecké raketové střely. Letectví. 1946, roč. 22, č. 4, s. 111-113. SPIRES, David N. Air Power for Patton: The XIX Tactical Air Command in the Second World War. Washington, D. C. : Air Force History and Museums Program, 2002, s. 63-64 Available at: <https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/Annotations/spireair.htm>. ISBN 0-16-051081-3.
Another must-see video containing guncamera footage that has been posted to YouTube recently. This must have been taken by P-38s of the 8th Air Force on a strafing mission somewhere in the Nazi-occupied Europe or in Germany prior to the invasion. P-38s fire at parked transport Ju 52s and twin-engine bombers (without being under camouflage) and hangars etc.
Wounded German soldiers on the hospital train No. 67, which was heading out of Prague east towards Kolin, had really good luck on April 26, 1945. Fighters (twelve in total were seen in this vicinity) selected the locomotive Ser. No. 434.2262 as the only target in this case. The local police station reported no casualties at all. This locomotive as well as the other one standing probably without steam on the side track were strafed and subsequently were towed back to the nearest RR station. The train went on being pulled by replacement engine with only a short delay. A house next to the line was slightly damaged.
Three P-51s of the 15th USAAF strafed a personnel train heading to Beroun a couple of miles south-west of Prague at 1.45 p.m. on April 4, 1945. The locomotive was put out of service by a few hits.
A bullet hole in the hand rail next to the tracks caused by 0.50 machine guns fire (Photo: Petr Kubin; courtesy: Michal Strejcek, webmaster of www.cernosice.org)
While the train staff escaped without harm, one passenger was killed and three other were seriously wounded and were carried to hospital.
Source: Národní archiv, fond Zemské četnické velitelství Praha, karton č. 904, inv. č. 7737/45
On April 30, 1945 the 9th USAAF aircraft, most likely of the 396th Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, attacked the RR station of Mladotice, north of Pilsen, which is a crossroads of two lines (one of them heads towards to Pilsen). They certainly targetted the tracks and the small repair shop but many bombs fell in the middle of houses and farm buildings (please see the chart). Many of them were damaged. The local chronicle says Americans appeared at 7.30 a.m. and there were 22 holes in total in the village. Three people died. According to the mission report, the 396th Squadron dropped 500-pound bombs and fired 16 rockets.
The rapair shop at Mladotice (the state in 2006, courtesy of Mr. Pavel Spevak)
On April 21, 1945 at 9 a.m. the 397th Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, 9th USAAF conducted what was likely to be tha last air strike on the modern airdrome in Cheb (Eger). The following six pilots shared the total score of six destroyed and one damaged ground kills:
Capt. Edward W. Dame: 1 dest. U/I training aircraft and 1/2 dest. Me 410 1/Lt Henry A. Yandel: 1 dest. Do 217 and 1 dam. He 111 1/Lt Clifford J. Price: 1 dest. Do 217 ?/Lt Les Leavoy: 1 dest. Do 217 ?/Lt Hunt: 1 dest. Do 217 2/Lt Robert V. Arrington: 1/2 dest. Me 410
BTW, 1/Lt Yandel shot down a Me 262 after it got airborne from the Ruzyne A/D on April 16, 1945.
What we makes this story more interesting is narration of Mr, Price, which was aired within the HBO Memorial Living project in 2001. He said: It was always hazardous attacking airfields, because they were usually ringed with flak guns. On normal strafing runs, we would fly at around 325 miles per hour, but for airfields we would fly at over 500 miles per hour. At an airfield in Czechoslovakia I came in on four DO217 bombers, which were being loaded with V1 rockets on the wings. I was in perfect position so my single strafing run destroyed all four bombers, plus an ME109 fighter. I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for that mission.
Mr. Price, resident of Edgerton, Wisconsin, passed away in Madison, Wisconsin on January 16, 2009 at the age of 86.
There is no mention of any Do 217 carrying V-1 in the mission report ofthe 397th Squadron – 1/Lt Price may have spotted radio-controlled glide bomb Henschel Hs 323. It was originally designed for attacks against ships but was also used against bridges in the Normandy campaign. As Jafü Mittelrhein pointed out in the Axis History discussion forum the only Luftwaffe combat unit in which bombers (Heinkel He 111s) carring V-1s saw action was Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53). However, there is no evidence that it was based in Cheb in April 1945.
Wrecks of a P-51B Mustang (including 0.50-caliber bullets, small metal sheets painted in olive drab, asbestos net from the cooler and the speed reducing gear, burnt-out parts of the cockpit etc.) were found south-west of the city of Brno, Czech Republic. Researchers of the Moravian Museum have been involved in this project.
The aircraft (nicknamed "Miss Betty") was shot down by light flak that defended the nearby airdrome while it was strafing a RR station where one (or four?) oil cars were left burning and a locomotive was destroyed. The pilot, 2/Lt William L. Kiggins of the 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, 15th USAAF, perished. His body was buried in the local cemetery and exhumed on September 18, 1946.
According to the INTOPS Summary 308th Squadron was credited with two destroyed and two damaged enemy planes on the A/D but members of the local police post counted nine destroyed and nineteen damaged planes...
Human remains of 2/Lt Kiggins have been stored in the City Cemetery Service and the U. S. Embassy has been officially approached to communicate with the 2/Lt Kiggins' family whether they would like to take over the remains and place them into the grave in Toledo, Ohio.
An event commemorating 2/Lt Kiggins's death will be held on October 13, 2007 in Brno-Slatina.
The blog was activated on July 11, 2006 – this means that we celebrate the first anniversary today! I would like to express my thanks to both readers for their interest and support to my efforts and, of course, to those people that have regularly or occasionally contributed their comments, memories and information I was not familiar with before. Since last month I have been translating at least some posts into English so that the content could be attracted attention of English-speaking audience.
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