by Jim "Twitch" Tittle

  THE SARGENTS' DEFENSE

Through this melee the 228 remaining B-17s bombed the target area and defended themselves. Gunners with limbs shattered or lost fought on with their fifties. The gunners were getting confirmed kills, probables and plenty of damaged claims but the onslaught came at the rate of fifty to seventy individual, close-in attacks per minute not counting the rockets fired in standoff mode at a distance!

Between 1405 hours and 1421 hours near Luxembourg the 332nd Squadron 94th Bomb Group were hit by 109s and 190s. Sargents R.E. King, W.P. Wetzel, and S.H. Rodeschin got three of the Messerschmitts and damaged another, and then Sargent D.A. Nowlin killed a Focke Wolf 190. These were confirmed kills with exploding aircraft, not eager claims by enthusiastic, confused crewmen. The kill ranges are significant in that they ranged from 300 to 600 yards out.

At 1431 hours a Bf 109 closed on a Fortress near Wurtzburg at 22,500 feet. At 500 yards Sargent E. Hunt, tailgunner opened up. Two wingmen just behind peeled off but the leader kept closing. It was a 20 millimeter vs 50 caliber duel as the 109 thrust in to point blank range.

Me 109 in B17 II.

Without any serious damage on either side the German plane passed beneath the tail. Seconds later the belly gunner saw the pilot bail and the fighter violently explode. At 1440 Hunt again drew blood, flaming a 109 diving from 5 o'clock. Then another and yet another were fired upon as the fighters kept coming.

Hunt Scores Again

1451 hours saw a JU88 fighter, probably the G7 version, lobbing in 20 millimeter shells met by top turret gunner Sargent F.C. Mancuso. He flamed both engines but the crew never took to chutes and the Ju 88 dove into the ground.

A few minutes later at 1515 hours while tailgunner Hunt was firing at a Ju88 off to the side, another heavy fighter slipped up to only 150 yards, closing slowly at six. The nose lit up with cannon fire but the big plane made an easy target for Hunt who smashed the cockpit with fifties. Sheets of flame broiled from the cockpit and spread as the plane went down.

Ten minutes later at 1525 it was the left waist's turn. Sargent S.J. Maciolek dueled with his one fifty vs the six cannons of yet another Ju88 who fired rockets as well from 8 o'clock. Both engines aflame, the stricken enemy rolled over and went down to crash and explode.

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Me 109s. Artwork by Robert Taylor.

Another 94th group B-17 at 21,000 feet near Eupen hours took on a 109 at 1400 hours. Right waist Sargent Mccabe fired a short burst and the fighter began its death dive. The ball turret confirmed the kill.

At 1445 near Wurzburg Sargent Rand in the left waist opened on a Bf 109 at 1,000 yards. Three very short bursts sent the pilot to his chute.

At 1510, near Schweinfurt the tail gunner, Sargent W.P. Brown, tangled with a twin-engined fighter firing repeated 20mm bursts. Brown fired about sixty rounds at the plane. Pieces flew off as it began smoking then the tanks lit up. It crashed without the crew escaping.

1515 hours saw top turret Sargent C.T. Troot pour fifty rounds right into the cockpit of a 109 at seven o'clock. The aircraft finally exploded.

Still another Fortress approaching the Initial Point, found top turret A.A. Ulrich scoring on an FW 190. A pair of them came in and Ulrich began firing at the leader at 800 yards. He kept firing until at fifty yards the plane erupted in flames and careened away, exploding below.

The ball turret, Sargent C.T. Noulles, fired on an Me 210 from 1,000 yards out to 400. Peeling off, the 210 came back for more. Noulles had plenty more and blazed the 210 to pieces with 300 rounds.

At 1506 Ulrich drew a bead at 1,400 yards on a 109 from seven o'clock high. At 700 yards he opened up with a continuous burst of about 200 rounds. Finally he quit firing at 300 yards. The fighter had pulled up and was engulfed in .50s, wreathed in flames and fell away.

1533 hours saw Sargent B. Lewis in the tail unleash seventy five rounds from his .50s at 200 yards into a 109 which spun and began shredding itself to bits. Five minutes later Lewis took on a 190 with its belly tank still on. From 600 yards he maintained steady bursts until the FW passed over the tail at twenty yards, belly tank ablaze. It exploded and there was no chute.

From the 92nd Group a B-17 had about thirty Ju 88s attacking them. A lone 88 closed at 5 o'clock level. Sargent D.M. Radney, the tail gunner, saw flame from the port engine at 500 yards. The enemy responded and its nose produced familiar 20mm fireworks. Radney fired till the fighter broke at 200 yards.

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