IN FOCUS
KING’S CLIFFE P-38Ground crew perform maintenance and
checks on a P-38 on June 6, 1944; the
20th FG flew nine missions that day,
providing cover for the invasion fleet.Montgomery was replaced Ground crew perform maintenance and
by Lt Col Mark Hubbard, who
wrote a strongly worded report
that detailed the twin-engined
fighter’s shortcomings. His words
were prophetic, as he was shot
down and captured on March
17, just two weeks after taking
command. This mission also saw
the loss of Capt Graham, who
had become the group’s second
ace on February 20 when he shot
down two Bf 110s. He was killed
when his aircraft hit the ground
as he attempted to strafe a Bf 110
he had forced down.
Improving prospects
Better days for the group
were soon to come. The P-38’s
problems were caused by the
cold at high altitude – at lower
level the aircraft fared much
better. As attention shifted
towards the forthcoming
invasion of Europe, more sorties
would be flown ‘down in the
weeds’. The group also started
returning from escort missions
at low level, looking for targets
of opportunity. It would win a
Presidential Unit Citation for
its actions on April 8, when
having been grounded by fog
and unable to take part in the
day’s main operations, the 20th
FG P-38s instead took off in the
early afternoon on a fighter
sweep over the Salzwedel area.
Having attacked several targets
around Salzwedel, it blazed a trail
home across Europe. The final
tally amounted to seven enemy
aircraft shot down, 18 aircraft
destroyed on the ground and
several others damaged, plus ten
locomotives, many freight cars
and an indeterminate number
of German soldiers who were
killed when the group strafed a
barracks during a parade.Normandy preparations
In the run-up to D-Day, these low-
level missions would continue as
the Allies attempted to destroy
as much transport infrastructure
as possible. Railways were a
key target and bridges were
often attacked with the support
of converted ‘droopsnoot’
pathfinder Lightnings, which
were fitted with a Norden bomb
sight and had a second crewman
in a glazed nose, replacing the
gun/cannon armament. The pilots
would fly in tight formation and
release their bombs as directed
by the lead aircraft. These
missions were never especially
popular with those involved.
Lt Melvin Pannell recalls: “It
sounded like a good, novel idea
but proved to be ineffective. It
was a very dangerous situation
having a group of fighters packed
in tight, flying straight and
level to the target.” The 20th90 Airfi x Model WorldAssigned to Lt Edwin Wasil P-38J 43-28301/KI-O ‘Mama’s Boy’, the aircraft has the distinctive D-Day identification stripes applied to the
wings and booms.Lightnings from the 77th FS, 20th FG taxi at King’s Cliffe at the
start of another mission in early 1944. The lead aircraft is P-38J
42-67714/LC-Z ‘Cover Queen’, flown by Lt Irvin Baker.