IN FOCUS
KING’S CLIFFE P-38FG excelled at attacking trains,
though, as the P-38’s 20mm
cannon gave it quite a punch
and the group soon earned the
nickname the ‘Locobusters’. Most
escort missions involved a return
flight at low level during which
trains and other targets would be
sought out and destroyed.
This activity was interrupted
in June when the 20th FG was
assigned the role of patrolling
the skies over the invasion fleet
heading for Normandy. The
distinctive shape of the Lightning
was to be used to enable the
gunners on the ships below to
identify them as friendly.
Lt Melvin Pannell remembers
these missions in early June: “I
think I was most impressed by
the enormity of it, especially the
invasion fleet. There were so
many water craft of all types it
appeared one could walk across
the channel from one deck
to the next. I also remember
drawing friendly fire from one of
our ships when we came a little
too close for their comfort.
“We were anticipating that
the Luftwaffe would come out
in force to defend against our
invasion, but they opted not to.We were disappointed at that. We
were glad when the necessary
but boring cover missions were
called off after a few days and
we were released to interdict
transportation behind the
enemy lines to interfere with
resupplying the enemy.”Final missions
In the weeks after D-Day the
20th FG conducted sorties
dedicated to striking lines of
communication, vehicles and
trains across northern France.
Missions were undertaken
whenever possible, with pilotsoften flying two a day. Airfields,
railways, bridges and tunnels
were all attacked with bombs,
plus the group strafed any
other targets of opportunity
they could find. The heavy
firepower and safety of having
twin engines made the Lightning
ideal for this type of work.
Escort missions also continued,
as did the losses. Capt James
Morris, the 20th FG’s leading
ace, was lost on July 7, when his
Lightning was hit by return fire
from an Me 410 he was attacking.
Morris bailed out and spent the
rest of the war as a POW.
The warmer summer
temperatures gave some relief
from the Lightnings’ technical
problems and the group’s
engineering personnel and
ground crew worked hard to
resolve others, but P-38s were
still not suited to high-level
combat over Europe. As a result,
it was decided to re-equip all
Eighth Air Force Lightning units
with the far superior North
American P-51 Mustang. The
first of these arrived at King’s
Cliffe in early July 1944, and by
the end of the month the group
had fully transitioned to the
type. It had lost 79 P-38s while
claiming 120 German aircraft
destroyed in the air or on the
ground, however, almost 10% of
the sorties flown had returned
early due to mechanical issues.
The Mustang made it possible
for the 20th FG to take the
battle to the Germans – with
stunning success.http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 91A post-war view of King’s Cliffe airfield with the outline of the runways and perimeter track still clearly visible from the air.The canopy of Lt Col Cy Wilson’s P-38 43-28393/KI-W ‘Wrangler’ was shattered by a 20mm
cannon shell. He was still able to bring the aircraft back to King’s Cliffe safely despite the
severely restricted view.
Lt Arthur ‘Art’ W Heiden poses with TSgt Pyles, Sgt Birdwell and Sgt Jaffe in front of P-38J
42-104086/MC-H ‘Lucky Lady’. TSgt Pyles was awarded the Bronze Star for his maintenance
work on this aircraft, which logged 309 combat hours on its original set of engines.