Fly Past

A

formation of B-17 Flying

Fortresses encountered

Messerschmitt’s new rocket-

propelled Me 163B Komet

interceptor for the first time on

August 16, 1944. The American

crews were concerned that the little

aircraft were so fast they could not

be tracked by the turrets and waist

guns.

The German pilots, Leutnant

(Lt) Hartmut Ryll and Feldwebels

Herbert ‘Nicky’ Straznicky and

Siegfried Schübert of 1 Staffel,

Jagdgeschwader 400 (1/JG 400),

each claimed the destruction of a

B-17 near Brandis, east of Leipzig,

before P-51 Mustangs of the 359th

Fighter Group’s 370th Fighter

Squadron intervened.

Lt Col John B Murphy claimed the

destruction of one of the Komets

before helping 1st Lt Cyril Jones Jr

in shooting down another.

Ryll’s Me 163 exploded over Bad

Lausick. Strasnicky fell victim

to Sgt H Kaysen of the 305th

Bombardment Group, but baled out

successfully near Böhlen.

Three more ‘kills’, two again to

Schübert and one to Lt Hans Bott,

occurred in August 1944. Bott and

Schubert recorded another each

in September and then there were

just two more claims until March

3, 1945 when Oberleutnant (Oblt)

August Hachtel claimed two more

B-17s.

FIERY ARROW

Flt Lt Raymond Raby was flying

a Spitfire IX of 542 Squadron on

March 7, 1945 on a reconnaissance

sortie. Raby’s targets were Böhlen,

Mölbis, Rosnitz, Chemnitz and

Dresden. After covering the first

two, he was intercepted by two

Komets.

The unit’s Operations Record

Book (ORB) takes up the story:

“...he was intercepted by two Me

163s when over Rosnitz. He took

immediate evasive action and

eventually evaded at 6,000ft. He

then climbed up again to 20,000ft

but was forced to abandon rest of

sortie due to shortage of fuel...”

Nine days later saw a more

conclusive combat. Oblt Rolf ‘Bubi’

Glogner of 2/JG 400, together

with an unidentified pilot, took off

shortly after dawn to intercept a

Mosquito approaching Leipzig. This

was crewed by American Fg Off

Raymond Hays and Flt Sgt Morgan

Phillips of 544 Squadron.

In his book Rocket Fighter, Komet

pilot Mano Ziegler reported events:

“The next morning ‘Bubi’ Glogner

enjoyed better luck. A Mosquito

probably sent to take photographs

of the previous night’s bombing, was

approaching almost at the crack of

dawn.

“It was not a very clear morning

with large clumps of cloud hanging

between heaven and earth, but

Glogner was soon climbing away

like a fiery arrow. He lost sight of the

Mosquito and when he had reached

14,000m he had almost decided to

give up and turn back to base when

he spotted [it] once more far below

him.

“The [pilot] did not seem to have

noticed the Komet and was flying

sedately on, apparently unaware

that there was anything else in the

sky. Glogner put his aircraft into a

dive and overhauled the Mosquito

rapidly, but just before he could

get the intruder in his sights, the

Mosquito made a sharp turn and

went into a steep dive.

“Glogner had his hands full trying

to line up the rapidly moving target

in his gun sight. He put his nose

down sharply pulled up from a near

vertical dive and found himself

sitting almost on the Mosquito’s

tail. After three short bursts, the

Mosquito’s port engine belched fire

and smoke. Large pieces broke away

and both crew members baled out...”

The Distinguished Flying Cross

citation for Raymond Hays reads

as follows: “This officer was the

pilot of an aircraft detailed for a

reconnaissance covering the Leipzig

area in March 1945. Whilst over the

target, two enemy fighters attempted

to close in.

“Plt Off Hays took violent

evading action. Much height was

lost. At this stage another enemy

aircraft joined the fight. Hays

manoeuvred with great skill and,

although his aircraft was hit, he

succeeded in evading the attackers.

The starboard engine had been

badly damaged, but course was set

for home.

“Later, on the return flight, the

aircraft was attacked by another

fighter. Hays manoeuvred with

superb skill. Although the aircraft

sustained further damage and the

navigator was wounded, this pilot

succeeded in evading the fighter. He

afterwards flew to a landing ground

in Allied territory.”

Hays crash-landed his crippled

aircraft at Lille in France. Two weeks

later he and another navigator, Flt

Lt Donald South, were killed when

their Mosquito stalled on take-off

from Benson in Oxfordshire on

March 30, 1945.

BRINGING IT HOME

The unofficial dairy for Mustang-

equipped 165 Squadron, based at

Bentwaters, Suffolk, for April 10

reads: “Escort cover this day for 200

‘heavies’ to Leipzig. Another railway

station was hit. An Me 163 (the

little fat basket version of the jet) up

from Halle shot down one bomber

above the airfield and prepared

to dive for a second attack on the

formation...”

The target was a daylight attack

on the Engelsdorf and Mockau

railway yards by 134 Lancasters, 90

Halifaxes and six Mosquitos. The

diary of 165 Squadron wasn’t exactly

correct regarding the interception by

the sole German fighter.

The ORB for 405 Squadron

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

recorded: “In the target area,

immediately following release of

target indicators, Lancaster ME315

‘K’ was attacked by an Me 163.

“The attacking aircraft approached

from the rear and above and with

one burst completely shot away

the rear turret, rudder and elevator.

Damage was also caused to the H2S

[radar] set and mid-upper turret.

The rear gunner, Flt Lt Mellstrom,

was in his turret when the attack

commenced and is believed

killed...”

The body of 31-year-old Ft Lt

Melborn Mellstrom DFC was found

still in his turret near Engelsdorf

and today lies in the Berlin War

Cemetery. His family received his

DFC in November 1949 and a lake

in his native Alberta, Canada has

been named in his memory.

After this onslaught, Flt Lt

Campbell Mussells and the rest of

the crew of Lancaster ME315 had

a different fight on their hands.

The citation for the Distinguished

Service Order for Mussells explains:

“The rear turret and starboard

rudder were shot away. The port

rudder was smashed and both

elevators were badly damaged. The

aircraft dived away out of control.

“As Flt Lt Mussells fought to regain

control he found that the trimming

controls were useless. Nevertheless,

he succeeded in levelling out after

considerable height had been lost.

To keep the nose of the aircraft

up the control column had to be

lashed back. In circumstances of

the greatest difficulty, he flew the

crippled aircraft back to the UK.

“After crossing the English coast,

he ordered his crew to abandon

the aircraft and with the exception

of the mid-upper gunner who was

seriously wounded, they left by

parachute. [Mussells] flew on to the

nearest airfield with his wounded

comrade. With the control column

still lashed back and without the aid

of flaps, this officer showed superb

THE MIGHTY EIGHTH

42 FLYPAST April 2018

L

ayer upon layer of defensive

systems faced any Allied

aircraft that dared to

enter Reich airspace. The most

formidable shield ever created

was thrown around the German

frontiers. With the help of radar,

fighters could intercept bomber

streams from any angle, long before

the radar-directed, high-altitude

flak was brought to bear.

Tasked with hitting targets deep

within Germany in daylight,

the American Eighth Air Force

countered with some extremely

well-thought-out tactics. The

most successful was an 18-ship

concept, developed in 1943,

known as the ‘Combat Box’ or

‘Staggered Formation’. This massed

the firepower of the bombers’

50-calibre machine guns when they

entered zones where enemy aircraft

were a threat.

If the box was too loose,

the Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and

Messerschmitt Bf 109s could

penetrate the formation and the

mutual protection arrangement

was left in tatters. The fighters

could run amok, and each bomber

would have to rely on the skills and

determination of its crew.

Keeping the Combat Box

tight not only produced a field

of withering defensive fire but

concentrated the bomb pattern

when the time came to release. The

box system could be easily adapted

to 27, 36 or even 54 bombers.

The basic 18-ship configuration

consisted of high, middle and low

six-plane groups stepped diagonally

downward toward the sun. With a

maximum of 13 guns in a Boeing

B-17 Flying Fortress, the number

of 50-cal barrels providing an

impenetrable screen around the

formation came to 234. That was

the theory, but any number of

variables could shatter that.

CHANGING SHAPE

Early missions by the Eighth Air

Force in August 1942 involved

shallow penetration of France,

escorted by RAF Spitfires. At this

point, France, Belgium and the

Netherlands bristled with Luftwaffe

bases and anti-aircraft guns.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLETTHE GAUNTLET

WARREN E THOMPSON DESCRIBES THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE OF GERMANY’S FORMIDABLE AIR DEFENCE

Above

B-17s encountering

heavy fl ak.