Over several minutes, the dogfight
bounced back and forth between
9,000ft and 500ft. Visuals were
gained and lost three times.
Smith recalled: “In a slight dive
the Black Widow was able to get off
a short burst which found its mark.
I noticed the first rounds impacted
on the fuselage, causing it to start
burning. I followed through with a
longer burst fired from about 300ft
dead astern.
“My second burst hit the right
engine which exploded, and the
right wing broke off outboard of
the engine. In an uncontrollable
spiral, the enemy fighter hit the
ground, exploding violently.”
Smith and Tierney had made two
kills in a matter of two hours, their
fourth and fifth victories – the pair
had become aces.
OUTSTANDING
PERFORMANCE
After the 422nd had been on
operations for at least six months,
they had only received one
replacement aircraft – and at one
time during the ‘Bulge’ the squadron
only had around five ready to fly.
So ‘downed’ Black Widows were
cannibalised to keep the remaining
few flying. If the P-61s had been
able to maintain a 90% in-service
rate during those critical weeks, the
enemy would have paid a very high
price in manpower and equipment.
Fortunately, the 422nd managed
a lot of sorties around Christmas.
Many pilots attributed this to the
mechanics working long hours to
keep the aircraft ready to go.
There were so many ‘probables’
claimed that the outcome for the422nd could have been much more
impressive. The undercast common
during those winter days made it
impossible for pilots to follow their
quarries down as they disappeared
into the clouds.
The Ninth Air Force paid tribute to
the 422nd in a special bulletin: “For
outstanding performance of duty
in action against the enemy in the
Ardennes on the night of December
16/17, 1944. On each of these nights
the 422nd NFS exerted maximum
efforts in countering the enemy’s
attacking force and, despite extremely
adverse weather conditions,
succeeded in destroying five enemy
aircraft each night.
“In addition, and above their
normal role in intercepting and
destroying enemy aircraft, the 422nd
NFS attacked marshalling yards,
road and rail networks, mortar
emplacements, transports and
locomotives on intruder missions,
thereby effectively continuing the
air effort to isolate the battlefield to
cover a full 24 hours each day.
“The valiant efforts and
unprecedented accomplishment of the
unit on each of these occasions made
a major contribution in denying the
enemy his objectives and constituted
an illustrious chapter in the history of
the United States Army Air Force.”Above
Lt Herman Ernst at
the helm of his P-61,
‘Borrowed Time’.
HERMAN ERNSTLeft
Turretless Black Widows
on the ramp at Northrop’s
plant at Hawthorne,
California. GARRY PAPEJanuary 2018 FLYPAST 37