WORLD WAR TWO PILOT MEMOIRE
42 FLYPAST December 2018
WORLD WAR TWO PILOT MEMOIR
“I fired a two second burst
from about 150 yards. As I was
overhauling him, I pulled
up and over to the right.
He still didn’t see me
and I was able to get in another
burst at 150 yards and saw
strikes all over the wing root
and engine.
“The ’190 then rolled over
and started a vertical dive.
I followed him through the
cloud and fired another burst... and
while still in cloud saw his canopy
float past me. Breaking into the clear
I watched him dive straight into the
deck in a large orange explosion.
Capt Chuck Lenfest of the 354th
got another ’109.“We were out again on
August 9th, 10th and the 11th
on four- to six-hour raids into
Germany. On the 11th, after
escorting the bombers over
Saarbrucken, our squadron broke
off and went low-level hunting for
targets of opportunity – that means
strafing anything that moved.
“Capt Lenfest led us over an
airdrome at Dole-Tavaux, at ground
level. As we shot across the field I
found a large, three-engined Ju 52
transport plane sitting on the tarmac
with a lot of airmen around it,
apparently servicing it. I fired a long
burst into it and set it on fire.”
Unlike the RAF, the Eighth Air
Force also counted ground ‘kills’ intransport plane sitting on the tarmacAbove
Heavy fl ak bursts
around a B-17
formation as it begins
its bombing run.
The nearest aircraft
maintains formation
despite a hit to the
starboard inner
engine. USAFBelow
On the shuttle raid to
Russia, Peglar fl ew
a ‘B7’-coded P-51D
allocated to the 374th
FS, 361st FG. It was his
penultimate mission
with the Eighth Air
Force. VIA ALFRED PRICE