P-38 Lightning Help needed

I got a mystery for P-38 and/or USAAF specialists.

The other day I went for a walk around my hometown near Orleans and noticed an old railroad bridge with shell impacts, or bullet holes. I asked an old man about this and he told me it dated from August 1944 when Americans with double fuselage aircrafts halted a retreating German convoy under this bridge by destroying the leading vehicle and then the last one a mile further. The Germans had two casualties and had to abandon their trucks and hide in a farm. 14 vehicles were destroyed. The man said these men were looking for resitance fighters who would have been slaughtered otherwise. The truth is a a bit less romantic as the two casualties were in fact two FlakAbteilung soldiers who were just trying to ge the hell out of this area which was to be liberated less than 24hours later. I would love to trace the story of this mission by finding back the unit who stopped this convoy.

This is what I have:

Date August 14th 1944 (possibly August 15th?). Probably a staffing to destroy bridges and railroads near Orleans as a support for Patton's third Army . It involved P-38 Ligthnings. I don't think there were U.S. casualties.

Thank you for your help. I have a weak spot for this quest because it involves my hometown area , so anything would be welcome.

 

USAAF Chronology:

August 14th....mission 553, 138 P-38s

August 15th....mission 554, 163 P-38s

if you haven't found this already.

 

I don't have much on the P38's but.....If they belonged to the 8th AF, On the 14th P38's were on Fighter-bomber transportation mission in the Paris area, so I assume attack all transportation they came across.....in the Paris area..... 34 P38's and 121 P47's were on this mission, with a total of 136 effective. 39.8 tonnes of bombs were dropped.

No clue as to the unit the P38's were from....This is 8th....Who knows what the 9th did...

Oh, on the 15th, the 8th didn't come close to Paris or even France, AFAIK...

 

Excellent hints Skunk and Stevin. I will first focuss on Mission 553. The area is only 120 km south of Paris so it could perfectly fit. I will try to pinpoint the Squadrons . If I understand correctly there are only thirty eight P-38s to look for. Cheers guys!

 

Yes, from the 8th, only 38 P-38's were in on the Paris Transportation gig...

Seems the 9th only flew with A-20's and B-26's this day over France....

Ok, maybe this helps:

"Robin Olds' first successes occurred on 14 August 1944, when he shot down two FW-190s that he had encountered at low level over France after becoming separated from his flight during a dive-bombing mission - these were the Group's only kills on this date. He was awarded three strafing victories four days later, and then on 25 August he became the 479th's first 'ace'"

and

", Olds shot down two Fw-190s following a low-level bridge-bombing mission to Montmirail, France, on August 14."

downed a trio of Bf 109s over Rostock."

 

Thanks Steven. It helps and it doesn't. Montmirail is over 200km away so it' s not the one, but the 479th figure gives a hint so I'll focuss on these guys first. Most important are the FW190 claims you mention, which shows these guys were fighting JG2 AND JG3. All their losses are south of Paris near the Chartres area, 70 km away only so the presence of P-38 was very plausible. I will eliminate the losses in the Nogent area and narrow the search.

 

Keeps us posted. I am frustrated that I can't be of more help, but my resources don't cover much of France.....

I do have a LW map of France though, I just remember.....

 

By looking closer I got three claims for fw190s by P-38s on August 14th = mission 552 , not 553 (Actually I believe 553 was a night mission)

 

good thread Skipper.....

I'll be back later tonight or the morrow with more infos for you....could be 8th or could be the 9th AF. did 103 miles yesterday in the biting cold wind so I am a bit fatigued today but promised the Mrs. a neat day even in the rain in an old antique town

bis bald E ~

 

Get a nice rest Erich. If interested I can take a picture of the bridge and draw a circle around the impacts which are stil lthere after 63 years.

 

Skipper please include some photos I for one would be interested and I believe so would otehrs.

the 8th AF P-38 grp : 479th lost 1 P-38 and claimed 3 LW a/c
for August 14, 1944 strafing enemy ground personell was forbidden on this date.

 

Well lets's call the two Flak personnel "colateral casulaties" then, because they have been killed during this straffing. Does anybody know which other P-38 units particpated that day?
I will get pictures asap.

 

20th, 55th and the 364th fg's. though am not sure when they accepted the P-51B into their ranks

 

hey Skipper

just write a friend and ace of the 20th fg that flew P-38's during the time frame for his thoughts on the groups activities during the August date, will post as I hear from him

E ~

 

just got a reply from the gent: they had transitioned to P-51's in July of 44 and he finished up his tour on August 7th 44...heading back home

 

That does narrow the research guys! So 55th 364th and 497th are the units I am looking for now. I will focuss on these and see if there is a convoy attack mentionned somewhere on the net

 

Skipper that would be the 479th ~

for the 364th they performed a ground attack in their P-38's, op # 181, area support to Stuttgart, got to Ulm and broke into squadrons, the 383rd was the only squad to see action and went to the deck strafing an airdrome with 4 He 111's destroyed, 1 He 111 damaged. 2 Me 410's destroyed, 2 He 187's (?) damaged. were attacked by 2 Me 262's and 2 flights of P-38's tried to engage them but they flew off unmolested.

well leave out the 364th then .........

 

Skipper :

just checked, the 55th fg transitioned over to the P-51B in July of 44........

the field is getting narrow ~

 

How long does it take a fighter group to transition to a new aircraft type? Are 55th FG P-38 ops on Aug. 14 totally out of the question?

-whatever

-Lou

 

they did not have P-38's in August of 44, the a/c came into the 55th fg towards the beginning of July 44