https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/311/Dibble_Text0231.pdf d647a3e3fccaf61db206675417de79ec PDF Text Text Charles J. McCann 5844 Gate Post Road Charlotte, North Carolina 28211 January 16, 2003 Dear Jim, Here are a few thoughts I remember of these two missions, August 25 and August 30, 1943.1 hope this may be of some help. Foggia Strafing - August 25, 1943 Approximately a week prior to August 25, we started practicing low level squadron formation flying, 50 feet above the desert sand south of Tunis. These practice flights were made after the group return from the mission flown that day. No real reason was given for this practice but, it certainly raised some questions for giving this order. We all felt something was coming upThe squadron formation was made up of three (3) flights, four (4) P-3 8s per flight, for a total of twelve (12) P-38s. The flights flew line abreast and the squadron leader flew the middle flight. We practiced making 90-degree turns at this low level. When the squadron leader made a turn, the flight into which the squadron leader had turned, would pass under the squadron leader’s flight and at the same time, start turning with the squadron leader. The other flight leader would lead his flight behind and over, if necessary, the squadron leader’s flight and at the same time, turn with the squadron leader. After the 90-degree turn had been completed, the three flights would be line abreast. This maneuver between the flights and the ground was very tight and very tricky at times. When the orders came down, they specified that each squadron in the group had to put up two squadrons plus spares. This was a very tough assignment, taking into consideration damage planes and planes needing repair. I don’t remember exactly how many planes were in a squadron but feel sure it was between 30 and 35. In any event, each squadron had to put up 24 planes plus 4 spares for a total of 28 planes. Each of the groups, 1st, 14th and the 82nd, had three squadrons each. Each group put up six (6) squadrons, 72 planes, for a total of 216 planes over the target. The squadrons flew the mission three flights line abreast, squadrons in trail and stacked down. The mission leader led his group of squadrons, all in trail and stacked down, out over the Bay of Tunis to an altitude of 1000 feet. He circled around over the Bay of Tunis until the other two groups of squadrons, all in trail and stacked down, joined up in trail of his squadrons. It was quite a sight to see eighteen (18) squadrons in this formation. The mission leader led us on a course toward the islands off the west coast of Sicily, letting down, en route, to 50 feet above the water. We turned and flew east, parallel to the north coast of Sicily. We were never in sight of Sicily. The water was very calm, no waves, just big swells, which made it very difficult to judge your height above the water. I actually saw ripples on the sea from the prop wash of the plane ahead of me. At the Isle of Stromboli, the mission leader picked up a predetermined compass heading that was calculated to provide an entrance into Italy through a radar gap in the German Radar System, provided we had maintained at an altitude of fifth (50) feet or less. �As we made landfall, we had to immediately climb through the valleys up to an altitude of 4000 feet in order to clear the mountain range. The formation was flying line abreast while dropping belly tanks. After we cleared the mountains and started over flatter terrain, we were able to readjust and fly our previous squadron formation. When we reach the Adriatic Sea, we turned northwest and flew parallel to the coast of Italy, with all squadrons in trail and fifty (50) feet off the water. We passed by a small Italian gunboat and the crew was waving to as we went by. When the mission leader reached his IP, he turned his squadron into the land and all the other squadrons in trail turned, in place, into the land and started shooting up every plane and military object on the ground. We had 216 “P-38’s” in a company front formation sweeping the Foggia Area. My squadron turned southeast after passing over all the targets. We flew parallel to the mountains. The Germans shot their 88mm cannon up and down the line of the P-38 formation. Lt. Warren caught an 88 shell in his right boom. After the impact, the right gear hung down about 45 degrees to the boom. Before he had to feather his right engine and turn off all of his electrical equipment, we told him we would lead, cover and stay with him until he got to Sicily. He lost his generator when he lost his right engine. We flew this course until we thought we were about where we entered and cross Italy. We turned west and started to cross the mountains. We had to fly slower to stay with Lt. Warren. On single engine, he was able to climb over 4.000 feet of mountains and crash-land at an abandoned airstrip in Sicily. Lt. Warren performed an amazing feat during this flight. He had to hold the rudder pressure with his feet the whole time after he lost his right engine. He lost the rudder trim tab when he was hit by the 88 shell. The rudder pressure increases when the air speed decreases during his climb over the mountains. Lt. Warren said he had to put both feet on the same side of the console so he could switch feet and rest his legs. Aversa, Italy B-26 Bomber Escort Mission - August 30, 1943 There is very little I can add to what is written about this mission. You have received documents that I have never seen and have talked with a lot of pilots who were on this mission with me. I never heard of there being a fourth fighter squadron called “Broadway” that flew with us. The only briefing I remember attending was held in the squadron area. I only saw three squadrons en route to the rendezvous and weaving over the bombers. The rendezvous was at sea and not very far from Italy. I never saw a fourth squadron. We flew three (3) squadrons line abreast. The group leader was the middle squadron. Over the bombers, his squadron would “S” back and forth and the other two squadrons would weave back and forth swapping sides. As far as I can recall, I feel we had only 36 fighters (P-38s)'over the target, less early returns turns that left after spares had left. Frankly, some of the descriptions of the flight to the target sounded like it was written by an intelligence clerk who wrote up the mission report for the intelligence officer, pin pointing where �we crossed the coast, type of cloud coverage and forming up a Luffberry circle. I can’t possibly believe any squadron had the time to perform such a maneuver with the constant attacks and still try to stay with the bombers. A lot of us called the maneuver of the German as the yo yo. They had us in their yo-yo, diving down on us and climbing back up after we turned into the attack. Attacking from both sides finally broke up the coverage we were trying to give to the bombers. I distinctly remember a radio transmission, “all the bombers have moved out to sea, lets start trying to work our way out to sea.” I never heard that the Germans were firing rockets at us. That is real news. Also, I didn’t see any Me-109s flying around with belly tanks. That is news. Of course, we were breaking right and left into attacks and I didn’t pay any attention to detail. I just knew they were Germans. I never saw the Italians press an attack like that. / I was surprised to see the comment about me taking my flight back to help one of our / buddies, who was all alone and under attack He was above us and when the Germans saw us / coming back, they broke off their attack. Our buddy dove down and under our flight to freedom. / To help assure we had a better chance to get out without an attack by the Germans, I called my / element leader to pull up even with me. In this formation, we could weave back and forth i together. My element leader, I am sure, was very glad to get this order. Normally, I never talk i about this. I did mention it to Fred Nichol when we were talking about this mission, during one I of our reunions. He knew the pilot’s name that was involved in this little rescue but I never knew \._who it was until Fred told me. So, you must have learned this from Fred. This might be interesting to you in regard to your comment about flying four flights squadron formation. We in the 71st received a new squadron commander in September 1943, Major Hanes. He had been in the air corps a number of years before the war began. He was an excellent pilot and commander - a real leader. He had undoubtedly served with the group commander, Col. Richards, and was close friend. One day in a very casual manor, he asked me for my opinion about starting to fly our missions with four flights in stead of three flights- two flights with two flights behind and stacked down. After thinking about it for a minute or so; I told him I thought it would be a great idea because I thought it would give us greater maneuverability and more firepower. He agreed with my comments and let me know he thought our present formation was too cumbersome and I agreed. Later on I believe the group started flying this type of squadron formations. I know Major Hanes could have sold Col. Richard on this idea, as well as, the 15th Air Force. I left for home shortly after this conversation with Major Hanes. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read your file. I hope my efforts will be helpful. Sincerely, Charlie (Charlie McCann) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Notes from Charles McCann clarifying events of August 30, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Notes from Charles McCann clarifying events of August 30, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Historical account Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Charles McCann Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1/16/2003 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022