Dog Fights and Down Time: Adventures of an Ace Fighter Pilot: Italy WWII by David Wilhelm

Author:David Wilhelm [Wilhelm, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2016-03-12T23:00:00+00:00

Misidentifying Planes

Even though we spent hour after hour in flight training on identifying our planes and identifying enemy planes, misidentification still often happened during operations.

The P-51 Mustang and the ME109 had similar visual outlines in the sky. In clear skies, at high speeds (over 200 mph), you might need to get within 500 yards of an enemy plane to correctly identify whether it's one of theirs or one of ours.

If they were flying in and out of clouds, you would often need to get even closer in order to confirm identification.

Italy

December 15, 1943

Dear Mother and Father,

...We are still located in our comfortable surroundings and the periodic rains have been enough to require us to operate from our present location.

During the last few days as you have read and heard over the radio, things have been picking up in the aerial warfare on this front so that our days of fruitless patrolling have ended.

Whereas before the enemy pilots seemed inexperienced and non-aggressive, the present lads seem to have lots of training and to be imbued with all kinds of aggressive thoughts.

Quite naturally, with more opposition numerically, and with far better quality, the Luftwaffe is nothing to be sneezed at and ignored. On the contrary, of late they've kept up their battering and had us all working for our day's pay.

As improved as they are, however, with their machine they are not match for ours and their pilots are not an ounce better than ours. It comes down to the fact that we must stay on the ball and keep well organized and then we'll come out the better on every battle.

Right now things are going just about like everyone wants for we've got and are getting better equipment and we are meeting enough Jerries so that our work is highly interesting. As yet I seem to be jinxed by getting in on no scraps but in the last few days our squadron has come through with flying colors.

About a week ago the boys got five confirmed crashes and two probables—last seen headed for the ground but not seen hit—thus probable. Since then they've also knocked down more but as yet have received practically no damage themselves.

The reports of air victories and outcomes you read in the papers are accurate on our side completely except many of the enemy planes hit but—since a) they are not seen to crash; b) the pilot is not seen to bail out; c) the plane is not seen to catch on fire, they are not called confirmed but merely probables. In the papers the probables are often and usually not reported so that each time you read reports you can figure that there are probably a couple more Jerries that bit the dust that weren't confirmed.

So believe the news reports that are circulated (at least the Allied) for they give the whole truth and don't distort the figures like German figures will. I know this for I see the results personally and know that ninety-nine times out of a hundred they are right.

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