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Dogfights: The Legend of Y-29 - Part 4

Dogfights: The Legend of Y-29 - Part 5

Dogfights: The Legend of Y-29 - Part 6

Dogfights: The Legend of Y-29 - Part 7

Dogfights: The Legend of Y-29 - Part 8

Legend of Y-29

At 8:42 AM, Captain Eber E. Simpson was leading the 391st squadron on a mission to bomb German tanks near St. Vith. They ran into two Bf 109s south of Malmedy with Lieutenants John F. Bathurst and Donald G. Holt claiming one each.

At 9:10 Am, Lieutenant Colonel John C. Meyer of 487th Fighter Squadron (352 FG) was preparing for take off in "Petie III" P-51 Mustang with eleven others. As he lifted off he noticed Flak bursts over Ophoven and one Fw 190 heading straight at him, piloted by Gefreiter Böhm. Böhm, intent on strafing a C-47 Skytrain transport, did not notice Meyer's P-51. Meyer had not retracted his landing gear when he fired at the Fw 190, which cartwheeled and exploded next to the C-47. Despite the attack, other P-51s were able to take off, and JG 11 soon lost eight pilots. Obergefreiter Karlheinz Sistenich, Feldwebel Harald Scharz, Feldwebel Herbert Kraschinski, Oberleutnant August Engel were among those who died. Feldwebel Karl Miller was severely burnt after crash landing. There was only one casualty among the Allied ground crew. The US flak crews was unable to fire for fear of hitting a friendly aircraft. Likewise Allied pilots were also cautious of firing at low flying 109s to avoid strafing the base. The flak crews hit one chasing P-51, which had to land damaged.

By 9:15 AM, eight P-47s of 366th FG "Red" and "Yellow" flights were preparing for armed reconnaissance over Ardennes. Captain Lowell B. Smith with Lieutenants John Kennedy, Melvin R. Paisley and Flight Officer Dave Johnson. "Yellow" flight included Lieutenants John Feeny, Robert V. Brulle, Currie Davis and Joe Lackey. After the flights took off , Kennedy noticed flak bursts to the north east. Red flight discovered JG 11 strafing the base at Ophoven, along with fifty JG 11 fighters heading for their own base. With the German pilots intent on strafing parked aircraft they did not notice the P-47s.

Lieutenant Paisley was the first to score a Bf 109 using an underwing rocket, and downed two more using gunfire. Smith and Brulle both shot one down, with Brulle shot and damaged another before running out of ammunition. Feeny and Lackey were able to shoot down JG 11 aircraft as well. Six pilots of the 352 FG claimed multiple victories. Captain William T. "Whiz" Whisner and Lieutenant Sanford K. Moats claimed four each, with Captain Henry M. Stewart II and Lieutenant Alden p. Rigby claiming three each. Meyer and Lieutenant Ray Littge claimed two apiece. Whisner's wingman and Lieutenant Walker G. Diamond and Meyer's wingman Lieutenant Alex F. Sears claimed one each.

The air battle of Asch, later known as the "Legend of Y-29", was a disaster for JG 11. The US fighters claimed some 30 German fighters shot down, while JG 11 lost twenty eight aircraft out of sixty five. Twenty five pilots, including Specht, were killed. Hauptmann Horst-Günther von Fassong leader of III./JG 11 went missing near Opglabbeek chased by P-47s. He died as a result. 5./JG 11 was the only unit of II./JG 11 that was unscathed, and all the aircraft returned showed signs of damage. III./JG 11 lost six pilots including Major Vowinkel. Approximately 40 percent of the JG 11 pilots died in the operation.

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Source: WikiPedia