That would be the best option, of course, but it will not solve the issue of supply and resource distribution. If we are producing more P-38's we need more Allison V-1710s, more GE Turbos, more aluminum, more stainless steel, etc. Those materials need to come from somewhere which means production elsewhere needs to be decreased. The Allisons and Turbos in particular are a concern which is why I have been trying to find ways to redirect their production from other projects (P39, P-40, P-63 for the engines; and, P-47s or various bombers for the Turbos). If we could just magic-wand increased production of these then an entirely new facility is more of a possibility but doing so will likely entail creating new production facilities also for these key components. Of course, it may be possible to increase engine and turbo production enough to cover a few hundred more Lightnings by late '43 and even more in '44. I am not sure how close to capacity Allison and G-E were running.
Driftless
Donor
At this point, could the Lend-Lease portion be back-filled with other radial engine pieces like the Vultee Vanguard, or re-start the P-36; or is that un-realistic from both an engineering and diplomatic perspective. The thinking being shift some of the P-38 construction to Bell.
Or, the Soviets get more P-40's and no Bell aircraft?
[
Back to production: I think you may be right about Curtiss. The only reason I have been considering them is because they have experience with the Allisons (albeit the E-series more than the F). McDonnell I don't think is mature enough for P-38 production and the same is true of Northrup. Douglas, on the other hand, may be able to pick up some slack if they are forced to abandon the SB2D Destroyer in '43 but I fear going from SBD production to P-38 production is a bit of a technological leap for them and will introduce a whole new host of issues--but that is possibly true for any of the available production lines. Another option I have tossed around is Bell (again, Allison experience) but their P-39/P-63 is in too high demand for Lend-Lease and I'm not sure moving them to P-38 production is really viable. I need to dig into Bell production schedules a bit more before I make the call on that one.
Vultee seems like the most likely candidate still but we really need to start production at least a year earlier than OTL to meet demand (the 113 Vultee P-38Ls built before the end of the war OTL are too few too late for TTL).
With the improved P-38 in this TL I think that would influence some of the War Production board decisions. I think Vultee is the best choice for a late 1942 early 1943 second source. Money and pressure can accomplish this. The production resources largely wasted on the Vengeance are directed toward the P-38 instead.
Curtiss could still be another possibility for a third production source if the requirement is there. Impressed by the ATL performance of the NACA P-38 the RAF prefers Lightnings over P-40s. Especially if they're getting them under the Lend-Lease arrangements. The Curtiss plant in Buffalo can be converted to Lightnings in mid-1943 or so. Again money smooths the change over. The quality control issues should be removed because they are only required to manufacture to the same specifications as Lockheed using the same subcontractors for parts. Curtiss doesn't need to design anything. And the War Production board would be overseeing the airplanes produced.
This brings up the question of who can provide a second source for the P-47 as demand for the big fighter ramps up in late 1943 early 1944.
One possible suggestion I have though it might be considered heretical is to get Bell Aircraft building the P-47 instead of their Airacobras beginning in 1943. But what about Lend-Lease planes to the Soviet-Union? Give the Russians the P-51A Allison engined Mustangs. It would have been well suited for the mid-altitude operations on the Eastern front. Armed with 6 .50 HMGs it would have been better suited for fighting the Luftwaffe than the P-39. North American can crank them out like flap-jacks.
With three different manufacturers building about 3 times the number of P-38s in this TL there will be a much greater need for more engines. Since the ETO long range escort fighter requirement has been amply fulfilled by this TLs improved P-38 there is no need for the Merlin engined Mustang. And the Russians want all the Mustang production anyway. Packard is now available to build the 100,000 or more Allison engines that will be needed in TTL as well as the Allison company itself.
Back to production: I think you may be right about Curtiss. The only reason I have been considering them is because they have experience with the Allisons (albeit the E-series more than the F). McDonnell I don't think is mature enough for P-38 production and the same is true of Northrup. Douglas, on the other hand, may be able to pick up some slack if they are forced to abandon the SB2D Destroyer in '43 but I fear going from SBD production to P-38 production is a bit of a technological leap for them and will introduce a whole new host of issues--but that is possibly true for any of the available production lines. Another option I have tossed around is Bell (again, Allison experience) but their P-39/P-63 is in too high demand for Lend-Lease and I'm not sure moving them to P-38 production is really viable. I need to dig into Bell production schedules a bit more before I make the call on that one.
Vultee seems like the most likely candidate still but we really need to start production at least a year earlier than OTL to meet demand (the 113 Vultee P-38Ls built before the end of the war OTL are too few too late for TTL).
With the improved P-38 in this TL I think that would influence some of the War Production board decisions. I think Vultee is the best choice for a late 1942 early 1943 second source. Money and pressure can accomplish this. The production resources largely wasted on the Vengeance are directed toward the P-38 instead.
Curtiss could still be another possibility for a third production source if the requirement is there. Impressed by the ATL performance of the NACA P-38 the RAF prefers Lightnings over P-40s. Especially if they're getting them under the Lend-Lease arrangements. The Curtiss plant in Buffalo can be converted to Lightnings in mid-1943 or so. Again money smooths the change over. The quality control issues should be removed because they are only required to manufacture to the same specifications as Lockheed using the same subcontractors for parts. Curtiss doesn't need to design anything. And the War Production board would be overseeing the airplanes produced.
This brings up the question of who can provide a second source for the P-47 as demand for the big fighter ramps up in late 1943 early 1944.
One possible suggestion I have though it might be considered heretical is to get Bell Aircraft building the P-47 instead of their Airacobras beginning in 1943. But what about Lend-Lease planes to the Soviet-Union? Give the Russians the P-51A Allison engined Mustangs. It would have been well suited for the mid-altitude operations on the Eastern front. Armed with 6 .50 HMGs it would have been better suited for fighting the Luftwaffe than the P-39. North American can crank them out like flap-jacks.
With three different manufacturers building about 3 times the number of P-38s in this TL there will be a much greater need for more engines. Since the ETO long range escort fighter requirement has been amply fulfilled by this TLs improved P-38 there is no need for the Merlin engined Mustang. And the Russians want all the Mustang production anyway. Packard is now available to build the 100,000 or more Allison engines that will be needed in TTL as well as the Allison company itself.
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War Production Board can apply a lot of pressure in different directions to help us out TTL. P-47 demand will be slightly decreased because of P-38 use int he 8th, I think, so there may not be the demand for the extra 300+ P-47's Curtiss produced. All the other P-47's were handled by Republic's two production facilities. This, again, points to Curtiss being a possible source of P-38's, which, as you pointed out, may not be as bad as their late war production of P-47's because they will just be duplicating Lockheed's production rather than developing their own variations and--as I pointed out--the work force will likely find it easier to adapt to the Allison F-series engines of the P-38 than OTL change in the line to installing R-2800's.
USSR demand for the P-39 likely precludes us from making too big of an alteration to Bell production, unfortunately. The idea of transitioning them to P-51A doesn't really help us out either because that just further increases demand for the Allisons. I don't think the Soviets would want the P-47 with its huge maintenance requirements and complicated turbo-supercharger installation...remember they generally don't have the maintenance facilities or experience for this type of aircraft. That really just leaves the P-40 and P-39/63 family for Lend-Lease to the East and I don't see butterflies in TTL big enough to change that.
I also don't think this NACA P-38, no matter how good (and in its final version it will be very good) will get rid of the Merlin P-51's. They are simply too attractive to pass up once they are realized. Cheep, simple, easy to mass produce, and as good as anything the enemy has. That's why I'm leaning more and more to reducing P-47 numbers rather than P-51's.
I have also considered Martin's problems with the B-26, culminating in the Truman Committee investigation in 1942 ordering them to abandon the Marauder and set up for licensed production of other aircraft but that would leave bomber production 4000 planes shorter than OTL and that would need to be filled...most likely by the B-25, so Martin would likely start building those under license until the A-26 became available. Although, maybe they could split production between the P-38 and a suitable Medium Bomber...or the AAF presses harder on the P-38 bomber variants. Either way, I find this too unlikely when OTL the whole Marauder situation was solved by simple increasing the wingspan and wing incidence.
Taken all together, this still leaves Vultee and/or Curtiss as the most likely candidates. Curtiss OTL continued P-40 into 1944 but we may be able to end that sooner. However, I think a better PoD for this would be the War Production Board stepping in after the Consolidated + Vultee merger in March 1943 (creating Convair) and ordering the Vultee Nashville plant to switch entirely to licensed P-38's to begin summer of that year (1943). I can justify this because already in early 1943 there was a shortage of P-38's even OTL. They were trading them between units in N.Africa and they couldn't get enough in the SWPT. This can combine with an earlier end of P-40 & A-36/P-51A production to free up Allison to build more F-10, 17, 30 engines for P-38's. Curtiss's Buffalo plant will then either switch to P-47 production earlier than OTL or can instead switch to higher demand fighters of ATL: either P-38 or Merlin P-51's.
No worries. You put up some interesting links, it seemed only fair.
And I'd reject the F-35 on over-complexity alone...I think you're right on all counts. Except, perhaps, emphasis on familiarity with the Allison, which leads me to suggest a couple of "outliers". What about Goodyear (which built the FG & F2G Corsairs)? Or GM (the TBM Avengers)? (Over-committed?) Or Chrysler? Or...IDK, not Hudson or Graham. Stude? (Over-committed again?) The issue, as I'm seeing it, is dealing with very complex systems & very sophisticated tooling . Not much short of cars (or trucks) meets that standard. And thinking trucks, maybe White or International, too; I'm thinking REO is defunct & Mack or somebody is too small in this era. Firestone, maybe (if Goodyear can)?
As I think of it, there's also Piper, Beech, Bellanca...tho all of them are probably insufficiently sophisticated & already heavily committed to other types to be able to manage.
I am.
Should I find anything interesting, I will post another link.I don't mean to focus on familiarity with the Allisons as the most important thing, I only mean that it is certainly an advantange and worth taking into account.
A thought occurred to me on a possible source for more Allisons, though (apart from the obvious auto makers)...Continental. They spent the entire war trying to get their experimental engines working instead of actually getting production flowing. Maybe an increased demand could cause the War Dept. to tell them, by 43, forget the X Engine...we need V-1710s.
A thought occurred to me on a possible source for more Allisons, though (apart from the obvious auto makers)...Continental. They spent the entire war trying to get their experimental engines working instead of actually getting production flowing. Maybe an increased demand could cause the War Dept. to tell them, by 43, forget the X Engine...we need V-1710s.
Studebaker was building trucks. International, halftracks. Chrysler was building Shermans (or at least engines; I think they did assembly also). Perhaps some Sherman production could be shifted from somewhere to Canada to free up capacity for more aircraft?
marathag
Banned
Or make the Ford V12, that was ready in 1940.
But Ford started making the cut down version by the tens of thousands, and Dodge built better R-3350s than Wright was.
Automakers.
That's who to look to for more Allisons. Let them build new plants. They know mass production
A thought occurred to me on a possible source for more Allisons, though (apart from the obvious auto makers)...Continental. They spent the entire war trying to get their experimental engines working instead of actually getting production flowing. Maybe an increased demand could cause the War Dept. to tell them, by 43, forget the X Engine...we need V-1710s.[/QUOTE]
That's sounds reasonable. Not sure how big a production run Continental could support initially but they could grow into it. For the increased demand for the turbo-superchargers I believe that General Electric was the only feasible source. How much more they could increase production in TTL is open to conjecture. However if they could build more than 100,000 in OTL why not do that and another 20,000 in this ATL?
That's sounds reasonable. Not sure how big a production run Continental could support initially but they could grow into it. For the increased demand for the turbo-superchargers I believe that General Electric was the only feasible source. How much more they could increase production in TTL is open to conjecture. However if they could build more than 100,000 in OTL why not do that and another 20,000 in this ATL?
thorr97
Banned
Well, if Beech could come up with something like this:
Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly
Then I think they could handle P-38 production.
Although, the idea of Piper manufacturing Lightnings sounds so entirely incongruous that it should also take place!
Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly
Then I think they could handle P-38 production.
Although, the idea of Piper manufacturing Lightnings sounds so entirely incongruous that it should also take place!
Judging from the write up in Wiki, did a good job but couldn't get out of the way of the B-29's voracious appetite for everything in the supply chain...sounds like they could well handle the P-38 job!
That does make sense.
Now I think you're making it more complicated than it needs to be, quite aside my objection to Curtiss being involved. The P-47 deal is established OTL; I see no reason it would be undone in favor of the P-38, while the unsuccessful Vengeance might be cancelled.
Given Bell has a supply of V1710s, it makes more sense, IMO, to have those go to Bell-built P-38s.
That's a very interesting idea...but I think EverKing is right: the likelihood is, Merlin 'stangs continue to be needed/desired.
I'm less sure that's necessary, or wise. Besides, there are other options. What are Cadillac or Lincoln doing? What about Chrysler (again), instead of building the IV2220? Or, if you want a company with experience building larger-displacement inlines, what about Hall-Scott or Hercules? (If capacity is an issue, consider, this would be an all-new plant anyhow, so...) As for turbos, there's Kerr (or is it Elliot by now?).
I'll agree: good, but not essential.
In re Northrup, can I argue for them getting a contract? If they were approved for the P-61 on their own, TTL approval for a "follow factory" job on the P-38 (or even a P-38 NF) doesn't seem an enormous stretch. (I won't make a strong argument, given the troubled nature of the P-61 program; how much of that was inexperience?)
I do agree, Continental is a good idea, too. So is Lycoming, if they're not over-committed. So might Franklin be...
It's true, Chrysler was building the multibank tank engine...but it's also a major industrial company used to adding factory capacity & producing large numbers of complicated machines.
As said, if RAF/RCAF want P-38s, there's always the option of Canadian sourcing, both of airframes & engines. To go a bit farther afield, what about Australia? Actually, given they'd be heavily used in SWPA, building P-38s "locally" in Oz makes a lot of sense, not least avoiding delays & losses in deliveries from North America. Given the Boomerang & the Sentinel, & the fact there's no "original research" needed for building P-38s or V1710s (except the turbos, which might need to come from the U.S., or perhaps Britain), IMO it's credible.
Yeah, the Rule of Cool deserves to hold some sway...
Final thought: is there any prospect for switching the V1710s away from carbs to FI?
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Fisher made several aircraft. Is more of one and less of another a problem? Eastern Aircraft made TBM Avengers in a Fisher plant.
Cadillac made components for the Allison to aid production. The Director of Production for the US Government was William S. Knudson, president of General Motors 1937-1940.
PS: Continental made lots of engines of little interest to this thread, but some importance to the war.
That's good to hear EverKing. Do you think you might touch on P-38 operations in the South Pacific in one of your future updates?
Ch.10 - Operation Torch (Nov - Dec 1942)
27 November 1942
49th FS, 14th FG, 5th BW, 12th AF
Algeria – Tunisia Border
Even though he had not yet engaged the enemy in the air, Second Lieutenant Robert F. Elliott was already having an eventful war. When the 14th Fighter Group had been re-assigned to the nascent 8th Air Force in England there were more pilots than planes so Lt. Elliott had the good fortune—or misfortune, depending on one’s point of view—of being shipped to England with a few other 14 FG air crew and personnel aboard the USS West Point rather than flying his own plane in Operation Bolero. He arrived in Liverpool on August 18 then had to take a train to Shrewsbury and from there hopped in the back of a truck to join the rest of the 14th at Atcham Field.
While still short on P-38’s the 49th Fighter Squadron and the rest of the 14th Fighter Group took part in fighter sweeps along the Denmark and Belgian coasts in between rotations to various training centers set up with support from the RAF. These sweeps, called “Wildflower,” were largely uneventful with no enemy contact apart from some Luftwaffe patrols which kept a respectful distance from the largely unknown American plane.
After that disappointment, Lt. Elliott was sent on a training rotation to Wales where, on September 27th, he promptly crashed the target tow P-38F #41-7677 just off the beach when he forgot to switch off his RESERVE tanks and ran out of fuel before he could get back to the airstrip. The investigation chastised him for his incompetence and demoted him back down to Second Lieutenant for failing to follow proper procedure.
By the time he regained flying status after the accident word had come down that the entire P-38 force in England—the 1st & 14th Fighter Groups as well as the recently arrived 82nd Fighter Group—was to be re-assigned to Brigadier General James H. Doolittle’s recently formed 12th Air Force (jokingly called the “8th Air Force Junior”) as part of the Fifth Bomber Wing and moved to Algeria to aid the North African campaign under Operation Torch.
On November 15th the 49th arrived at Tafaraoui, Algeria after flying direct from England. They only stayed there until the 18th when they moved farther east to Maison Blanche. On the 19th, a few of the Squadron were able to go out and escort some B-17s on a bombing run to Tunisia but Elliott was not among them. Then on the 22nd they moved to their current base in eastern Algeria, Youks-les-Baine, where Elliott hoped they would stay for a while.
Or, at least long enough for me to get back to them.
Lt. Elliott looked over to the dust-covered Lt. Art Cole of the 48th Fighter Squadron where he was preparing to torch his P-38. Elliott could not take full credit for the latest screw up that put them both in the middle of the desert, though. They had joined up and were sent to go hunting for an armored column that had been reported in the area. Not finding the column, and with plenty of fuel and full magazines, they both decided to at least do something to aid the effort and headed out to the Kassarine Pass hoping to find some German transports or A/A installations to strafe.
Snaking their way at low altitude and as fast as they felt safe going in their slow-rolling P-38’s through the pass they certainly found plenty of Ack-Ack. So much, in fact, that it seemed like they were flying down a bowling alley while every bowler tried to throw a strike at them. Lt. Cole’s plane made it through with little more than a few small pinpricks but Elliott’s P-38 took a beating, his entire right boom was tore up, his turbo threatened to over-speed, the right-hand engine started to sputter and misfire apparently having lost a cylinder or two.
They made it out of the gauntlet of fire but it quickly became clear that Elliott’s Lightning—by then running on the lone left engine—was not going to make the trip back to Youks before dark. While both pilots had some night-time flying experience and both were Instrument Certified, the Army Air Force had not yet been able to set up any radio beacons or other navigational aids in eastern Algeria and Youks-les-Baine had an unlit strip—making the prospect of even finding the field in the dark unlikely and landing a near impossibility. After a brief discussion over the radio, they decided the best course of action would be to find a nice level spot to put down for the night and then both hop in Cole’s plane to fly out the next morning.
It was a good plan, too, and could have worked. The problem was that when Cole put his plane down the nose gear collapsed and buried itself into the dirt and rubble of the desert. Elliott put down, wheels-up, and skid to a stop not far from Cole.
This left them both in a bit of a predicament—two pilots and no plane. After spending the cold night in the dessert huddled up in their airplanes they decided to grab their escape packs, destroy the airplanes, and try to make their way back to Youks on foot.
Elliott watched Cole dip the torn strip of parachute silk into the main tank of his P-38 before bringing his Ronson De-Light Lighter to the material. The silk smoldered for a second than caught, the fire rapidly consuming the thin cloth while Elliott slid off the wing and ran from the crashed plane. In moments the fire reached the fuel soaked silk and dripped into the still half-full main tank. Elliott saw a quick flash followed by a slight whomp as the vapor ignited. Within two minutes the entire left side and fuselage of Cole’s plane was fully engulfed in violent flames, sending billowing clouds of black smoke into the Tunisian air.
By the time Elliott repeated the process on his own plane, Cole’s entire aircraft was a conflagration of burning aluminum and fuel accompanied by the irregular pop-pop of the ammunition left in the nose cooking off and exploding.
Within ten minutes of Cole starting his fire, both planes were burning and both grounded pilots were making their way west toward a small village they had spotted the previous evening before crashing.
They had made it a few miles, by Elliott’s estimation, when half-a-dozen figures appeared on a small rise to their south. Elliott and Cole scrambled for whatever boulders they could find for cover and watched as the figures shambled down the slope with an odd gait, only then realizing the figures were on horseback.
As they drew closer, Elliott could make out the loose billowing robes he had seen the local Bedouin nomads wearing. The men—he could see now that is what they were—were armed with an odd mix of bolt-action rifles, muskets, swords, and knives and they were riding directly toward where he and Cole were hiding. When they were 30 yards away or so, the six men spread out into an irregular semi-circle and stopped. Two of the Bedouins, one with a musket and one with an older style straight-bolt rifle, raised their weapons in the Americans’ direction while another, apparently the leader of this troop, called out in their lilting Arabic.
Cole and Elliott exchanged a glance and it was obvious to both that they were caught. With a mutual shrug, they raised their hands up and rose from behind their rocks. Elliott did not know much about the tribesmen and could only assume they did not understand English, but calling out “Don’t shoot!” still gave him some comfort.
The leader made a motion toward the Americans and after a short exchange in Arabic the three men not-otherwise-occupied came forward, dismounted, and approached the airmen. Neither Elliott nor Cole put forth any resistance as they were searched and the tribesmen took their pistols—tucking them in their belt sashes—and survival packs. Once that was done, the leader rode closer, always staying clear of the muzzles of the two guarding with their rifles. One of the searchers handed Cole’s survival pack up to the leader and the two exchanged quick words. The leader then motioned to the other two and they lowered their rifles but Elliott noted they did not re-shoulder them, instead resting them across the front of their saddles, right hands still near the triggers.
The leader dismounted and came closer to examine and address the two hapless Americans, “Hal ‘ant anklyzy?”
Elliott shared a look with Cole before speaking, “I’m sorry, I don’t…”
“Anklyzy?” The leader paused, plainly trying to find the word, “Anklaize?”
Anklaize? Elliott wondered, what does he mean? Cole looked on, wide-eyed and nervous, giving a small shake of his head clearly hoping to indicate to their captors that he did not understand. Elliott considered more what the Bedouin was saying, “anklaize,” then remembered they were in—or near—French Algeria. “Anglaise?”
The leader looked to him and nodded enthusiastically, “nem fielaan! Hal ‘ant anklyzy?”
Elliott was never more thankful for the little French he had studied in school. “Non, nous sommes Americans.”
“’amriki?”
“Yes, ‘amriki.”
There followed the most surreal few moments of Elliott’s young life. The Bedouins all visibly relaxed and after a flurry of hurried speech among themselves they started to try to communicate with the downed airmen. After some time they made it clear—at least from what Elliott and Cole gathered—that they had seen the smoke from the burning airplanes and set out to investigate, having tracked the Americans from the crash site. After further gesticulating and broken sentences on both parties’ parts Elliott was able to impart to the Bedouins that they needed to get back to Youks-Les-Bains who then agreed to guide them to the nearest town.
Fortunately, the nearest town turned out to be only about four miles away. It was a small cross roads called Tebessa where the Bedouins returned Elliott’s and Cole’s side arms and other possessions before pointing them up the road leading North-West out of town.
Elliott noticed some white faces among the onlookers who had come out to watch the unusual exchange and pointed them out to Cole. After bidding a thankful farewell to their rescuers, Cole and Elliott made their way over to the Europeans.
“Have a bit of a rough spot, ehn?” One of the men looked the two airmen over, noting their sweat and grime covered faces and dusty flying suits. The man’s accent had that nasal quality of The King’s English, so often aped and exaggerated in American film.
Cole spoke first, “Oh, thank God! You’re English!”
“Yanks, I presume?”
“Yeah, Lieutenant Arthur Cole,” Cole offered the man his hand, “this is Second Lieutenant Robert Elliott.”
“A pleasure. I’m Henry Punter and this here,” he motioned to the man at his side, “is my photographer Albert Fry. We’re here with the Associated Press.” After the four men were done with their introductions, Mr. Punter pulled a small silver flask from his waistcoat, offering it to Lt. Cole, “a little brandy to clear the dust?”
Cole had a pull before passing it over to Elliott. The brandy was good and burned his throat on the way down but it did a fine job of wetting his mouth and relaxing his mood. Elliott passed it back to Mr. Punter, who also took a pull before handing it over to his photographer.
“In the interest of thoroughness, would you gentlemen be able to tell me anything about what brought you here?”
Elliott and Cole did their best to evade the reporter’s questions, not entirely certain how much they were allowed to disclose. After some back-and-forth Mr. Punter seems satisfied that he had gotten as much out of the airmen as he could and let the question drop. A short while later, after some idle chit-chat, the AP reporters mentioned they had a car nearby and offered to bring the American the five miles up the road to Youks-Les-Bains.
5 December 1942
49th FS, 14th FG, 5th BW, 12th AF
Over Tunisia
Elliott was back in the air again. Another sortie—another airplane. The 14th Fighter Group was already running short on P-38’s so they had taken to “borrowing” planes from the 1st, which was farther to the rear and not suffering as many hits as the 14th had been over the past two weeks. Elliott’s current plane was one such, wearing the markings of the 94th Fighter Squadron, #41-7582. He had flown the plane on a sweep over northern Tunisia two days prior where he finally encountered some German fighters and even managed to get a piece of a Me.109, but he could only claim it Damaged.
The mission of the day was bomber escort over Sicily. 6 P-38’s of the 49th Fighter Squadrons were accompanying nine A-20’s to bomb the German aerodrome at Bizerte on the northern shores of Tunisia. Elliott was flying on the wing of Lt. John Stief, in the second element. Leading the squadron was Capt. Harold Lewis with Lt. Charles Earnhart on his wing as Lt’s Robert Carlton and Russel Gustke completed the line of six.
The flight in to the target required some evasive maneuvers from the fighters as the sky was peppered with the violent black cotton balls of German 88mm Flak. All of the flight and the nine bombers made it through largely unscathed and with the ordnance away the fifteen American aircraft came around and headed back to friendly lines as quick as they could.
At 1320 hours, about ten minutes out from the target, Elliott’s radio chattered to life, “Bandits, ten o’clock!”
Elliott swiveled his neck over to the left and saw a dozen or so small black specks coming at a slight angle to intercept the American attack force. Capt. Lewis ordered a turn into the attackers and all six P-38’s opened up their throttles and climbed to meet them. Elliott turned on his gun sight and charged his guns, pulling at the stiff handle and met the reassuring break in resistance that told him his full weight firepower was at the ready.
At 1000 yards, closing head on at well over 650 miles per hour, he could positively identify the on-coming aircraft as German Messerschmitt Bf 109s’. He lined up, nose-on, on one of the approaching enemy aircraft and squeezed off a short burst from his machine guns as they passed each other, bobbing and weaving through their respective flights. It all happened so quickly Elliott could not see if he had made any strikes but nor did he hear impacts on his own plane as the little fighter’s nose flickered to life.
Clear through the enemy group, Elliott pulled his yoke and kicked his rudder, trying roll the big plane into a left-hand chandelle to come around on the enemy. The ailerons resisted his roll and he cranked as hard as he could on the yoke as the Lightning bled off speed. He saw Stief’s plane at his 11 o’clock tightening his turn and did his best to stay with him, but his older block-one P-38F did not have combat flaps and simply could not hold the turn as tightly as Stief’s newer block-five Lightning.
Glancing back over his right shoulder, Elliott saw the swarm of 109’s breaking and turning every-which-way, trying to gain position on the American defenders as they circled around. One E/A was sending a stream of tracers past a lone P-38 while another was closing in on the same at a sharper angle. Elliott watched the Lighting break the other way and nose over, trying to throw off his attackers with speed.
He lost interest in his struggling squadron-mate when he saw the flash of tracers streaming by his own canopy.
Elliott jerked his head around and noted two 109’s coming on his 7 o’clock, one lit up as its guns unloaded toward Elliott’s P-38. He pulled harder, desperate to tighten his turn but it was no use. Both little Germans continued to turn inside him. Instead he reversed his roll and pulled back as hard he could, lifting his plane toward the vertical to gain some altitude and, he hoped, distance. The seconds it took for his plane to roll back stretched into eternity as he willed the heavy fighter to respond. He heard the tin-can sound of his plane being hit—a sound he was all too aware of after his A/A fiasco the previous week.
Now climbing away from the pursuing Jerries, he watched as they tried to follow. His plane opened the gap farther and farther on the single-engine fighters as he approached near-vertical. Elliott’s airspeed dropped but he had already gained several thousand feet of altitude, conserving his energy for a counter attack. The Messerschmitts could not keep with him and he saw first one, then the other, stall out and nose over to the left.
He kicked his right rudder as hard as could at the top of his climb, executing a hard wingover into a roller-coaster ride straight down. The two E/A were now below him at his 2 o’clock, turning hard into a defensive spiral to their left. Elliott pulled back the yoke of #582, shallowing his dive, and lined up for a high-angle deflection against the lead aircraft. Closing rapidly to less than 800 yards, he depressed the trigger. His airplane shook to life with the rattle of the four machine guns and the cockpit filled with the smell of burning nitrates as his tracers passed between the two 109’s.
The rear 109 saw the attack and rolled out, breaking back to his right, even as the lead aircraft continued the left turn. Elliott knew he had a decision to make: bank right to follow the second airplane, or slide left to continue his attack on the first. Either way it would leave the other free to come around on him.
With only seconds to spare, he pressed his left rudder and slid the Lightning to increase lead on the first E/A. At less than 300 yards he opened his machine guns again this time seeing the tracers pass just before the cowl and spinner of the Jerry’s plane. The German rolled over, nose down, trying to Splint-S away from Elliott’s Lightning but in the process he stopped his turn for a moment, just long enough for Elliott to add cannon fire to his machine guns. Now at less than 200 yards, Elliott saw impacts along the entire nose of the Messerschmitt, his tracers going straight through the black spade painted on the plane’s nose as pieces of the cowling came off with smoke and glycol streaming behind it.
Elliott stopped firing and passed directly over the enemy, leveling his P-38 out and pulling the throttles back as he muscled it into a slight right roll so he could watch the Jerry continue straight down with flames licking back at the completely smoke obscured cockpit.
He did not get to watch it impact directly into the dessert below because right then another P-38 passed no more than 500 yards in front of his nose, smoke trailing from its left-engine, chased by three more Messerschmitts. He cranked his airplane back to the left and pulled back into a pursuit position behind the E/A. His plane shuddered as it slowed in his tight turn and he sank back into seat from the heavy G’s. He was just drawing a bead on the trailing E/A and squeezed off a burst when two of his guns jammed rendering his fire weak and ineffective. He attempted to clear the jams by re-charging the guns, but the charging handle would not budge under the force of the turn.
Cursing, he shallowed his turn and leveled his wings, once more pushing his throttles forward. He watched the other P-38 set upon by all three pursuers, taking a prodigious volume of fire into the center wing area and cockpit before the left main tank erupted in great spouts of orange conflagration. The burning Lightning rolled to the left and spiraled down, flattening into a pinwheel of flame. Whichever one of his squadron mates that was, he never had the chance the escape.
Remembering the second aircraft he was initially engaged with, he scanned the sky to his right hoping to pick up the airplane. Sure enough, there was a lone a Me.109 turning into him at two o’clock high. He re-charged his guns, finally clearing the jams, and turned back into a climbing right-hand circle to come head on at the attacking Jerry.
He opened up at 750 yards, streaming 50-cals and lobbing a few 20mm cannon shells at the speeding Messerschmitt. He saw a few strike around the propeller and at the left wing root but in return caught some .30 caliber rounds in his left boom, just aft of his turbo. Closing quickly he pulled harder, aiming to pass over top of the enemy. Luckily the German had the opposite idea, and nosed over to pass no more than a few plane-heights under Elliott’s P-38.
Elliott forced another hard right roll and swung his neck to find the enemy below him. Instead of turning to re-engage though the enemy continued in its shallow dive straight away from Elliott. Elliott considered following but a quick scan around him and he discovered the other E/A were joining up a mile or two behind him and he was alone. He pulled back his throttles a few inches, leveled his wings, and continued his climb away from the battle zone.
The entire fight was no more than six or seven minutes.
Climbing up, he looked for any other friendly aircraft. He spotted another lone P-38 heading away from him at his 11 o’clock low and turned down to join it. Drawing close he identified it as Gustke’s plane and he was nursing it along with his right propeller feathered. He pulled alongside and indicated he would cover Gustke from above before climbing up 1500 feet above and behind his squadron mate.
He did not find any other P-38’s but did spot the distant flecks of the retreating A-20’s, five or six miles away. As they crossed the Algerian border Gustke came on the radio to let Elliott know he was losing his other engine and would need to put down. Elliott flew a head and directed Gustke to a level spot and provided some cover from above as he watch the his fellow young Lieutenant bring his plane down in the rough dessert. He circled a bit to make sure the area was clear before waggling his wings in farewell and turning back to base, himself now getting low on fuel.
Arriving back over Youks-Les-Baines he was relieved to see Lt. Carlton’s P-38 already lining up to land. Elliott slid in behind him, pulled back his throttles and prepared to follow him onto the strip. Lowing his flaps and gear he aimed the P-38 at the steel mat strip. He carefully managed speed and altitude as he approached and had a perfect set down on the uneven runway.
Or, it would have been perfect if his left wheel had not been shot up.
As soon as the plane touched down it yawed violently to the left as the tire shredded into pieces. The wheel screeched on the steel mat, showering the plane with a fountain of sparks. Elliott rolled the yoke to the right, trying to bring the left side up, but he was already too slow and the left wing dipped further as the wheel disintegrated. Immediately, the plane ground-looped, skidding sideways and throwing Elliott hard against the right bulkhead of the cockpit. The plane hopped on the right wheel, all of its weight forced outward. The nose wheel collapsed from the force and the sudden drop drove the propellers into the strip with the ear shattering clamor of rending metal. Then the right strut failed and the plane slammed hard onto the matting, spiraling away from the center line before falling off the steel and bouncing over the stony dessert apron. The engines seized from the impact and resistance, surrendering to physics with rapid backfires before falling silent as the plane settled to a stop.
Trying to catch his breath and slow his racing heart, Elliott’s only understandable thought was, well…there goes another plane.
[Editors Note: 2Lt.Elliott's stories of the crashed P-38 in Wales and his night in the desert on Nov. 27th, 1942 with Lt. Cole actually happened, more or less as described. However, IOTL he failed to return from the mission on 12/5/42. You can read more here.]
49th FS, 14th FG, 5th BW, 12th AF
Algeria – Tunisia Border
Even though he had not yet engaged the enemy in the air, Second Lieutenant Robert F. Elliott was already having an eventful war. When the 14th Fighter Group had been re-assigned to the nascent 8th Air Force in England there were more pilots than planes so Lt. Elliott had the good fortune—or misfortune, depending on one’s point of view—of being shipped to England with a few other 14 FG air crew and personnel aboard the USS West Point rather than flying his own plane in Operation Bolero. He arrived in Liverpool on August 18 then had to take a train to Shrewsbury and from there hopped in the back of a truck to join the rest of the 14th at Atcham Field.
While still short on P-38’s the 49th Fighter Squadron and the rest of the 14th Fighter Group took part in fighter sweeps along the Denmark and Belgian coasts in between rotations to various training centers set up with support from the RAF. These sweeps, called “Wildflower,” were largely uneventful with no enemy contact apart from some Luftwaffe patrols which kept a respectful distance from the largely unknown American plane.
After that disappointment, Lt. Elliott was sent on a training rotation to Wales where, on September 27th, he promptly crashed the target tow P-38F #41-7677 just off the beach when he forgot to switch off his RESERVE tanks and ran out of fuel before he could get back to the airstrip. The investigation chastised him for his incompetence and demoted him back down to Second Lieutenant for failing to follow proper procedure.
By the time he regained flying status after the accident word had come down that the entire P-38 force in England—the 1st & 14th Fighter Groups as well as the recently arrived 82nd Fighter Group—was to be re-assigned to Brigadier General James H. Doolittle’s recently formed 12th Air Force (jokingly called the “8th Air Force Junior”) as part of the Fifth Bomber Wing and moved to Algeria to aid the North African campaign under Operation Torch.
On November 15th the 49th arrived at Tafaraoui, Algeria after flying direct from England. They only stayed there until the 18th when they moved farther east to Maison Blanche. On the 19th, a few of the Squadron were able to go out and escort some B-17s on a bombing run to Tunisia but Elliott was not among them. Then on the 22nd they moved to their current base in eastern Algeria, Youks-les-Baine, where Elliott hoped they would stay for a while.
Or, at least long enough for me to get back to them.
Lt. Elliott looked over to the dust-covered Lt. Art Cole of the 48th Fighter Squadron where he was preparing to torch his P-38. Elliott could not take full credit for the latest screw up that put them both in the middle of the desert, though. They had joined up and were sent to go hunting for an armored column that had been reported in the area. Not finding the column, and with plenty of fuel and full magazines, they both decided to at least do something to aid the effort and headed out to the Kassarine Pass hoping to find some German transports or A/A installations to strafe.
Snaking their way at low altitude and as fast as they felt safe going in their slow-rolling P-38’s through the pass they certainly found plenty of Ack-Ack. So much, in fact, that it seemed like they were flying down a bowling alley while every bowler tried to throw a strike at them. Lt. Cole’s plane made it through with little more than a few small pinpricks but Elliott’s P-38 took a beating, his entire right boom was tore up, his turbo threatened to over-speed, the right-hand engine started to sputter and misfire apparently having lost a cylinder or two.
They made it out of the gauntlet of fire but it quickly became clear that Elliott’s Lightning—by then running on the lone left engine—was not going to make the trip back to Youks before dark. While both pilots had some night-time flying experience and both were Instrument Certified, the Army Air Force had not yet been able to set up any radio beacons or other navigational aids in eastern Algeria and Youks-les-Baine had an unlit strip—making the prospect of even finding the field in the dark unlikely and landing a near impossibility. After a brief discussion over the radio, they decided the best course of action would be to find a nice level spot to put down for the night and then both hop in Cole’s plane to fly out the next morning.
It was a good plan, too, and could have worked. The problem was that when Cole put his plane down the nose gear collapsed and buried itself into the dirt and rubble of the desert. Elliott put down, wheels-up, and skid to a stop not far from Cole.
This left them both in a bit of a predicament—two pilots and no plane. After spending the cold night in the dessert huddled up in their airplanes they decided to grab their escape packs, destroy the airplanes, and try to make their way back to Youks on foot.
Elliott watched Cole dip the torn strip of parachute silk into the main tank of his P-38 before bringing his Ronson De-Light Lighter to the material. The silk smoldered for a second than caught, the fire rapidly consuming the thin cloth while Elliott slid off the wing and ran from the crashed plane. In moments the fire reached the fuel soaked silk and dripped into the still half-full main tank. Elliott saw a quick flash followed by a slight whomp as the vapor ignited. Within two minutes the entire left side and fuselage of Cole’s plane was fully engulfed in violent flames, sending billowing clouds of black smoke into the Tunisian air.
By the time Elliott repeated the process on his own plane, Cole’s entire aircraft was a conflagration of burning aluminum and fuel accompanied by the irregular pop-pop of the ammunition left in the nose cooking off and exploding.
Within ten minutes of Cole starting his fire, both planes were burning and both grounded pilots were making their way west toward a small village they had spotted the previous evening before crashing.
They had made it a few miles, by Elliott’s estimation, when half-a-dozen figures appeared on a small rise to their south. Elliott and Cole scrambled for whatever boulders they could find for cover and watched as the figures shambled down the slope with an odd gait, only then realizing the figures were on horseback.
As they drew closer, Elliott could make out the loose billowing robes he had seen the local Bedouin nomads wearing. The men—he could see now that is what they were—were armed with an odd mix of bolt-action rifles, muskets, swords, and knives and they were riding directly toward where he and Cole were hiding. When they were 30 yards away or so, the six men spread out into an irregular semi-circle and stopped. Two of the Bedouins, one with a musket and one with an older style straight-bolt rifle, raised their weapons in the Americans’ direction while another, apparently the leader of this troop, called out in their lilting Arabic.
Cole and Elliott exchanged a glance and it was obvious to both that they were caught. With a mutual shrug, they raised their hands up and rose from behind their rocks. Elliott did not know much about the tribesmen and could only assume they did not understand English, but calling out “Don’t shoot!” still gave him some comfort.
The leader made a motion toward the Americans and after a short exchange in Arabic the three men not-otherwise-occupied came forward, dismounted, and approached the airmen. Neither Elliott nor Cole put forth any resistance as they were searched and the tribesmen took their pistols—tucking them in their belt sashes—and survival packs. Once that was done, the leader rode closer, always staying clear of the muzzles of the two guarding with their rifles. One of the searchers handed Cole’s survival pack up to the leader and the two exchanged quick words. The leader then motioned to the other two and they lowered their rifles but Elliott noted they did not re-shoulder them, instead resting them across the front of their saddles, right hands still near the triggers.
The leader dismounted and came closer to examine and address the two hapless Americans, “Hal ‘ant anklyzy?”
Elliott shared a look with Cole before speaking, “I’m sorry, I don’t…”
“Anklyzy?” The leader paused, plainly trying to find the word, “Anklaize?”
Anklaize? Elliott wondered, what does he mean? Cole looked on, wide-eyed and nervous, giving a small shake of his head clearly hoping to indicate to their captors that he did not understand. Elliott considered more what the Bedouin was saying, “anklaize,” then remembered they were in—or near—French Algeria. “Anglaise?”
The leader looked to him and nodded enthusiastically, “nem fielaan! Hal ‘ant anklyzy?”
Elliott was never more thankful for the little French he had studied in school. “Non, nous sommes Americans.”
“’amriki?”
“Yes, ‘amriki.”
There followed the most surreal few moments of Elliott’s young life. The Bedouins all visibly relaxed and after a flurry of hurried speech among themselves they started to try to communicate with the downed airmen. After some time they made it clear—at least from what Elliott and Cole gathered—that they had seen the smoke from the burning airplanes and set out to investigate, having tracked the Americans from the crash site. After further gesticulating and broken sentences on both parties’ parts Elliott was able to impart to the Bedouins that they needed to get back to Youks-Les-Bains who then agreed to guide them to the nearest town.
Fortunately, the nearest town turned out to be only about four miles away. It was a small cross roads called Tebessa where the Bedouins returned Elliott’s and Cole’s side arms and other possessions before pointing them up the road leading North-West out of town.
Elliott noticed some white faces among the onlookers who had come out to watch the unusual exchange and pointed them out to Cole. After bidding a thankful farewell to their rescuers, Cole and Elliott made their way over to the Europeans.
“Have a bit of a rough spot, ehn?” One of the men looked the two airmen over, noting their sweat and grime covered faces and dusty flying suits. The man’s accent had that nasal quality of The King’s English, so often aped and exaggerated in American film.
Cole spoke first, “Oh, thank God! You’re English!”
“Yanks, I presume?”
“Yeah, Lieutenant Arthur Cole,” Cole offered the man his hand, “this is Second Lieutenant Robert Elliott.”
“A pleasure. I’m Henry Punter and this here,” he motioned to the man at his side, “is my photographer Albert Fry. We’re here with the Associated Press.” After the four men were done with their introductions, Mr. Punter pulled a small silver flask from his waistcoat, offering it to Lt. Cole, “a little brandy to clear the dust?”
Cole had a pull before passing it over to Elliott. The brandy was good and burned his throat on the way down but it did a fine job of wetting his mouth and relaxing his mood. Elliott passed it back to Mr. Punter, who also took a pull before handing it over to his photographer.
“In the interest of thoroughness, would you gentlemen be able to tell me anything about what brought you here?”
Elliott and Cole did their best to evade the reporter’s questions, not entirely certain how much they were allowed to disclose. After some back-and-forth Mr. Punter seems satisfied that he had gotten as much out of the airmen as he could and let the question drop. A short while later, after some idle chit-chat, the AP reporters mentioned they had a car nearby and offered to bring the American the five miles up the road to Youks-Les-Bains.
5 December 1942
49th FS, 14th FG, 5th BW, 12th AF
Over Tunisia
Elliott was back in the air again. Another sortie—another airplane. The 14th Fighter Group was already running short on P-38’s so they had taken to “borrowing” planes from the 1st, which was farther to the rear and not suffering as many hits as the 14th had been over the past two weeks. Elliott’s current plane was one such, wearing the markings of the 94th Fighter Squadron, #41-7582. He had flown the plane on a sweep over northern Tunisia two days prior where he finally encountered some German fighters and even managed to get a piece of a Me.109, but he could only claim it Damaged.
The mission of the day was bomber escort over Sicily. 6 P-38’s of the 49th Fighter Squadrons were accompanying nine A-20’s to bomb the German aerodrome at Bizerte on the northern shores of Tunisia. Elliott was flying on the wing of Lt. John Stief, in the second element. Leading the squadron was Capt. Harold Lewis with Lt. Charles Earnhart on his wing as Lt’s Robert Carlton and Russel Gustke completed the line of six.
The flight in to the target required some evasive maneuvers from the fighters as the sky was peppered with the violent black cotton balls of German 88mm Flak. All of the flight and the nine bombers made it through largely unscathed and with the ordnance away the fifteen American aircraft came around and headed back to friendly lines as quick as they could.
At 1320 hours, about ten minutes out from the target, Elliott’s radio chattered to life, “Bandits, ten o’clock!”
Elliott swiveled his neck over to the left and saw a dozen or so small black specks coming at a slight angle to intercept the American attack force. Capt. Lewis ordered a turn into the attackers and all six P-38’s opened up their throttles and climbed to meet them. Elliott turned on his gun sight and charged his guns, pulling at the stiff handle and met the reassuring break in resistance that told him his full weight firepower was at the ready.
At 1000 yards, closing head on at well over 650 miles per hour, he could positively identify the on-coming aircraft as German Messerschmitt Bf 109s’. He lined up, nose-on, on one of the approaching enemy aircraft and squeezed off a short burst from his machine guns as they passed each other, bobbing and weaving through their respective flights. It all happened so quickly Elliott could not see if he had made any strikes but nor did he hear impacts on his own plane as the little fighter’s nose flickered to life.
Clear through the enemy group, Elliott pulled his yoke and kicked his rudder, trying roll the big plane into a left-hand chandelle to come around on the enemy. The ailerons resisted his roll and he cranked as hard as he could on the yoke as the Lightning bled off speed. He saw Stief’s plane at his 11 o’clock tightening his turn and did his best to stay with him, but his older block-one P-38F did not have combat flaps and simply could not hold the turn as tightly as Stief’s newer block-five Lightning.
Glancing back over his right shoulder, Elliott saw the swarm of 109’s breaking and turning every-which-way, trying to gain position on the American defenders as they circled around. One E/A was sending a stream of tracers past a lone P-38 while another was closing in on the same at a sharper angle. Elliott watched the Lighting break the other way and nose over, trying to throw off his attackers with speed.
He lost interest in his struggling squadron-mate when he saw the flash of tracers streaming by his own canopy.
Elliott jerked his head around and noted two 109’s coming on his 7 o’clock, one lit up as its guns unloaded toward Elliott’s P-38. He pulled harder, desperate to tighten his turn but it was no use. Both little Germans continued to turn inside him. Instead he reversed his roll and pulled back as hard he could, lifting his plane toward the vertical to gain some altitude and, he hoped, distance. The seconds it took for his plane to roll back stretched into eternity as he willed the heavy fighter to respond. He heard the tin-can sound of his plane being hit—a sound he was all too aware of after his A/A fiasco the previous week.
Now climbing away from the pursuing Jerries, he watched as they tried to follow. His plane opened the gap farther and farther on the single-engine fighters as he approached near-vertical. Elliott’s airspeed dropped but he had already gained several thousand feet of altitude, conserving his energy for a counter attack. The Messerschmitts could not keep with him and he saw first one, then the other, stall out and nose over to the left.
He kicked his right rudder as hard as could at the top of his climb, executing a hard wingover into a roller-coaster ride straight down. The two E/A were now below him at his 2 o’clock, turning hard into a defensive spiral to their left. Elliott pulled back the yoke of #582, shallowing his dive, and lined up for a high-angle deflection against the lead aircraft. Closing rapidly to less than 800 yards, he depressed the trigger. His airplane shook to life with the rattle of the four machine guns and the cockpit filled with the smell of burning nitrates as his tracers passed between the two 109’s.
The rear 109 saw the attack and rolled out, breaking back to his right, even as the lead aircraft continued the left turn. Elliott knew he had a decision to make: bank right to follow the second airplane, or slide left to continue his attack on the first. Either way it would leave the other free to come around on him.
With only seconds to spare, he pressed his left rudder and slid the Lightning to increase lead on the first E/A. At less than 300 yards he opened his machine guns again this time seeing the tracers pass just before the cowl and spinner of the Jerry’s plane. The German rolled over, nose down, trying to Splint-S away from Elliott’s Lightning but in the process he stopped his turn for a moment, just long enough for Elliott to add cannon fire to his machine guns. Now at less than 200 yards, Elliott saw impacts along the entire nose of the Messerschmitt, his tracers going straight through the black spade painted on the plane’s nose as pieces of the cowling came off with smoke and glycol streaming behind it.
Elliott stopped firing and passed directly over the enemy, leveling his P-38 out and pulling the throttles back as he muscled it into a slight right roll so he could watch the Jerry continue straight down with flames licking back at the completely smoke obscured cockpit.
He did not get to watch it impact directly into the dessert below because right then another P-38 passed no more than 500 yards in front of his nose, smoke trailing from its left-engine, chased by three more Messerschmitts. He cranked his airplane back to the left and pulled back into a pursuit position behind the E/A. His plane shuddered as it slowed in his tight turn and he sank back into seat from the heavy G’s. He was just drawing a bead on the trailing E/A and squeezed off a burst when two of his guns jammed rendering his fire weak and ineffective. He attempted to clear the jams by re-charging the guns, but the charging handle would not budge under the force of the turn.
Cursing, he shallowed his turn and leveled his wings, once more pushing his throttles forward. He watched the other P-38 set upon by all three pursuers, taking a prodigious volume of fire into the center wing area and cockpit before the left main tank erupted in great spouts of orange conflagration. The burning Lightning rolled to the left and spiraled down, flattening into a pinwheel of flame. Whichever one of his squadron mates that was, he never had the chance the escape.
Remembering the second aircraft he was initially engaged with, he scanned the sky to his right hoping to pick up the airplane. Sure enough, there was a lone a Me.109 turning into him at two o’clock high. He re-charged his guns, finally clearing the jams, and turned back into a climbing right-hand circle to come head on at the attacking Jerry.
He opened up at 750 yards, streaming 50-cals and lobbing a few 20mm cannon shells at the speeding Messerschmitt. He saw a few strike around the propeller and at the left wing root but in return caught some .30 caliber rounds in his left boom, just aft of his turbo. Closing quickly he pulled harder, aiming to pass over top of the enemy. Luckily the German had the opposite idea, and nosed over to pass no more than a few plane-heights under Elliott’s P-38.
Elliott forced another hard right roll and swung his neck to find the enemy below him. Instead of turning to re-engage though the enemy continued in its shallow dive straight away from Elliott. Elliott considered following but a quick scan around him and he discovered the other E/A were joining up a mile or two behind him and he was alone. He pulled back his throttles a few inches, leveled his wings, and continued his climb away from the battle zone.
The entire fight was no more than six or seven minutes.
Climbing up, he looked for any other friendly aircraft. He spotted another lone P-38 heading away from him at his 11 o’clock low and turned down to join it. Drawing close he identified it as Gustke’s plane and he was nursing it along with his right propeller feathered. He pulled alongside and indicated he would cover Gustke from above before climbing up 1500 feet above and behind his squadron mate.
He did not find any other P-38’s but did spot the distant flecks of the retreating A-20’s, five or six miles away. As they crossed the Algerian border Gustke came on the radio to let Elliott know he was losing his other engine and would need to put down. Elliott flew a head and directed Gustke to a level spot and provided some cover from above as he watch the his fellow young Lieutenant bring his plane down in the rough dessert. He circled a bit to make sure the area was clear before waggling his wings in farewell and turning back to base, himself now getting low on fuel.
Arriving back over Youks-Les-Baines he was relieved to see Lt. Carlton’s P-38 already lining up to land. Elliott slid in behind him, pulled back his throttles and prepared to follow him onto the strip. Lowing his flaps and gear he aimed the P-38 at the steel mat strip. He carefully managed speed and altitude as he approached and had a perfect set down on the uneven runway.
Or, it would have been perfect if his left wheel had not been shot up.
As soon as the plane touched down it yawed violently to the left as the tire shredded into pieces. The wheel screeched on the steel mat, showering the plane with a fountain of sparks. Elliott rolled the yoke to the right, trying to bring the left side up, but he was already too slow and the left wing dipped further as the wheel disintegrated. Immediately, the plane ground-looped, skidding sideways and throwing Elliott hard against the right bulkhead of the cockpit. The plane hopped on the right wheel, all of its weight forced outward. The nose wheel collapsed from the force and the sudden drop drove the propellers into the strip with the ear shattering clamor of rending metal. Then the right strut failed and the plane slammed hard onto the matting, spiraling away from the center line before falling off the steel and bouncing over the stony dessert apron. The engines seized from the impact and resistance, surrendering to physics with rapid backfires before falling silent as the plane settled to a stop.
Trying to catch his breath and slow his racing heart, Elliott’s only understandable thought was, well…there goes another plane.
[Editors Note: 2Lt.Elliott's stories of the crashed P-38 in Wales and his night in the desert on Nov. 27th, 1942 with Lt. Cole actually happened, more or less as described. However, IOTL he failed to return from the mission on 12/5/42. You can read more here.]
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EverKing that was quite an interesting story. Thank you. I see that you are also highlighting the need for a simpler fuel management system. As well as the need for the hydraulically boosted ailerons. And also the pressing need for simply having more P-38s built to be put into service as combat and all other losses will inevitably take their toll.
Edited because I should also take into account the losses in training flights and other accidents.
Edited because I should also take into account the losses in training flights and other accidents.
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