I was leader of 'A' Flight escorting Mitchells on their way to Dusseldorf. Near Deurne I spotted below me a single bandit between the clouds chasing the bombers. I rolled over the right wing to enter the dive. 250 yards behind what looked like a Fw 190 'Longnose' it I opened fire. I observed several hits all over the fuselage. It slowly turned to the right, entered a steep dive and crashed into the ground. Afterwards I returned to the bombers.
Shortly after Dusseldorf the Mitchells were chased by a formation of 4 Fw 190. I positioned myself above the attackers. Shorty before I was in range they broke up the formation. I climbed again to get in good position. I dived on a single Fw 190 but only scored a few hits before it dived into the clouds.
I tried to gained some altitude but soon realized that I was chased by a Fw 190. I entered a steep climbing turn get behind it. The Fw 190 tried to follow me, but stalled and entered a spin. While it recovered I got in a perfect position to commence my attack. I fired a long burst at about 250 yards that caused an big explosion.
I climbed again to attack another Fw 190. When I was about to fire it turned hard and I only scored several .5 hits on its wing before it dived below the clouds.
Meanwhile I was chased by last remaining bandit. After 2 approaches I scored good hits on the fuselage. I observed black smoke and flames from the engine before it disappeared. S/Ldr 'Skipper' Merfort |
