Exactly. I read somewhere that Yeager or the likes said what a Spitfire could do in two (or was it four?) hours the P-51 could do for eight.

Also have read that other fighters (ex P-38) also had the range into Berlin. This would make sense due to the distances they covered in the PTO.

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Posted by Darth_Vader

A galaxy far, far away

Member since Dec 2011

65021 posts

Posted on 7/9/14 at 11:40 am to Spaceman Spiff

quote:
Also have read that other fighters (ex P-38) also had the range into Berlin. This would make sense due to the distances they covered in the PTO.

The P-38 had the range but it was similar to the BF-110 in that it could not dogfight the smaller more nimble single engine fighters. Had we sent P-38's to Berlin to try and escort our bombers in and out of there, they'd have been slaughtered for no effect. Our higher ups realized this fact and instead of wasting P-38's over Berlin, used them to great effect as front line ground support in the ETO.

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Posted by NWarty

Somewhere in the PNW

Member since Sep 2013

2181 posts

Posted on 7/9/14 at 11:51 am to Spaceman Spiff

My Grandfather, who passed away in 2007, fought with the 2nd Battalion, 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th IN Division (Lightning) through Belgium, Germany and was part of the occupation in both Berlin and Vienna. He never spoke of the war and it wasn't until he passed away, that my father and I were able to look in his foot locker that he kept stashed away in his closet. He was an infantryman with the Battalion and I was able to piece bits of information (called Morning Reports) to his whereabouts in theater each week. Unfortunately, his OMPF (official military personnel file) was destroyed in the St. Louis records branch fire of 1971.

I can understand after all these years why he never spoke of the war. He was an E-6 SSG by the time he was 19. 3/4 of his squadmates were killed or wounded during his tour. A room he was in was hit by a panzerfaust and killed many of his buddies. German artillery caused him many issues in later life as he couldn't deal with loud noises. His hair would eventually turn stark white at the age of 36.

My father and I opened the footlocker and discovered many, MANY photos of German and Austrian girlfriends that he had. And boy, were they some nice lookin' fraus. I have a photo of him framed on my fireplace mantle with his Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) positioned below it. In the picture, he's leaning against the door of his girlfriend's apartment in Berlin in the summer of 1945. He's wearing his "Ike" jacket and bloused boots. Whenever friends come over, they constantly ask if that's a photo of me as we are the spitting image of each other at 20 years old.
I have his dogtags, CIB, Regimental Crest and ribbons from his footlocker along with his SSG stripes and a German Knight's Cross that he looted off a dead German Officer. I just recently have his 78th Infantry Division Yearbook that was published after the surrender and during the occupation.

I'm military myself and have a ton of stuff in my man-room, from 1/18 aircraft models, to tanks, to 1/6 figures and my 1/350 Nimitz that took three years to complete. I'm also a civilian/WWII flight sim nerd

Yeah, I'd take Europe in a heartbeat given the quality of life. Your your time comes, it comes, but damned if I'm not going to do a little bourbon drinking and messin' with the fraulines