The 378th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group flew two missions in the vicinity of Vire, France, bombing one Tiger tank and setting a second ablaze through strafing. Lt. Charles Naerhood and Lt. Andrew Sunter were shot down by flak; Sunter recalled that he followed his leader, Naerhood, to strafe a truck. Although Naerhood was able to radio that he had been hit and was on fire, and his plane made a long, skidding crash-landing north-northwest of Percy, Naerhood was killed. Sunter was hit on the same pass. “On pulling off the target, I felt three distinct flak hits on my plane, my right foot was knocked off the rudder pedal and either pieces of flak or floor (started) rattling around the cockpit,” he said. “I recovered control and thought I was all right until flames started spewing up around my legs and it got unbearably hot. I rolled my trim tab back, pulled the plane up to approximately 1000 feet, opened the canopy and dove out the right side. I cleared the plane and pulled the ripcord. I glanced at my watch, it was 2015. Then I heard popping noises and glanced down over my right shoulder. I could see German soldiers firing at me with rifles. All I could do was swing my chute as much as possible and swear at the Germans. I was too angry to be afraid.
“After what seemed like minutes to me, but no doubt was only a few seconds, my chute drifted into a tree where I hung two feet off the ground. I could hear the Germans yelling at one another behind a hedgerow and knew they were after me so I quickly unhooked myself.” Sunter ducked the Germans by hiding in a haystack; the farmer whose field the stack was in gave him some civilian clothes and took him to his house to dress his leg wounds, walking him right past the German patrol. Hiding with the farmer’s family, Sunter endured American shelling of some nearby Panzers by hiding in the cellar, where he was joined several times by German soldiers. Eventually, a German officer tried to question Sunter, but the farmer explained that Sunter was a deaf mute. Finally, the officer ordered the family out of the house in order to set up a machine gun position in the upper floors. The next morning Sunter stumbled across some American infantrymen advancing toward his former hiding place. They had orders and couldn’t stop to cater to the pilot, so they gave Sunter some grenades and he brought along a captured German Schmeisser machine-pistol and went with them. Only after several hours of combat was Sunter returned to regimental headquarters and eventually back to the 362nd.
The second mission for the 378th was equally eventful. Col. Morton Magoffin was flying with the squadron, and near Beaumont-sur-Sarthe he “sent Yellow Flight into a patch of woods to scare something out,” reported Lt. Donald Stoddard. At about that time, Magoffin spotted an Fw 190A-8 “blue 20” flying north on the deck, piloted by Fw. Rudolph Rauhaus of Stab.I./JG1. “We were at about 10,000 feet,” Stoddard said. “The flight got into a string formation and went down on the Fw 190. I made one pass at the Fw 190 and overshot.” Stoddard chandelled to the left to get on the German fighter’s tail, but by this time Magoffin had him in his sights. “The Colonel, from about 2300 yards to the rear, fired one long burst, giving it some deflection,” said Lt. Arthur Staples, Magoffin’s wingman. “He secured strikes all over the cockpit and the engine, The plane broke into flames, rolled on its back and went down.” Rauhaus was killed in his planes’ crash.
By the way, this is my model of Magoffin’s P-47D, from the Tamiya kit and sporting Eagle Strike decals:
Not-very-arty shot of Magoffin's "Carol Ann II" in 1:72
Stoddard, meanwhile, had spotted a second Fw 190. “I made two turns with him to the left, giving him a couple of bursts, but observed no strikes. I pulled in a little more and gave one good burst from about 250 yards and saw strikes all over the fuselage. He straightened out and was rocking. About this time the canopy came off and the Hun bailed out. The Fw 190 crashed and was burning when I left. The Colonel took pictures of the Hun pilot in his chute and the burning plane.” This was probably Ofhr. Karl-Heinz Schaper of 2./JG6; despite bailing out, Schaper later died of his wounds.
By the way, I’m writing a book about the 362nd FG, and hopefully Osprey will ask for it if I pester them long enough. If you get a chance, head over to their website and put in a good word for a book about “Mogin’s Maulers.”
Flat Spins and Milk Runs 