D-Day was the “day of days” for those who landed on the beaches, but the next several weeks were very difficult for allied tactical aircraft over Normandy. The 362nd Fighter Group provides an excellent example of this. Here’s what happened to the group on July 10, 1944:
After two days grounded by poor weather, the group’s three squadrons – the 377th, 378th and 379th – conducted an armed reconnaissance in the area between Cherbourg and Avranches. 12 planes in each squadron carried 500-pounders while four flew top cover, seeking to avoid the losses of June 7, when four Thunderbolts and three pilots had been lost in an all-out bombing effort. The group bombed and strafed railroad and ground transport to good effect, but they faced a withering hail of 20mm and 40mm flak and nine pilots were recorded as missing at the end of the day. Most landed at advance fields or bailed out over friendly territory, but some did not make it home.
Blue flight of the 377th set up a pattern to strafe a small convoy, reported Lt. Harry Kraft. Just as Lt. Emory Riggs completed a pass, he pulled up and left the target at an odd angle. “After the pass, unable to contact him by radio, I set up a search, but there was no sign of him in the air or on the ground,” said Kraft. “We made one more pass at the target, received hits from ground fire, and left the area.” Riggs was hit by flak and died when P-47D-22-RE 42-25989 crashed to earth at Monthuchon, France.
Meanwhile, flak damage started to hamper two more P-47s in Blue Flight. “(Lt. Charles H.) Freeman, Lt. (Richard C.) Petrie and I were on set course for home when Blue 2 (Freeman) and Blue 4 (Petrie) called ‘failing oil pressure,’” reported Kraft. Red Flight, which was providing high cover for the bomb-carrying Thunderbolts, now assumed an escort for the struggling Blue flight. “We turned toward the beachhead on a course of 30 to 40 degrees, but we had to leave (Freeman), whose engine was cutting in and out, in order to get (Petrie) to the beachhead. No. 2 called that he had no oil pressure at all, so I told him to crash land.” P-47D-16-RE 42-76154, flown by Freeman, went down at Belval, where his plane dug a neat furrow in a small field before hitting a hedgerown and breaking up. The uninjured Freeman was hidden by a French family until the end of July and returned to the squadron in August. His P-47 was cannibalized by the locals for souvenirs.
Soon thereafter, near St. Sever Calvados, Petrie in P-47D-10-RE 42-75181 was hit by ground fire. “From what I could see, his engine was a mass of flames,” reported Lt. Francis Connor, who was leading the cover flight. “The plane made a half-circle, then crashed into the ground. I saw a parachute open at about 1000 feet and float down into a field directly adjacent to a heavily wooded area.” Petrie also received assistance from the underground and returned to the group later. Lt. Gerald Major of the 379th was hit by flak as well but was able to land safely inside allied lines.
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