[Alfred.MONZAT]

Hello,

I am curious after reading this :
"The group returned to escort duty on 14 February [1945] with Lieutnant Colonel Elwyn Righetti leading A Group and Major Edward Giller leading B Group to Magdeburg. The mission went well with no B-24 lost. Finally leaving the bombers, the group dropped down on a lumber yard and two adjacent factories in Wahrenholz at 1225, releasing their fuel tanks and straffing them, a technique called the 'Righetti Inferno'. All three sites were left burning. A short time later at Gardlegen, the group toggled off more drop tanks on box cars in a siding, a warehouse, and a factory, firing them and leaving a heavy black cloud over the city."
The 55th Fighter Group vs The Luftwaffe - John M. Gray - Pages 97-98

Is that a common use of the drop tanks ? Did this technique was used by other units ? Which pilot/unit used it/invented it in the ETO ?

Well, if you have any information on the subject, I am interested.

Here's also something similar mentioned for the 20th FG :
"The Eighth Air Force attacked marshalling yards and an armoured vehicle factory on 20 February [1945], when the lack of any opposition left the fighters free to attack ground targets. The 20th FG went after road and rail traffic from Nuremberg [...] [Lt Kenneth] McNeel and Lt William Peel set four vans on fire using their drop tanks. [...] They used the drop tank technique to douse the trucks with fuel and then attack with machine gun fire. [...] Machine gunning and use of the drop tank technique accounted for seven locomotives destroyed and 15 trucks damaged."
Aircraft of the Aces 51 - Strafing Aces of the Eighth Air Force - William N. Hess - Pages 49-50

Regards

Alfred