[KM1957]

The 50th claimed only one Me 109 destroyed (no probables or damaged) when Capt. James H. Rickard shot one down northwest of Donaueschingen. Here is his report, "I climbed to 19,000 feet trying to get above dogfights. I was still climbing when two (2) Me 109's attacked out of the sun. They moved to about five o'clock position to my number four man. I called a break and turned into the 109's. One of them rolled over and split-s'ed out, but the other one continued to close in on my number four man. I fired a short burst at 90 degrees, he broke toward me and I turned on his tail. I took two (2) short bursts at 30 degrees and then closed in to zero degrees deflection for a good burst. He then rolled over on his back and dove to the ground making aileron turns going down. I fired several more bursts and broke off at about 9,000 feet. I did not see him after breaking but my wingman saw pieces flying off during several bursts. I was indicating about 500 MPH when I broke off and thought if he could pull out if his ship was damaged."

Kent