1Lt. Gordon Compton 351 FS 353 FG Victory on 22 February 1944 Ju88

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi ,


Is it possible that this USAAF pilot shot down Ju88A-4 w/nr. 801419, which crashed at Lutlommel, Belgium ? Can any details be found in his encounter report, which is possibly on the AFHRA Irisref’s B0309 or A0781-A, which I don’t have (but I have approx 150 others - in pdf format - available for exchange) ?


Details about the crash of Ju88 and its crew can be found at
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=57225
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=46427
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=29476
and
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=7470


Many thanks in advance and stay safe !


Best regards


Luc

[CENTURION]

Hello Luc,

accordig to “Jonah’s feet are dry” 1st Lt Gordon B Compton was leading Roughman Yellow flight when his squadron attacked an airfield near Siegburg, Germany.
Compton stated:
“Major Beckham made an attack on the airdrome. He said over the radio that he had six Fw190s lined up. I could not see these e/a but followed Major Beckham down anyway and fired in the same general area that he was firing at. As I closed I saw three Fw190s parked close together. I strafed and saw hits on all three, and heard Major Beckham say that he’d been hit, was on fire, and for everyone to get out.
I was about 500 ft high at this time and saw traces coming from every direction, also flack was bursting uncomfortably close, so I hit the deck. I was now far enough south of Bonn to be able to take up a course in the general direction of home and just miss the suburbs of the town. Checking up on my flight, I found everyone present, (Lt J E Wood, Lt R D Stanley and Lt D M Hurlburt, in the order) and that I had been joined by Lt J G Treitz from Roughman Red flight.
We continued out on the deck, being shot at occasionally by ground defense, and shooting targets which got in our way. As we approached Diest Schaffen airfield from Southeast I saw a Ju88 break out above the horizon, Northwest of the town. Apparently it had just taken off. I continued on a course that was taking us south of the town. The Ju88 flew right out in front of us at about 100 ft. I then fired a short burst at the e/a allowing for 15 to 20 degrees deflection at 400 yards, saw no results, so I turned dead astern and at 150 to 200 yards fired three bursts. The first burst started the left engine smoking and small pieces began to fly off. The second burst did the same thing to the right engine. The third burst struck the tail section. There was a loss of speed in the Ju88 and I overshot to the right, noticing that the prop had stopped and that the plane had started down. I glanced up at my mirror and saw a sheet of flame as the e/a hit the ground. We then continued out, breaking landfall over Noord Bevenland Island”.
According to Olynyk (Victory List No. 5), Compton claimed the Ju88 at 15.30 10 miles West of Diest.

Hope this helps.
Cheers
Marco

[Luc Vervoort]

Hello Marco,


Many thanks ! This was the information I was looking for.


Best regards and stay safe !



Luc

[Buckeye30]

Hi Luc.
Have you seen these ?
Nick


http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.o...t-reports.html


http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.o...r-reports.html

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi Nick,


Many thanks for the links. It is an interesting source of encounter reports.


Best regards and stay safe


Luc