strange questions

[Leendert]

Correct name is Merritt Duane Francies, attached to HQ Battery, 71st Artillery Battalion, 5th Armored Division.

A detailed story here of the happenings on 11 April 1945: http://www.5ad.org/units/Duane%20Francies.htm

Regards and Merry Christmas,

Leendert

[Dénes Bernád]

Quote: "When flights resumed, the 95th Armored Field Artillery Battalion lost one of of it’s liaison Cubs. Both the pilot and observer were killed when their Piper was shot down in flames by 10 Messerschmitt Me-109s."

It always wondered me how can more than max. two fighters shot down a single small target. On the top of this, ten Bf 109s - at that stage of the war - focusing on a single target sounds more than ridiculous to me.

Other question: what was the effective firing range of a .45 Colt? Of course, I did see the quote: "The two planes were so close I could see the Germans'eyeballs, as big as eggs, as we peppered them." However, this scene reminds me a mediocre Western movie, where the good guy (with white hat, for simplicity) knocks off a multitude of stupid bad guys (with black hat) with every single shot of his pistol...

Otherwise interesting story.