The Top US Fighter Group?

[pdame141]

Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk

I have not been able to locate the missing XIX TAC VCB reports. I compiled the list of late war 354th FG victories from the daily OpSums (Mission Reports) of the 354th, which can be found both at USAFHRA at Maxwell AFB and the National Archives NARA II facility in College Park, Maryland. I also found at NARA II two notebooks which listed all the missions of the 354th, number of planes from each squadron, leader, target, claims and losses (it also notes when MIA personnel returned). One of the notebooks also listed the various VCB reports with 354th FG claims, and the number of claims in each report. It listed the missing VCB reports, and the total number of claims matched the unreported claims that I found in the OpReps. I therefore concluded that all these missing claims were confirmed by the VCB reports.

I am still looking for the missing VCB reports. The only place I can think of that might have them would be Quesada's World War 2 papers, and I do not know where they are located. Possibly the family of a member of the VCB might also have copies of the reports.

Enjoy!

Frank.

Frank:

You mentioned the 354th OpSums, but I wasn't clear whether those are the same as the unit war diary available from USAFHRA.

I have the 368th FG war diary on microfilm and when I had more time (many years ago as a student) I found references to/copies of VCB confirmations relating to aerial victories of the 368th's pilots, including my Great Uncle's lone aerial victory on 8 December 1944.

Specifically, I have the VCB report of 10 Dec 1944 regarding the claims on 8 Dec 1944 and the confirmation report on 12 Feb 1945.

I would scan it for reference, but the copy I have is almost illegible (looks like it was a multi-generation copy of a faint original). Searching for these would likely be tedious work, and the existence of such confirmations might vary widely based on unit record-keeping practices, but it might turn up the lost XIX TAC reports relating to the 354th's time in the 9th AF.

I hope this isn't redundant and might be a fruitful line of inquiry.

Best regards,
Paul Dame