Me 109 / Fw 190 claims by Jack Bernhard of 78th FG, 82nd FS

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello,

I am looking for information about Jack Bernhard who apparently claimed two German aircraft as destroyed:

1) Jack destroyed the ME109 on Nov. 3rd, 1943 on a Bomber Escort over Wilhemshafen, Germany.

2) He got the FW190 on Feb. 10th, 1944 on a Bomber Escort mission over Brunswick, Germany.

Squadrons he flew with:

1) Spartan School of Aero - Tulsa, OK - Mar 24, 1942 to July 8,1942

2) #5 A.F.V. - Tern Hill - Oct 8,1942 to Oct 28, 1942

3) #5 A.F.V. - Calveley - Oct 29,1942 to Nov 24, 1942

4) #41 O.T.V. - Hawarden - Nov 24th to Feb 1, 1943

5) 6th Fighter Wing - Atcham - Feb 9,1943 to Feb 20,1943

6) 78th Fighter Group and 82nd Fighter Squadron - Goxhill - Feb 21,1943 to March 23,1943

7)30th Gen. Hosp. - Mar 23,1943 to May 12,1943

8) 6th Fighter Wing - May 15,1943 to (no end date listed)

9) Warton Air School - July 31 to Aug 19,1943

10) #26 Squadron R.A.F. - Dec 1942 to Jan 1943

11) 78th Fighter Group - 82nd Fighter Squadron - Aug 26,1943 to June 18,1944

12) Hdqrs VIII F. Co. - June 18,1944 to Aug 7,1944

Does anybody know more about his claims and aircraft he flew with? Does there even exist photos of him and/or his planes?

Also, which German fighter units were active on the days when he claimed the kills?

Regards,

Roger Gaemperle

[Andy Fletcher]

Hi Roger,

Nobody by the name of Jack Bernhard is listed in Frank Olynyk's "USAAF Credits For The Destruction of Enemy Aircraft in Air to Air Combat".

Jack J. Bernhard did however definately fly with 82FS/78FG.

Regards

Andy Fletcher

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello Andy,

That's strange as in his flight log it says:"shot at F.W. 190 he blew up - saw parachute", "fired on ME 109 + FW 190 - Damaged FW 190, Destroyed ME109"

Is there any photo of him and or his P-47 known?

Thank you,
Regards,
Roger

[Andy Fletcher]

Hi Roger,

Just double checked in "Fighter Units & Pilots of the 8th Air Force" by Kent D. Miller and no mention is made of any claims by Jack Bernhard on 03Nov43 or 10Feb44 although the 82FS/78FG was active on both dates and made the following claims:

Name; Unit; Claim; Location

03Nov43

Lt C.B. Hahn; 82FS/78FG; 1xBf109 dest (air); Barzal
Lt N.D. Munson; 82FS/78FG; 1xBf109 dam (air); Barzal
Lt W.S. Swanson; 82FS/78FG; 1xBf109 dam (air); Barzal

10Feb44

Lt G.M. Turley; 82FS/78FG; 2xBf109 dest (air); Osnabruck
Lt V.Y. Jones; 82FS/78FG; 1xBf109 dest (air); Rheine
Lt W.M. Wesson; 82FS/78FG; 1xFW190 dest (air); Osnabruck

Best Regards

Andy Fletcher

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for checking again. I assume that then he might have been involved in these dogfights, but was probably not credited with these two victories that he claimed in his logbook.

I have another logbook of a P-51 pilot who claimed a Me 109. There is a signed confirmation attached to one of the pages. But not in Jack Bernhard's logbook.

Interestingly, his logbook is a RCAF logbook, but I assume he was from the United States? According to the logbook, he flew also the Spitfire V before he joined the 78thFG.

Regards,
Roger

[Graham Boak]

Minor correction: not OTV but OTU - Operational Training Unit. I strongly suspect AFV should be AFS - Advanced Flying School.

I would appreciate any further comments on the Warton Air School - I'm currently sitting on the site if 2 BAD at Warton, and don't recall hearing about this particular sub-unit. Presumably it was some kind of staff or specialist course?

[Roger Gaemperle]

Graham,

Thank you for your corrections regarding the abbreviations. You are probably right. I cannot tell you anything more about Warton that it is written in the logbook, but maybe other people might be able to help.

Can anybody tell me if there exists a photo of Bernhard's P-47 or of himself? As he had at least one crash landing or accident, I assume that he and his aircraft is listed somewhere. As I am not so familiar with loss lists and accident reports, I would appreciate any help (also any indication where to find such information).

Thank you,
Roger Gaemperle

[John Beaman]

Roger:

Have you checked out the Group's web site?

http://www.78thfightergroup.com/

There is probably a Q/A section.

John

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello John,

Thank you for the advice. I have already sent an inquiry yesterday in the discussion forum of the 78th FG website but have not received a reply so far.

I am sure that he must appear in some lists or even group photos as he was an active pilot for quite a long period and according to the log book took part in many missions (about 80).

Regards,
Roger

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello,

Meanwhile I received the logbook and checked again for the dates. Apparently, there was a mistake as the entry "shot at FW 190 he blew up - saw parachute" is indeed on the 20 February 1944 and not on 10 February 1944. The two claims of Turley on the 10 February are also mentioned in the logbook. In addition, according to the logbook Jack Bernhard flew on most missions MX-K 8505. I did some web research and found that it must have been P-47D 42-8505 "Smilin' Jack". Smilin' Jack fits perfectly to the name of the pilot - Jack Bernhard. So, I have two questions:

- Does there exist a photo of P-47D MX-K 42-8505 Sminin' Jack?

- Which 78th FG pilot claimed a German aircraft on 20 February 1944? According to the logbook, Jack Bernhard got a Fw 190.

Thank you very much for your help. It is so interesting to research the history of the logbook and his pilot.

Kind regards,

Roger Gaemperle