"Bills Buzz Boys" 353rd fighter Group strafing group.

[Ben Rawlings]

Hey all,

First post on this site so I hope it is of interest.

After reading "Bud" Fortiers book, an Ace in the Eighth I have wanted to find some more information on the 16 pilots who made up a specialist strafing unit within the 353rd Fighter group, in the March/April of 1944.

I have the general outline of the unit, including the score from there time active. This figures are from the History of the VIII United States Army Air Forces Fighter Command document. I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of any encounter reports on the missions between the 26 March 44 and the 12th April, and any record of Kepners authorization of the group.

I have the intention to write an article on this subject, and perhaps the wider strafing activities of the Eighth. I am aware that outside this unit other Fighter Groups were starting to attack the Luftwaffe on the ground as a result of the February field order, but I thought it would be interesting to focus on this specialist unit, and then fit that into the wider tactic of attacking Luftwaffe airfields and infrastructure.