Captain Harry R. Ankeny's Combat Diary
Page 10
8th April, 1944.
We were escorting the heavies over Brunswick, Ger-
many with beautiful weather. Bombing results were excellent--
flew as element leader in lead flight, Capt. Broadhead lead-
ing. Lt. Hill was on my wing and we were cruising along to
the left of the lead box of bombers when about seven ME109's
dove thru the formation. I peeled off and shot down a ME109
He gave me a rough time, using evasive action all the time.
Each time I took a pass at him I pulled up high so he couldn’t
shoot at me. It worked, he couldn't fire a shot. I gradually
worked him down to the ground and he made a crash landing in
a plowed field. Saw Lt. Hill behind me so I called him and
told him to strafe the plane. He took a pass and I also did.
Fired 1077 rounds (50 caliber) to knock him out, we cruised
back quite easily. Lt. John Pugh won the $100.00 War Bond
presented by Lt. Col. Plummer He got his plane about 20
minutes before I got mine. Capt. Lingo got a 109 and Lt. Car-
son and Coon shared one. My first victory.
10th April, 1944.
The heavies bombed an air field just on the west side
of Tours France. Flew Lt. Williams' wing in green flight.
Everything went O.K. Didn't see any enemy aircraft. Got
an excellent view of the bombing--quite a sight. Not a single
bomb hit the town but they really laid them in the airfield.
11th April, 1944.
We were supposed to escort about 150 miles the other
side of Berlin where they were to bomb the town of Sorau
just a few miles from the Polish border. Flew Lt. England's
wing. When we got past Madgberg and saw Berlin coming up,
the bombers were attacked by a huge force of fighters so we
peeled off on the ME109's. I circled down to cover Lt. Eng-
land's tail. The jerry made a quick turn to the left at
around 6000 ft. and Lt. England fired and over shot him.
The jerry immediately got on his tail and started firing.
I swooped down and got the jerry off Lt. England's tail.
From then on England and I traded passes at him. I knocked
off his oil scoops and came so close to him on a right deflec-
tion shot I could see him slumping in the cockpit as if he
was wounded. He danced all over the sky, never saw such
evasive tactics in my life. He finally leveled off and started
in for a crash landing. Lt. England took a long burst at him
and I followed to zero range. His wing hit some trees and
dove into the ground near a railroad track. Coming back we
flew right smack over Hanover and Munster and caught a lot of
(Note: England A.F. Base in Louisiana named after John)
Copyright © 1996, Harry R. Ankeny