Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories · Evergreen Podcasts | The Honor Project

Air War Over Europe in World War Two: From the Archive

·1 hr 17 min·2 clips

Anderson recalls a one-on-one duel at 30,000 feet where both pilots climbed until they stalled: "I can close my eyes today and still see that nose."

1. Warriors In Their Own Words presents archival first-person accounts of the Allied air war over Europe from P-51 Mustang pilot Clarence "Budd" Anderson and P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Francis "Gabby" Gabreski. 2. Anderson flew 116 missions and 480 hours 20 minutes of combat with the 357th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, and claims 16¼ victories, while Gabreski led the 56th Fighter Group's P-47s and finished with 28. 3. The episode's central comparison is between fighters built for different jobs, summed up by Anderson's line that "the Mustang could do all day over Berlin what the Spitfire could do for 45 minutes over its own airfield." 4. Anderson describes escort tactics in which a 48-plane group of three 16-plane squadrons zigzagged at 45 degrees over the bomber stream at 25,000 to 30,000 feet in unpressurized cockpits, with leaders hunting aggressively and wingmen watching the rear. 5. He lists the P-51's flaws, including the 85-gallon fuselage tank behind the pilot that caused "stick force reversal" in tight turns, a liquid-cooled radiator vulnerable to flak, and gun stoppages on the four-gun B model. 6. Anderson narrates a May 1944 fight at 30,000 feet against four Me 109s, including a long one-on-one duel with a German flight leader that ran both aircraft to the edge of a stall. 7. Gabreski describes the P-47 as "just about twice the size of a Spitfire," explains how its turbine supercharger held 2,000 horsepower up to 30,000 feet, and says he first flew with the Polish Air Force for 20 missions to learn European operations. 8. Anderson recalls how his plan to dive on an Me 262 jet failed when his engine quit after he dropped tanks without switching to the main tank, and notes that Chuck Yeager shot down a jet "with the gear down." 9. Gabreski recounts building from a 12-bomber B-17 mission in August 1942 to raids of 1,200 to 1,400 aircraft, a force that lost 5,000 heavy bombers, and says Bob Johnson's eyesight made him the better leader for spotting targets. 10. Suited to WWII aviation enthusiasts and listeners who like first-person combat accounts.

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