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#Post#: 16205--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: Beowolff Date: February 28, 2021, 6:25 am
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HTML https://www.warhistoryonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/p-38.jpg
Yes, a revisit as this plane has already been covered (and quite
well, I might add) by Von, some time back. In this particular
POTW though I'm concentrating more on it's use against the
Germans, German/Italians. That's going to put the theaters in
Europe/Mediterranean, African and Middle East Theatres... and so
could entertain 'thousands' of pages of information to even come
close to covering it properly...lol...something not suited for
here. So, I'm just going to nip around the edges of it,
specifying only a tiny bit of the P-38's use in these areas of
hot combat.
Here's a warm-up video of the P-38 in hot action. It has some
amazing shots in it, in particular note some of the 'very cool'
German aircraft shots. There's one in particular of a German
transport (if I remember right) flying over head and some guy
(likely a German solider with a movie camera) directly beneath
it__quite a breathtaking shot!
Germany Suffered Big Losses at the Hands of the P-38
[iurl=
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iGbB2vzDs]Germany<br
/>Suffered Big Losses at the Hands of the P-38 - YouTube[/iurl]
Here's a Zeno archive footage that's quite good.
430th footage:
[iurl=
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e64O_6XXk-M&pbjreload=101]430th<br
/>FS "Back Door Gang" P-38 Lightnings in action over Germany -
Color, 1945 - YouTube[/iurl]
P-38 in European Theatre
RE: Joe Baugher 1999
The P-38F-equipped 82nd Fighter Group arrived in Northern
Ireland in November 1942.
After flying 347 practice and sweep sorties during which there
was no contact with the Luftwaffe, the 1st, 14th and 82nd
Fighter Groups were transferred to the 12th Air Force in North
Africa. While in transit from Britain to Algeria, pilots of the
82nd Fighter Group were credited with the destruction of two
Ju-88 bombers over the Bay of Biscay. The Lightnings were soon
in regular combat in the North African theatre. The first of
these took place on November 19, 1942 when the P-38Fs of the 1st
Fighter Group escorted B-17s on a bombing raid on the El Aouina
airfield at Tunis. The three P-38 groups contributed a great
deal toward the establishment of local air superiority in the
area. On April 5, 1943, 26 P-38Fs of the 82nd Fighter Group
claimed the destruction of 31 enemy aircraft as against the loss
of six Lightnings. In these air battles, mixed success was
obtained Because of the tactics of the enemy, the Lightnings
were forced to fight at lower altitudes of 15,000 feet, and in
battles against fighters it was not entirely successful. The
twin engines restricted maneuverability to some extent and the
Lightning had a wheel control instead of the conventional stick,
which may also have restricted maneuverability. Nevertheless,
the Lightning was effective against bombers and had a
sensational zoom climb that could rarely be matched. It wreaked
great havoc among Rommel's air transport well out to sea,
earning for itself the German nickname "der Gabelschwanz
Teufel"--the Fork-Tailed Devil.
All Axis forces in the area surrendered on May 13, 1943, due in
no small part to the contribution of the Lightning in cutting
off Rommel's air supply route.
Already prior to the Axis defeat in Tunisia, the Northwest
African Air Forces (of which the Twelfth Air Force was a
component) had begun preparations for the invasion of Sicily.
Attacks on Sicily, on Pantelleria and on Lampedusa were stepped
up in preparation for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily on
July 10, 1943. Lightnings were in the midst of the fray until
Sicily fell on August 17. The three P-38 Fighter Groups then
concentrated their efforts against the Italian mainland. On
November 1, 1943, they were transferred to the 15th Air Force.
By that time, 37 Twelfth Air Force Lightning pilots had made
ace, the top scorer being Lieut W. J. Sloan of the 82nd Fighter
Group with 12 kills. Lieut H. T. Hanna of the 14th Fighter Group
made ace in one day by destroying five Ju 87 dive bombers on
October 9, 1943.
Following their transfer, the 1st, 14th and 82nd Fighter Groups
concentrated on escorting the B-17 and B-24 bombers of the
Fifteenth Air Force in their raids on targets in Austria, the
Balkans, France, Greece, and Italy. However, on occasion, they
escorted the medium bombers of the Twelfth Air Force.
The first Lightning-escorted raids on Germany began in February
1944 with raids on aircraft factories in the southern part of
that country. In April 1944 the Lightnings escorted bombers in
raids on the oil refineries at Ploesti in Rumania. Bomb-carrying
Lightnings also visited Ploesti on June 10, 1944 when 46
aircraft of the 82nd Fighter Group each carrying 1000-pound
bombs paid a visit to the Romano Americana Oil Refinery under
the protective escort of 48 P-38s of the 1st Fighter Group. On
that raid, good bombing and strafing results were obtained, but
in fighter actions against the Luftwaffe twenty-two P-38s were
lost against 23 enemy aircraft claimed destroyed.
Six weeks later, Lightnings flew their first shuttle mission to
Russia and returned to their Italian base after spending three
days at a Soviet base in the Ukraine. Along with their P-51
escorts, they shot down thirty German planes and destroyed
twelve on the ground. The last Lightning shuttle mission was
flown on August 4/6 and was marked by the daring rescue of a
downed pilot by Lieut R. J. Andrews who landed his Lightning in
an open field to pick up Capt R. E. Willsie.
The three Lightning Groups also took part in the August 1944
Allied landings in southern France. After that, they returned to
providing fighter escort for bombers operating against strategic
targets. By the end of the war, 28 of these Lightning pilots had
made ace.
The departure of the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups for North
Africa in November 1942 left the Eighth Air Force without
Lightnings until September 1943, when the 55th Fighter Group
arrived in England with its P-38Hs. It began combat operations
on October 15, 1943, making its first kill on November 2. The
next month, the outfit converted to P-38Js. On March 3, 1944,
the 55th flew to Berlin for the first time, a round trip of 1300
miles. The 20th, 364th and 479th Fighter Groups soon became
operational in England with P-38s.
However, in air combat over Germany, the Lightning was generally
outclassed by the more maneuverable Fw 190 and the later marks
of the Bf 109, especially at medium and low altitudes. However,
the Lightning had a much faster top speed, a higher rate of
climb and operational ceiling and was much better armed. Once
pilots had perfected fighting tactics which suited the
Lightning's unique characteristics, they had better success. The
usual tactics was for the P-38 to climb to a high altitude and
then dive down on the enemy, attacking him with a burst of
firepower and then zoom back up out of harm's way. The later
versions of the P-38 were equipped with maneuvering flaps, and
when their pilots learned how to use these flaps properly, the
P-38 could hold its own when maneuvering against German
fighters, often being able to turn inside their Fw 190 and Bf
109 opponents.
The large size of the P-38 was both an advantage and a
disadvantage in combat. The P-38 was quite large for a fighter,
and Luftwaffe pilots could usually spot the Lockheed fighter at
much larger distances than they could Allied single-engined
fighters which were appreciably smaller. In addition, the
twin-boomed configuration of the P-38 made it instantly
recognizable to the enemy. However, this ease of recognition was
not always a disadvantage--P-38s would often feel free to pursue
Luftwaffe fighters right through Allied bomber formations with
little fear of receiving friendly fire from the gunners.
The Allison engines of the Lightnings proved to be somewhat
temperamental, with engine failures actually causing more
problems than enemy action. It is estimated that every Lightning
in England changed its engines at least once. Nevertheless, the
ability of the Lightning to return home on one engine was
exceptional and saved the life of the pilot of many a wounded
Lightning. Experienced pilots could handle the Lightning
satisfactorily at high altitude, but too many of the Eighth Air
Force pilots did not have the training or experience to equip
them for flying this temperamentally-powered aircraft in combat.
The powerplant problems were not entirely the Allison engine's
fault. Many of the reliability problems were actually due to the
inadequate cooling system, in particular the cumbersome plumbing
of the turbosupercharger intercooler ducting which directed air
all way from the supercharger out to the wingtips and back. In
addition, the lack of cowl flaps were a problem. In the European
theatre of operation, temperatures at altitude were often less
than 40 degrees below zero and the Lightning's engines would
never get warmed up enough for the oil to be able to flow
adequately. Octane and lead would separate out of the fuel at
these low temperatures, causing the Allisons to eat valves with
regularity, to backfire through the intercooler ducts, and to
throw rods, sometimes causing the engine to catch fire.
These problems bedeviled the Lightnings until the advent of the
J version with its simplified intercooler ducting and the
relocation of the oil cooler to a chin position underneath the
propeller spinner. When the P-38J reached the field, the Allison
engine was finally able to attain its full rated power at
altitude, and the engine failure rate began to go down.
Earlier Lightnings had problems with high-speed dives. When the
airspeed reached a sufficiently high value, the controls would
suddenly lock up and the Lightning would tuck its nose down,
making recovery from the dive difficult. In the worst case, the
wings of the Lightning could be ripped off if the speed got too
high. This problem caused the Lightning often to be unable to
follow its Luftwaffe opponents in a dive, causing many of the
enemy to be able to escape unscathed. The problem was eventually
traced to the formation of a shock wave over the wing as the
Lightning reached transonic speeds, this shock wave causing the
elevator to lose much of its effectiveness. The problem was not
cured until the advent of the P-38J-25-LO, which introduced a
set of compressibility flaps under the wing which changed the
pattern of the shock wave over the wing when they were extended,
restoring the function of the elevator.
The P-38J version of the Lightning cured many of the ills that
had been suffered by the earlier versions of the Lockheed
fighter, producing a truly world-class fighter which could mix
it up with virtually any other fighter in the world.
In April 1944, the Lightnings of the 20th Fighter Group began
low level fighter sweeps over the Continent. That same month,
the 55th Fighter Group used the "Droop Snoot" P-38J for the
first time as a leader for other Lightnings in a bombing raid on
the Coulommiers airfield. Both types of operations proved
successful, and these techniques were later used extensively by
P-38s of the Ninth Air Force.
The P-38s of the Eighth Air Force were rapidly phased out of
service in favor of P-51 Mustangs--The 20th, 55th, and 364th
Fighter Groups converted to P-51s during July 1944, and in
September the 479th Fighter Group traded in its P-38Js for
P-51Ds.
The Ninth Air Force was assigned a tactical role (in contrast to
the strategic role of the Eighth Air Force), and retained its
P-38J/L fighters a bit longer. Its first Lightning group was the
474th, which flew its first combat mission on April 15, 1944. It
was soon joined by the 367th and 370th Fighter Groups. However,
in March of 1945 these two latter groups converted to P-47Ds and
P-51Ds respectively. By V-E day the 474th was the only Fighter
Group still operating P-38s.
More than one in eight Lightnings were either completed by
Lockheed as photographic-reconnaissance aircraft or were so
modified after delivery. Over 1400 F-5 and F-5 aircraft were
delivered to the USAAF. Photographic Lightnings saw widespread
service throughout the war. F-4s were first flown in combat
beginning in November 1942. They were operated initially by the
5th and 12th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadrons. Later, these
units and two other squadrons of the 3rd Photographic
Reconnaissance Group operated various versions of the F-5. In
the North African theatre, the 154th Reconnaissance Squadron
obtained its photographic Lightnings when its maintenance
personnel modified a number of P-38Fs in the field. The
F-5-equipped 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Group was initially
assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and became operational in
September 1943. However it was transferred to the Fifteenth Air
Force thirteen months later. In the European theatre, where the
3rd PRG had briefly been based before transfer to North Africa,
the first operational sorties by photographic Lightnings was
flown by F-4As of the 7th PRG on March 28, 1943. This group
successively operated F-4As, F-5As, F-5Bs, F-5Cs, and finally,
during the last year of the war, F-5Es. Operating initially from
bases in England but later moving to the Continent, the Ninth
Air Force had for Photographic Reconnaissance squadrons (the
30th, 32st, 33rd, and 34th), which flew various versions of the
F-5 from the spring of 1944 until the end of the war.
The F-4/F-5s usually flew alone without fighter escort and in
spite of heavy losses, especially when facing radar-controlled
Luftwaffe fighters, they proved to be of unequalled value.
The Forces Aeriennes Francaises Libres also received
photographic Lightnings. They operated as an attached squadron
with the 3rd PRG of the Twelfth Air Force. One of their pilots
was the well-known author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who was lost
off southern France on July 31, 1944 while on a combat sortie.
#Post#: 16206--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: Beowolff Date: February 28, 2021, 6:26 am
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More Info on the P-38 in European service:
The P-38 saw service with both the 8th and 9th Air Forces,
initially based in Britain. These were the airforces seen as
allocated to the European Theatre of Operations (ETO). The P-38
was always the junior partner to the P-47 and P-51 in these air
forces, but did perform some valuable service.
8th Air Force
The P-38 entered service with the 8th Air Force at a crucial
moment in the daylight bombing campaign. 14 October 1943 was the
date of the disastrous raid on the ball bearing factory at
Schweinfurt, well beyond escort range for the P-47. For 370
miles the B-17s were unescorted. Sixty aircraft were lost,
without making any significant dent on ball bearing production.
For the rest of October the daylight bomber offensive was
virtually suspended.
The next day the 55th Fighter Group flew its first P-38 mission
from Britain, a fighter sweep over the Dutch coast. Equipped
with 75 gallon drop tanks, the P-38 had an effective escort
radius of 520 miles (compared to 375 miles for the P-47). In
February 1944 the P-38 units received 108 gallon drop tanks,
which increased their effective radius of operations to 585
miles, long enough to reach Berlin. Between October 1943 and
March 1944, the P-38 was the longest range fighter available to
the 8th Air Force (in March 1944 the P-51D finally received drop
tanks that gave it an effective escort range of 650 miles).
These ranges are all significantly shorter than those given for
the various types involved. Even taking into account the smaller
drop tanks in use, one might expect the P-38 to have been able
to reach 700 or more miles into Germany. So where have the
missing miles gone? The answer is that the P-38 could indeed
reach that far into Germany, as demonstrated by the PR models of
the aircraft, but only if it was allowed to fly at its most
efficient cruising speed and height for the entire journey, did
not want to spend any time at its target, and could guarantee
that it would not need to indulge in any aerial combat. In
contrast the escort fighters had to either travel somewhat below
their most fuel efficient speeds or to circle around the bombers
they were guarding. They also needed to be able to spend as long
over the target as the bomber formation they were escorting, and
be able to fight for at least ten minutes.
One problem faced by the 8th Air Force was that many of its
aircraft were shipped across the Atlantic only partly assembled.
On their arrival in Britain they would be assembled at one base,
and then shipped to a second base to be modified. In December
1943 this was partly resolved by the establishment of a
production line at Burtonwood, where newly arrived P-38s could
be assembled and modified in one place. In January 1944 the
Burtonwood base assembled 389 aircraft.
The P-38 also suffered from unexpected engine unreliability
problems when used from Britain. Sometimes attributed to the
British climate, a more likely cause was the different type of
aviation fuel used in Britain (the same engines performed well
in the much more severe climate of the Aleutian Islands). This
caused no problems in British engines (which used mechanical
superchargers), or with the combination of radial engines and
turbo-superchargers used in the B-17, but seems to have caused
problems when the exhaust-driven turbo-superchargers were
combined with Allison in-line engines.
The P-38 was never used in great numbers by the 8th Air Force.
It was always outnumbered by the P-47, and was overtaken by the
P-51 during the Spring of 1944. It was most important
numerically in the summer of 1944, when the 8th Air Force
mustered just over 200 P-38s, 300 P-47s and 300 P-51s. After
that it (and the P-47) were rapidly phased out in favour of the
P-51, which was undoubtedly a better escort fighter than the
P-38, with longer range and better manoeuvrability. It was also
always easier to maintain the single engined P-51 than the twin
engined P-38, especially with the Lightnings well known
reliability problems in Europe. By the end of 1944 no 8th Air
Force Fighter Groups were still using the P-38. In all five 8th
Air Force fighter groups used the P-38 (20th, 55th, 78th, 364th
and 479th).
Despite its limited numbers, the P-38 playing an important part
in the renewed bomber offensive. On 3 November the 55th Fighter
Group flew its first escort mission, guarding a formation of
heavy bombers attacking Wilhelmshaven. Unaware of the presence
of the new long range fighters, the fighters of JG 1 prepared to
attack the bombers. Instead, they were ambushed by the P-38s,
and lost seven aircraft to the new American fighter.
The Germans soon recovered from their initial surprise, shooting
down seventeen P-38s during November. They also developed a
tactic that temporarily reduced the effectiveness of the
Lighting – a small number of German fighters would pretend to
attack the American formation as soon as possible, forcing the
P-38 pilots to drop their fuel tanks to deal with the fighter
threat. With the drop tanks gone, the fighters would no longer
have the range to escort the bomber formation, which would have
to push on unescorted. The eventual solution to this problem was
to give most members of a P-38 formation orders to ignore these
early attacks and fly on with the bombers, while a couple of
P-38s would drop their tanks to chase away the German fighters.
The P-38 was given an important role on D-Day. As the most
instantly recognisable Allied fighter it was given the role of
proving fighter cover over the invasion fleets and the D-Day
beaches. Naval anti-aircraft gunners were notoriously trigger
happy, but the Germans had nothing that looked even slightly
like the P-38, and it was hoped that it would not be the target
of “friendly fire”. In the event the Luftwaffe did not make an
attack on the invasion fleets, nor did it appear in strength
over the beaches and so the P-38 units had a relatively
uneventful day, although they did indeed come under some fire
from the fleet.
9th Air Force
The P-38 equipped three groups of the tactical 9th Air Force.
These groups went operational in the spring of 1944 (474th FG on
25 April 1944, 370th FG on 1 May and 367th FG on 9 May). At
first these groups lent their aircraft to the 8th Air Force,
acting as bomber escorts. They also took part in providing
fighter cover on D-Day. All the units then moved onto the
continent, providing tactical support for the allied armies as
they advanced across France.
By October 1944 all three P-38 groups in the 9th Air Force had
been equipped with the Droop Snoot equipment. This consisted of
a specially modified version of the P-38 with a bombardier in a
glass nose. This single aircraft dropped the bombs of an entire
formation of P-38s.
The 474th FG was the only fighter group in the 8th and 9th Air
Forces to keep the P-38 until VE day. The 370th FG converted to
the P-51 in January 1945 and the 367th FG to the P-47
Thunderbolt in February.
#Post#: 16207--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: Beowolff Date: February 28, 2021, 6:49 am
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Note; sorry for stringing this POTW post out into several
postings...but there's just SO MUCH info about them that
couldn't be squeezed into one single post.
Here's some more interesting pictures of this bird.
Ever see a P-38 on the water like this? LOL! A very
interesting shot.
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/vm6SBrJz/P-38-Lightning-carried-by-two-DUKWs-0751.jpg
Here's a real life action shot of high flying P-38's.
HTML https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Lockheed-P-38-Lightning-6.jpg
This bad boy (below) caused some heavy havoc to the enemy, note
the mission/bomb nose entries.
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/qqjdLcMK/14232726377-76fc00002a-b.jpg
Even the Germans got in on the act (they recognized the P-38's
excellence even with captured examples.)
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/0N80gp8j/g1nazi.jpg
#Post#: 16208--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: cafs Date: February 28, 2021, 7:24 am
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Excellent POTW, Beo! Top.
Designed as a long range interceptor, it struggle against
single-engine fighetrs, as any other WW2 twin-engine
fighter/heavy-fighter, but it excelled with the boom-and-zoom
tactic.
#Post#: 16209--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: tsisqua Date: February 28, 2021, 7:27 am
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Thanks you, Beo! She's been my favorite from the time I was a
little boy, watching the TV go off the air as it used to every
night. They would play the national anthem while showing
military footage, and almost always the 38 was a featured plane.
I giggled with glee when I saw it then and I still do now. Great
essay.
Maj. Jack Ilfrey had some great adventures in the 38J, and
often talked about the lack of any real cockpit heat for the
pilot in the cold weather, something which wasn't an issue in
the PTO. On long missions, pee would freeze in the relief-tub,
and once it couldn't leave the tube, would start to back up in
it. Jack was once jumped from behind by a 109 and pushed the
yoke forward to escape. When he did, all of his pee went zero-g;
and flew up into the cockpit . . . instantly freezing on the
inside of the canopy and destroying his visibility. He did get
away safely, but when the ground crew was helping him out of the
plane the smell was everywhere. And it was on everything. The
chief looked at Jack and said "Did you get a little scared up
there, Sir?".
Thanks again, Sir! I LOVE this plane.
#Post#: 16215--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: E69_Haukka Date: February 28, 2021, 10:28 am
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This article takes ten minutes to read, but it covers thousands
of flight hours, thousands of fights. It is really hard to get
an idea of the scale of the efforts of these people, during the
years that the war lasted. I try to imagine what that pilot who
had to go down in a field to rescue a teammate must have felt,
without knowing if he was going to achieve it, and he succeeded.
Thanks for this research work, Beowolff!
#Post#: 18149--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; the P-38 a revisit (against Germany)
By: sixstrings Date: December 11, 2021, 4:23 am
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Excellent read ! Thanks ! My favorite twin engine fighter of WW
II and one of my all time favorites. Good research...
Regards,Scott
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