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Thunder Bum Squadron Leader Paul Douglas Was Credited with Eight Aerial Victories, As Well As Two Damaged, One Probable and 27 Destroyed on the Ground

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Thunder Bum Squadron Leader Paul Douglas Was Credited with Eight Aerial Victories, As Well As Two Damaged, One Probable and 27 Destroyed on the Ground ThunderBum 9/5/08 4:04 PM Page 64 THUNDERACE BUM Thunder Bum squadron leader Paul Douglas was credited with eight aerial victories, as well as two damaged, one probable and 27 destroyed on the ground. (Photo courtesy of author.) 64 flightjournal.com ThunderBum 9/5/08 4:04 PM Page 65 Lt. Col. Paul P. Douglas Jr. was separated from his unit, having shot down at least three (possibly five) Fw 190Ds after engaging a numerically superior enemy force. Out of ammunition and coaxing his damaged P-47 Thunderbolt “Jug” home, Douglas was bounced mercilessly by a German pilot, who emptied his 20mm cannon shells into the American’s plane. The shells blew his canopy away and ripped off his helmet, wounding the pilot in the head. Douglas was now an ace, but living to tell about it was no certainty. The German raked the stricken Jug from wingtip to wingtip with his 13mm MG 131 machine guns until he was out of ammunition. Only the armor behind his head and back saved him from certain death. To his sur- prise, the German pilot, with no way to finish Douglas off, formed up on his wing and saluted before flying away. P-47 PILOT STARES AT DEATH AND PREVAILS BY DR. TIMOTHY M. GRACE Such a chivalrous display by an enemy pilot who has just shot Deputy Group CO of the 368th FG and CO of the 36th FG. A up your plane without being able to down you was an inter- veteran of air wing and air division commands, he com- esting ritual of WW II aerial warfare. Even though Douglas had manded the 388th Fighter Wing and flew combat missions broken up the German attack and destroyed several enemy air- over North Vietnam in the F-105 Thunderchief. Douglas craft, his foe deemed him worthy of such an honor. Somehow retired as a brigadier general on February 1, 1970, after almost Douglas nursed his bullet-riddled Jug back to his base at 30 years of active duty. Chièvres, Belgium (Strip A-84). His instrument panel and radio Paul P. Douglas Jr. was born in 1919 in Paragould, Arkansas, were destroyed and his hydraulic system was shot out, leaving where he graduated from high school in 1938. He attended Douglas without any flaps or brakes. Moreover, part of his Arkansas State Teachers College before enlisting as an aviation wing was shot away, all of his tail surfaces were damaged, and cadet in the spring of 1941. He received his pilots’ wings and both tires were flat. Despite the damage and wiping blood commission as a second lieutenant in December 1941 at from his eyes, the weary pilot managed to land. Victoria Field, Texas. Douglas left Europe as one of the most decorated aces of Douglas’ first assignment was as flight leader operating WW II. He was recommended for the Medal of Honor and Republic P-35s and Curtiss P-36s with the 63rd Pursuit twice received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the Squadron of the 56th Pursuit Group at Savannah, Georgia. nation’s second highest military honor. He flew 136 combat First Lt. Gilbert L. Meyers commanded the squadron and the missions totaling 337 combat hours in P-47s. During WW II, other flight leaders were 2nd Lts. Henry Quimby and John D. Douglas served as commanding officer (CO) of the 396th FS, W. Haesler. On June 24, 1942, the 326th FG, an overseas train- DECEMBER 2008 65 ThunderBum 9/5/08 4:05 PM Page 66 This photo has generated some controversy as to who the pilot was. We know this P-47D-30-RE is from the 397th FS, 368th FG, and it was photographed over the Alps some time in the first half of 1945, but an aviation historian has written us to say the pilot was 397th squadron leader Lt. Col. Thomas J. Carbine and that this actually was his plane. (Photo courtesy of Stan Piet.) ing unit operating P-47s, was constituted and placed under the The 368th went operational on March 14, 1944. Though command of now Major. Meyers at Westover Field, preferring to mix it up in the air with the Luftwaffe, it assumed Massachusetts. The trio of flight leaders, now captains, com- its new role with fervor. In fact, Col. Meyers was a true inno- manded the unit’s three squadrons. vator, spearheading emerging fighter-bomber tactics, such as The 368th FG was activated on June 2, 1943, under the buzz bombing and refining armed-reconnaissance missions. command of Lt. Col. Meyers, still operating P-47s. Once again Maj. Gen. Elwood, Quesada IX TAC commander, took notice the trio, now majors, commanded the three squadrons, with and, in October, made Meyers his combat operations officer. Douglas in charge of the 396th. The group trained at both By May 1, all P-47 units in the 9th AF were henceforth Farmingdale and Mitchel Field on Long Island until departing officially “fighter-bomber groups.” for Europe on Christmas Douglas, like Meyers and the Day, 1943. Stationed at other squadron commanders, Greenham Common and later was a demanding perfection- Chilbolton, England, the unit ist. Rigorous training and was assigned to the 9th Air detailed briefings were the Force (AF), specifically the norm and a good way to 71st FW of IX Tactical Air increase survivability odds. Command (TAC). At the end Although not always appreci- of February 1944, the 368th ated by his pilots at the time, flew combat introductory many acknowledged it later. missions with its progenitor, Gerald J. Grace, the deceased the famed 56th FG. father of this author, flew 92 Much to the dismay of missions for Douglas with the Douglas and other 9th AF P-47 396th FS and once said about The original 368th FG commanders gather for a quick photo-op. pilots, higher command made him, “He was very tough. If (Photo courtesy of author.) a decision that forever you screwed up, he let you changed the nature of air war- know it, and that included the fare. With invasion plans finalized, the P-47’s powerful radial support staffs. You were doing well if he ordered the operations engine, protective armor, eight .50-caliber machine guns and officer to schedule you for more difficult missions. That was ability to carry eight rockets and 2,000 pounds of bombs was the primary way he showed confidence in you.” an ideal platform for armored column support in the forth- June 7, 1944, D-Day plus-1, was an important day for the coming army sweeps across the continent. Opportunities for 368th. The invasion plan called for a fighter-bomber show air-to-air combat and making ace became extremely rare. almost entirely. All day long, pilots flew patrols up and down In preparation for its new role, Douglas began detached the beachhead, one squadron after another at 11⁄2-hour inter- service on February 21, taking pilots and crew from the three vals, beginning at 0549 and ending when the last plane was squadrons to the British School of Experimental Fighter- down at 2327. Throughout the day, headquarters was a mad- Bombing at Milfield, led by legendary RAF Group Captain A. house as officers and enlisted men checked the S-2 intelligence G. “Sailor” Malan. Pilots learned basic tactics of bombing and office for updated information. strafing convoys refined in the Mediterranean as well as The 368th flew 11 missions, strafing countless trucks, tanks fighter-bomber tactics against bridges, locomotives, trucks and and other types of military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun tanks. Practice attacks were made from different altitudes and emplacements, flak towers and enemy troop concentrations. dive angles. Douglas and Malan critiqued the missions. Pilots observed streams of refugees with packs on their backs 66 flightjournal.com ThunderBum 9/5/08 4:06 PM Page 67 THUNDER BUM EXTRA evacuating the blazing towns and villages and making their way “How flier stared toward Allied lines. They reported miles of roads blocked by at death and won” wrecked trucks and armored vehicles, smashed marshalling yards BY WILLIAM RANDOLPH and wrecked locomotives. Germans leapt from staff cars and HEARST JR. scrambled into woods, only to be strafed in their hiding places. Hearst Newspaper Series: at an Maj. Douglas briefed IX TAC G-2 Intelligence that day, an advanced 9th U.S. Air Force account published in the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes: fighter-bomber field, somewhere “Where we found more enemy convoys and vehicles than in Belgium, Nov. 27, 1944. we could hit this morning, we could find none on the roads tonight. Broken trucks are lining miles of roadway. Complete “I came up here for two reasons: convoys have been destroyed and it seems that for the time first, to see Col. Paul P. Douglas Jr., being, we have prevented the enemy from bringing up any who was squadron commander supplies. Gun emplacements, which had been giving trouble when last I saw him on a fighter strip in Normandy shortly to some sections of the beach, have been knocked out and after D-Day; and second, to get a ride in a Thunderbolt, which many A.A. [anti-aircraft] guns, which gave us a hot time in the I was told Paul had rigged up to carry two persons. early missions today, have also been knocked out. The beach- “Douglas looked exactly the same as when I had seen him head now seems clear of enemy opposition. The Allies are just in Normandy. He is 25, short, well-built, his hair close-cropped pulling in supplies and reinforcements.
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