78th Fighter Group

Portraits and Profiles

Personal pictures, stories and web "links" submitted by 78th Fighter Group veterans, family and friends.

_Lt. Col. Eugene P. Roberts, 84th Fighter Squadron, 5-10-42 to 9-3-43

Lt. Col. Eugene P. Roberts, 84th Fighter Squadron. (Source credit: Martin W. Bowman via Andrew Height, " The US Eighth Air Force in Camera, 1942-1944 ", Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1997, ISBN 0-7509-1680-X )

A personal account of Eugene P. Robert's experiences with the 78th Fighter Group, in particular, a bomber escort mission flown on July 30, 1943, where Lt. Col. Roberts( then a Major and CO of the 84th Fighter Squadron ) achieved the first " Triple "( three aerial victories in one mission ) of the 8th Air Force Fighter Command. This story and personal profile of Lt. Col. Roberts was published in the book, "Aces against Germany, The American Aces Speak, Volume II " , Presidio Press, 1993. It is posted with the permission of the author, Eric Hammel.

" Triple "

By Eric Hammel via Eugene P. Roberts

" Eugene Paul Roberts was born in Wallace, Idaho, on September 12, 1917, and raised in Spokane, Washington. As soon as Roberts graduated from college in 1940, he was accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps flying cadet program, and he earned his wings with Class 41-A at Kelly Field, Texas, on February 7, 1941. Lieutenant Roberts initially flew P-40s with the 20th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field, California, but he was transferred to the 14th Fighter Group, a P-38 unit, in February, 1942. When the 14th Fighter Group was split in two in order to create the new 78th Fighter Group, Roberts went to the 78th as the operations officer of the new 83rd Fighter Squadron. In July 1942, Captain Roberts became commander of the 84th Fighter Squadron, which was based at the Oakland, California, municipal airport.

The 78th Fighter Group sailed to Great Britain aboard the Queen Elizabeth in November 1942. Once arrived, the Group underwent two months of intensive training in its new P-38 fighters. In late February 1943, however, all of the 78th Fighter Group's p-38s were commandeered as replacement aircraft for units in North Africa. They were flown to the new battle zone by nearly all of the Group's pilots, who were also commandeered. When the dust settled, the 78th had become a paper unit. The Group commander, the three Squadron commanders and all three flight commanders per squadron--and no airplanes--were virtually all that remained of the 78th Fighter Group. Most of the remaining command pilots were sent to all sorts of schools around the British Isles, to kill time until new aircraft and subordinates could be shipped to England.

The 78th Fighter Group was reconstituted at Duxford Airdrome near Cambridge, England, in April 1943 with a full compliment of new pilots, most of whom were fresh from fighter schools in the States. The Group was also equipped with the Republic P-47B Thunderbolt fighter, a seven ton monster that few, if any, of the 78th's pilots had ever seen before. On April 8, following a whirlwind familiarization course, twelve 78th Fighter Group Thunderbolts, along with twelve P-47 fighters each from the 4th and 56th Fighter Groups, took part in the first-ever P-47 mission over France.

The 78th Fighter Group's early missions were unexciting and uncontested fighter sweeps over the coasts of France and Belgium. The huge 2,000 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine that powered the heavily armed and armored P-47B proved to be a gas guzzler, and there were no auxiliary fuel tanks available in England at the time. This severely limited the range and duration of the 78th's missions, so the missions proved ultimately fruitless.

It was not until May 14, 1943, that members of the group scored their first air-to-air victories in the war. Major Gene Robert's first clash in the air--on his forty-sixth combat mission-- took place over the coast of Holland on July 1, 1943. It resulted in credit for a Fw190 fighter probably destroyed.

" On July 28, 1943, the 4th Fighter Group significantly increased the range of its P-47 fighters in an experiment with auxiliary fuel tanks. Two days later, the P-47s of the 78th and 56th Fighter Groups were able to use for the first time what we referred to as "bathtub" belly tanks. The 115 gallon tanks( which were designed for use in long distance ferry flights ) were not pressurized and they gave us a lot of problems, but they did give us a chance to add another 150 to 200 miles' range to our operations. Until then, I had taken part in as many as eighteen bomber escort missions, but our cover was shallow; it reached no farther than, perhaps, Antwerp.

On July 30, the 78th Fighter Group was given the assignment of providing withdrawal support of our VIII Bomber Command bombers. The target that day was the Focke-Wulf assembly plant in Kassel, Germany, and I would judge that 200 to 240 B-17s and B-24s took part in the mission.

At that time, only three Army Air Force fighter groups were fully operational in England. The 56th Fighter Group gave the bombers penetration support, and the 4th Fighter Group was scheduled to provide late withdrawal support. The 78th Fighter Group's assignment was to provide initial withdrawal support. That means that we were the first fighters to meet the bombers while they were withdrawing from the target. Our tactical plan was simple protect the bombers and drive away the German fighters.

Though the new group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Melvin McNickle(1), was flying as my element leader, I was leading the group on this mission. We started with the usual forty eight fighters( three squadrons of sixteen fighters per squadron ). However, two of the pilots reported mechanical problems and had to abort. In each case, per our standard procedure at that time, I had to dispatch the aborting airplane's entire flight of four to provide an escort back to base. That left us with forty fighters for the mission.

P-47C-15-RE, s/n 41-6630,WZ-Z, "Spokane Chief" was Col. Roberts assigned aircraft in 1943 with the 84th Squadron, 78th Fighter Group. Note the red bordered US insignia applied via a USAAF directive at that time. (Picture source: "Thunderbolt Aces of the Eighth Air Force", Jerry Scutts, Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1998, ISBN: 1-85532-729-5)

At about 1000 hours, we dropped our belly tanks about fifteen miles off the Dutch coast. One of the reasons we did this was that we could not go higher than 23,000 feet; the tanks were not pressurized, and we could not get fuel from the belly tanks higher than that. We then climbed to to 29,000 feet and were at that altitude when we crossed the Dutch coast south of Hoek Van, heading east.

We arrived on schedule in the area where we were supposed to pick up the bombers, but we didn't see them initially, so we turned south. We sighted the bombers south of Raesfeld and turned ninety degrees to pick them up near Winterswijk. The B-17s were flying at 24,000 to 25,000 feet in typical protective "box" formations of thirty-six to forty-eight per box. As we approached the bomber boxes from ninety degrees off their starboard side in our usual escort formations( arranged in high, medium and low squadrons ), we discovered that they were being attacked by a number of enemy aircraft.

There was one B-17 beneath the main formation and it was being attacked by as many as five German fighters. The bomber was pouring smoke and appeared to be in deep trouble. From my position in the lead of the Group, I dove down on the enemy fighters that were attacking the cripple. However, the Germans saw us, broke away and dove for the ground.

There wasn't much more we could do to help the crippled B-17, so I pulled up on the starboard side of the main bomber formation, at about 1,000 yards out. I discovered on reaching this position that my second element( Lieutenant Colonel McNickle and his wingman ) had broken away and was no longer with me. I had only myself and my wingman, Flight Officer Glenn Koontz(2). We immediately saw enemy aircraft ahead of us and above the formation. I judged there were about 100 enemy aircraft in the area, as compared to our forty.

Dead ahead of me was a single enemy fighter, a FW-190. He was at the same level as Koontz and me, about 1,000 to 1,500 yards ahead. He was racing in the same direction of the bombers so he could get ahead of them, swing around in front of them, and make a head-on pass. The bombers were most vulnerable from dead ahead. The Germans referred to this tactic as "queuing up".

I dove slightly below the level of the FW so the pilot couldn't see me, and hit full throttle. I closed to about 400 yards and opened fire from straight back off his tail. The P-47s at this time had the old ring-and-bead reflector gun sight, and the pilot had to calculate lead and deflection. Since I was directly astern the FW-190, I put the bead right on the fuselage and opened fire. I fired a three to five second burst and saw several strikes. The FW's wheels dropped and it spun down in smoke and flames.

It became apparent to me that the Germans were not in radio contact with each other. We seemed to be flying right along with them without their taking notice of us. They weren't reacting to us in a way that would indicate they were communicating with one another.

After the first FW went down, I looked ahead and saw two more enemy aircraft. They were about 2,000 yards in front of me, heading out to queue up in front of the bombers so they could peel off and come back through the bomber formation.

I used the same tactic as I did before; I dropped a little, hit full throttle, and closed until I was within 400 yards of one of the enemy fighters( another FW-190 ). Then I pilled up a little to slow my P-47 down( Actually, I was closing too fast and had to pull up to avoid running into the FW ). I opened fire from dead astern. I observed several strikes and, as before, the enemy fighter billowed smoke and flames, rolled over and spun down.

I saw that F/O Koontz was firing at the second FW, but didn't see the results because both Koontz and the enemy fighter were beneath me. It turned out that Koontz did shoot the FW-190 down.

After the second engagement, we were about two miles ahead of the bombers, about 500 feet above them and still well out to their starboard side. Koontz was on my right wing. About this time, I observed a Me-109 on the port side and ahead of the bomber formation. I dropped below the bomber formation, crossed over to the port side, and pulled up behind the Me-109, again at full throttle. I was closing once again, using the same tactics as I had twice before, but, from a distance of about two miles ahead of the bombers. The enemy fighter suddenly peeled 180 degrees to starboard to attack the bombers head on. I followed it. He was in a tight turn and that required deflection shooting. I closed within 400 to 500 yards and opened fire. My first two bursts fell away behind the 109, but I continued to close. I fired my third burst as the German fighter straightened out to approach the bombers. I fired again as the 109 was getting to within 150 yards of the bombers, dead ahead of them. This was a straight on shot from behind the 109 and I nailed it. The 109 fell down trailing smoke and flame.

I found myself at the same level as the bombers and approaching them head on. Koontz was still with me. I had no alternative but to fly between the two main formations, which were about two miles apart. Bless their hearts, they did not fire. After flying through the bomber formation, I pulled to the left out of their starboard side, heading parallel to them on their level toward home. Ahead and above me, however, two enemy fighters were attacking a P-47.

The FWs and P-47 were heading 180 degrees to me, so I could not close effectively to help. I did fire a burst at the leading FW, but without enough deflection. The P-47 dove and took evasive action. I didn't see him or the FWs again. I headed out and joined up with a loose element from the 84th Squadron, and we headed home together.

This action was the first in many respects. It was the first time the entire Eighth Air Force fighter force was equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and it was the first time American fighters engaged a large enemy fighter force and came away with an overwhelming victory. To my mind, these firsts were connected. The Germans apparently did not anticipate our presence that far inside Holland. Consequently, they were not geared up to confront us. The Germans did not expect our fighters over Holland and we did not encounter their best pilots or airplanes. I think that our deep penetration took us beyond their front line of anti-fighter defenses ( their most experienced fighter pilots an their best and best-equipped fighter units ). This is further evidenced by their apparent lack of radio contact with each other. I guess they weren't wasting radios on their second line of defense. I believe that the German pilots sent to shoot down the bombers were a conglomerate of new pilots who were being given on the job training. These pilots did not defend themselves or one another.

We were overmatched as far as numbers were concerned( we faced at least 10:4 odds ), but we moved at will and came out of the operation looking real good. Though seven P-47s were lost( including our new group commander, Lt. Col. McNickle ), sixteen enemy fighter were destroyed by the 78th Fighter Group alone and eight others were destroyed earlier and later by members of the 56th and 4th Fighter groups. Captain Chuck London(3), of our Group's 83rd Fighter Squadron, shot down two German fighters and thus became the first Army Air Forces ace in the European Theater. And I was the first VIII Fighter Command pilot to be given credit for three confirmed victories in a single action".

Gene Roberts flew eighty-nine missions with the 78th Fighter Group and eventually became the group deputy commander, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After breaking into the victory column with his triple victory on July 30, 1943, Roberts downed a Messerschmitt Me-110 twin engine heavy fighter near Aachen, Germany on August 17; an FW-190 and a Me-109 near Evreux, France, on August 24; an Me-110 and a Me-210 over Enschede, Holland, on October 10 and, his last and final victory, a Me-109 near Dinant, Holland on October 20, 1943. At the time he was the Eighth Air Force's leading ace and the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest combat award.

When Roberts was only five combat flight hours away from mandatory return to the United States, VIII Fighter Command's commanding general relieved him of his flight duties as a ploy to keep him in England. Thus, Lieutenant Colonel Roberts spent six months with the VIII Fighter Command combat operations section, and then he served a six month tour as the 67th Fighter Wing operations officer. In January, 1945, Roberts assumed command of the 364th Fighter Group and he flew 120 combat hours in the group's P-51 Mustangs by the time the war ended. Colonel Gene Roberts brought the 364th Fighter Group back to the United States at the end of the war, and he reverted to reserve status when the unit disbanded in December, 1945".

Webmasters Notes:

(1) - Lieutenant Colonel Melvin McNickle - Lieutenant Colonel Melvin F. McNickle, pilot in Headquarters Squadron from 7-12-43 to 7-30-43, Group CO same dates, POW, oxygen system failure over Winterswijk, Holland, crashed and eventually captured

(2) - Flight Officer Glenn Koontz - Captain Glenn H. Koontz, pilot in 84th FS from 4-28-43 to 6-20-44, returned to US.

(3) - Captain Chuck London - Captain Charles P. London, pilot in 83rd FS from 5-11-42 to 11-1-43, "A" Flight CO, first 8th Air Force Ace, returned to US.

This story and profile is presented with permission of the author, Eric Hammel. It is unlawful to reproduce this story in whole or in part without the expressed written consent of the author. Copyright © 1993 by Eric Hammel .

This story was published along with others of American Fighter Aces in a book by Eric Hammel in 1993, entitled "Aces against Germany, The American Aces Speak, Volume II" , Presidio Press, ISBN 0-89141-441-X.

Eric Hammel is an acclaimed military historian, author and publisher. He has written and published more than twenty other combat histories, including; " Aces at War, The American Aces Speak, Volume IV", "The Battle for Hue", "Air War Europa Chronology" and "Carrier Clash" to mention a few. More information about Eric Hammel and his work can be found on the web site " Pacifica Military History ".

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This page was last revised on 3 / 11 / 02

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