DIARY OF A P-38
COMBAT PILOT
World War II aerial combat was a crucible that transformed young
men into men of steel. Just being there in Europe, doing the job they
came for, made heroes of them all. This is the story of one such hero,
told by his own hand. It gives the rest of us just a glimpse of real
history; not one written by historians in broad, big-picture brush
strokes, but written by he who lived it every
day, through each mission, never knowing if it would be his last.
By Pat Brown
Prologue and editing by Ron Fox
DIARY OF MY COMBAT MISSIONS
25 Aug 1943 I was assigned to the 12th
Air Force, 82nd Fighter Group, 96th Fighter Squadron (“The Slugging
Jackrabbits”). In the following write-ups you will often come across the
word ADORIMINI. This is the title of our book ‘The History of the 82nd Fighter
Group in World War II.” ADORIMINI is Latin, and literally means “Up and At
Em’. A copy of this book is in the possession of Pat and Lavada Brown and
is referenced after most diary entries. — Pat Brown
Combat
Mission #03 (Patrol), sept. 09, 1943. Based at Gerbini, Sicily.
“We took off in a twelve-plane formation just
before dawn, in order to reach the Salemo area just
at daybreak to patrol the beaches as the 5th Army started its invasion of Italy. Again,
I flew in the #2 position. Assisting us was a Squadron
of A-36’s (the early version
of what later would
become the P-51), their area of responsibility was below us at 3,000 feet-
Above us was a Squadron of British Spitfires flying at 12,000 feet. All of our
Units (P-38’s, A-36’s and Spitfires) mission was to protect the U.S. Navy and 5th. Army from
aerial attacks from the German and
Italian Air Forces. We saw several
enemy fighters, but they never did attack us or attempt to attack our Navy or Army forces. The Navy kept up its heavy
barrage of shells from its big 16″
guns, and the Army was meeting lots
of opposition from the enemy ground forces as they reached the beaches. It was
truly an exciting event to witness, but very uneventful from our standpoint. We had no enemy encounters and thus suffered no losses. Total Flight Time 3:15.”
[Adorimini Historical Reference to this mission]
Same
reference sheet as Mission 2
Diary
of a P-38 Pilot will be uploaded in serial form, accompanied by historical
records and Pat Brown’s personal WWII
photographs. Check back with us from time to time for more.
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