The 513th Fighter Squadron

Page 4

Unit History of 513th
Period ending 31 May 1944 (continued)

F. Narrative (continued)

Missions have continued rather regularly since the initial one on May 9th. Some days they have been "scrubbed"; some days there are two missions, but all of them, with the exception of the mission of May 13th, have been rather uneventful. No enemy aircraft have been met, and in many cases, flak has been meager.

Capt. HENRY W. SHURLDS, JR., our Operations Officer, had an interesting, if frightening experience connected with the "train busting" mission of May 21, 1944. He is now a full-fledged member of "The Dunkers Club" by virtue of his experience in the cold blue Channel waters. The mission in itself was most successful. Claims of 7 locomotives destroyed being made.

On May 24th the squadron moved, in two sections, to Brinzette Airfield.  The Air Echelon moved out at 0600 and the Ground Echelon followed at 1300, after the last plane had taken off on an operational mission. The move was done fairly smoothly, considering the little time for preparation and the lack of facilities, such as local transportation, boxes, and sufficient paint and brushes for marking cases. We know now, at lest, that we can move in an expeditious manner when it is necessary. The squadron returned from Brinzette and upon its completion, landed at our home base. This completed a little overnight bivouac of "C" rations, pup tents, and all the rest of it.

During the past month, increased emphasis has been placed on security. The Intelligence Section has given three lectures on this subject, two to the enlisted men and one to the officers.  The ground defense of the airdrome has been drawn up and rehearsed with the men so that everyone is familiar with its requirements and knows his position in case of emergency.

At the present date, the squadron has flown 20 missions comprising the following: 9 escorts, 4 fighter sweeps, 3 dive bombing, 1 target cover, 1 strafing, 1 area support, and 1 escort patrol. One pilot is missing, two planes have been lost, 4 planes have suffered minor damage from flak, one plane suffered damage from enemy fire.

Progress has been made during the past month in organization and operation. Now we are all waiting for the invasion, whenever it may come.