Combat report
Title
Combat report
Description
From Flight Lieutenant K F Thiele flying Tempest claiming Me 109 destroyed after being bounced by enemy aircraft . Noted two fellow pilots were lost.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
This item was sent to the IBCC Digital Archive already in digital form. No better quality copies are available.
Creator
Date
1944-12-29
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One page typewritten document
Conforms To
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SWeirG19660703v050005-0003
Transcription
[underlined] COMBAT REPORT. [/underlined]
[underlined] F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O., D.F.C. [/underlined]
DATE; 29/12/44
SQUADRON: 3
TYPE and MARK OF A/C.: Tempest V
TIME UP AND DOWN: 11.00 – 11.52
PLACE OF ATTACK: East of Rheine
TIME OF ATTACK; 11.30
HEIGHT OF E/A ON FIRST SIGHTING: 9000 ft.
HEIGHT OF OWN A/C ON FIRST SIGHTING: 7500 ft.
OUR CASUALTIES: F/Lt. M.F. Edwards)
F/O K. Slade-Betts, D.F.C.) N.Y.R.
ENEMY CASUALTIES: 1 Me. 109 destroyed by F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O D.F.C.
PERSONAL REPORTS:
F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O, D.F.C. reports:-
“I was leading Green Section of 4 a/c on an armed recce Rheine. – Dummer Lake – Osnabruck. Shortly after take-off Control reported huns in the Munster area, no height given. We continued on course & soon after passing Rheine I sighted a gaggle of about 20 plus a/c up sun about 1500 feet above us. They sighted us at the same time, jettisoning their L.R.T. immediately & broke down towards us.
I identified them as 109’s & 190’s & at once broke right into them, as they were down at our level. As I broke I saw another gaggle of 20 plus huns coming down out of sun. In the ensuing mix-up I lost the rest of my section, & in endeavouring to out-turn 3 Me.109’s on my tail I spun. I regained control & continued to aileron-turn, down to the deck. I straightened out & found that I had shaken off the pursuit. At the same time I saw an Me.109 flying low ahead & to starboard about 500 yards away. My speed was so great that I overshot & pulled up to starboard. He saw me and began weaving violently still flying N.E. very low. I turned & pulled in about 30 yards behind him, & fired a short burst dead astern seeing strikes on the starboard wing-root, pieces flying off from under the engine cover. Immediately the hun pulled up in a steep climbing turn to port with white smoke pouring from the engine. I tried to follow but he was out-climbing & out-turning me. When he had climbed to about 1500 feet the pilot baled out & the a/c crashed into a wood & exploded. The chute opened.
I claim 1 Me.109G destroyed.
Cine used.
I returned to base alone, having been unable to contact my section.”
[signature] F/LT.
[signature] F/LT
Senior Intelligence Officer.
[underlined] F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O., D.F.C. [/underlined]
DATE; 29/12/44
SQUADRON: 3
TYPE and MARK OF A/C.: Tempest V
TIME UP AND DOWN: 11.00 – 11.52
PLACE OF ATTACK: East of Rheine
TIME OF ATTACK; 11.30
HEIGHT OF E/A ON FIRST SIGHTING: 9000 ft.
HEIGHT OF OWN A/C ON FIRST SIGHTING: 7500 ft.
OUR CASUALTIES: F/Lt. M.F. Edwards)
F/O K. Slade-Betts, D.F.C.) N.Y.R.
ENEMY CASUALTIES: 1 Me. 109 destroyed by F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O D.F.C.
PERSONAL REPORTS:
F/Lt. K.F. Thiele, D.S.O, D.F.C. reports:-
“I was leading Green Section of 4 a/c on an armed recce Rheine. – Dummer Lake – Osnabruck. Shortly after take-off Control reported huns in the Munster area, no height given. We continued on course & soon after passing Rheine I sighted a gaggle of about 20 plus a/c up sun about 1500 feet above us. They sighted us at the same time, jettisoning their L.R.T. immediately & broke down towards us.
I identified them as 109’s & 190’s & at once broke right into them, as they were down at our level. As I broke I saw another gaggle of 20 plus huns coming down out of sun. In the ensuing mix-up I lost the rest of my section, & in endeavouring to out-turn 3 Me.109’s on my tail I spun. I regained control & continued to aileron-turn, down to the deck. I straightened out & found that I had shaken off the pursuit. At the same time I saw an Me.109 flying low ahead & to starboard about 500 yards away. My speed was so great that I overshot & pulled up to starboard. He saw me and began weaving violently still flying N.E. very low. I turned & pulled in about 30 yards behind him, & fired a short burst dead astern seeing strikes on the starboard wing-root, pieces flying off from under the engine cover. Immediately the hun pulled up in a steep climbing turn to port with white smoke pouring from the engine. I tried to follow but he was out-climbing & out-turning me. When he had climbed to about 1500 feet the pilot baled out & the a/c crashed into a wood & exploded. The chute opened.
I claim 1 Me.109G destroyed.
Cine used.
I returned to base alone, having been unable to contact my section.”
[signature] F/LT.
[signature] F/LT
Senior Intelligence Officer.
Collection
Citation
K F Thiele, “Combat report,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/34477.
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