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INTO GERMANY WITH THE 56TH FIGHTER GROUP
On January 11 the 56th flew its first double-group mission, protecting bombers flying to targets in central Germany. Dispatching 72 fighters, the force was divided into an "A Group" and a "B Group", both with three squadron formations, each squadron with 12 fighters. At the direction of Army Air Forces chief General Henry H. Arnold, with the objective of destroying the Luftwaffe where it could be found, the Eighth Air Force released its fighters to strafe targets of opportunity while returning to base after completion of their primary escort mission. The 56th FG attacked Juvincourt-et-Damary, France, on February 11 on its first ground attack against German airfields.
The 56th Fighter Group won a Distinguished Unit Citation for a series of missions flown between February 20 and March 9, 1944. The campaign opened with Operation Argument, better known as "the Big Week", a sustained attempt to destroy the Luftwaffe in the air while attacking aircraft factories with strategic bombing. It was also the first use by P-47s of 150-gallon drop tanks, which boosted flight endurance time on the Thunderbolt from 1 hour 50 minutes on internal fuel to over three hours using an auxiliary tank. At the same time the 56th was assigned a bomber escort sector in the vicinity of Osnabrück, and the combination resulted in the shooting down of 49 Luftwaffe fighters over four days. The last week of the campaign saw the first USAAF bomber attacks on Berlin, and the group destroyed 38 more fighters in the air.[23] The 56th Fighter Group recorded its 350th kill on March 16, having shot down 140 German aircraft in 12 missions.[1]
The campaign also resulted in highly-publicized speculation of which among the emerging P-47 and P-51 aces would break the U.S. World War I record of 26 destroyed by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. Pilots of the 56th who became well-known figures included Hub Zemke, Bud Mahurin, Bob Johnson, Jerry Johnson, and Gabby Gabreski, with Bob Johnson being the first to break Rickenbacker's mark on May 8 (as a result of which he was immediately grounded from further combat). Mahurin and Jerry Johnson were both shot down on March 27, with Johnson being captured. Although Mahurin successfully returned to Allied territory, his knowledge of the French Resistance ended his combat tour.
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