Catastrophe at Ligny

Lieutenant General Count von Gneisenau at the Battle of Ligny, on the heights near the Windmill of Bussy
Richard Knötel (PD)

"Where is the Generalfeldmarschall?" von Gneisenau could barely make himself heard over the roar of battle, yet he did his best.

One of his aides did hear him and grabbed von Gneisenau's sleeve, "We have no idea where he is, Sir! He galloped off to lead that last cavalry charge and hasn't been seen since!"

That left him in command of the army, von Gneisenau thought for a moment then gathered what was left of his staff, three of them still lived, perhaps others were still out delivering messages, taking command where needed, nonetheless, they were all caught up in the looming debacle.

"Kurz, gallop at once to General von Pirch, tell him, no order him to fall back on ..." he paused trying to remember the name of the place he had discussed with von Blücher some days ago.

"Wavre, Sir? Isn't that the place?"

Von Gneisenau nodded, "Yes, yes, tell him to fall back on Wavre, to the north."

As that aide galloped off, von Gneisenau turned to another, "Waltripp, head towards Lüttich,¹ find General von Bülow, give him the same orders, march on Wavre!"

Von Gneisenau flinched as a cannon shot whistled just above his head, his horse began to buck, the mare wanted to be as far from this place as she could and nearly unseated her rider.

"Verdammt! Easy old girl, easy."

Looking around he realized that he was alone, where was von Leben, the young captain of hussars should have been ...

That's when he saw his last aide, dead, next to his horse.

Blüchers Rettung durch seinen Adjudanten Nostiz bei Ligny²
Clemens Otto Fikentscher (PD)

"Help me, Nostitz, my leg is trapped!"

The old field marshal was struggling to free himself from his dead horse. His heart was pounding in his chest, he could see more French cavalry coming their way. He had led, in vain, a last charge to try and blunt the inexorable advance of the French infantry. Only at the last moment had he realized that they were facing the French Imperial Guard.

They had formed square faster than von Blücher could have imagined, their quick volley had emptied many a saddle. His own horse had been hit, staggered forward, then collapsed. The old man had gone down hard, he feared something was broken. He didn't feel quite right.

Von Nostitz was struggling to control his mount, if it ran off, he and the field marshal would both be doomed. "I'm coming Herr Generalfeldmarschall! I must ..."

The old field marshal watched in horror as a party of French lancers, providing flank cover for the main body of French heavy cavalry assaulting the disintegrating Prussian lines, swerved in their direction.

Source

Von Nostitz let go of his horse's reins, drawing his sword he turned to face the threat. Perhaps the cavalrymen wouldn't notice his commander on the ground, perhaps he could ...

Von Blücher winced as he saw his aide pierced by a French lance, von Nostitz went down hard, no doubt killed instantly. Rather than play dead, the old field marshal cursed at the oncoming Frenchmen, trying desperately to draw his sword, not realizing that the horse's weight had bent its scabbard.

The last thing Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstadt, heard was the man who killed him shouting, "Ce salaud est encore en vie!"³

Lieutenant von Schmeling repelling French infantry in front of the farm of En Bas, Ligny
Adalbert von Roessler (PD)

"The day is ours, Sire!" an aide shouted, his face a mask of enraptured joy.

The Emperor turned as he watched a party of dragoons gallop past, one of whom was holding aloft a captured Prussian standard, all bellowing, "Vive l'Empereur!"

Le Trophée⁴
Édouard Detaille (PD)

Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French laughed and lifted his famous hat into the air. He was well pleased with his army this day. He wished he could say the same of his ass, after being in the saddle all day, it burned. He had to dismount, and soon, or he feared the pain would show on his face. He wanted nothing to taint this victory.

"Soult!"

"Sire?"

"Organize the pursuit, have Vandamme report to me before he sets off, order Gérard give two of his divisions to Vandamme, Grouchy will provide Pajol's cavalry corps⁵ to Vandamme the remainder to march with me. We shall move to join with Davout. We shall sup in Brussels before Sunday evening!"

"Sire, Gérard is down, Général de Division Pécheux has taken command of IV Corps!"

Before the Emperor could respond, Vandamme was before him, hatless, his uniform ripped and filthy, "You sent for me, Sire?"

"Yes, yes, is this any way for a Marshal of France to appear before his Emperor?"

"Sire?"

"Berthier, issue the necessary orders, as of this day, you, Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg are raised to the position of Marshal of France. Well done this day, Sir. Well done. Now go, destroy what remains of those Prussians. I must turn to deal with Wellington. Is there any word from Davout?"

The last question was directed at no one in particular but Berthier had an answer.

"Sire, Maréchal Davout has routed the English at Quatre Bras, they are fleeing towards Brussels, the Maréchal is already in pursuit. We have this information from d'Erlon whose corps is currently driving what is left of the Prussian right wing before him."

"Good, good."

Turning quietly to an aide, Napoléon whispered, "I need to get off of this horse, my ass is burning."

¹ The German name for Liege.

² Blücher's rescue by his adjutant Nostitz at the Battle of Ligny

³ This bastard is still alive!

⁴ The Trophy

⁵ Pajol commanded the I Cavalry Corps which consisted of light cavalry.

William R. Lawley MOH

OK, finally got the link to the internet for my IPad, iPhone, Mac book and Mrs J’s iPhone. Up til now, it’s make sure all devices are off, then add the one you want. PITA. Went down and talked to a young lady working the customer desk and asked where the computer experts are located. She asked what the problem was. I described it and she asked for the iPad. Fifteen minutes later, I’m writing this addition to this post. Thank you Ma’am!

So…on with the show and this tale has a happier ending.

Source

 

 

OK, another example of unbelievable bravery, exceptional flying skills and Boeing's skills at building very well built, strong and reliable aircraft.

 In doing some research on Lt Lawley, I came across this website.  The author does a phenomenal job of bringing Lt Lawley's fight to life. Go read it! 

 

Source

 At 23 years old, he was the pilot in command of a B-17 during "Big Week".  Big Week was a week long daily attack on German Aircraft plants and airports.  As could be expected, the Germans put up a lot of resistance.  Unfortunately for Lt Lawley,  lots of things had gone wrong on the mission. The co-pilot was dead.  One engine was out, another one on fire.  Lot's of German fighters in the area.  Yet he brings the aircraft back to safe territory and gets it on the ground successfully.

And he lived and what was left of his crew lived.  That takes skill, courage and quite a bit of luck.  He flew out the remainder of his 25 mission requirement and managed to land on a allied fighter base.  He passed away in 1995.  Rest in peace, Hero!

Source

 

Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty, 20 February 1944, while serving as pilot of a B-17 aircraft on a heavy bombardment mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe. Coming off the target he was attacked by approximately 20 enemy fighters, shot out of formation, and his plane severely crippled. Eight crewmembers were wounded; the copilot was killed by a 20-mm shell. One engine was on fire, the controls shot away, and 1st Lt. Lawley seriously and painfully wounded about the face. Forcing the copilot's body off the controls, he brought the plane out of a steep dive, flying with his left hand only. Blood covered the instruments and windshield and visibility was impossible. With a full bomb load the plane was difficult to maneuver and the bombs could not be released because the racks were frozen. After the order to bail out had been given, one of the waist gunners informed the pilot that two crewmembers were so severely wounded that it would be impossible for them to bail out. With the fire in the engine spreading, the danger of an explosion was imminent. Because of the helpless condition of his wounded crewmembers 1st Lt. Lawley elected to remain with the ship and bring them to safety if it was humanly possible, giving the other crewmembers the option of bailing out. Enemy fighters again attacked but by using masterful evasive action he managed to lose them. One engine again caught on fire and was extinguished by skillful flying. First Lt. Lawley remained at his post, refusing first aid until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion caused by loss of blood, shock, and the energy he had expended in keeping control of his plane. He was revived by the bombardier and again took over the controls. Coming over the English coast one engine ran out of gasoline and had to be feathered. Another engine started to burn and continued to do so until a successful crash landing was made on a small fighter base. Through his heroism and exceptional flying skill 1st Lt. Lawley rendered outstanding distinguished and valorous service to our nation.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Lawley_Jr. 

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/william-r-lawley 

https://www.badassoftheweek.com/william-r-lawley 

 

Disaster at Quatre Bras

Die Braunschweiger bei Quatre Bras 1815¹
Richard Knötel (PD)

Maréchal Davout snapped his glass shut and gave a grunt of satisfaction. Though the casualties were higher than he expected, Prince Jérôme's division had driven the Anglo-Allied skirmishers from the Bossu Wood. In doing so the Prince had suffered a wound which the doctors told him could be mortal. He did not look forward to reporting that to the Emperor.

Gemioncourt Farm was in flames, the Dutch and Belgian dead were piled high in the pyres of that place, the bastards had fought hard for the farm and had inflicted serious casualties on Général de Division Comte Maximilien Sebastien Foy's division. The general himself had fallen at the head of the column which had driven enemy units out of the few buildings at the crossroads itself, but it was now in French hands.

The fighting had sputtered out after dark on Thursday night, Jérôme's men had pressed the fight long after dark, eventually driving the enemy from the wood.

Some British units had managed to reach the area north of the crossroads in the evening twilight. They had marched blithely in column nearly to the crossroads, they had managed to form a rough square just as Jacquinot's lancers hit them. Davout shook his head at the bravery of the Scotsmen, who had been cut to pieces and had fallen nearly to a man. There were very few prisoners.

Now it was simply a matter of getting the men back in their ranks and then finding out how the Emperor had faired over by Ligny. There had been a heavy cannonade in that direction late yesterday and again this morning, now all was silent. Davout wondered if d'Erlon's corps had had any impact on that fight.

Black Watch at the Battle of Quatre-Bras, 1815
William Barnes Wollen (PD)

"Jock, are ye still breathin' laddie?" The voice came out of the night as a hiss, just barely audible.

Sir John Campbell, commanding the 1st Battalion of the 92nd Regiment of Foot, the Gordon Highlanders, braced himself, he was afraid that his right leg was shattered, injured when his horse fell on him.

"Is that you, Bobbie?" The voice sounded like that of Sir Robert Macara, commanding the 1st Battalion of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, the Black Watch.

"Aye, lad, I'm still among the living, though many of my fine lads will sleep beneath Belgian sod this day. We're fearfully cut up."

The two men fell in together somewhere along the main road to Brussels, the French pursuit had stopped with the onset of full darkness. A burning wagon not far off the chaussée lit the scene. Behind Macara a stumbling line of injured Scots, English, and Germans straggled up the road. The shock of sudden combat written on their powder stained faces.

Campbell was sitting in a farm cart, drawn by three of his Gordons. Macara looked down at Campbell's leg.

"I'm told there's a surgeon set up just a bit from here, up in Genappe. German lad, but I'm told he's good. You should let him look at that leg."

"And have him lop it off while the Frenchies are storming up the road outside? I think I'll take my chances on the road, Bobbie."

"It's your life, Jock, I'd hate to see ye throw it away."

One of the Highlanders pulling the cart shushed the two officers, "Beggin' yer pardon, Sir, but we should be moving. It'll be light in a few hours, and Bonaparte is smelling the kill, he is, those bastards will be up early I'd wager."

Macara nodded grimly, "They say Davout is in command over there, man is a bulldog, once he's got his teeth in you, he ain't lettin' go."

"I thought Davout was in Paris?" Campbell asked, somewhat in shock at this news.

"Well, he ain't, he's just down that road."

The Duchess of Richmond's Ball
Robert Alexander Hillingford (PD)

The Duke of Wellington stared down at the map on the table, the Duchess of Richmond's ball was already in progress and had been interrupted by a series of dusty, sweat-stained messengers throughout the evening.

"Bonaparte has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me. Not only that he has moved far faster and far more decisively than I would have given him credit for."

"Your Grace?"

The Duke looked up, standing before him was a Dutch colonel, one of Perponcher's staff no doubt, "Yes, Colonel? Your report?"

"Davout is in command, coming up the road, he ..."

The Duke leaned in and quietly admonished the man, "Get a grip on yourself, Sir. People are watching."

The Dutch officer took a deep breath then spoke, "It has been confirmed that Marshal Davout is in command of Bonaparte's left wing. They started attacking us late on the 15th and hit us again before sunrise. Gemioncourt was set in flames by howitzer fire, the Bossu Wood was swarming with French voltigeurs,² we were driven out with no chance to rally. Bonaparte's heavy cavalry caught General Picton's division coming down the road, in column, just as the sun was coming up. They were cut to pieces. I fear that General Perponcher is missing, presumed dead. Bylandt has assumed command. He has ordered the Duke of Brunswick to hold at Genappe. Everyone else is to fall back on ..."

The man studied the map, then pointed, "Here, to Mont St Jean, this ridge just south of the village. I believe you're familiar with it?"

The Duke nodded, then turned at a commotion in the street, "What is that bloody noise?" he snapped.

His aide, Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey, was looking out, he turned and said, "A unit of German cavalry³ Your Grace, they are withdrawing in haste, they seem to be shouting that the French are right behind them."

"Right then, all officers to return to your units, immediately. Assemble at Mont St Jean, my headquarters shall be at the inn in Waterloo. Make haste or we are doomed."

As the officers bustled out, the Duke asked the Dutch colonel a final question, "What of the Prussians? What of Field Marshal Blücher?"

The colonel shook his head, "Defeated, Your Grace. Last reports had them fleeing for Liege."

The Duke closed his eyes for a moment, "Damn it. Damn it to bloody hell!"

¹ "The Brunswickers at Quatre Bras" - Brunswick (Braunschweig auf Deutsch) is a town in central Germany. Back in the day it was known as the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. It was ruled by a duke, one of whom fell in battle against the French in 1806. His son, the duke commanding troops in the Waterloo campaign also fell in battle against the French, in 1815.

² French light infantry.

³ The Duke of Cumberland's Hussars, a Hanoverian volunteer cavalry regiment, they did indeed flee in disgrace at Waterloo without having faced the enemy.

Lt. Col. James H. Howard MOH

 

 

Ok, this guy is one of my heroes. If you'll look at the picture below you should notice something interesting that'll explain why.  Obviously, he is a successful and skilled WWII fighter pilot.  I mean...12 Kills!  There are not a lot of fighter pilots with that many victories.

But...there are very few, if anyone else, WWII US fighter pilots who have shot down 6 enemy aircraft in the Pacific and 6 in Europe.  Yes, LTC Howard was an American Volunteer Group  (AVG) pilot. The AVG was also known as the "Flying Tigers".  The Flying Tigers were disbanded in July of 1942 and LTC Howard rejoined the Army Air Corps. Hence, the 6 Japanese flags on the side of his P-51.

 A couple of years later (January 1944), he's the commander of the 356th Fighter Squadron, a P-51 Squadron.  The mission for which he is awarded the Medal  of Honor is an escort mission with 50 P-51s assigned to protect 3 divisions of B-17s.  (I have no idea how many B-17's were in a division but I'd bet, at that time in the war, it was a lot!)

Luftwaffe fighters attack the bombers and the P-51 engage.  LTC Howard shoots down one German fighter, but loses sight of his group.  Climbing back to escort the bombers, he sees that they're being attacked by 30  plus German Fighters.  So...What does he do?

He attacks.  He shoots down 2, probably 2 more kills and damages 2 other enemy planes.  Not bad for a single aircraft.  He RTB's (returns to base) and on his post mission walk around his plane, only a single bullet hole was found.  Pretty good flying and fighting skills, I'd say.

 Citation to accompany the award of the Medal of Honor to Lt Col James Howard

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Oschersleben, Germany, on 11 January 1944. On that day Col. Howard was the leader of a group of P-51 aircraft providing support for a heavy bomber formation on a long-range mission deep in enemy territory. As Col. Howard's group met the bombers in the target area the bomber force was attacked by numerous enemy fighters. Col. Howard, with his group, and at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a German ME. 110. As a result of this attack Col. Howard lost contact with his group, and at once returned to the level of
the bomber formation. He then saw that the bombers were being heavily attacked by enemy
airplanes and that no other friendly fighters were at hand. While Col. Howard could have waited to attempt to assemble his group before engaging the enemy, he chose instead to attack single-handed a formation of more than 30 German airplanes. With utter disregard for his own safety he immediately pressed home determined attacks for some 30 minutes, during which time he destroyed 3 enemy airplanes and probably destroyed and damaged others. Toward the end of this engagement 3 of his  guns went out of action and his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against him, Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fighters. His skill, courage, and intrepidity on this occasion set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S.Armed Forces.

 He retired in 1965 as a Brigadier General and passed away in 1995.  He is buried in Arlington. 

 

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Howard 

http://354thpmfg.com/images/img/blog/thumb-4.jpg

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/11-january-1944/ 

 

The Battle is Joined on the Right

Fighting outside Ferme d'en-Haut, Ligny during the Battle of Ligny
Richard Knötel (PD)

The sweat-soaked messenger saluted as he handed the scrap of paper he carried to Berthier. The Marshal took the paper, read it, then a slight smile spread over his face. The smile vanished when the Emperor came into the headquarters.

"I saw that smile Berthier, what devilment are you up to?"

Berthier looked straight at the Emperor, blushed slightly, then answered, "Sire, the corps of the Comte de Lobau¹ has executed the maneuver ordered for them and they are in a position to intercept Thielmann's Prussian corps moving off of our right flank."

It was Napoléon's turn to blush, he realized in that moment that he had completely forgotten about VI Corps. He had left them near Charleroi, intending to bring them up to join his right wing as soon as battle was joined with the Prussians. He decided to bluster his way through this, all of the staff were watching.

"Ah yes, uh, excellent, but who gave you the authority to issue orders to Mouton?"

At that moment there was a footstep behind the Emperor, who turned.

"I gave those orders, Sire. You gave me command of the right wing, I assumed that included the Comte de Lobau. He was not mentioned in the forces you consigned to Maréchal Davout, so I took the initiative, Sire." Maréchal Soult looked uncomfortable, he had experienced the Emperor's wrath in the past and fully expected it to be unleashed on him now.

The Emperor looked taken aback for a moment, then he recovered, "Soult, you were always a decent strategist. Now if only your tactical acumen was as good!"

With that Napoléon spun on his heel and left the headquarters. Soult looked expectantly at Berthier.

"By dint of marching most of the night, Lobau has cut the road from Namur to Sombreffe. I also have word that his engineers managed to get to the bridges in Namur before Thielmann was able to cross. They damaged the bridges badly, at last report the Prussian engineers were struggling to effect repairs. Thielmann won't arrive much before Friday evening. That is, if he can get by Lobau."

"How many men does Lobau have on the field? And how on earth did his engineers reach out that far to get to Namur?" Soult looked surprised.

"Second thing first, he mounted his engineers and the supplies they needed to damage the bridges. As to Lobau's strength, he barely has 9,000 men, 32 guns, and of course, we weren't able to provide him with any cavalry before the campaign. So he's light on the ground, very light." Berthier answered, consulting his notes.

"Thielmann's strength? Do we have any idea?" Soult now looked concerned, he had had no idea of the weakness of Lobau's VI Corps, he didn't have many more men than Prince Jérôme had in his single division!

Berthier paged through one of his notebooks, he found what he was looking for, then sucked his breath through his teeth. "Thielmann has roughly 25,000 men and 48 guns. Luckily, his corps is mostly militia, what the Prussians call 'Landwehr.'"

Soult grumped and said, "I know what they call their militia, that's a plus for us, but that is a lot of men. Let us pray that Lobau doesn't get swamped!"

Source

Georges Mouton, Comte de Lobau sat his horse uneasily, though his men were well positioned, they were outnumbered by early three to one. His three small divisions under Simmer, Jeanin, and Teste were deployed to block the road to Sombreffe and force the Prussians to deploy for battle. The hope was that that would give the Emperor time to crush the only two corps which Blücher could deploy this day. Bülow's corps, even though marching hard from the area of Liege, would be lucky to arrive by Saturday, the 17th of June.

Mouton's divisional guns were deployed to enfilade the Prussians when they deployed into line. His corps artillery, 12-pounders, anchored the center of his line. Should the enemy prefer to advance in column, those guns would plunge down the length of that formation. Both ends of his line were anchored by infantry in square, he had no cavalry to speak of, should the Prussians attempt a flanking movement, his corps might be in deep jeopardy. Fortunately both of those flanks were also anchored by the stout farm buildings common to the area.

"Mon Général! Voilà les Prussiens!"

The shout from one of his aides got his attention, coming around the bend in the road to the south was a column of Prussian infantry. The game was afoot!

Prince August leading his regiment (2nd Silesian Infantry Regt) at the Battle of Kulm, 1813
Carl Röchling (PD)

The Emperor watched as Vandamme's corps slammed into the Prussian lines before the village of St. Amand, cannon smoke was already obscuring much of the field and now the smoke from thousands of muskets further clouded his view of the troops fighting for their lives. Napoléon handed his glass to an aide, it was useless in this atmosphere.

"Soult! Any word from Mouton?"

Soult wondered why the Emperor always referred to the Comte de Lobau by his name, rather than his title, "Yes Sire, Thielmann attacked and the Count managed to hold his ground. The Prussians are apparently attacking with great valor, but very little finesse!"

Napoléon grinned, "I have always said Soult, my sheep is a lion!"²

Soult nodded, then it struck him, the Emperor seldom called men by their titles, always, it seemed, by their names. Perhaps it was because it was the Emperor who gave all of them their fancy titles. Titles which the Bourbons scoffed at and refused to acknowledge. Perhaps that is why so many of those men returned to Napoléon's service when he returned from Elba. Lord knows it wasn't because they loved war. Soult for one was heartily sick of the entire business.

The Duc de Dalmatia³ mounted his horse, he needed to have Ney bring up the men of the Young Guard.⁴ Vandamme's fight was slow going, as was Gérard's. IV Corps was having a tough time making headway against the Prussians to his front. A thought struck him, he turned to one of his aides.

"Charles!"

"Sir?"

"A message to Maréchal Davout if you please. Have I Corps march on Marbais at once, d'Erlon can leave one division with the left wing. Also a message to Maréchal Ney, he is to advance the entirety of the Young Guard at once. They are to reinforce Général Gérard's attack on the Prussian left!"

The aide hesitated for a moment, "I shall also inform Maréchal Berthier of these orders, he will know the best way to get them to the right people."

Soult, angered at the young officer's impertinence, shook his head angrily, "Dispatch those orders now! Maréchal Berthier will be notified in due time!"

"What orders are those, Soult?"

The Marshal turned his horse, how did the Emperor always seem to show up at times like these?

"Orders to Ney to send the Young Guard forward to reinforce Gérard. Orders to Davout to dispatch d'Erlon's corps to hit the Prussian right."

Napoléon nodded then told the aide, "See Maréchal Berthier at once, have those orders dispatched in my name. I'm sure Maréchal Soult does not think my marshals answer to him."

Soult blanched, "Of course not, Sire, I simply wished to ..."

"Enough!" the Emperor looked at the aide, who hadn't moved.

Napoléon's look was enough to cause the young captain of hussars to gallop off to headquarters as if the devil himself was at his back.

¹ The title of Général de Division George Mouton, commanding the VI Corps of the Armée du Nord.

² "Mouton" is the French word for sheep.

³ Soult's title, given to him by Napoléon for his actions at Austerlitz. Napoléon insulting Soult's tactical ability is absurd. He had praised Soult for his tactics at Austerlitz in 1805.

⁴ The Imperial Guard had three components, the Old, the so-called Middle, and the Young Guard. The Old Guard were the most experienced regiments, whereas the Young Guard, as the name might imply, were less experienced.

Raymond L. Knight MOH

 As y’all start reading this, Mrs J and I are on our way to London, where we’ll meet up with Little J and family for our cruise through the Norwegian Fjords. I’ve been told internet is available, but who knows. And…I’ll be 9 hours ahead so don’t expect answers to your comments much after 1300 Texas time. They will resume around midnight Texas time, assuming internet availability, of course.

As Sarge is wont to say, chat among yourselves.

Now, On with the Post!

 

1st Lt Raymond Knight 

Source

 

Okay, I couldn't find an awful lot of data on this hero's story beyond what's contained in his Medal of Honor Citation.  But, I'm here to tell ya', strafing is a nerve racking attack.  I did it on pretty much every range mission I flew (dropping practice bombs on a bombing range). A couple of thousand hours in an F-4 and you go to the range a LOT!  

Strafing on Range missions mean you are VERY low to the ground and you close to about a thousand yards distance before pressing the trigger.  You are traveling at about 450 nautical MPH which is probably pretty close to the P-47 attack velocity.  You have 2-3 seconds to fire so no room for mistakes and the ground is VERY close.  And that's in peace time, nobody is firing back at you.  So, IMHO, this is a well deserved Medal of Honor.

On with this Hero's story.

Citation for the award of the Medal of Honor to Lt Raymond L. Knight.

He piloted a fighter-bomber aircraft in a series of low-level strafing missions, destroying 14 grounded enemy aircraft and leading attacks which wrecked 10 others during a critical period of the Allied drive in northern Italy. On the morning of 24 April, he volunteered to lead 2 other aircraft against the strongly defended enemy airdrome at Ghedi. Ordering his fellow pilots to remain aloft, he skimmed the ground through a deadly curtain of antiaircraft fire to reconnoiter the field, locating 8 German aircraft hidden beneath heavy camouflage. He rejoined his flight, briefed them by radio, and then led them with consummate skill through the hail of enemy fire in a low-level attack, destroying 5 aircraft, while his flight accounted for 2 others. Returning to his base, he volunteered to lead 3 other aircraft in reconnaissance of Bergamo airfield, an enemy base near Ghedi and one known to be equally well defended. Again ordering his flight to remain out of range of antiaircraft fire, 1st Lt. Knight flew through an exceptionally intense barrage, which heavily damaged his Thunderbolt, to observe the field at minimum altitude. He discovered a squadron of enemy aircraft under heavy camouflage and led his flight to the assault. Returning alone after this strafing, he made 10 deliberate passes against the field despite being hit by antiaircraft fire twice more, destroying 6 fully loaded enemy twin-engine aircraft and 2 fighters. His skillfully led attack enabled his flight to destroy 4 other twin-engine aircraft and a fighter plane. He then returned to his base in his seriously damaged plane. Early the next morning, when he again attacked Bergamo, he sighted an enemy plane on the runway. Again he led 3 other American pilots in a blistering low-level sweep through vicious antiaircraft fire that damaged his plane so severely that it was virtually nonflyable. Three of the few remaining enemy twin-engine aircraft at that base were destroyed. Realizing the critical need for aircraft in his unit, he declined to parachute to safety over friendly territory and unhesitatingly attempted to return his shattered plane to his home field. With great skill and strength, he flew homeward until caught by treacherous air conditions in the Appennines Mountains [sic], where he crashed and was killed. The gallant action of 1st Lt. Knight eliminated the German aircraft which were poised to wreak havoc on Allied forces pressing to establish the first firm bridgehead across the Po River; his fearless daring and voluntary self-sacrifice averted possible heavy casualties among ground forces and the resultant slowing on the German drive culminated in the collapse of enemy resistance in Italy.
 

Lt Knight with the Battle Damaged P-47 he flew the first day.

Source

I'm not sure, but this picture might have been taken after his first attack.  He returned the next day and died when he took a lot of AAA hits and his extremely damaged aircraft became unflyable and crashed.  He was the last Army Airman to be awarded the  MOH in WWII .  

 

Source

 

1st Lieutenant Raymond L. Knight (at right) and crew chief Sergeant Marvin Childers, with Republic P-47D-27-RE Thunderbolt 42-26785, marked 6D5. This is the fighter bomber that he flew on the final mission. It was extremely damaged and crashed killing the Lieutenant. The P-47 pictured was named “OH JOHNNIE” after his wife. (U.S. Air Force)

 

Rest in Peace, Warrior! 

 

 All Sources used for this post.  Some are just used for my better understanding of the event and not actually quoted in the post. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_L._Knight 

https://www.af.mil/Medal-of-Honor/Knight/ 

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/24-april-1945/ 

https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-2631/   

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/24-april-1945/ 

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/knight-raymond-lee 

 

Greetings from Kaigan-mura!¹

海辺の小さな村から、ご挨拶申し上げます。²

No, The Chant has not been kidnapped by the Japanese but I couldn't resist putting the caption for the screen shot above in Japanese. I mean the game I've been playing (far too much to be somewhat honest) is set in 14th/15th Century Japan. As I mentioned yesterday, the game is Sengoku Dynasty. (Chase the link to read about it.) It is addictive, fun, and hard to stop playing once you've got the hang of it.

Sort of.

I stumbled across this game while wandering through the Steam store, the preview looked interesting. Especially as I am interested in that period of Japanese history. The name of the game translates to Warring States Dynasty (戦国王朝 Sengoku ōchō). The Sengoku period in Japanese history covers that time when warring lords (大名 daimyo) were fighting to impose control over all of Japan. It ended when the Tokugawa shogunate was established, some date it ending from three years earlier after the Battle of Sekigahara.

Anyhoo, the game doesn't really simulate any of that, the premise is that you (your character in the game who you can name) is shipwrecked along with another person (a female) on an uncharted coast. All you can do in the beginning is craft stone tools, cut down trees and break up rocks to build simple shelters. (You start by building a fire and a lean-to for the aforementioned lady.) You also have to gather food.

Well, as you progress from the Stone Age, to the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and such, you gather other refugees from around the area. Learn new things, build a village, then a bigger village, etc., etc. You also can have raiders come in to steal your stuff. While you can turn that off, they are a pain the ass in the early stages of your village's development, it can be "fun" to fight those bastards off. If you don't they'll steal half of your stuff.

So yes, I've been playing it a lot lately. If you don't keep your villagers happy (housed, clothed, warm, and fed) then they leave. It takes a while to get the hang of providing the right resources and jobs (so they can make themselves happy) and at first I was bummed to have my villagers just up and leave, two or three at a time if you've got a village of thirty to forty souls.

After a while I just said, "Screw it, you want to leave, then leave." I was having fun going on quests, hunting, seeking out and destroying bad guys (which is fairly straightforward once you develop the capability of producing quality steel weapons), I provided the shelters, the tools, the fields, even the damned seed. Yup, I'm a typical 15th Century warlord.

After a bit of tinkering with the game, I discovered that all my villagers were knocking off work before noon! Seems I had to set their production levels to keep them busy producing the stuff they weren't getting because they weren't working but half a day.

So they don't leave as much as they used to ...

Anyhoo, that's what I'm up to. Being retired is way more fun than I expected!

So have a nice day, I have to go hunt down some pirates and wipe them out.

Oh, and it seems the villagers want a brewery now! I tell you, they're never happy!

Sayōnara!

¹ It's the name of my favorite village in the game, Kaigan-mura (海岸村) is Japanese for Coastal Village. I built it on a beach, the main residence is "The Beach House," a small mansion owned by my character, Mifune Toshirō (三船 敏郎). Yes, one of my favorite actors of all time. You know him as Toshiro Mifune.

² Greetings from a small village by the sea.