One helluva pilot.

[Subdeacon Joe]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/william-overstreet-jr-chased-german-aircraft-beneath-arches-of-eiffel/article_77800f72-029d-5258-acf8-977c90dea330.html

 

ROANOKE — Former fighter pilot William Overstreet Jr., famous for
flying beneath the arches of the Eiffel Tower while chasing a German
aircraft during World War II, died Sunday at the age of 92.

Overstreet was awarded hundreds of medals for his service in the
357th squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, according to his obituary
posted by Oakey’s Funeral Home. One of his greatest honors was receiving
France’s Legion of Honor from the French ambassador to the United
States in 2009 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

At the ceremony, the French ambassador said Overstreet led “some of the most heroic actions
that we have ever heard of” during the liberation of France.

Overstreet’s most famous flight came while in solo pursuit of a German Messerschmitt Bf 109G
flying into Nazi-occupied Paris. He maneuvered his plane beneath the
arches of the Eiffel Tower, reigniting the spirit of the French
Resistance troops on the ground.

 

 

http://www.cebudanderson.com/billoverstreet.htm

 

On 6 August, 1944, the 357th Fighter Group was

selected to escort B-17s from the 8th Air Force's 3rd Bomb Division on a shuttle

mission to the Soviet Union. Seventy-two of the group's Mustangs took off from

Leiston and sixty-six rendezvoused with the bombers seventy-five miles northwest

of Gydnia, Poland. the group engaged several Me 109s near Gydnia, shooting down

two of the German fighters. They regrouped after driving off the rest of the Me

109s and continued to escort the bombers until reaching Kiev. Seven and a half

hours after taking off from Leiston, all of the 357th's P-51s landed at

Piryatin.

The group escorted B-17s to Cracow, Poland, on

the 7th and to Foggia, Italy, on the 8th. Lieutenant Bill Overstreet realized

these mission were unique and began to feel sorry for the members of the group

who were left behind in Leiston. He did not expect resistance from the Luftwaffe

on the group's mission to Foggia. As a result, he traded the .50 caliber

ammunition in his Mustang for bottles of vodka and loaded them in the now empty

ammunition bays. The flight was uneventful until the group spotted Messerschmitt

109s over Romania. The Germans spotted the 357th almost as quickly and ran for

home at full throttle. As the group chased the German fighters, Overstreet

managed to get on the tail of a Me 109 and saw, to his amazement, the German

pilot bail out of his fighter, even though he had not been hit. Regarding this

incident, Overstreet wrote:

No one fired at the one who bailed out, so

imagine the smiles on the faces of the fellows when we were asked at the

debriefing, "Who was the closest one to him?" I was the closest, but I

had vodka, not bullets. That (Me 109) could have been awarded to me as an aerial

victory, it wasn't.

 

 

 

 

[Dusty Balz, SASS#46599]

Tails Winds sir

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

Another of our greatest generation gone

[Utah Bob #35998]

Hundreds of medals is sure a lot.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Whatchew been smokin', Bob? Expecting a reporter to get things right...

[Utah Bob #35998]

And I'd like to meet the German pilot who flew under the tower ahead of Overstreet.

[DocWard]

And I'd like to meet the German pilot who flew under the tower ahead of Overstreet.

 

I showed the article to my daughter, and we got to talking about it. Wondered if the ME 109 pilot thought "he'd be crazy to try to follow me under here..."

 

Here is some artwork. Too bad it's sold out. Not that I could afford it...

 

http://www.aviationarthangar.com/avarthabeexa.html#description