The story of Major John H Hoefker

Many accounts have been writshyten about Fighter Aces in the European Theater of World War Two When the

term Fighter Ace is used we usushyally think of the fighter pilot defendshying the bombers from Luftwaffe fighters during the high altitude long range bombing missions over Germany However as we shall see that is not the total portrait of the Fighter Ace

This is the story of a man who became an Ace even though his prishymary mission was tactical reconshynaissance in support of Pattons Third Army during its drive across Europe These TAC R pilots flew in two plane formations and operated at altitudes from 3500 to 6000 feet in order to find and fix enemy forshymations and installations for the ground troops Even at these low alshytitudes encounters with enemy fightshyers were not uncommon and quite a few enemy pilots paid the ultimate price when they tried to bounce these unsuspecting targets

Like so many other young men during the late 1930s and early 1940s John Hoefker was beginning his life in the business world In his case it was joining with his father in the family meat market in Covshyington Kentucky However as the possibility of war looked more and more imminent John began to give some thought as to how he would serve Already the thought of being an infantryman had been rejected and the thought of becoming a pilot was enteringhis mind Having never flown before and being unsure as to how well he would adapt to flying John decided to test it out first For a period of time he had some local pilots take him up over the northern Kentucky-Cincinnati Ohio area and after several flights decided that the Army Air Corps would be his choice

After enlisting in the Army in August 1941 Cadet Hoefker was sent to King City California to begin his flight training By March 1942 John had completed all phases of his trainshy

F-60 01 the 15th TRS during a photo run over a German city in April 1945 (S Wilson)

ing and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant Along with his new gold bars came orders assigning him to the 153rd Observation Squadron 67th Observation Group at Esler Field Louisiana Lt Hoefkers arshyrival at Esler was quite timely beshycause the Group was in the process of doing away with the old obsolete observa tion planes and re-equipping with modern fighter aircraft such as the Curtiss P-40 the Republic P-43 and the North American P-51A For the next several months the pilots familiarized themselves with the new planes and at the same time worked on the development of new recce doctrines lMld tactics The training ended in September 1942 when the Group was declared combat ready Shortly thereafter the 67th OG sel

sail for England and assignment to the 8th Air Force

The Group arrived in England in November 1942 and set up operations at Membury The squadrons received reverse Lend-Lease Supermarine Spitfires and began functioning in an operational training status Durshying the first few months in England the pilots flew numerous training flights designed to familiarize the pilots with European flying In April 1943 Lt Hoefker was reassigned to the 107th Recon Squadron 67th RG and in August 1943 he like other members of his squadron was indishyvidually assigned to temporary duty with an RAF fighter squadron John was assigned to No 165 Squadron at Kenley and the training they proshyvided included both tactical training exercises and actual combat missions While with No 165 Squadron Lt Hoefker flew eleven comba t missions to include convoy patrols bomber escort and fighter sweeps over the Continent This period with the RAF stands out vividly in Johns memory and he credits their training for a great deal of his success in combat

In November 1943 the 67th Group was reassigned to the 9th Air Force and moved to its new base at Middle Wallop on 11 December Concurrent with their move the Group began reshyceiving brand new Mustangs to reshyplace their aging Spitfires and everyshyone now knew that their entry into combat was close at hand

Nine days later on 20 December 1943 the 67th RG received orders for its first combat mission and the honor of flying the mission went to the 107th Recon Squadron At 1120 hours a flight of two P-51As piloted by Lts John Hoefker and Frank Dillon departed Middle Wallop en route to France on what would beshycome the USAAFs first tactical reshyconnaissance mission in northern Eushyrope On that same day the 67ths newest squadron the 15th Tactical Recon Squadron was moving into its new base at Aldermasten The 15th TRS would replace the 153rd Squadron which had been redesigshynated as a liaison squadron Because of its late arrival in England there was an urgent need to bring the 15th TRS into an operational status To help give the 15th some needed exshyperience Lts John Hoefker Lyon Davis and Robbie Robertson were transferred to the squadron and beshycame flight leaders Along with his transfer Hoefker received a promoshytion to the rank of Captain

For the next two months the 15th was engaged in an intensive training program and in March 1944 the unit was ready for operations against the enemy On 26 March 1944 Capshytain Hoefker and his CO Major Lloyd Warren took off from Middle Wallop and headed for France on the 15ths first mission Their misshysion was to photograph German inshystallations in Normandy and the reshysults of this first mission were so outstanding that they received a commendation from General Pete Quesada

During April 1944 the 67th Reshyconnaissance Group was actively enshygaged in providing bomb damage asshysessment photos of targets struck by 9th AF bombers in France and Belshygium In May the Group continued its BDA work but its primary misshysion was now wa tching and photoshygraphing German coastal positions fuel and ammo dumps bridges marshyshaling yards and troop movements By the end of May 1944 the 9th Air Forces two recon groups the 10th PRG and the 67th RG had provided General Eisenhower and his staff with thousands of photos which were extremely vital to the invasion

air classics 15

John H Hoefker during his advanced trahing days at Stockton California durshying 1942

Mustangs of the 15th TRS at Furth Gershymany during May 1945 (R Gaudette)

planners With these photos the Alshylied planners could clearly see what the troops would be facing and were able to make the final preparations

D-Day missions for the 15th TAC R Squadron began at 0500 hours Its Mustangs were to patrol the areas behind the invasion front and report any German troop movements to the fighter-bombers In the course of these missions its pilots became inshyvolved in a little extra-curricular activity Their historian described the morning of 6 June as follows As the first day of the greatest air land and sea assault drew to a fiery intennission and scalps as well as noses were counted the Allied high command was faced with the astonshyishing fact that TAC R had knocked down the first enemy plane over Europe after Zero Hour and made a whirlwind finish with a score of three certains and one probable The first kill of D-Day had gone to Lt Joe Conklin and the other two were claimed by Lts Clyde East and Ernest Schonard The 15th history continued Ground support fighters fighter-bombers and all the other aircraft reported that the Jerry was far scarcer than snowballs on the powder-blackened beaches but the Eyes of the Army and the advance agents of the combat teams came home with the maps photos and the brace of enemy fighters

The scoring continued when the 15th TRS returned to action on 7 June The squadron was again reconshynoitering the German rear lines of communications when enemy aircraft appeared The days encounter took place in the vicinity of Le Mans where John Hoefker was on a route recce John recalled the encounter as follows I saw a flight of 109s that was preparing to intercept us so I pulled up and into their path and attacked their leader Apparentshyly this fellow was an old hand beshycause it was only after a long and determined dogfight that I was able to bring him down When the rest of the Gennans saw their leader go down they turned and headed home we continued the mission

Victory No1 was only the beginshyning of what was to become a most eventful month in the combat career of John Hoefker Ten days later an urgent request came in for an imporshytant photo mission over the Loire Valley The high command needed to know the status of bridges along the Loire River and they couldnt wait for the weather to clear The assignment was given to Captain Hoefker and he flew it from a forshyward airstrip in France In terrible weather he headed for the heavily defended target area When he arshyrived the ceiling was so low that he had to go down to the vulnerable

Spitfire Mk V of the 107th TRS at Membury England The aircraft is coded AX-D (Col R Stone)

altitude of 5000 feet to make his run The best description of the mission is contained in the citation from his commanding officer which read Undeterred by heavy flak he enshycountered at Nantes and with the protection of only one other aircraft he continued over a fifty mile area at less than 5000 feet Little envasive action could be taken because of the number of targets Notwithstanding Captain Hoefker succeeded in obtainshying excellent oblique stereopairs of eighty bridges along the target area with only three negatives Detailed visual reconnaissance of five bridges was also obtained Without disregard for personal safety and without sushyperior courage and flying ability this mission could not have been carried out For this mission which was one of the longest single-engined reconnaissance missions in Europe at that stage of the war Captain Hoefker received the Distinguished Flying Cross

Republic P-43 Lancer of the 67th Observation Group at Esler Field Louisiana during the summer of 1942 (USAF Museum)

air cssics 17

On 20 December 1943 Lts John H Hoelker and Frank Dillon 01 the 107th TRS flew the 67th RGs first operational mission Lt Dillon flew this P-51 A on that mission (Col F Dillon)

By 20 June the weather began to clear and the 15th dispatched a recshyord number of sorties One of the sections that went to France was the team of Captain John Hoefker and Lt James McCormick Their mission was to check the roads and rail lines in the vicinity of Argentan Northshywest of the city six Bf 109s bounced the section and a twisting and vioshylent dogfight ensued Finally the pair of recce pilots outmaneuvered the German fighter pilots and Mac sent one of the 109s out of the fight trailshying heavy smoke While that was going on Captain Hoefker chose his victim and ripped the 109 apart with several bursts of fire from his fifties The Messerschmitt exploded in midshyair and Hoefker had his second conshyfirmed victory The squadron histoshyrian ended the days entry with this remark With this victory Captain

Hoelker climbs into a 15th TRS Sptilire Mk V for a training mission (L Davis)

well underway both Groups would soon be assuming the respomibility of providing aerial reconnaissance for an American field army The 67th would cover the First Army and the 10th RG would cover Pattons Third Army To accomplish their respective missions each Group would have to be able to provide both photo and T AC R coverage to the forces on the ground So on 13 June the 67th Recon Group traded two of its TAC R squadrons the 12th and 15th to the 10th PRG for two photo squadshyrons the 30th and 33rd PSs The actual move for the 15th TRS took place on 27 June when it headed for its new base at Chalgrove

The squadrons first missions unshyder the 10th Photo Recon Group took place two days later on 29 June The weather was marginal but five missions were dispa tched over the Continent Three of the five had to be aborted due to heavy cloud cover but the other two were quite sucshycessful One of the successful misshysions was flown by Captain Hoefker with Lt Joe Waits as his wingman They were to make a visual recce of Laigle Bernay Belleme and AIshylencon and during the mission Hoefshyker was able to record the movement

Pilots of No 165 Squadron RAF at Kenley John Hoefker was trained by the unit in August 1943 and flew his first eleven missions under their supervision (JH Hoefker)

Hoefker established himself as the squadrons high scorer and a definite Bf 109 specialist

While these missions were going on a plan was being implemented by the 9th Air Force to reorganize its two reconnaissance groups Up to now the 67th RG had operated with four TAC R squadrons and the 10th PRG had four unarmed photo squadshyrons Since the invasion was now

of several horie drawn wagons plus a number of rail cars sitting at sidshyings-aIl perfect targets for the fighter-bombers However while Capshytain Hoefker was watching and reshycording the enemys movements beshylow he and Lt Waits were being watched from above by four Bf 109 pilots The encounter was described bv Captain Hoefker in his report We were sixteen miles southwest of Bernay flying at 4000 feet when we observed four 109s approaching us from the southwest at 4500 feet As we climbed for the clouds the 109s turned and dove for us from behind and I was attacked from beshy

low and to my rear by an enemy aircraft that opened fire at 500 yards I broke left and we went into a Lufbury I broke from the Lufbury while looking for Waits and was again attacked from my left rear I pulled up into an Immelman and dove onto another 109 and fired three short bursts of lz second each After the third burst I saw brownish-white smoke pour from the aircrafts enshygine and then he rolled over and went down in a 60-degree dive exshyploding as he hit the ground The pilot did not get out After the crash of the 109 the other three Germans left the scene and Hoefker and Waits headed back to their base With his third victory in less than a month Captain Hoefker had clearly established himself as the top gun in reconnaissance Even though TAC R pilots were supposed to leave aerial combat to the fighter pilots and stick to observing activities on the ground the Squadron was obshyviously quite proud of Captain Hoefshykers accomplishments The squadshyron historian noted the mission of the 29th as follows Captain Hoefshyker the Nemesis of the Messershyschmitts boosted his total to three with a kill near Bernay Four 109s bounced the redoubtable Captain and his wingman Joe Waits The Captain modestly acknowledged that these boys have been out of flying school a long time but the old speshycialist proved equal to the occasion

As it turned out the mission of 29 June was to be the last of Captain Hoefkers first tour in Europe After nearly two years of flying over Eushyrope he was granted a Stateside leave and headed home to Kentucky for a well earned rest

By the time he returned to his squadron in October 1944 the battle front had stalemated Pattons magshynificent drive across France had endshyed in September because of a shortshyage of fuel and supplies Third Army was now in the process of resupplyshying and preparing for its next offenshysive With no movement on the ground the 15th TAC Rs duties were to carry out visual recce sorties deep in to enemy territory behind the front They were to keep track of enemy road and rail traffic and troop movements In doing so the TAC R pilots were hampered by some very foul weather vicious flak and a resurgent Luftwaffe It was in fact on his very first mission after returnshying to the front that Captain Hoefshyker learned that the Luftwaffe was still a force to be reckoned with On that mission which took place on 11 October he and hie wingman

air classics 19

FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

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John H Hoefker during his advanced trahing days at Stockton California durshying 1942

Mustangs of the 15th TRS at Furth Gershymany during May 1945 (R Gaudette)

planners With these photos the Alshylied planners could clearly see what the troops would be facing and were able to make the final preparations

D-Day missions for the 15th TAC R Squadron began at 0500 hours Its Mustangs were to patrol the areas behind the invasion front and report any German troop movements to the fighter-bombers In the course of these missions its pilots became inshyvolved in a little extra-curricular activity Their historian described the morning of 6 June as follows As the first day of the greatest air land and sea assault drew to a fiery intennission and scalps as well as noses were counted the Allied high command was faced with the astonshyishing fact that TAC R had knocked down the first enemy plane over Europe after Zero Hour and made a whirlwind finish with a score of three certains and one probable The first kill of D-Day had gone to Lt Joe Conklin and the other two were claimed by Lts Clyde East and Ernest Schonard The 15th history continued Ground support fighters fighter-bombers and all the other aircraft reported that the Jerry was far scarcer than snowballs on the powder-blackened beaches but the Eyes of the Army and the advance agents of the combat teams came home with the maps photos and the brace of enemy fighters

The scoring continued when the 15th TRS returned to action on 7 June The squadron was again reconshynoitering the German rear lines of communications when enemy aircraft appeared The days encounter took place in the vicinity of Le Mans where John Hoefker was on a route recce John recalled the encounter as follows I saw a flight of 109s that was preparing to intercept us so I pulled up and into their path and attacked their leader Apparentshyly this fellow was an old hand beshycause it was only after a long and determined dogfight that I was able to bring him down When the rest of the Gennans saw their leader go down they turned and headed home we continued the mission

Victory No1 was only the beginshyning of what was to become a most eventful month in the combat career of John Hoefker Ten days later an urgent request came in for an imporshytant photo mission over the Loire Valley The high command needed to know the status of bridges along the Loire River and they couldnt wait for the weather to clear The assignment was given to Captain Hoefker and he flew it from a forshyward airstrip in France In terrible weather he headed for the heavily defended target area When he arshyrived the ceiling was so low that he had to go down to the vulnerable

Spitfire Mk V of the 107th TRS at Membury England The aircraft is coded AX-D (Col R Stone)

altitude of 5000 feet to make his run The best description of the mission is contained in the citation from his commanding officer which read Undeterred by heavy flak he enshycountered at Nantes and with the protection of only one other aircraft he continued over a fifty mile area at less than 5000 feet Little envasive action could be taken because of the number of targets Notwithstanding Captain Hoefker succeeded in obtainshying excellent oblique stereopairs of eighty bridges along the target area with only three negatives Detailed visual reconnaissance of five bridges was also obtained Without disregard for personal safety and without sushyperior courage and flying ability this mission could not have been carried out For this mission which was one of the longest single-engined reconnaissance missions in Europe at that stage of the war Captain Hoefker received the Distinguished Flying Cross

Republic P-43 Lancer of the 67th Observation Group at Esler Field Louisiana during the summer of 1942 (USAF Museum)

air cssics 17

On 20 December 1943 Lts John H Hoelker and Frank Dillon 01 the 107th TRS flew the 67th RGs first operational mission Lt Dillon flew this P-51 A on that mission (Col F Dillon)

By 20 June the weather began to clear and the 15th dispatched a recshyord number of sorties One of the sections that went to France was the team of Captain John Hoefker and Lt James McCormick Their mission was to check the roads and rail lines in the vicinity of Argentan Northshywest of the city six Bf 109s bounced the section and a twisting and vioshylent dogfight ensued Finally the pair of recce pilots outmaneuvered the German fighter pilots and Mac sent one of the 109s out of the fight trailshying heavy smoke While that was going on Captain Hoefker chose his victim and ripped the 109 apart with several bursts of fire from his fifties The Messerschmitt exploded in midshyair and Hoefker had his second conshyfirmed victory The squadron histoshyrian ended the days entry with this remark With this victory Captain

Hoelker climbs into a 15th TRS Sptilire Mk V for a training mission (L Davis)

well underway both Groups would soon be assuming the respomibility of providing aerial reconnaissance for an American field army The 67th would cover the First Army and the 10th RG would cover Pattons Third Army To accomplish their respective missions each Group would have to be able to provide both photo and T AC R coverage to the forces on the ground So on 13 June the 67th Recon Group traded two of its TAC R squadrons the 12th and 15th to the 10th PRG for two photo squadshyrons the 30th and 33rd PSs The actual move for the 15th TRS took place on 27 June when it headed for its new base at Chalgrove

The squadrons first missions unshyder the 10th Photo Recon Group took place two days later on 29 June The weather was marginal but five missions were dispa tched over the Continent Three of the five had to be aborted due to heavy cloud cover but the other two were quite sucshycessful One of the successful misshysions was flown by Captain Hoefker with Lt Joe Waits as his wingman They were to make a visual recce of Laigle Bernay Belleme and AIshylencon and during the mission Hoefshyker was able to record the movement

Pilots of No 165 Squadron RAF at Kenley John Hoefker was trained by the unit in August 1943 and flew his first eleven missions under their supervision (JH Hoefker)

Hoefker established himself as the squadrons high scorer and a definite Bf 109 specialist

While these missions were going on a plan was being implemented by the 9th Air Force to reorganize its two reconnaissance groups Up to now the 67th RG had operated with four TAC R squadrons and the 10th PRG had four unarmed photo squadshyrons Since the invasion was now

of several horie drawn wagons plus a number of rail cars sitting at sidshyings-aIl perfect targets for the fighter-bombers However while Capshytain Hoefker was watching and reshycording the enemys movements beshylow he and Lt Waits were being watched from above by four Bf 109 pilots The encounter was described bv Captain Hoefker in his report We were sixteen miles southwest of Bernay flying at 4000 feet when we observed four 109s approaching us from the southwest at 4500 feet As we climbed for the clouds the 109s turned and dove for us from behind and I was attacked from beshy

low and to my rear by an enemy aircraft that opened fire at 500 yards I broke left and we went into a Lufbury I broke from the Lufbury while looking for Waits and was again attacked from my left rear I pulled up into an Immelman and dove onto another 109 and fired three short bursts of lz second each After the third burst I saw brownish-white smoke pour from the aircrafts enshygine and then he rolled over and went down in a 60-degree dive exshyploding as he hit the ground The pilot did not get out After the crash of the 109 the other three Germans left the scene and Hoefker and Waits headed back to their base With his third victory in less than a month Captain Hoefker had clearly established himself as the top gun in reconnaissance Even though TAC R pilots were supposed to leave aerial combat to the fighter pilots and stick to observing activities on the ground the Squadron was obshyviously quite proud of Captain Hoefshykers accomplishments The squadshyron historian noted the mission of the 29th as follows Captain Hoefshyker the Nemesis of the Messershyschmitts boosted his total to three with a kill near Bernay Four 109s bounced the redoubtable Captain and his wingman Joe Waits The Captain modestly acknowledged that these boys have been out of flying school a long time but the old speshycialist proved equal to the occasion

As it turned out the mission of 29 June was to be the last of Captain Hoefkers first tour in Europe After nearly two years of flying over Eushyrope he was granted a Stateside leave and headed home to Kentucky for a well earned rest

By the time he returned to his squadron in October 1944 the battle front had stalemated Pattons magshynificent drive across France had endshyed in September because of a shortshyage of fuel and supplies Third Army was now in the process of resupplyshying and preparing for its next offenshysive With no movement on the ground the 15th TAC Rs duties were to carry out visual recce sorties deep in to enemy territory behind the front They were to keep track of enemy road and rail traffic and troop movements In doing so the TAC R pilots were hampered by some very foul weather vicious flak and a resurgent Luftwaffe It was in fact on his very first mission after returnshying to the front that Captain Hoefshyker learned that the Luftwaffe was still a force to be reckoned with On that mission which took place on 11 October he and hie wingman

air classics 19

FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

~HIGH QUAUTf -utARY HISTORY~PAICED 0 OIIE VIDEO IIASSETTES BETA 011 VHS WE PA

amp US POSTA bullNO WAITINO-MOST ORDERS SHIPPED WITHIN7 3 ~~ASWE ARE RELlALE bullbullbull ft Ow 20th Ybullbullrlil

REPORT FROMmiddotTHE ALEU11AN8 bullbullbullPHIS BELLE CoIoot lI n __II ElItIMI ----IIIItIIIII-_ ------_- -

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bullNFmiddot125 (5 Complete Programs total time 2 lull hours Only 4 ----___shyNF 128 (4 Complete Pl1llrlllll I11III time 2 fllllltoun) bull Dilly $499aIITHUNDERBOLT

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Spitfire Mk V of the 107th TRS at Membury England The aircraft is coded AX-D (Col R Stone)

altitude of 5000 feet to make his run The best description of the mission is contained in the citation from his commanding officer which read Undeterred by heavy flak he enshycountered at Nantes and with the protection of only one other aircraft he continued over a fifty mile area at less than 5000 feet Little envasive action could be taken because of the number of targets Notwithstanding Captain Hoefker succeeded in obtainshying excellent oblique stereopairs of eighty bridges along the target area with only three negatives Detailed visual reconnaissance of five bridges was also obtained Without disregard for personal safety and without sushyperior courage and flying ability this mission could not have been carried out For this mission which was one of the longest single-engined reconnaissance missions in Europe at that stage of the war Captain Hoefker received the Distinguished Flying Cross

Republic P-43 Lancer of the 67th Observation Group at Esler Field Louisiana during the summer of 1942 (USAF Museum)

air cssics 17

On 20 December 1943 Lts John H Hoelker and Frank Dillon 01 the 107th TRS flew the 67th RGs first operational mission Lt Dillon flew this P-51 A on that mission (Col F Dillon)

By 20 June the weather began to clear and the 15th dispatched a recshyord number of sorties One of the sections that went to France was the team of Captain John Hoefker and Lt James McCormick Their mission was to check the roads and rail lines in the vicinity of Argentan Northshywest of the city six Bf 109s bounced the section and a twisting and vioshylent dogfight ensued Finally the pair of recce pilots outmaneuvered the German fighter pilots and Mac sent one of the 109s out of the fight trailshying heavy smoke While that was going on Captain Hoefker chose his victim and ripped the 109 apart with several bursts of fire from his fifties The Messerschmitt exploded in midshyair and Hoefker had his second conshyfirmed victory The squadron histoshyrian ended the days entry with this remark With this victory Captain

Hoelker climbs into a 15th TRS Sptilire Mk V for a training mission (L Davis)

well underway both Groups would soon be assuming the respomibility of providing aerial reconnaissance for an American field army The 67th would cover the First Army and the 10th RG would cover Pattons Third Army To accomplish their respective missions each Group would have to be able to provide both photo and T AC R coverage to the forces on the ground So on 13 June the 67th Recon Group traded two of its TAC R squadrons the 12th and 15th to the 10th PRG for two photo squadshyrons the 30th and 33rd PSs The actual move for the 15th TRS took place on 27 June when it headed for its new base at Chalgrove

The squadrons first missions unshyder the 10th Photo Recon Group took place two days later on 29 June The weather was marginal but five missions were dispa tched over the Continent Three of the five had to be aborted due to heavy cloud cover but the other two were quite sucshycessful One of the successful misshysions was flown by Captain Hoefker with Lt Joe Waits as his wingman They were to make a visual recce of Laigle Bernay Belleme and AIshylencon and during the mission Hoefshyker was able to record the movement

Pilots of No 165 Squadron RAF at Kenley John Hoefker was trained by the unit in August 1943 and flew his first eleven missions under their supervision (JH Hoefker)

Hoefker established himself as the squadrons high scorer and a definite Bf 109 specialist

While these missions were going on a plan was being implemented by the 9th Air Force to reorganize its two reconnaissance groups Up to now the 67th RG had operated with four TAC R squadrons and the 10th PRG had four unarmed photo squadshyrons Since the invasion was now

of several horie drawn wagons plus a number of rail cars sitting at sidshyings-aIl perfect targets for the fighter-bombers However while Capshytain Hoefker was watching and reshycording the enemys movements beshylow he and Lt Waits were being watched from above by four Bf 109 pilots The encounter was described bv Captain Hoefker in his report We were sixteen miles southwest of Bernay flying at 4000 feet when we observed four 109s approaching us from the southwest at 4500 feet As we climbed for the clouds the 109s turned and dove for us from behind and I was attacked from beshy

low and to my rear by an enemy aircraft that opened fire at 500 yards I broke left and we went into a Lufbury I broke from the Lufbury while looking for Waits and was again attacked from my left rear I pulled up into an Immelman and dove onto another 109 and fired three short bursts of lz second each After the third burst I saw brownish-white smoke pour from the aircrafts enshygine and then he rolled over and went down in a 60-degree dive exshyploding as he hit the ground The pilot did not get out After the crash of the 109 the other three Germans left the scene and Hoefker and Waits headed back to their base With his third victory in less than a month Captain Hoefker had clearly established himself as the top gun in reconnaissance Even though TAC R pilots were supposed to leave aerial combat to the fighter pilots and stick to observing activities on the ground the Squadron was obshyviously quite proud of Captain Hoefshykers accomplishments The squadshyron historian noted the mission of the 29th as follows Captain Hoefshyker the Nemesis of the Messershyschmitts boosted his total to three with a kill near Bernay Four 109s bounced the redoubtable Captain and his wingman Joe Waits The Captain modestly acknowledged that these boys have been out of flying school a long time but the old speshycialist proved equal to the occasion

As it turned out the mission of 29 June was to be the last of Captain Hoefkers first tour in Europe After nearly two years of flying over Eushyrope he was granted a Stateside leave and headed home to Kentucky for a well earned rest

By the time he returned to his squadron in October 1944 the battle front had stalemated Pattons magshynificent drive across France had endshyed in September because of a shortshyage of fuel and supplies Third Army was now in the process of resupplyshying and preparing for its next offenshysive With no movement on the ground the 15th TAC Rs duties were to carry out visual recce sorties deep in to enemy territory behind the front They were to keep track of enemy road and rail traffic and troop movements In doing so the TAC R pilots were hampered by some very foul weather vicious flak and a resurgent Luftwaffe It was in fact on his very first mission after returnshying to the front that Captain Hoefshyker learned that the Luftwaffe was still a force to be reckoned with On that mission which took place on 11 October he and hie wingman

air classics 19

FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

~HIGH QUAUTf -utARY HISTORY~PAICED 0 OIIE VIDEO IIASSETTES BETA 011 VHS WE PA

amp US POSTA bullNO WAITINO-MOST ORDERS SHIPPED WITHIN7 3 ~~ASWE ARE RELlALE bullbullbull ft Ow 20th Ybullbullrlil

REPORT FROMmiddotTHE ALEU11AN8 bullbullbullPHIS BELLE CoIoot lI n __II ElItIMI ----IIIItIIIII-_ ------_- -

THAT CAllE TO STAY ATTLE OF BRITAIN _ ___ UI111__11_- -1IoIIL00eIIIII____ $499aHF-102 (2 Complete Progrlms Iml time min) _ bull OnlyFURY IN THE PACIFIC--__ __ ------- HOOK DOWN WHEELS DOWIf 2 Part SeriesBATTLE OF MIDWAYCGlIIIUs _ ___ Zl __ __-_ CIIart -1IIIa__ilia LIOIIIOY VII JFXIII_ _ -roIlY OP NAVAL AVIATION uCARRIER ACTION OFF KOREA _ _ 10111_ __US roIIlo __oII - _ _ _ -en _ 71H

bullNFmiddot125 (5 Complete Programs total time 2 lull hours Only 4 ----___shyNF 128 (4 Complete Pl1llrlllll I11III time 2 fllllltoun) bull Dilly $499aIITHUNDERBOLT

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NF VIDEO Inc 177 Webster Street Suite 244 MontereyCA 93940NF 126 (2 Complet Programs III Urn 1 hr_ 50 mIn) Only $488a ~--------------~

On 20 December 1943 Lts John H Hoelker and Frank Dillon 01 the 107th TRS flew the 67th RGs first operational mission Lt Dillon flew this P-51 A on that mission (Col F Dillon)

By 20 June the weather began to clear and the 15th dispatched a recshyord number of sorties One of the sections that went to France was the team of Captain John Hoefker and Lt James McCormick Their mission was to check the roads and rail lines in the vicinity of Argentan Northshywest of the city six Bf 109s bounced the section and a twisting and vioshylent dogfight ensued Finally the pair of recce pilots outmaneuvered the German fighter pilots and Mac sent one of the 109s out of the fight trailshying heavy smoke While that was going on Captain Hoefker chose his victim and ripped the 109 apart with several bursts of fire from his fifties The Messerschmitt exploded in midshyair and Hoefker had his second conshyfirmed victory The squadron histoshyrian ended the days entry with this remark With this victory Captain

Hoelker climbs into a 15th TRS Sptilire Mk V for a training mission (L Davis)

well underway both Groups would soon be assuming the respomibility of providing aerial reconnaissance for an American field army The 67th would cover the First Army and the 10th RG would cover Pattons Third Army To accomplish their respective missions each Group would have to be able to provide both photo and T AC R coverage to the forces on the ground So on 13 June the 67th Recon Group traded two of its TAC R squadrons the 12th and 15th to the 10th PRG for two photo squadshyrons the 30th and 33rd PSs The actual move for the 15th TRS took place on 27 June when it headed for its new base at Chalgrove

The squadrons first missions unshyder the 10th Photo Recon Group took place two days later on 29 June The weather was marginal but five missions were dispa tched over the Continent Three of the five had to be aborted due to heavy cloud cover but the other two were quite sucshycessful One of the successful misshysions was flown by Captain Hoefker with Lt Joe Waits as his wingman They were to make a visual recce of Laigle Bernay Belleme and AIshylencon and during the mission Hoefshyker was able to record the movement

Pilots of No 165 Squadron RAF at Kenley John Hoefker was trained by the unit in August 1943 and flew his first eleven missions under their supervision (JH Hoefker)

Hoefker established himself as the squadrons high scorer and a definite Bf 109 specialist

While these missions were going on a plan was being implemented by the 9th Air Force to reorganize its two reconnaissance groups Up to now the 67th RG had operated with four TAC R squadrons and the 10th PRG had four unarmed photo squadshyrons Since the invasion was now

of several horie drawn wagons plus a number of rail cars sitting at sidshyings-aIl perfect targets for the fighter-bombers However while Capshytain Hoefker was watching and reshycording the enemys movements beshylow he and Lt Waits were being watched from above by four Bf 109 pilots The encounter was described bv Captain Hoefker in his report We were sixteen miles southwest of Bernay flying at 4000 feet when we observed four 109s approaching us from the southwest at 4500 feet As we climbed for the clouds the 109s turned and dove for us from behind and I was attacked from beshy

low and to my rear by an enemy aircraft that opened fire at 500 yards I broke left and we went into a Lufbury I broke from the Lufbury while looking for Waits and was again attacked from my left rear I pulled up into an Immelman and dove onto another 109 and fired three short bursts of lz second each After the third burst I saw brownish-white smoke pour from the aircrafts enshygine and then he rolled over and went down in a 60-degree dive exshyploding as he hit the ground The pilot did not get out After the crash of the 109 the other three Germans left the scene and Hoefker and Waits headed back to their base With his third victory in less than a month Captain Hoefker had clearly established himself as the top gun in reconnaissance Even though TAC R pilots were supposed to leave aerial combat to the fighter pilots and stick to observing activities on the ground the Squadron was obshyviously quite proud of Captain Hoefshykers accomplishments The squadshyron historian noted the mission of the 29th as follows Captain Hoefshyker the Nemesis of the Messershyschmitts boosted his total to three with a kill near Bernay Four 109s bounced the redoubtable Captain and his wingman Joe Waits The Captain modestly acknowledged that these boys have been out of flying school a long time but the old speshycialist proved equal to the occasion

As it turned out the mission of 29 June was to be the last of Captain Hoefkers first tour in Europe After nearly two years of flying over Eushyrope he was granted a Stateside leave and headed home to Kentucky for a well earned rest

By the time he returned to his squadron in October 1944 the battle front had stalemated Pattons magshynificent drive across France had endshyed in September because of a shortshyage of fuel and supplies Third Army was now in the process of resupplyshying and preparing for its next offenshysive With no movement on the ground the 15th TAC Rs duties were to carry out visual recce sorties deep in to enemy territory behind the front They were to keep track of enemy road and rail traffic and troop movements In doing so the TAC R pilots were hampered by some very foul weather vicious flak and a resurgent Luftwaffe It was in fact on his very first mission after returnshying to the front that Captain Hoefshyker learned that the Luftwaffe was still a force to be reckoned with On that mission which took place on 11 October he and hie wingman

air classics 19

FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

~HIGH QUAUTf -utARY HISTORY~PAICED 0 OIIE VIDEO IIASSETTES BETA 011 VHS WE PA

amp US POSTA bullNO WAITINO-MOST ORDERS SHIPPED WITHIN7 3 ~~ASWE ARE RELlALE bullbullbull ft Ow 20th Ybullbullrlil

REPORT FROMmiddotTHE ALEU11AN8 bullbullbullPHIS BELLE CoIoot lI n __II ElItIMI ----IIIItIIIII-_ ------_- -

THAT CAllE TO STAY ATTLE OF BRITAIN _ ___ UI111__11_- -1IoIIL00eIIIII____ $499aHF-102 (2 Complete Progrlms Iml time min) _ bull OnlyFURY IN THE PACIFIC--__ __ ------- HOOK DOWN WHEELS DOWIf 2 Part SeriesBATTLE OF MIDWAYCGlIIIUs _ ___ Zl __ __-_ CIIart -1IIIa__ilia LIOIIIOY VII JFXIII_ _ -roIlY OP NAVAL AVIATION uCARRIER ACTION OFF KOREA _ _ 10111_ __US roIIlo __oII - _ _ _ -en _ 71H

bullNFmiddot125 (5 Complete Programs total time 2 lull hours Only 4 ----___shyNF 128 (4 Complete Pl1llrlllll I11III time 2 fllllltoun) bull Dilly $499aIITHUNDERBOLT

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_ _ _1-11 filii _ _01 raId_ - c-_-- TARGET FOR TONIGHT Nf 1 lOVer 7lt running Ume)Specl1 SIIe$17900bull shy- iIIIIIIII ____shy

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~I O~~ro~AE~MHOO~MUNE~1ITHIS IS KOREA CoIootR__ DlUmiddotWllflrllno EIrIy_IItI(~A__ ljIIc 1middot800middot528middot8050 Ext 1440 IIMgnoN PICTURE HISTORY OF THE I All Maior Credit Cards I

Postage Paid in US amp Canada Foreign Orders Add $5 00K REANWAR -I111y 24-~DIIIr_ I-ZIIIOd - I11III _ IIhIg ood I SPECIFY BETA OR VHSCalilornia Res Add 6 Sales Ta I

NF VIDEO Inc 177 Webster Street Suite 244 MontereyCA 93940NF 126 (2 Complet Programs III Urn 1 hr_ 50 mIn) Only $488a ~--------------~

well underway both Groups would soon be assuming the respomibility of providing aerial reconnaissance for an American field army The 67th would cover the First Army and the 10th RG would cover Pattons Third Army To accomplish their respective missions each Group would have to be able to provide both photo and T AC R coverage to the forces on the ground So on 13 June the 67th Recon Group traded two of its TAC R squadrons the 12th and 15th to the 10th PRG for two photo squadshyrons the 30th and 33rd PSs The actual move for the 15th TRS took place on 27 June when it headed for its new base at Chalgrove

The squadrons first missions unshyder the 10th Photo Recon Group took place two days later on 29 June The weather was marginal but five missions were dispa tched over the Continent Three of the five had to be aborted due to heavy cloud cover but the other two were quite sucshycessful One of the successful misshysions was flown by Captain Hoefker with Lt Joe Waits as his wingman They were to make a visual recce of Laigle Bernay Belleme and AIshylencon and during the mission Hoefshyker was able to record the movement

Pilots of No 165 Squadron RAF at Kenley John Hoefker was trained by the unit in August 1943 and flew his first eleven missions under their supervision (JH Hoefker)

Hoefker established himself as the squadrons high scorer and a definite Bf 109 specialist

While these missions were going on a plan was being implemented by the 9th Air Force to reorganize its two reconnaissance groups Up to now the 67th RG had operated with four TAC R squadrons and the 10th PRG had four unarmed photo squadshyrons Since the invasion was now

of several horie drawn wagons plus a number of rail cars sitting at sidshyings-aIl perfect targets for the fighter-bombers However while Capshytain Hoefker was watching and reshycording the enemys movements beshylow he and Lt Waits were being watched from above by four Bf 109 pilots The encounter was described bv Captain Hoefker in his report We were sixteen miles southwest of Bernay flying at 4000 feet when we observed four 109s approaching us from the southwest at 4500 feet As we climbed for the clouds the 109s turned and dove for us from behind and I was attacked from beshy

low and to my rear by an enemy aircraft that opened fire at 500 yards I broke left and we went into a Lufbury I broke from the Lufbury while looking for Waits and was again attacked from my left rear I pulled up into an Immelman and dove onto another 109 and fired three short bursts of lz second each After the third burst I saw brownish-white smoke pour from the aircrafts enshygine and then he rolled over and went down in a 60-degree dive exshyploding as he hit the ground The pilot did not get out After the crash of the 109 the other three Germans left the scene and Hoefker and Waits headed back to their base With his third victory in less than a month Captain Hoefker had clearly established himself as the top gun in reconnaissance Even though TAC R pilots were supposed to leave aerial combat to the fighter pilots and stick to observing activities on the ground the Squadron was obshyviously quite proud of Captain Hoefshykers accomplishments The squadshyron historian noted the mission of the 29th as follows Captain Hoefshyker the Nemesis of the Messershyschmitts boosted his total to three with a kill near Bernay Four 109s bounced the redoubtable Captain and his wingman Joe Waits The Captain modestly acknowledged that these boys have been out of flying school a long time but the old speshycialist proved equal to the occasion

As it turned out the mission of 29 June was to be the last of Captain Hoefkers first tour in Europe After nearly two years of flying over Eushyrope he was granted a Stateside leave and headed home to Kentucky for a well earned rest

By the time he returned to his squadron in October 1944 the battle front had stalemated Pattons magshynificent drive across France had endshyed in September because of a shortshyage of fuel and supplies Third Army was now in the process of resupplyshying and preparing for its next offenshysive With no movement on the ground the 15th TAC Rs duties were to carry out visual recce sorties deep in to enemy territory behind the front They were to keep track of enemy road and rail traffic and troop movements In doing so the TAC R pilots were hampered by some very foul weather vicious flak and a resurgent Luftwaffe It was in fact on his very first mission after returnshying to the front that Captain Hoefshyker learned that the Luftwaffe was still a force to be reckoned with On that mission which took place on 11 October he and hie wingman

air classics 19

FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

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FlO Henry Lewis ran into a huge gaggle of over forty E I A over Worms Germany and it took some fancy flying on their part to evade the German fighters

Captain Hoefkers next encounter with the Luftwaffe took place on 1 November and it too ended in total frustration He and Captain Bob Dawson were checking the acshytivity at several German airfields when they ran into a flight of five Me-262s near Crielshiem The pilots of the German jets did not exhibit 20 air classics

a whole lot of aggressiveness alshythough one of them did try to make a pass at Hoefkers Mustang John saw the move and turned inside of the 262 closing to within 300 yards What an opportunity a chance to down one of Germanys vaunted jets He lined up the jet in his sights and pushed the firing button Only one gun fired and it jammed after ten rounds Cursing his luck John pulled over and gave the lead to Bob Dawshyson who was able to get off only one V2-second burst before the Gershy

15th TRS ground crews prepare the camshyeras and guns of 5M-B for a mission from Middle Wallop during the spring of 1944 (H Edwards)

Captain Hoefker in front of his F-60 (JH Hoeker)

man poured on the coal and disapshypeared After seeing their prize get away unscathed the two headed back to base The squadron historian noted What Captain Hoefker thought when his guns jammed at the crucial point is as unprintable as it is understandable

On 8 November 1944 General Patshyton resumed the offensive and with his attack the 15ths activities inshycreased The Luftwaffe wasnt about to let this incursion into their airshyspace go unopposed and the nurn r of encounters rose It was 19 Novemshyber when Captain Hoefker go 8 shyother crack at an enemy fighter mission for the day was to photomiddot graph five marshal - g yard in gteTshymany and to monitor lh airfield at Giessen John had j t turned on his camera for a photo run over the Frieshyburg marshaling yards when he was bounced from above by an FW-190 Just as his wingman Lt Richard Youll called out a warning the Gershy

man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

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man opened fire The shots missed and within an instant Captain Hoefshyker had pulled up into a steep Imshymelman turn and maneuvered into firing position on the tail of the 190 The German tried a series of evasive turns but to no avail Several short bursts from Johns fifties found their

Captain Hoefker on the wing of his F-6C Mustang (SM-G) after scoring his third aerial victory on 29 June 1944 (JH Hoefker)

mark and the German jettisoned his canopy and attempted to jump In doing so he struck the horizontal tail surfaces of his plane and was killed by the impact After watching the Focke Wulf crash John formed back up with Lt Youll and continued the mission They were able to photoshygraph all of the assigned target areas and along with his fourth victory Captain Hoefker returned with exshycellent pictures of the marshaling

yards and information about other potential targets for the bombers

The major news story of 19 Noshyvember though was that the city of Metz had fallen to Patton It was the first time since 451 AD that Fortress Metz had fallen to assault troops With the fall of Metz Patton was able to continue his drive toward the Siegfried Line The 10th PRG conshytinued covering the Third Army front while making a move itself This move was to Giraumont France a field that would put them closer to the front

As December 1944 began our forces in the air and on the ground noticed the increased vigor of German deshyfenses_ Especially noticeable was the heavy artillery fire falling into XX Corps area_ More ominous was the number of reinforcements TAC R had reported entering the German lines Immediate calls came for heavshyier TAC R coverage of the battle area During the first two weeks of December the T AC R pilots flew as often as the worsening weather would allow and continued to pick up disshyturbing bits of information which inshydicated the Germans were up to something The facts they reported were that the Germans were moving large numbers of men and equipment

~ (

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Hoefkers F-6C during the fall of 1944 Mission symbols and victories are in red

by rail and road and the Luftuaffe was unusually aggressive in trying to keep them away from the area surrounding the Ardennes Forest All these indicators should have spelled out to Army intelligence that something big was about to happen but somehow the significance of all this activity was missed

It was under the cover of some of the worst flying weather of the winter that three German Armies totalling twenty-five Divisions struck on a seventy-mile front defended by only six Divisions Like a runaway steamroller the powerful armored columns broke through the Allied lines in a number of places The most notable breakthrough occurred south of St Vith and by nightfall of the 17th elements of the 5th Panshyzer Army had entered Luxembourg and headed toward the Meuse River by way of Bastogne With Army commanders unsure as to the disposhysition of their own troops it became the task of T AC R to pinpoint our troop positions as well as the enemys

17 December began with a flurry of air activity on both sides TAC R put up a maximum effort and the Luftwaffe was also out in force to support the offensive The aggressiveshyness of the Luftwaffe was first felt by TAC R during the morning misshysions and some of the missions had to be aborted because of large bands 22 air classics

of marauding German fighters Durshying the afternoon the enemy conshytinued to fill the skies with aircraft but this time the tables were turnshyed In three separate encounters all of which took place in the Frankshyfurt-Giessen-Wiesbaden area seven German planes were blasted out of the sky by T AC R pilots The first fell to Clyde East of the 15th T AC R and numbers two and three fell to Lt Ron Ricci of the 12th TAC R however the main bout took place in the area covered by Captain John Hoefker In this battle Captain Hoefshyker was to have his biggest day of the war

The mission was a rou te recce covshyering the highways and rail lines in the Frankfurt-Giessen-Hanau area As Captain Hoefker and his wingshyman Lt Charles White flew over Giessen two 109s flew right under them Before the German pilots could react Captain Hoefker had pulled in behind one of them and began firing As he fired a burst at the 109 from a range of 250 yards down to 75 feet Hoefker noticed hits all over the plane The German pilot jettishysoned his canopy but was prevented from jumping when his plane whipshyped into an uncontrolled wingover and crashed As the first 109 crashed the second 109 tried to get into firing position but Captain Hoefker outshymaneuvered him Seconds later the Messerschmitt took a hail of bullets from Johns guns and pieces were torn from its fuselage and right wing The German then climbed to 1500 feet did a wingover and leveled out

just above the trees but found to his horror that the persistent blueshynosed Mustang was still there and its guns were firing On this pass Captain Hoefker closed to within 100 feet and tore the already damaged 109 apart with a two-second burst and sent it crashing to the ground

After photographing the wreckage of the 109s Hoefker headed south along the Autobahn toward Kirch and within minutes observed an FWshy190 passing under him In a flash John was on the 190s tail and firing Smoke began pouring from the Focke Wulfs engine as Hoefker completed his pass The German tried to break away from the fight but he could not shake the ever-present P-51 With three final bursts Captain Hoefker dealt the 190 a fatal blow and its pilot took to his parachute

With three victories under his belt Captain Hoefker joined back up with Lt White to continue their mission For the next 45 minutes they noted the movement of rail highway and canal traffic and then headed back to base As they flew homeward a Ju-188 blundered into their path over Wiesbaden This time the German pilot was more alert and began lakshying evasive action while his gunne fired at the approaching Mu tan - The defensive fire from the German bomber was very ina lIrale and for the next few moment aptain Hoofshyker and Lt White took tum fir ing at the Ju-188 After t e fi rst two passes its right engine was blazing and the German tried to escape by diving away He pulled out at 4000

Hoefkers F-6D coded 5M-A sin 44-14597 Hoefker was shot down by enemy flak wh ile flying this aircraft on 23 December 1944 (JH Hoefker)

feet but as he leveled off Captain Hoefker hit the 188 with one more volley of machine gun fire That burst did it and seconds later the crew of four abandoned their burnshying plane just before it crashed into

a house on th~ outskirts of Wiesshybaden With these 3 victories Capshytain Hoefker raised his total to 71 2 kills and became the ETOs first reconnaissance Ace in World War

(Continued on page 66)

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(Continued from page 23)

Two Additionally this mission which was to earn him the Silver Star medal was only the beginning of an incredible two-week period for the Captain one which would also see him decorated for outstanding recce support given to the beleagured troops at Bastogne

As the battle increased in intensity the 101st Airborne Division found itself surrounded in the key Belgian city of Bastogne So important was it to hold the city and to reinforce the 101st that Ike ordered General Patton to tum the Third Army around and rush back to Bastogne To coincide with Pattons move to the Bastogne area all T AC R routes were cancelled and operations were shifted to the breakthrough area

A large portion of the battlefield coverage fell to the 15th T AC R during the period of 23 December through 31 December and they pershyformed the task so well that the Squadron received a Letter of Comshymendation from General Maxwell D Taylor the Commanding General of the 101st stating in part The sucshycess of this defense is attributed to the shoulder-to-shoulder cooperation of all units involved This Division is proud to have shared the battleshyfield with your command A great deal of this help came from missions flown by Captain Hoefker beginning with his mission of 23 December On that mission as he and Lt White covered their area and reported enshyemy positions until they were bouncshyed by seven P-47s of the 358th FG In taking evasive action the two were separated and Captain Hoefker flew into intense flak from the German lines The engine seized and John took to his chute His plane nearly crashed into the US 4th Infantry Divisions mess hall and that resultshyed in another ordeal Thinking they had been bombed the infantrymen started blazing away at John with their rifles It took quite a bit of work on his part to convince them of their error He recalled It was probshyably the blistering profanity I hurled at them that stopped the shooting no German could have known those colloquialisms The next day he was delivered back to the base by his 4th Division hosts

On 26 December Captain Hoefker returned to the skies over Bastogne During the mission he observed an

enemy column of fifteen plus Panshyther or Tiger tanks and five plus motor vehicles moving toward a colshyumn of Us tanks Realizing that time was short he began circling over the enemy tanks in sight of the American column then dived and fired his guns at the enemy formashytion from an altitude that could be seen by the US tankers He then circled the US tanks and returned to the enemys position until the Americans could deploy into battle formation and go into action Aftershywards he reported another eight sightings of enemy motor vehicles

On the 27th Captain Hoefker reshyported two enemy tanks nineteen locations of enemy vehicles in groups of three to 100 and twelve gun emshyplacements No missions were flown on the 28th but he returned on the 29th of December and located six dug-in enemy tanks three small conshyvoys of enemy vehicles and a large concentr ation of enemy vehicles hidshying in the woods In his mission of 30 December Cap tain Hoefker was able to find eight tanks in two locashytions thirteen groups of enemy veshyhicles and rend red a follow-up report on the concentration of veshyhicles he had found the previous day

When Captain Hoefker returned to the Bastogne area on 31 December his luck ran out and he had to jump for the second time in eight days He was over enemy lines lookshying for a hole in the thick overcast when the sky around him was sudshydenly filled by those deadly orange golfballs His Mustang shuddered under the impact of several rounds of 20mm flak and burst into flames The flames quickly spread to the cockpit area and John knew he hBd to abandon ship immedia tely Reshymembering an ejection technique taught to him by the RAF be open shyed the canopy and jammed the tick forward with both feet The tffil worked fine except lhat he as ejected with such force lila lot his flying boots Mornen la r John landed in deep snow hind enemy lines After gathering up his pa rashychute Captain HoeCker hended for refuge in some nearby woods Once in the wo ru e ripped up his chute and -rapped his freezing feet and then used the remainder of it for camouflage covering over his dark flying gear For the next day and a

Hoefkers F-6D coded 5M-A sin 44-14597 Hoefker was shot down by enemy flak wh ile flying this aircraft on 23 December 1944 (JH Hoefker)

feet but as he leveled off Captain Hoefker hit the 188 with one more volley of machine gun fire That burst did it and seconds later the crew of four abandoned their burnshying plane just before it crashed into

a house on th~ outskirts of Wiesshybaden With these 3 victories Capshytain Hoefker raised his total to 71 2 kills and became the ETOs first reconnaissance Ace in World War

(Continued on page 66)

onlcal Air Force and Ha1 Aation training docushymentarie coering all flight apect of the T-6ISHJ AIo InWlrted pln In the Stearman and talllpln demontratlon In h y WW II flghte All proshyfeonelly tranferred to your choice of VHS or Beta

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air classics 23

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(Continued from page 23)

Two Additionally this mission which was to earn him the Silver Star medal was only the beginning of an incredible two-week period for the Captain one which would also see him decorated for outstanding recce support given to the beleagured troops at Bastogne

As the battle increased in intensity the 101st Airborne Division found itself surrounded in the key Belgian city of Bastogne So important was it to hold the city and to reinforce the 101st that Ike ordered General Patton to tum the Third Army around and rush back to Bastogne To coincide with Pattons move to the Bastogne area all T AC R routes were cancelled and operations were shifted to the breakthrough area

A large portion of the battlefield coverage fell to the 15th T AC R during the period of 23 December through 31 December and they pershyformed the task so well that the Squadron received a Letter of Comshymendation from General Maxwell D Taylor the Commanding General of the 101st stating in part The sucshycess of this defense is attributed to the shoulder-to-shoulder cooperation of all units involved This Division is proud to have shared the battleshyfield with your command A great deal of this help came from missions flown by Captain Hoefker beginning with his mission of 23 December On that mission as he and Lt White covered their area and reported enshyemy positions until they were bouncshyed by seven P-47s of the 358th FG In taking evasive action the two were separated and Captain Hoefker flew into intense flak from the German lines The engine seized and John took to his chute His plane nearly crashed into the US 4th Infantry Divisions mess hall and that resultshyed in another ordeal Thinking they had been bombed the infantrymen started blazing away at John with their rifles It took quite a bit of work on his part to convince them of their error He recalled It was probshyably the blistering profanity I hurled at them that stopped the shooting no German could have known those colloquialisms The next day he was delivered back to the base by his 4th Division hosts

On 26 December Captain Hoefker returned to the skies over Bastogne During the mission he observed an

enemy column of fifteen plus Panshyther or Tiger tanks and five plus motor vehicles moving toward a colshyumn of Us tanks Realizing that time was short he began circling over the enemy tanks in sight of the American column then dived and fired his guns at the enemy formashytion from an altitude that could be seen by the US tankers He then circled the US tanks and returned to the enemys position until the Americans could deploy into battle formation and go into action Aftershywards he reported another eight sightings of enemy motor vehicles

On the 27th Captain Hoefker reshyported two enemy tanks nineteen locations of enemy vehicles in groups of three to 100 and twelve gun emshyplacements No missions were flown on the 28th but he returned on the 29th of December and located six dug-in enemy tanks three small conshyvoys of enemy vehicles and a large concentr ation of enemy vehicles hidshying in the woods In his mission of 30 December Cap tain Hoefker was able to find eight tanks in two locashytions thirteen groups of enemy veshyhicles and rend red a follow-up report on the concentration of veshyhicles he had found the previous day

When Captain Hoefker returned to the Bastogne area on 31 December his luck ran out and he had to jump for the second time in eight days He was over enemy lines lookshying for a hole in the thick overcast when the sky around him was sudshydenly filled by those deadly orange golfballs His Mustang shuddered under the impact of several rounds of 20mm flak and burst into flames The flames quickly spread to the cockpit area and John knew he hBd to abandon ship immedia tely Reshymembering an ejection technique taught to him by the RAF be open shyed the canopy and jammed the tick forward with both feet The tffil worked fine except lhat he as ejected with such force lila lot his flying boots Mornen la r John landed in deep snow hind enemy lines After gathering up his pa rashychute Captain HoeCker hended for refuge in some nearby woods Once in the wo ru e ripped up his chute and -rapped his freezing feet and then used the remainder of it for camouflage covering over his dark flying gear For the next day and a

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bull IS THE LIGHTEST COVERING METHOD APPROVED UNDER AN FAA-STC

bull IS THE MOST ECONOMICAL CONSIDERING THE YEARS OF TROUBLE FREE SERVICE

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bull SAMPLE OF OUR NEW HIGH STRENGTH LIGHT WEIGHT SMOOTH FABAIC STY L ES WOVEN FROM SECOND GENERATION POLYESTER FILAMENT

bull NEW 68 PAGE MANUAL REVISION lJ WITH DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOA FABRtC COVERING REFINISHING FABRIC SURFACES- AND PAINTING AIRCRAFT FOR CORROSION CONTROL

bull LATEST CATALOG AND DISTRIBUTOR LIST

STITS POLYmiddotFIBER ~ AIRCRAFT COATINGS

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BY bull UDD DAVIISOII

(Continued from page 23)

Two Additionally this mission which was to earn him the Silver Star medal was only the beginning of an incredible two-week period for the Captain one which would also see him decorated for outstanding recce support given to the beleagured troops at Bastogne

As the battle increased in intensity the 101st Airborne Division found itself surrounded in the key Belgian city of Bastogne So important was it to hold the city and to reinforce the 101st that Ike ordered General Patton to tum the Third Army around and rush back to Bastogne To coincide with Pattons move to the Bastogne area all T AC R routes were cancelled and operations were shifted to the breakthrough area

A large portion of the battlefield coverage fell to the 15th T AC R during the period of 23 December through 31 December and they pershyformed the task so well that the Squadron received a Letter of Comshymendation from General Maxwell D Taylor the Commanding General of the 101st stating in part The sucshycess of this defense is attributed to the shoulder-to-shoulder cooperation of all units involved This Division is proud to have shared the battleshyfield with your command A great deal of this help came from missions flown by Captain Hoefker beginning with his mission of 23 December On that mission as he and Lt White covered their area and reported enshyemy positions until they were bouncshyed by seven P-47s of the 358th FG In taking evasive action the two were separated and Captain Hoefker flew into intense flak from the German lines The engine seized and John took to his chute His plane nearly crashed into the US 4th Infantry Divisions mess hall and that resultshyed in another ordeal Thinking they had been bombed the infantrymen started blazing away at John with their rifles It took quite a bit of work on his part to convince them of their error He recalled It was probshyably the blistering profanity I hurled at them that stopped the shooting no German could have known those colloquialisms The next day he was delivered back to the base by his 4th Division hosts

On 26 December Captain Hoefker returned to the skies over Bastogne During the mission he observed an

enemy column of fifteen plus Panshyther or Tiger tanks and five plus motor vehicles moving toward a colshyumn of Us tanks Realizing that time was short he began circling over the enemy tanks in sight of the American column then dived and fired his guns at the enemy formashytion from an altitude that could be seen by the US tankers He then circled the US tanks and returned to the enemys position until the Americans could deploy into battle formation and go into action Aftershywards he reported another eight sightings of enemy motor vehicles

On the 27th Captain Hoefker reshyported two enemy tanks nineteen locations of enemy vehicles in groups of three to 100 and twelve gun emshyplacements No missions were flown on the 28th but he returned on the 29th of December and located six dug-in enemy tanks three small conshyvoys of enemy vehicles and a large concentr ation of enemy vehicles hidshying in the woods In his mission of 30 December Cap tain Hoefker was able to find eight tanks in two locashytions thirteen groups of enemy veshyhicles and rend red a follow-up report on the concentration of veshyhicles he had found the previous day

When Captain Hoefker returned to the Bastogne area on 31 December his luck ran out and he had to jump for the second time in eight days He was over enemy lines lookshying for a hole in the thick overcast when the sky around him was sudshydenly filled by those deadly orange golfballs His Mustang shuddered under the impact of several rounds of 20mm flak and burst into flames The flames quickly spread to the cockpit area and John knew he hBd to abandon ship immedia tely Reshymembering an ejection technique taught to him by the RAF be open shyed the canopy and jammed the tick forward with both feet The tffil worked fine except lhat he as ejected with such force lila lot his flying boots Mornen la r John landed in deep snow hind enemy lines After gathering up his pa rashychute Captain HoeCker hended for refuge in some nearby woods Once in the wo ru e ripped up his chute and -rapped his freezing feet and then used the remainder of it for camouflage covering over his dark flying gear For the next day and a

Spitfire Mk V of the 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron returning to Membury England in the winter of 1942 (W Edwards)

Navigation Officer The Battle of the Bulge was now over and the Allies had resumed the offensive With the Germans now falling back TAC R was heavily occupied with the task of locating Wehrmacht convoys and directing fighter-bomber attacks against them A second major funcshytion was directing artillery fire into German lines Captain Hoefkers first mission after his return to the Group was a very successful artillery spotshyting sortie in support of Pattons drive toward Prum Germany

By 1 March 1945 Patton had capshytured Trier Germany and the airshyfield at Evren along with it On 15 March the Group began its move to its new airfield and initiated its coverage of Pattons drive to the Rhine Third Army was striking hard at the crumbling German war machine and its rapid advances pressshyed the 10th PRG to keep up with the demand for intelligence and inforshymation The photo squadrons ranged far and wide over the Third Army front performing BDA and mapping missions while the TAC R pilots tracked the highway and rail moveshyment The Luftwaffe was still an acshytive force during this period and the T AC R pilots continued to add to their victory list It was during ibis period that Captain HoeCkel was to

68 air classics

core his most unusual victory On 31 March he was flying a visual reconnaissance mission in the vicinshyity of Eisnach Germany when he spied a German liaison plane which had just taken off and was climbing John closed on the plane in order to get a good look and then turned in front of it In the middle of his turn Captain Hoefker looked back and the German had crashed the propwash of his powerful Mustang had flipped the light aircraft over at low altitude and sent it into the ground (the German aircraft was ofshyficially recorded as an Hs-126 but more than likely it was a lightweight Fiesler Storch) This unique victory extended his score to 8 victories

By 4 April 1945 Patton had capshytured Fulda Hersfeld and Kassel and opened up a fifty-mile corridor into eastern Germany However beshyfore he could start a new offensive Third Army was ordered to slow down so First and Ninth Armies could catch up During this lull the 12th and 15th T AC R Squadrons moved to a new base at Ober-Olm to be closer to the Third Army front Just as Patton predicted the slow down of Third Armys advance causshyed the German defenses to stiffen and fighting intensified This was especially true in the air TAC R

F-6C DIMPLES awaits its next mIssIon from Chalgrove England in July 1944 (V Krasnickas)

pilots were engaged in numerous air battles during the next several days and claimed a number of vicshytories Captain Hoefker joined in the action with the 15th TAC R on 8 April 1945 and scored one of those victories He and Lt Charles White were checking the rail lines near Wettenburg Germany when White spotted a twin engined aircraft apshyproaching from 8 oclock and sunshydown Captain Hoefker recognized it as an He-1ll and attacked After two passes at the bomber Johns gunfire had hit both engines and they were trailing smoke and there was an exshyplosion on the left wing root After his wing and fuselage started burnshying the German pilot headed for the ground and crash-landed his heavily damaged bomber As the Heinkel slid to a stop Captain Hoefker took pictures of it with his vertical camera

Two days later Captain Hoefker and Lt White were again patrolling the German rail systems Near Riesa they spotted an FW-190 loafing along under them White was inshystructed to go after the Focke Wulf but while they were in the turn he lost sight of the enemy fighter Hoefshykers encounter report went on to say I realized that White had lost him and not wanting the 190 to get away I attacked and hit the German with a concentrated burst The 190 caught fire dived into the ground and exploded After watchshying the 190 crash John swung his Mustang around and swooped over the scene to photograph it

Spitfires of the 107th TRS and 12th TRS over England in the summer of 1943 (Col Robert Stone)

The victory of 10 April 1945 was Captain Hoefkers final victory of World War Two During the remainshyder of the war he flew only three more missions all of which were uneventful

Four weeks later the war in Eushyrope was over and the 10th Photo Recon Group settled into its occushypation duties Because of his long overseas tour Captain Hoefker was one of the first men in the unit to go home During that long combat tour he carried out his duties as a tactical reconnaissance pilot in an exceptional manner When you add his 10 aerial victories to that exshycellent reconnaissance record Capshytain John H Hoefker was truly a Recon Pilot Supreme For his disshytinguished service to his country he was awarded the Silver Star the Disshytinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and over thirty Air Medals He was promoted to the rank of Major upon his return to the United States and remained in the Air Force until late 1946 In 1947 he returned to his native Kentucky and became a very successful grocer He is now retired from business but is quite active in local politics and various veterans organizations

The author would like to thank the following individuals and organizashytions for their help with this article

Mr John H Hoefker Mr Lyon Davis for providing copies of 15th TRS unit records Colonel Robert Stone (Ret) of the Michigan ANG who provided records of the 107th TRS The 15th Tactical Reconnaisshysance Squadron Association Mr J Griffin Murphey for photo-copy work Air Force Museum Research Center

Photo contributors John H Hoefshyker Lyon Davis Colonel Robert Stone (Ret) William Edwards Hal Edwards Colonel Frank Dillon (Ret) Raymond Gaudette Victor Krasnickas and Stewart Wilson ~

air classics 69

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• 2
• 3
• 4
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• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13

core his most unusual victory On 31 March he was flying a visual reconnaissance mission in the vicinshyity of Eisnach Germany when he spied a German liaison plane which had just taken off and was climbing John closed on the plane in order to get a good look and then turned in front of it In the middle of his turn Captain Hoefker looked back and the German had crashed the propwash of his powerful Mustang had flipped the light aircraft over at low altitude and sent it into the ground (the German aircraft was ofshyficially recorded as an Hs-126 but more than likely it was a lightweight Fiesler Storch) This unique victory extended his score to 8 victories

By 4 April 1945 Patton had capshytured Fulda Hersfeld and Kassel and opened up a fifty-mile corridor into eastern Germany However beshyfore he could start a new offensive Third Army was ordered to slow down so First and Ninth Armies could catch up During this lull the 12th and 15th T AC R Squadrons moved to a new base at Ober-Olm to be closer to the Third Army front Just as Patton predicted the slow down of Third Armys advance causshyed the German defenses to stiffen and fighting intensified This was especially true in the air TAC R

F-6C DIMPLES awaits its next mIssIon from Chalgrove England in July 1944 (V Krasnickas)

pilots were engaged in numerous air battles during the next several days and claimed a number of vicshytories Captain Hoefker joined in the action with the 15th TAC R on 8 April 1945 and scored one of those victories He and Lt Charles White were checking the rail lines near Wettenburg Germany when White spotted a twin engined aircraft apshyproaching from 8 oclock and sunshydown Captain Hoefker recognized it as an He-1ll and attacked After two passes at the bomber Johns gunfire had hit both engines and they were trailing smoke and there was an exshyplosion on the left wing root After his wing and fuselage started burnshying the German pilot headed for the ground and crash-landed his heavily damaged bomber As the Heinkel slid to a stop Captain Hoefker took pictures of it with his vertical camera

Two days later Captain Hoefker and Lt White were again patrolling the German rail systems Near Riesa they spotted an FW-190 loafing along under them White was inshystructed to go after the Focke Wulf but while they were in the turn he lost sight of the enemy fighter Hoefshykers encounter report went on to say I realized that White had lost him and not wanting the 190 to get away I attacked and hit the German with a concentrated burst The 190 caught fire dived into the ground and exploded After watchshying the 190 crash John swung his Mustang around and swooped over the scene to photograph it

Spitfires of the 107th TRS and 12th TRS over England in the summer of 1943 (Col Robert Stone)

The victory of 10 April 1945 was Captain Hoefkers final victory of World War Two During the remainshyder of the war he flew only three more missions all of which were uneventful

Four weeks later the war in Eushyrope was over and the 10th Photo Recon Group settled into its occushypation duties Because of his long overseas tour Captain Hoefker was one of the first men in the unit to go home During that long combat tour he carried out his duties as a tactical reconnaissance pilot in an exceptional manner When you add his 10 aerial victories to that exshycellent reconnaissance record Capshytain John H Hoefker was truly a Recon Pilot Supreme For his disshytinguished service to his country he was awarded the Silver Star the Disshytinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and over thirty Air Medals He was promoted to the rank of Major upon his return to the United States and remained in the Air Force until late 1946 In 1947 he returned to his native Kentucky and became a very successful grocer He is now retired from business but is quite active in local politics and various veterans organizations

The author would like to thank the following individuals and organizashytions for their help with this article

Mr John H Hoefker Mr Lyon Davis for providing copies of 15th TRS unit records Colonel Robert Stone (Ret) of the Michigan ANG who provided records of the 107th TRS The 15th Tactical Reconnaisshysance Squadron Association Mr J Griffin Murphey for photo-copy work Air Force Museum Research Center

Photo contributors John H Hoefshyker Lyon Davis Colonel Robert Stone (Ret) William Edwards Hal Edwards Colonel Frank Dillon (Ret) Raymond Gaudette Victor Krasnickas and Stewart Wilson ~

air classics 69

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13