New Year's Day 1945 in Belgium. The battle of the Bulge was raging under leaden skies that hampered aerial operations by either side. As the 352nd Fighter Group (known as the "Blue-nosed Bastards of Bodney" due to their blue paint scheme and after their initial base in England) began to prepare to celebrate the end of 1944, LtCol Meyer, Group Commander, had a hunch that the Germans would launch an aerial assault that day hoping to catch Allies recovering from a night of frolic and drinking. Higher echelon planners wanted the 352nd to fly a bomber escort mission that day and didn't want them off freelancing, but Meyer struck a deal to be able to fly a dawn patrol and still meet the later commitment. Even then, Meyer wasn't popular that night restricting his pilots from drinking and putting them into frigid cockpits at dawn based on a hunch.
As dawn broke and Meyer began his takeoff roll, their field at Y-29 near asch, Belgium was hit by swarms of attacking German fighters participating in Operation Bodenplatte. One of lead attackers flying a FW-190 targeted Meyer in the lead Mustang and attempted to strafe him on the runway. Meyer tookthe challenge and met his attacker head-to-head downing him with his 6 .50 cal. machine guns before his gear fully retracted. All his Blue-nosed P-51s made it into the air successfully and engaged the waves of attacking Germans....read the link for the Legend of Y-29 and results.
