First Long Fighting Day
11. September 1943
The first long fighting day was 10.9. He also began like any other day. Just in the morning came a [Petljakow] PE-2 Association. They flew just over in inclined flyby. Lunch and dinner were also PE-2 associations. We have always been lucky, There were always beautiful encounters, that could be fired at nice quiet.
In an attack, I had flight login items, was tied so not thinking of concentrated work on the device and therefore the approaches and shooting excellently observed. Clearly, I saw the contrail, You left the bullets behind him up on the descending branch. If we thought, the PE-2 are used again and we have peace of mind, Since the low-flying aircraft by their sharp hum announced their coming. The first Pack, She started us, was by the sudden, well gezielte fire of our 2 cm guns quite surprised. (Since our lighter train had lost all weapons and artillery at the last use of the Earth, was us a light train from one of our light Battr. allocated.) The second [Iljuschin] IL-2 Association, came angebrummt, already more took us to task. But the happiness was us always to the page.
The following low-level that day were now apart from the US. Now they came direct to us. Illegally we briefly had the eyes of our work and saw the Flash lightning of kills of their kews. Someone called an indiscriminate Word and restless and jumpy, the device left and disappeared into cover. This was the signal for the other operation. It jumped all in cover and had taken in the attack on himself. Shortly before us the Schlachtflieger had their missile splinter bomb with the einGene-like sound from. We now expect that here everything flies high. But on the contrary. We had vastly overestimated the effect of these bombs. They drilled into the Earth, a Puffen and some soil flew high. This was all. Not even the tent of our chef has been umgeblasen by the air pressure, Although densely in addition to a thing exploded.
Our 8,8 Guns fired in the local fire on these machines and we have also seen, how an IL-2 ausscherte and notlandete, However, later turned out how, on Russian territory. Special attention I need the front of the Kanonieren 2 pay cm guns. They sat on the gun and shot the enemy in swimwear, regardless of the kews- and splinter bomb attacks. Without ceasing others dragged up the heavy boxes of ammunition. Every one of them actually did his duty. About 100 a stack was m of our stand at a fences pots ammunition. And rings to these shells, many impacts were calculated. Would be only one in this stack into, then much would be left most of us no longer.
There were still some low-flying aircraft on this day, but the German lines of infantry and artillery seemed to have been positions whose attack area, because they umflogen us always in respectful distance. As it slowly darkened and we got something to rest, We once were able to overlook the struggles of the day. Whether we were successful? 4 or 5 Machines in any case came from the sky. This nearby army force part were full of appreciation for us. Our Uffz. Beckurts made on equal, to bring confirmations for our victories. Here he came to the front lines. But has found people who had watched closely, We had shot down the machines. It was the first long fighting day in Buda Staraja.
