The tactical missions of the Eighth and Ninth Airforces supported the advancing allied armies through a network of FAC's (Forward Air Controllers), that would work directly with ground echelons on the advance. Air strikes terrorized the German armor and ground forces, and few encounters between the fighters and fighter bombers came out in favor of the Germans. Throughout the dalight hours of August and September 1944, these attacks hounded and paralyzed the supply lines and logistics of the enemy. Moving war material and troops at night under the cloak of darkness offered one of the few opportunities for the Germans to make any progress. Few targets escaped the punishing attacks of these fighters, who used their bombs, rockets and .50 caliber machine guns to pulverize the surprised Germans. tHe level of intensity of these attacks were such that 56 years later, surviving German soldiers still speak in hushed tones ofthe ferocity of fighter attacks and the feelings of hopelessness and fear that became increasingly an every day occurence.
In Robert Bailey's latest painting Mustang Menace, just such a scenario unfolds. A German tank column moving to the front has had the unfortunate luck to cross paths with a Kriegslok train carrying petro chemicals. Alerted by an FAC, fighters of the 357th. F.G. attack with a vengeance at the target-rich environment. The ensuing conflagration is just another day on the job for the 357th.