" CLASH OVER THE ROOFTOPS "
Len Krenzler

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Capt. Leonard 'Kit Carson & 1st Lt. Ted Conlin over the Seine
River in Paris Victory Followed by a Daring Escape

Signed by Ted Conlin and Merle Olmsted

Late in July, 1944, a group of Mustangs began a sweep in the
vicinity of Paris and encountered a group of 25 Me 109 and FW190
attacking a group of P-38 Lightnings. Kit Carson describes his encounter:

"I Chased a 190 clear across the city of Paris and finally nailed him
after a weird rat race past the Eiffel Tower. You could identify the
major boulevards in my combat film. It wasn't until the shooting
was over that I fully realized where I was and then clearly recall
asking myself, 'How the hell am I going to get out of this place?
' I shoved everything forward – throttle, mixture, RPM and stick
. It was one of the few times that I asked Rolls Royce to deliver
everything advertised. The Merlin was laying down black
smoke out of both rows of exhaust stacks. I almost never ran
an engine at full power in combat. I was at house top level, flat
out at 72 inches of HG and 3,000 RPM. Half the flak in Paris
was coming up."

Ted Conlin clearly remembers his experience:

"The game was on and I was on a wild ride earthbound trying
to stay in position on Carson. At the time it seemed we were
diving almost vertical and the 190 pilot was doing big barrel
rolls, and we were right with him.

As Carson closed range, he started getting strikes on the 190.
This and the ground coming up caused the German to flare and
level off. We were now at about 300 feet and every soldier
with a weapon was firing at me. I even saw one officer whip
out a pistol and shoot at us! The Germans had AA weapons
on the roofs and in parks – they were all concentrating on
me! I saw the Seine River off to my right and swung over
and down onto it, hugging the north bank which got to be
about 50' high. The guns could not repress enough to
reach me that way.

Carson had taken the same route and I confirmed his victory.
I had a new appreciation for the daring and flying skills of
the man who would ultimately become the leading ace
of the 357th, Leonard K. Carson."

 

Clash Over the Rooftops - Len Krenzler

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