John H Hoefker
 

Again a thread about PR airman!
John H Hoefker obtained 8,5 victories flying F-6 Mustangs.
He scored part of his claims in June 1944 claiming 3 Bf 109 ( one each time on the 7, 20 and 29 June ).
In DECEMBER 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, he was shot down twice. In one of this sorties, he crash-landed behind enemy lines and walked back. I am looking for the DATE and serial number of his F-6 Mustang on both occasions he was shot down. ( Mr Frank Olynik, do you have anything about these incidents, please!? )
John H Hoefker again scored on the 31st March, 8th April and 10th April 1945. ( does anybody have the type of German aircraft shot down / local / and time )?
I again do thanks in advance those who will answer and help the fans of PR airmen who are researching on this Forum.
Yours
Adriano Baumgartner

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Adriano,

One was F-6D 44-14597 (SM-A) on 23 Dec 1944.

Regards,

Leendert

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Hi,

Do you know the exact day of promotion of the following pilots

Clyde B. East to 1st Lt, Capt and also Maj
John H. Hoefker to 1st Lt, Capt and also Maj

Regards Zdenek Kocab

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Maj. John H Hoefker is my first cousin once removed. He passed away several years ago. I always loved to hear his WWII stories.
I have a drawing of the F-6C which he said was his favorite. He also few 11 combat missions in a Spitfire while attached to the RAF. His daughter lives nearby and she has all his records, log book and photographs. I have been meaning to pay her a visit and gather information. Possibly copy that log book. There was a very good article about Maj. Hoefker in Air Classics magazine in the Mar 1988 issue. It goes into quite a bit of detail about each of his kills. He is officially credited with 8.5 kills. Due to some sort of filing requirements I have read that that number should have been 10. He told me that he had shot down 13 but didn't have enough proof for the extra 3.

Re: John H Hoefker---favorite aircraft
 

This is a drawing of Maj. John Herman Hoefker's favorite F-6C showing correct serial number and squadron numbers.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s.../jhhoefker.jpg

Re: John H Hoefker
 

John H Hoefker was promoted to 2nd Lt. in March of 1942. I do not have the exact date. By March of 1944 he was a Capt. He was promoted to Maj. after returning to the U.S. after the War.

Re: John H Hoefker
 

I believe SM-A should be 5M-A.

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Hi Fastbuck,

What RAF unit(s) was he attached to?

Best Regards

Andy Fletcher

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Andy
my information shows he was assigned to No. 165 Squadron at Kenley.

Buck Seibert

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Buck,

Many thanks. Do you know the dates he was with 165 Sqn.

Best Regards

Andy Fletcher

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Hello Fastbuck!
Glad you joined the thread and good to hear that you met Mr John Hoefker and heard about his wartime exploits. Do you know if he ever thought of writing his experiences?
May I ask you another question related to the above painting of his favorite aircraft: Do you know why the victories markings are different? The first two are different from the rest...maybe waiting confirmation? Or ground victories? ( It was not unusual to differenciate air-to-air and air-to-ground victories ).
The other question is: how many missions has he flown by the end of WW2?
I shall be contacting you
Thanks again for joining and for adding more information about your cousin.
Yours
Adriano Baumgartner

Re: John H Hoefker
 

Sharp eye to catch those victory markings. I did this drawing with a photo shop job and I started to change the marking to match a photo I had seen but didn't finish.
As far as I know, John never wrote a book. However, he did contribute quite a bit of information for the article in Air Classics magazine that featured him. I will have to check to see how many missions he flew during WWII.