German Claim 20 August 1944?
 

Re: German Claim 20 August 1944?
 

No German claim because he was shot down by Flak. I have the following on this loss:

On 20 August 1944 eight P-38’s of the 27th and 94th FS, 1st FG, took off from Aghione, Corsica, to attack bridges and trucks near Nimes, France in support of Allied advancing troops. After an unsuccessful attack on the Remoulins bridges, the American pilots saw an important German truck column between Nimes and Beaucaire. Four P-38’s of the 94th Squadron, led by Lt. Warren Campbell, flying *Old Rusty*, attacked it and met intense, accurate antiaircraft fire. The P-38J-15-LO 43-28637 of 2nd Lt. Walter Oliver St John was hit and he bailed out but his parachute failed to open correctly. His fighter crashed and burned near Moulin Gazay (Gazay mill) and the pilot fell near Mas Alméras (Alméras Farm) and laid there without a move. A Luftwaffe light truck left the convoy and searched for him. The German soldiers chased the French who came to help the pilot, brought his body into their vehicle and left. The body had never been found and he is commemorated on the Missing Memorial of Draguignan American War Cemetery.

In 2004 thanks to the "Souvenir Français" association and to Nimes city, a memorial was inaugurated on the crash place, on a crossroads named "Rond-Point St_John", on the avenue Pierre Mendès-France, near Nimes. The pilot’s young brother, Terry, was there.

Source:
http://raf-112-squadron.org/1stfghonor_roll.html
http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=2046
http://www.aerosteles.net/fiche.php?code=nimes-stjohn
http://www.aerosteles.net/cartes/car...stjohn&lang=fr