Lt. Bud Wentz B-17 on German Airfield
B-17 43-39126 Lt. William Bud Wentz
On 7.April Lt. Wentz's a/c was seriously damaged by the Bf 109 of Uffz. Klaus Hahn. He landed on a German airfield which had been occupied the same morning by US Army. Up to now he airfield couldn't be identified. On the same airfield he found a B-17 with which he flew back three hours later to his base Lavenham. In "the B-17Flying Fortress Story", by Roger Freeman I found:
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43-39126 Del Hunter 8/12/44; Dow Fd 21/12/44
assigned 838 BS / 487 BG Lavenham 7/3/45;
ret. US Bradley 13/7/45;
4185 BU Independence 15/7/45;
RFC Kingman 3/1/46"
Since a/c returned to US on 13/7/45 it must have been repaired and flown back to Lavenham if all notes are correct and reliable. However, where had it been repaired, from where had it been flown back to Lavenham?
What mean 4185 BU Independence 15/7/45 and RFC Kingman 3/1/46? All of of these notes are of interest for our research, for finding the German airfield.
In the report AFHRA 520.83 A, Aug.1944 -June 1945 Eighth AF Reports of Aircraft Salvaged on the Continent, Extract April 1945, no information about the B-17 43-39126 is given.
Who can help?Thank's for the assistence.
Horrido
Fritz Marktscheffel
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