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Re: Mustangs lost over Hungary on 14 October 1944
My two cents:
332.FG Mustang does not fit at all into the Shadrin account for simple reason that it crashed some 450 kilometers west of Bela Crkva and in full view of other pilots from the group, at early stage of the mission, en route to the target. I would really like to know how Bell evaded, with the help of Mihailović's Chetniks or Partisans. In mid-October 1944 the Chetniks were in full retreat to Bosnia and nowhere near Bela Crkva. There were some Chetnik units in the area of Cazin (which is in Western Bosnia), but I have many doubts that these were able to organize evasion of allied airmen as they were surrounded by Partisans - which were their main enemies, and Axis - with which they were quite friendly in this area.
When it comes to 325.FG and 52.FG, I could imagine a lone Mustang pilot with plane damaged by flak (Mann), or with engine trouble (Houghton) turning for home over Hungary, straying off course to the east, and reaching Bela Crkva. Remember that there were just a few landmarks for orientation both in Hungary and Vojvodina, which is in Northern Serbia, indeed the Danube would be the best one (and it passes close to the locations of the "last sightings" in Hungary and Bela Crkva).
Another possibility could be the following: US pilots were instructed at the time which parts of Yugoslavia were liberated and it is possible that the lone plane was trying to reach Soviet & Partisan lines south of Belgrade.
Another thing should also be taken into consideration and this it the location of the battle (Bela Crkva) and location of Shadrin's base (Crvena Crkva), and these two are 4 kilometers apart. I assume that the wreck could have been found easily, and possibly the body of the pilot. It is in a flat agricultural area, no hills, no mountains, no deep forests. It would help if we knew if remnants of Mann and Houghton were ever located by US grave search teams after the war, or if there were any reports of crashes in Hungary from local authorities.
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