[Alex Smart]

Hello,

From what I find elswear on the www the airman Captain Lewis H. Richardson is very little.
He is recorded as KIA from Ingam County, Michigan, 5th Sqdn, 3rd Photo Group.
If this story is accurate the this may well be the first P-38(?) captured and it preceds that of the one that is well known and photographed, said to have landed at Capoterra on 12th June 1943.
There is some reports of a second P-38(?) but details are sparce on it.
The Richardson a/c may well be it ?

A Robertson was in aircraft AF108 and involved in a non fatal taxiing accident at RAF Station 582 in the UK on 28th March 1943. Station 582 was RAF Station Warton near Preston,Lancashire. His Unit is stated to have been at that time 2010TS ( not sure at this time if this is 2010 TS or 201 OTS ?).

Also the 3rd Photo unit undertook its first op from the UK on 28th March to Dieppe, this was AFAIK one a/c flown by the Group's 13PS Commander Major James T. Hall. No a/c was lost on this operation

[ I have put P-38(?) in the above because it may well be either a P-38 or an F-4 And am not sure at this time if F-5's were in theatre in March of1943].

EXTRA: I see from the book that the a/c is noted to have been an F-5A .
However in "Fighters over Tunisia" on page 272 it has -
"Sunday, 28 March 1943 ..... 683 squadron on Malta had recently been joined by a detachment of F-4's from the3rd Photo-Reconnaissance Group of the USAAF, led by Capt. Richardson, and reported that on the 28th. Richardson himself failed to return from a mission over Sicily. It is possible that this latter aircraft may well have fallen to Oblt. Schiess of III/JG53, who is believed to have claimed a lightning around this date".
In a previous paragraph there is mention of an F-4 Reconnaisance Lightning on strength of the 154th Squadron that took off at 1340 to photograph the Mezzouna area was missing at 1740.

So an F-4 or F-5A ?
Alex