[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

Can anyone tell me the story behind a 7thPRG F-5B (42-67338) flown by Lt David K. Rowe being shot down by a Russian P-39 on 26 June 1944? Did he survive? Also, on 15 June 1944, an F-5A (42-12682) flown by Lt Col John R. Hoover crash-landed in Russia. Was he interned? Finally, on 6 January 1945, a Sgt Ken Wilson (groundcrew?) was killed in a take-off accident in P-51D of 368thFS. Was he on an unauthorised flight?

Patricia Fussell Keen's Eyes of the Eighth says that Lt. Rowe bailed out and survived, although he was injured in a cockpit fire and treated for burns by doctors in Kiev. As he floated to earth, Rowe noticed that part of his parachute had burned and he wondered how the Airacobras reached 28,000 feet; the non-turbosupercharged Allisons were not exactly optimized for such heights. Maj. Hoover was intercepted by Yak fighters but his F-5 was not hit by gunfire. He landed safely at a Russian air base, refueled, and flew to Poltava where he received new orders for Italy.

On January 6th, 1945, P-51D 44-14509 was destined for an escort mission to Germany when it crashed on takeoff at East Wretham, killing Lt. Robert V. Beaupre of the 368th FS. Jack H. Smith's Mustangs & Unicorns shows a photograph of the wreckage, but he did not say that any ground crew were injured or killed at the crash site. The narrative does not mention other takeoff accidents on this date.