Berlin Battle 12sep44- 367BS/306BG

[drgondog]

I'm trying to help a lady whose uncle went down to mysterious causes on 12 September, 1944.

He was 1Lt John Ellison, 354FS/355FG, a fighter pilot trying to chase two fw190s away from a crippled Fort (367BS/306BG).

My letter to Dana Osborn, neice gives the details of the questions.

"Your uncle was buried in a Field Grave with four B-17 crewmembers from at least two and maybe three separate B-17's - serial numbers 42-102969 and 42-97278 367 Bomb Squadron/306 Bomb Group. The Grave was at Eberswalde - NE Berlin
All were next interred at US Cemetary Neuville Belgium 1946. Group burial BB-10-226.
In 1949 the remains were transferred to US National Cemetary Zachary Taylor, Louisville KY on 14 October. The bomber crew names were Bauer, Eden, Gardiner and Rogers.

I give medium to low probability to a mid air collision in which the five were KIA and the remaining crew members bailed out. However MACR 8833 and 8836 state that the "Umbriago" and Methuselah 989 Years" (the two named serial numbers above) went down at Uedersee (close to Eberswalde) and Brodowin (not sure how close to Eberswalde).

The Mighty Eighth Combat Chronology says that the B-17's were 2KIA/7POW and 1KIA/8POW respectively which suggests that the 4th B-17 crew member came from yet another B-17. Four ships from the 367 BS went down that day. Of the other two - each lost one KIA/9POW."

My questions -
1. which ships were Bauer, Gardiner, Eden and Rodgers on?
2. how did those ships go down (any POW returning statements?)

I have never found LW claim for Mustang in that area NE Berlin so Ellison's fate could range from MAC to FF to ??

Thanks in advance - this info could be huge for a family that has been in grief for 60 plus years - not knowing where he was buried, much less how he lost his life.

Regards and Thanks,

Bill Marshall

[Richard Goyat]

Bill,

According to Kent Miller (in Fighter Units & Pilots of the 8th Air Force, Volume 1, Schiffer, page 131), Lt. James Ellison was “hit by a Fw 190 near Eberswalde”. I don't know if a 355th FG pilot positively saw Lt. Ellison's P-51 being hit by a Fw 190, or if Lt. Ellison was simply last seen while chasing Fw 190s. Probably the MACR says it all.

Anyway, at least one Luftwaffe claim for a Mustang shot down north-east of Berlin does exist. This claim was forwarded to the RLM by Lt. Günther Landt of 11./JG 53 (a Bf 109 equipped unit), who reported having destroyed a P-51 at 11:22 at low altitude (100 m) in the grid-map FH5, that is near Werneuchen (about 20 km south of Eberswalde).

This combat occurred not far from the area where IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 and II.(Sturm)/JG 300 assaulted Fortresses and officially claimed from 11:20 to 11:45 the destruction or damaging of 17 of them. III./JG 53 also claimed in approximately the same area (but a little earlier, from 11:05 to 11:15) four B-17s.

Of note is the fact that Gfr. Matthäus Erhardt of II.(Sturm)/JG 300 recalled how he was engaged along with two other Fw 190s against three P-51s which shot down one of the Sturmjäger and that one Mustang was in turn hit by his squadron commander. However this claim — I don't know if it was for a destroyed or a damaged aircraft — doesn't appear to have been registered by the OKL.

More details in the following books:

a) Pik-As, Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 53, Teil 3, by Jochen Prien (1991), pages 1405-1407.

b) Jagdgeschwader 300, A Chronicle of a Fighter Geschwader in the Battle for Germany, Volume 1, by Jean-Yves Lorant & Richard Goyat, Eagle Editions (2005), pages 318-320.

c) IV./Jagdgeschwader 3, Chronik des Einsatzes einer Jagdgruppe, by Jochen Prien (1996), page 232-234.

Richard Goyat

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo Bill,

According to THE MIGHTY EIGHTH COMBAT CHRONOLOGY SUPPLEMENT (by the same two authors as the volume you mentioned) Bauer was on 42-102969 but he is listed as a POW. The other 3 were on 42-97278 but again, one (Eden), is listed as a POW.

Neither Bauer nor Eden are shown on the NARA POW list, so presumably the entries in the work I quoted from are incorrect. Nor could I find either crewman in the limited ABMC website.

AFAIK Adams and Andrews published 3 volumes including the above to replace an earlier work(s); BITS AND PIECES OF THE MIGHTY EIGHTH.

This is my third attempt to post this reply ! Regards.

Martin Gleeson.

[drgondog]

Martin - Richard - Thanks again to both of you.

Below is my reconstruction based on MACR, Encounter Reports and Squadron histories. All leading to a more accurate accounting of general circumstances than my book. As to Kent Miller's description it probably came from my Angels, Bulldogs and Dragons.

This below is what is in my draft Revision
September 12

F.0.565. Captain Mendenhall led a Ramrod to Brux, Czechoslovakia after Marshall returned with fuel feed problems. Marshall returned for a fix and was off again only to be recalled by Stewart for an important briefing for the next day's mission.

Rendezvous with First Division bombers was made at 1045 north of Ludwigslust. At 1145 nearly 40 Fw 190s. with 109s flying top cover, jumped the B-17s near Muritz Lake. Flying a "Company Front" formation, the Fw 190s closed from seven o'clock to the bom bers and split-S for the deck before the 355th could head them off.

The 357FS caught the trailing elements and McHugh and Monahan shot down two and one, respectively. The rest of the squadron chased several long nose Fw 190s but could not close.

During the chase, the 357th strafed Schwartz airfield and Chapman was hit by flak to become a POW. Lieutenant Cullerton destroyed seven on the ground, Juntilla got four and Haviland destroyed three before they pulled away from the field.

Ellison of the 354FS was last seen following an Fw190 from 5./JG300 (Sturm) into a formation of 306th BG B-17s. The location and timing of Ellison’s loss northeast of Berlin near Eberswalde in the 1205-1210 timeframe does not have a matching Luftwaffe claim. An Fw190A8 pilot from 5./JG300 crashed near Ellison at Finowfurt . Elements of IV./JG3 and 11./JG53 were also in this area.

He was buried along with a four crew members from two 367BS/306BG Forts at Eberswalde, six miles east of Finowfurt.. It is possible that Ellison shot down the Fw190A8 and in turn shot down by a B-17 or another German fighter during the chase.

Roddy Reed was experiencing engine problems on the way back and last seen near Belgium border. He did in fact get as far as Belgium to make an emergency landing – but he did not return to duty with the 355th so there may have been an assisted evasion. He continued to serve in the USAF until killed in the Middle East in 1952 in a SA16 accident..

Several more gaggles were spotted near the bombers but broke when the group turned into them. Thompson and Vigna of the 358FS's Yellow flight caught up with a Fw190 and a Me109, shooting down the 109 and damaging the 109, respectively south of Berlin near Ruhland. Each time the 355th reformed quickly to continue their escort duties and the Luftwaffe departed to search for easier prey.

At 1230 escort was broken off near Plauen and the group as down by 1430.

Final score 20-0-13 for two losses (one evaded)

Richard - the JG53 claim is in right area but seems a little disconnected in time (1122 vs 1205-1210). It is possible that the score was on 359FG which preceeded the 355th into Berlin area along the same track.

Both the MACR and the squadron history speak to Ellison last being seen diving on tail of Fw190 through a box of B-17s 'near Berlin'. Neither History nor MACR speak to him being shot down by 190s.

If JG53 was escorting Fw190s of JG3 and JG300 in this area it is entirely plausible that Ellison survived the dive and was picked off on the deck.

The crews of the B-17s that Ellison was buried with went down Nw of Eberswalde and W of Eberswalde according to Bits and Pieces. Now we have a claim 6mi south of Eberswalde that could be Ellison.

Curious that all were buried in same cemetary at Eberswalde - in the same grave if they fell so far apart?

Richard - if the LW time over Berlin was an hour off British time (nope - its and hour in the wrong direction?)

Thanks Again

Bill

[Nokose]

The possible P-51 that was hit by Gfr Matthaeus Erhardt's Staffel C.O. might not have had a witness to verify his claim which is why it wasn't filed. There is a number of cases that showed up after the war with victories for pilots that couldn't verify at the time.

[drgondog]

Nokose - a good thought but wouldn't this claim have been easy to verify, particularly since they recovered the body of Ellison (or at least enough to identify him)

Regards,

Bill

[Nokose]

Did the 359FG have any losses or damaged P-51's? If it's still around and possible to be checked it wouldn't hurt to check the log book of the staffel C.O. involved for the time. With no witness a downed a/c found later might have went to the one that made the first claim. I read a case in Bergstrom new book of a JG54 pilot that was shot down and killed. One Russian pilot claimed a kill but another claimed a damaged Bf-109 that left. The JG54 pilot was last seen leaving the dogfight in a damaged Bf-109 before later crashing to his death.

[shooshoobaby]

Nokose / Bill
359th FG lost 5 over Ge.
Plus - 1 C/L RAF Woodbridge , 1 C/L Abbeville
Mike

[Nokose]

Bill, the staffel C.O. that Richard mentioned in his post was Lt. Klaus Breschneider 5./JG300. It has in the footnote that classification of his claim is not known in volume 1 of JG300. It does have that one of the Bomber Groups that JG300 intercepted was the 306th Bomb Group. It also has a picture of one of the Mustangs of the 359th FG that was shot down. The times listed for intercept seem to be in the 10:55 - 11:55 for this in JG300. No other intercepts after that time.

[drgondog]

Guys - based on all the input plus Erich's I'm pretty sure that the primary clash that Ellison was trying to deflect was JG300.

Jan-Hey did the primary research tracing his Burial Location as well as the 4 B-17 crew members. The questions we may never have answers to are a.) what caused James Ellison to go down and b.) why were crews from 2 separate B-17s buried with Ellison.

Thank all of you for your help.

Bill