USAAF Survivors from Sinking of Italian Submarine Narvalo - 14 Jan. 1943

[Stig Jarlevik]

Originally Posted by edwest2

From joebaugher.com No MACRs mentioned.

41-7582
7582 (2 FTS) crashlanded 5 mi Ne of Berteaux, French Morocco Dec 28, 1943

This is an odd statement by Baugher

The T in FTS indicates trainer/training, and there was nothing called that in North Africa at the time.
There was a 2 FS (52 FG) operating at this stage, but they flew Spitfires, not P-38.

There is of course a fundamental problem to much of the USAAF early days in the region.
The reporting system did not work well enough, at least not with regard to aircraft lost.
For some reason it seems to have effected the fighter units the most. The losses of the actual aircraft are not recorded against the pilot (s) in question.
That is the reason so many USAAF serial numbers are missing in the MAW volume.
No point in looking at the record cards either, since their SOC dates has nothing to do with the actual dates lost.

The present B-17F is most likely in such a category. In a way I can understand the lack of a MACR since the loss possibly ended up "between two chairs" and was never issued, and when most of the crew was rescued someone perhaps thought "what's the point"?
But it is irritating there is no claim from either German or Italian files. Very odd.

Alex
From where does your details regarding the P-38 41-7582 come from? It would be nice to tie up Lentz loss with a correct serial number!

Cheers
Stig