Friendly fire WWII

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

Hi guys

Just a reminder to Six Nifty .50s - were implied that you would let me have details of the USAAF Mosquitos (25thBG) that fell to friendly fire. Cheers.

August 12th, 1944
USAAF Mosquito NS533. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF P-51 of the 357th Fighter Group at about 1145 hours. The Mustang pilot and his wingman climbed to engage from 23,000 feet and the Mosquito spun in from 29,000 feet. In the after action reports, both P-51 pilots implied that the twin-engined aircraft was silhouetted against the sun -- the attacking pilot wrote that he did not see any roundels or invasion stripes on the aircraft and after the bogie turned onto his six o'clock and tried to dive away, he considered it to be hostile. The Mosquito pilot, Lt. Ronald M. Nichols, was killed. The navigator, Lt. Elbert F. Harris, bailed out and evaded capture. Crash site west of Toulouse, France.

March 24th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS711. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF P-47 of the 36th Fighter Group (9th Air Force) at about 1700 hours. The Thunderbolt pilot and his wingman climbed to engage from 17,000 feet. The Mosquito was at 18,500 feet when the pilot, Lt. Carroll B. Stubblefield, banked to present the national markings which were not recognized, probably again due to the lighting conditions. Stubblefield's plane also had a red tail to discourage attack by friendlies, but it's not clear if the ground attack pilots were briefed. The Mosquito had a top cover of eight P-51s of the 479th Fighter Group (8th Air Force) but they were unable to make radio contact with the P-47s until after the Mosquito was destroyed. The pilot was killed but the navigator, Lt. James B. Richmond, bailed out safely and was captured. Crash site near Brilon, Germany.

April 4th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS635. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF B-24 of the 446th Bomb Group at about 1030 hours. The group commander, Lt. Col. Troy W. Crawford, was aboard the Mosquito and took full responsibility for the mistake. The Liberators had been under attack by German jets and the bomber crews were previously ordered to open fire on any aircraft that came within a specified range of their guns. The escort fighter units were informed of this but the Mosquito pilot, Lt. Theodore B. Smith, was not properly briefed. He flew too close while Crawford was taking pictures of the B-24s and one of the gunners blasted the Mosquito out of the sky. The pilot and passenger bailed out safely and became POWs for the duration. Crash site between Parchim and Wesendorf, Germany.

April 9th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS792. Misidentified and shot down by a FFAF P-51 at about 1745 hours. The Mosquito was at 20,000 feet when attacked; following an explosion the pilot, Lt. John A. Pruis, slumped forward in his seat. The navigator, Lt. Claude C. Moore, was badly burned and unable to extricate the pilot, but he managed to bail out. As the Mustangs circled during his parachute descent, Lt. Moore noticed they carried the roundels of the Free French air forces. After landing Moore was evacuated by the U.S Army. Crash site near Eberbach, Germany. (Note there is a discrepancy with the serial number. One source says the downed Mosquito was NS783, but another source says a different crew was flying that plane on the same mission).