MACR resource

[edwest]

Unfortunately, after a free trial period, a membership must be paid, but this may be a better way to get such reports than spending the time and effort and/or travel expense to view them. I am not vouching for the site, just pointing it out. If this violates a forum rule then I ask the administrator to delete the post.

http://www.fold3.com/page/1918_wwii_..._crew_reports/




Ed

[Laurent Rizzotti]

The same website has other historical ressources, two especially interesting for WWII air war fans like us:

_ a collection of USAAF pictures, by country/area and subject: these are FREE to see.

_ a collection of USN War Diaries, including (under letter V) many USN and USMC air units. Coverage is far away from 100% but it is still interesting. Not free.

My own opinion is that at 80 $ per year it is interesting if you have time to browse it and are interested by many possible MACRs. If you are after only one or some MACR, the free trial will probably be enough.

Last two years, the database was also fully free in the Christmas period. I picked what interested me in this period last year.

To be complete, there are now many websites where one can find MACRs, and in a form easier to be downloaded than in fold3 website. Here is a short list I have in my favorites:

57th FG: http://www.57thfightergroup.org/missing_air_crew_reports.html
78th FG: http://www.ulongbeach.com/78th_MCAR_Homepage.html
118th TRS: http://www.118trs.com/history-of-the-118th/macrs
384th BG: http://www.384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/MACRList.php
398th BG: http://www.398th.org/History/398th_Aircraft/MACRs/index.html
401st BG: http://www.remember-our-heroes.nl/MACR401st.htm
461st BG: http://www.461st.org/Site%20Map.htm
464th BG: http://www.zplace2b.com/464th/flakmacr.htm
494th BG: http://71.161.103.2/reference/macrs.htm

[edwest]

Thank you, Laurent.





Ed

[Håkan]

Hello,

I've a frequent user of Fold3 for some time now (I've paid the annual fee) and I think it's quite a good site (even if there of course is lots of errors when seraching in a such large material as the MACRs - especially in the CBI area, but these are not Fold3's errors). Also I find that they tries to improve the site all the time with new material being added all the time (unfortunately not much aviation related). All-in-all I find the cost of using the site compared of what you get in par with using the National Archives, i.e. quite good tools for researchers that can't visit the various archives in person.

Best wishes/Håkan

[Tony Kambic]

From the 398th BG website, Navigator Lt. Mark Wood's diary description of the May 24, 1944 mission to Berlin:

May 24, 1944 Mission #5
398th BG 600th BS mission to Berlin

A German FW-190 with a P-38 on his tail
shot up a B-17 directly in front of us.
The P-38 had a collision with the FW-190,
and both ran into a B-17, which exploded
in a sheet of orange flames, no smoke at all

Of the two MACRs listed for this group in this day, neither seems to match this event. Has anyone ever heard of this triple mid-air? Interestingly enough, this same date was when Capt. Jack Ilfrey collided his P-38 with a German fighter, but he was able to make it back to base with some of his wing missing.