Friendly fire WWII

[Brian]

Gentlemen!
Your combined expertise promptly provided answers to the 20/12/43 tragedy, so how about these:

9 August 1943: B-26 41-31634 555BS/386BG was shot down by an RAF Spitfire. Has anyone identities and fate of crew? Identity/squadron of Spitfire pilot? I have just 'discovered' that 1/Lt Dick A Tucker and his crew were killed.

3 December 1943: B-17 554BS damaged by friendly fire and 2/Lt John B. Kennedy was wounded. What type of friendly fire (apart from being unfriendly) and location of incident?

23 March 1944: Two P-47s attacked RAF launch HSL2706 in mistake for German E-boat off Dutch coast. Who were the pilots? What squadron/group?

Over to you, guys.

Cheers
Brian

[Six Nifty .50s]

Thanks Brian. Were you able to figure out why Francis Mason, Norman Franks, and Winston Ramsay all reported different results for the same day?

Originally Posted by Brian

23 March 1944: Two P-47s attacked RAF launch HSL2706 in mistake for German E-boat off Dutch coast. Who were the pilots? What squadron/group?

On that date, Lieutenant James R. Cook and Flight Officer Shirley J. Green (360th FS) were said to have damaged an E-boat in the North Sea. See p.31, Miller, Kent. The 356th Fighter Group in World War II: In Action over Europe with the P-47 and P-51 (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books, 2003).

[Brian]

Sorry Six Nifty - I am not privy to the workings of minds of great men!!

Thanks for the note re 360FS, Please note that I now have details of the crew and their fates regarding the B-26 downed on 9/8/43 - but not the identity of the RAF pilot responsibe.

Cheers
Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by Brian

9 August 1943: B-26 41-31634 555BS/386BG was shot down by an RAF Spitfire. Has anyone identities and fate of crew? Identity/squadron of Spitfire pilot? I have just 'discovered' that 1/Lt Dick A Tucker and his crew were killed.

Hi, Brian,

for this day I have the following six airmen of 555th BS who died this day:
Staff Sergeant Allen J. Crosswell, buried Netherlands
Second Lieutenant Patrick J. Kelly, MIA
Technical Sergeant John P. Ryan, MIA
First Lieutenant Paul E. Scharding, MIA
First Lieutenant Dick A. Tucker, MIA
Staff Sergeant Bernard T. Zukosky, MIA.
I don't know any more loss for 555th BS this day so these 6 men were probably the crew of this bomber. But I have no definitive proof.

[Brian]

Many thanks Laurent. I wonder who the Spitfire pilot was?

On 27/6/44 an L-4 of 87th Field Artillery was shot down - does anyone know identity and fate of crew. Also, two more L-4s were shot down in July 1944. Any details? I have found some more details: The L-4 shot down on 27/6/44 was flown by 2/Lts Robert R. McAnninch and Chales R. Wood Jr, both US Army, who were killed; on 31/7/44 L-4 was shot down although both Lt Robert C. Campbell and 2/Lt John T. Maguire, both US Army, survived unhurt; on 27/3/45 L-4 shot down although Lt Campbell and Lt John R. Berry survived. On all three occasions it is believed that the L-4s were hit by shells fired by 87th Field Artillery. Can anyone confirm these details, and also provide serial numbers of the L-4s? Did other US Army Artillery units that had L-4s attached lose aircraft in this manner?

On 6/10/44 the 335thFS/4thFG shot down a Me410 near Heligoland at 1100. Who was the claimant? PS: I now have this information!

Cheers
Brian

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

16/11/44 two Beaufighters of 211 Squadron were shot down by P-38s from 459thFS flown by 1/Lts Vern L. Flanders and Walter H. Patton. Two crew were killed in one machine, the pilot survived from the second machine but his navigator died of wounds.

I found some more details:

" ... One of the first operations [from Chiringa], flown by Pilot Officer Trigwell and his navigator, Pilot Officer Chippendale, leading Flight Sergeant McDowall and Sergeant Cooper, ended in most unusual circumstances. They had been briefed to attack road transport on the Taungup Pass, between Taungup and Prome. Without warning they were attacked over the target area by two USAAF Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. Neither Beaufighter survived the attack, although Trigwell, after hitting a mangrove tree, was able to crash land his aircraft in about four feet of water. Triggy was uninjured, but Chips was badly wounded in the back by cannon shells and was unable to move. With much difficulty, Triggy was able to get Chips out. He recovered what he could of the medical supplies, including a few tubes of morphine and, by cutting up a parachute he was able to bandage the eight perforations in his navigator's back. That night, he bought a boat, but either he was betrayed by the Burmese or the Japanese had been able to locate the crashed aircraft, for they were taken prisoner just after dark. Chips died four days later whilst they were being transferred from the mangrove swamps to Taungup, and Triggy finally arrived in Rangoon as a prisoner of war on Christmas Eve 1944 ...
Triggy's camp had 1300 prisoners, 600 of whom were British, American and Dutch, and the rest Chinese and Indian. On 25th April, five months after becoming a prisoner of war, he was one of 400 whom the Japanese selected to be dressed in Japanese clothing and then marched north from Rangoon. On the fifth day when they were north of Pegu, the senior Allied prisoner of war, Brigadier Hobbs, informed the group that the Japanese commandant had left a letter with him saying that they were being freed and that 'they would meet us on the battlefield later'. The prisoners were now on their own and had the job of making contact with the advancing 14th Army, and their main problem being that they were dressed in Japanese clothing.
Over the five previous days they had been subject to considerable harassment by way of bombings and cannon strafing by RAF Mosquitos but suffered no casualties. Eventually, when they reached suitable terrain, they made from their clothing a large Union Jack and a message: '400 BRITISH POWS HERE PLEASE DROP RADIO'. In due course, they decided that RAF aircraft had spotted the signs but, much to their surprise, they suddenly found themselves being attacked by three Hurricanes with bombs and machine-guns with one unfortunate killing, that of Brigadier Hobbs ... "

See p.106-107, Innes, David. Beaufighters Over Burma: No. 27 Squadron, RAF, 1942-45. Blandford Press, 1985.

[Brian]

Hi guys

I am not familiar with MACR reports. How does one go about obtaining a copy? I need to look at MACR 8340 which, I believe, covers the loss of a U-61 43-14844 (on 23/8/44) attached to the 27thFBG. Please advise me where to apply (by e-mail or letter?). Many thanks

Brian

[Franek Grabowski]

Brian
I will try to drop you a line later today or tomorrow in this regard.

[Brian]

Many thanks Franek - I have received the details.

Two more friendly fire incidents that I hope someone will be able to confirm and provide further details:

17/4/41 Ju88C (2123) R4+BM of 4/NJG2 believed shot down by Ju88C flown by Ltn Heinz Volkner of 3/NJG2 over UK

24/7/41 Ju88C (8054) R4+LM of 4/NJG2 believed shot down by Ju88C of I/NJG2 over UK

Cheers
Brian