Dual P-47 Crash 4 October 1944 Near Munstereifel, Germany

[Horst Weber]

Originally Posted by pdame141

All:

With apologies for the mis-posting in the post-war forum a moment ago, I'm seeking information on the crash site(s) of two P-47s of the 397 FS/368 FG that were lost in a mid-air collision during a combat mission on 4 October 1944 in the vicinity of Munstereifel, Germany.

Capt. William Gibson was KIA and his left side wingman Lt. Odell Dustin parachuted clear of his a/c and was captured. Lt. Dustin was a POW at Stalag Luft I.

According to a statement by Capt. Gibson's right side wingman in MACR 9643 (Dustin's MACR is 9642), the flight was climbing through bad weather when they hit a violent updraft at which time Gibson and Dustin collided. The collision occurred at an altitude of around 6,000 ft.


Good evening
Is there a record of the crash site of either or both P-47? To my knowledge, Capt. Gibson's remains were never recovered. Lt. Dustin was flying a P-47D-16, no. 42-76115 coded D3-X, which was my Great Uncle's assigned a/c.

Thanks as always for any leads.

Best regards,
Paul Dame

Good evening Paul !

The case of Lt. Dustin is quite clear. He came down at a road between Schmidt and Kommerscheid, which is only about 1/2 km between the close nearby villages. The German J 2203 report mentions that. A pencilwritten footnote has in this report the name "Dustin".

Capt. Gibson may have found his death either in Germany or in Belgium. His first grave, after he was recovered by an Army Grave Registration Team, was the American Military Cemetary Neuville-en-Condroz, Liege, Belgium. Later, he was reburied to PA.

In this case, you should order the Individual Deceased Personell File (IDPF) of this officer. The information of his burial site in Germany could help researchers in Germany or Belgium, to find out an event, which could match to your question.

All the best !

Horst Weber