Friendly fire WWII

[Brian]

Thanks Steve- some I have, some I haven't

Cheers
Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Brian, any comment on this case ?

"Night 5/6 June During the night a number of aircraft were lost to reasons other than enemy fire. Aboard a 75 Squadron Lancaster, Flight Sergeant W E Barker witnessed a mid-air collision between two Halifaxes. Sadly, there was also a friendly fire incident. Flight Sergeant Douglas in a 15 Squadron Lancaster was fired upon by ships of the US Navy. The fire missed his aircraft by a narrow margin, but hit and destroyed two other Lancasters in the formation."
Source:
http://www.raf.mod.uk/dday/timeline_june5.html

And a post-WWII case, Greek-Cypriot firing on Greek aircraft bringing reinforcements during the Turkish invasion in 1974: 33 dead
Source:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...t=79617&page=5

[drgondog]

As long as the friendly fire kills move out of WWII, here is another from personal experience.

Sometime in 1952-53 timeframe (I was 6 or 7) Col Mac McWhorter was a/c commander in a B-17 mothership controlling a drone B-17 in trail over the Gulf between Panama City and Eglin AFB, FL.

Major Art DeBolt was flying a radar controlled approach in an F-86D and locked on the wrong target - hitting the command ship. Mac stayed with the burning B-17 to maintain control while the crew bailed and was killed when the B-17 blew up. DeBolt resigned from USAF after the incident.

Both were close friends of my father.. first time I realized my father could possibly get killed flying.

Regards,

Bill Marshall

Dear Brian,

Back in 1994, I found several files at NARA, College Park, Maryland having information on USAAF vs Soviet friendly fire incidents. I marked down the files, but forgot where I placed this information.

Yesterday, while packing material from several filing cabinets into boxes for the move back to Canada, I accidently found the references. Besides the reference numbers, my brief notes state: CCS373.11 USAAF attack Soviet Ship 9-16-1944;CCS373.11 alleged violation of USSR bombing; and CCS373.2 3-20-45 Russians attack B-17 in Moris region. Though the reports detail certain specific incidents, they also contain information on several more encounters between Soviet and USAAF aircraft. Apparently, friendly fire between both the Soviets and USAAF appears to be quite common at the end of the war.

I plan attending my unit's reunion, the 12th TFW, Cam Ranh, RSVN, in Washington, DC in Sept. Will visit NARA and copy the files for you. Hope this is not too late.

Yours very truly,
Norman Malayney

[Steve49]

I don't know if you have it, but the 332 Squadron pilot who shotdown the Typhoon during operation Jubilee was Lt O. Kristiansen (332 Sqn).

Regards

Steve Pegge

[Boomerang]

Reviewing this thread prompted a hazy memory of reading a newspaper article some 30 years ago about a Luftwaffe attack on German destroyers in the North Sea in early 1940.

Fortunately an excellent account is available online about this incident on 22 February 1940, when He 111 1 H + I M of KG 26 attacked a force of 6 German destroyers in the North Sea - a combination of bombs from the aircraft and possibly German and/or British mines led to the sinking of 2 destroyers and the loss of 578 sailors:

http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmari.../feature4.html

Quite a 'friendly fire' incident. I did check and couldn't see it listed earlier in the thread - I was a bit surprised, perhaps it is so well known that it is not considered worthy of being mentioned, but it may be a new piece of intelligence to some members of the Discussion Board, hence this post.

Another more contemporary incident - Argentinean A4B Skyhawk shot down by Argentinean 35 mm flak on 22 May 1984 near Goose Green airstrip on East Falkland Island, pilot F Gavazzi killed (The Royal Navy and the Falklands War, David Brown, page 160).

(Note that a 'smiley' seems to have appeared on this post - I did NOT add it, certainly I mean no disrespect about what was obviously a very sad incident: Boomerang)


Cheers

Boomerang

[Lucien]

I do not know if this may be on any interest to you, but note that, on September 26th 1940, during the Anglo-French confrontation in Dakar, Sénégal, the flying boat Loire 130Cl # 22 belonging to the "Section de surveillance de l'escadrille 4E", mistaken for a Supermarine Walrus, was attacked and shot down by a Dewoitine 501 from "Escadrille I/6" stationed in Thiès. The pilot was saved by his parachute but the three other crew members were killed in the ensuing crah.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

THis page is in French but if you are interested (ie If you have not this case in your files already) I will translate it:

on 9 AUguts 1944, a Albermale of 296 Sqn was probably shot down by an Allied nightfighter over Britanny.

Link: http://www.absa39-45.asso.fr/9aout44/aout44.html

[Laurent Rizzotti]

A case for the Luftwaffe. 1 October 1943 on Eastern Front

"On 1 October, Petermann participated in the escort of 40 He 111 twin-engine bombers. On the return journey his Bf 109 G-6 (W.Nr. 15851) received a direct hit from German flak. He received severe wounds to his left arm and wrist and his left foot. With his engine on fire, he decided to bale out but found his parachute had also been damaged. He managed a belly-landing in no-man’s land between the front lines where he was rescued by German troops and hospitalised. However the wounds to left arm were so severe that amputation was necessary. In addition he had lost the fourth toe of his left foot. Petermann was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 29 February 1944, for 60 victories, while recovering in hospital."

http://www.luftwaffe.cz/petermann.html

[Laurent Rizzotti]

A Pacific story:

"In spite of the fact that 'Black Mac's Killers' arrived forty days after the Okinawa campaign began, and the weather was horrendous throughout, they shot down 35 enemy aircraft-all radar intercepts, which is almost as many aircraft destroyed as all 3 other night fighter squadrons on Okinawa, combined! VMF(N) 533 is the top scoring Night Fighter Squadron of the Pacific Theater in WWII. VMF(N) 533 had the best safety record and the highest combat ready rate for any operational squadron in the Pacific. In 15 months deployment overseas the 'Scrappers' logged nearly 11,000 flight hours with only two regrettable losses, both due to 'friendly' fire, 1st Lt.'s Wilhide and Kelley."
Source: http://www.acepilots.com/usmc/usmc_vmfn533.html

THE ABMC website has a 1st Lt Robert Wilhide killed on 17 May 1945 or 2nd Lt Wilfred Wilhide killed on 26 May 1945, both of them being USMC pilots !!! Too much Kelleys listed to find the good one.