1944 Toplet, Romania, Ju52 crash near Orsova

[researcher111]

Yes no prob thats what I meant Orsova - Turnu Severin area. Will you please indicate which fighter group was in the Turnul Severin area and which claimed what in that area ? Thanks in advance
PS : Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis was published in 2013 , all my material is dated 1945 to 2007 . I am very curious on the updates and on how objective they are .

[Larry deZeng]

16 April 1944:
On the Turnu Severin – Belgrade – Nis mission, “The 82d missed the rendezvous with the bombers and strafed trains. The fighters encountered several enemy bombers during the flight and claimed three destroyed, with two later confirmed: one each to the 1st and 82d. The 325th lost two Thunderbolts and the 31st FG a Mustang, mistakenly shot down by a B-24, as bomber gunners were not yet familiar with the new P-51s.”

Mahoney book, pp.92-93.

It seems that the 1st FG is the most likely participant needing further research to find out exactly what was claimed and exactly where.

[researcher111]

Thanks Larry, sofar this is more or less in line with my material with one exception related to the location of both aerials . I ordered the book and will revert as soon
as I have new details. Thanks again for your efforts

[Dénes Bernád]

Larry, on 16 April, a "He 111" was claimed by 2nd Lt. Robert G. Griffin of the 97th FS, 82nd FG, 30 m E of Turnu Severin, at noontime.

[Larry deZeng]

Dénes -

Thanks. That should help researcher111 eliminate the 82d FG claim. He still lacks info for the 1st FG claim.

L.

[muggs_ro]

Hi Egbert, this is the info i have from a DLM in Rumanien crash report :

10.5.1944 Ju52 Wnr. 501325 / Halter : OKM Berlin / Ort : Toplet 10km N Orsova in a hill area called Culmea Neagra / In folge niedriger Wolken-unreadable Bodenberurhung Aufschlagbrand 100% / 8 tote - 10 schw. ( verwundet ? ) / The wreck was recovered by Bergungskompanie 2/2 on 6.6.1944 and sent to Wiener Neustadt

Since me and other friends happen to be involved in WW2 aircraft archaeology and due to the remote location of the crash site I think we will give it a go this year, I will keep you posted on the results. Culmea Neagra should be easy to find as beneath it there is a cave which is often researched by speleologists.

[Larry deZeng]

In folge niedriger Wolken-unreadable Bodenberurhung Aufschlagbrand 100%

Crashed and caught fire as a result of hitting the ground due to low-lying clouds.

[egbert]

Originally Posted by muggs_ro

10.5.1944 Ju52 Wnr. 501325 / Halter : OKM Berlin / Ort : Toplet 10km N Orsova in a hill area called Culmea Neagra / In folge niedriger Wolken-unreadable Bodenberurhung Aufschlagbrand 100% / 8 tote - 10 schw. ( verwundet ? ) / The wreck was recovered by Bergungskompanie 2/2 on 6.6.1944 and sent to Wiener Neustadt

Since me and other friends happen to be involved in WW2 aircraft archaeology and due to the remote location of the crash site I think we will give it a go this year, I will keep you posted on the results. Culmea Neagra should be easy to find as beneath it there is a cave which is often researched by speleologists.

Hi muggs,
Werknummer shall read 501326 and I cannot find the Culma Neagra some 9km n/w of Toplet on any map or desription (translated)......

[muggs_ro]

Hi Egbert, I will upload this evening the scan, in it it is clearly written 501325 but I won't argue if it's correct or not, i'm just forwarding what I found

As for Culmea Neagra it seems to be way far more to the NW of Toplet, about 50 km actually so that clearly is not the actual crash place, i will look these days on a set of maps of the area from the 1930's to see what similarly called places are near Toplet.

Culmea Neagra as of now : http://bit.ly/1zv2Ik4

[egbert]

Mihai, I suggest you have a look at the altitude the WAST claims the crash happened: 1052 meters. This gives only one option, that of the dominating mountain ridge some 9-14km n/w of Toplet (see post # 9). Do you happen to have access to a proper (other than my Googleearth) map, say 1:50.000 or so?
Your suggested location of C.N. is way out of range at 64km n/w of Toplet