Friendly fire WWII

[Brian]

Hi guys,

Not much success with my previous list of friendly fire incidents, but I will persevere and here is my penultimate list of queries:

9/7/44 Lt Jack B. Miller 78thFG shot down by Spitfire
9/7/44 Spitfire PL137 shot down by P-47 353rdFG
14/7/44 Mitchell 226 Sqn shot down Mosquito
15/8/44 Two Spits 602 Sqn (MJ398 and MK244) shot down by P-51s
26/8/44 Spit 602 Sqn (PL264) shot down by P-47
18/9/44 Lt Robert O. Peters 335thFG shot down by P-51
19/9/44 P-51 357thFG shot down by Spitfire
26/9/44 Mustang 168 Sqn (AM101) shot down by P-47
7/10/44 Lt Raoul Rebiere 328 Sqn shot down P-51

I hope someone out there might have some of the answers. Many thanks.

Brian

[Franek Grabowski]

18/9/44 Lt Robert O. Peters 335thFG shot down by P-51

This event was quite well researched and I may get you in touch with MIA Project guys. Unfortunatelly, name of the pilot is not known but he visited family of Peters and told the story, expressing his most deep and sincere sorrow and sympathies.
Cheers

[Boris Ciglic]

Two 325 birds from othervise useless Osprey "P 47 aces of the 9th and 15th AF":

11.3.44. Lt Jimmy Jones attacked Lt Hudson who turned and shot him down

12.4.44. Lt Harry Parker (in 42-75959) shot down by P 38

Cheers,
Boris

[Brian]

Great stuff, Boris - it is said that one good turn deserves another! It works!!

Thanks again

Brian

[Troy White]

There were so many incidents, I am sure you are going to have fun compiling them all. Here are a few more for you:

10 Sept 43 Lt. Pryblo 307th FS 31st FG-- Own Flak
22 May 44 Nick "Cowboy" Megura 334th FS-- 4th FG Shot down by P-38
6 June 44 Uffz. Winter 6./JG 26-- Own Flak
25 December Lt. Bouchier-- Own Flak
25 December Capt. Don Emmerson 336 FS 4th FG-- Own Flak
1 Jan 45 An RAF Typhoon or Tempest was shot down and the pilot KIA while in the landing pattern by a pilot from the 328th FS 352nd FG at Y-29 in Belgium.
1 Jan 45 out of about 300 aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe during Operation Bodenplatte about 100 were shot down by their own flak.

I also recall an incident where USAAF P-38s shot down a few Soviet fighters I believe in the Balkans near the end of the war.

And of course there was St. Lo...

That is just what I found in my notes and the very few books in my library.

I look forward to seeing how you present all of this stuff. I am sure some people will think this is a touchy subject but there are so many ways to get killed during a war. I used to live in Florida and during WWII there was an average of 1.25 military planes a day that crashed between Pearl Harbour and V-J Day and nobody was was shooting at them.

Cheers--

Troy

[George Hopp]

In the August 1944 issue of "Recognition Journal" the following was mentioned. Perhaps someone knows about the a/c and boats involved: "Some months ago in the Pacific, a B-25 bomber on patrol spotted two torpedo boats below him. Not recognizing them as U.S. Navy PT's he came down on them, strafing with his eight .50-caliber machine guns. They, in turn, opened up on him. While the first PT was still sinking, a patrolling Navy fighter happened along, swung in on the bomber and shot it down. The bomber pilot never lived to make explanations, nor did all the PT men."

No. 1 Sqdn (RCAF) tallied its first victories on 24 Aug 40 by shooting down one Ju 88 and claiming another Ju 88 as a probable. Unfortunately, these a/c were Blenheim IFs of No. 235 (Fighter) Sqdn of the RAF.

[Troy White]

Last night while I was looking for something completely different I stumbled upon the following “friendly” fire information. Funny how that works.

On 18 March 1945 the 352nd FG, 353rd FG, 357th FG & 359th FG all had contact with Soviet fighters in the Berlin area.

A P-51 from the 353rd and one from the 352nd crash landed behind Soviet lines as a result of engagements with the Soviets.

Several flights of 352nd FG mixed it up with Yak-9s but combat was broken off when proper recognition was established. However, Lt. Albert Peterson of the 487th FS got into a turning contest with four Yaks and got himself shot down. Peterson eventually made his way back to his base on 1 May 1945. I couldn’t find anything more on the 353rd FG or the 357th FG.

But the big story was what happened with the 359th FG over the airfields at Zackerick and Joachimsthal. Mustangs of the 368th FS and 369th FS shot down a total of nine and damaged one of the Russians in a good sized fracas with no losses. They also destroyed two more on the ground as they were taxiing to take off. The 359th initially mistook the La-5s for Fw 190s and the Yak-9s for Bf 109s. The Americans broke off combat when they figured out their mistake but in some cases the Soviets wanted to keep fighting so the Americans obliged and shot them down. The stats show that it was not much of a contest.

High scorers that day were Capt. Ralph Cox who shot down three La-5s and Maj. Niven Cranfill who flamed two Yak-9s. Both became aces with those victories.

Here are confirmed victories for the 359th FG on 18 March 1945:

Cranfill, 368th FS: 2 Yak-9s
Cox 368th FS: 3 La-5s
Burtner, 368th FS: 1 Yak-9
Burtner, 368th FS: 2 Yak-9s (ground)
McCormack, 368th FS: 1 Yak-9
Gaines, 368th FS: 1 Yak-9
McIntosh, 368th FS: 1 Yak-9
Berndt, 368th FS: 1 Yak-9 (damaged)

After the incident Lt. McIntosh was court marshaled and sent back to the USA because his was the only gun camera film evidence of the incident that survived.

On the Russian side Joseph Stalin had the surviving Russian pilots executed and expected the USA to do the same with the 359th pilots which of course never happened.
Cheers--

Troy

[Troy White]

Correction to my previous posting:

All of the 359th FG pilots were from the 369th FS except for Capt. Cranfill who was from the 368th FS.

Troy

[Brian]

Many thanks Troy and George - I have to admit that I have most of this information but you have added a little more, Troy. Keep searching!

I haven't established a date for the incident you recount, George, but have made a note.

Great stuff

Brian

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

Hi guys

Just a reminder to Six Nifty .50s - were implied that you would let me have details of the USAAF Mosquitos (25thBG) that fell to friendly fire. Cheers.

August 12th, 1944
USAAF Mosquito NS533. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF P-51 of the 357th Fighter Group at about 1145 hours. The Mustang pilot and his wingman climbed to engage from 23,000 feet and the Mosquito spun in from 29,000 feet. In the after action reports, both P-51 pilots implied that the twin-engined aircraft was silhouetted against the sun -- the attacking pilot wrote that he did not see any roundels or invasion stripes on the aircraft and after the bogie turned onto his six o'clock and tried to dive away, he considered it to be hostile. The Mosquito pilot, Lt. Ronald M. Nichols, was killed. The navigator, Lt. Elbert F. Harris, bailed out and evaded capture. Crash site west of Toulouse, France.

March 24th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS711. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF P-47 of the 36th Fighter Group (9th Air Force) at about 1700 hours. The Thunderbolt pilot and his wingman climbed to engage from 17,000 feet. The Mosquito was at 18,500 feet when the pilot, Lt. Carroll B. Stubblefield, banked to present the national markings which were not recognized, probably again due to the lighting conditions. Stubblefield's plane also had a red tail to discourage attack by friendlies, but it's not clear if the ground attack pilots were briefed. The Mosquito had a top cover of eight P-51s of the 479th Fighter Group (8th Air Force) but they were unable to make radio contact with the P-47s until after the Mosquito was destroyed. The pilot was killed but the navigator, Lt. James B. Richmond, bailed out safely and was captured. Crash site near Brilon, Germany.

April 4th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS635. Misidentified and shot down by a USAAF B-24 of the 446th Bomb Group at about 1030 hours. The group commander, Lt. Col. Troy W. Crawford, was aboard the Mosquito and took full responsibility for the mistake. The Liberators had been under attack by German jets and the bomber crews were previously ordered to open fire on any aircraft that came within a specified range of their guns. The escort fighter units were informed of this but the Mosquito pilot, Lt. Theodore B. Smith, was not properly briefed. He flew too close while Crawford was taking pictures of the B-24s and one of the gunners blasted the Mosquito out of the sky. The pilot and passenger bailed out safely and became POWs for the duration. Crash site between Parchim and Wesendorf, Germany.

April 9th, 1945
USAAF Mosquito NS792. Misidentified and shot down by a FFAF P-51 at about 1745 hours. The Mosquito was at 20,000 feet when attacked; following an explosion the pilot, Lt. John A. Pruis, slumped forward in his seat. The navigator, Lt. Claude C. Moore, was badly burned and unable to extricate the pilot, but he managed to bail out. As the Mustangs circled during his parachute descent, Lt. Moore noticed they carried the roundels of the Free French air forces. After landing Moore was evacuated by the U.S Army. Crash site near Eberbach, Germany. (Note there is a discrepancy with the serial number. One source says the downed Mosquito was NS783, but another source says a different crew was flying that plane on the same mission).