USAAF Pilots Who Scored Victories Over The Hungarian Air Force

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

What were the known names of USAAF fighter pilots who shot down Hungarian Air Force planes during WWII? I knew only one for now and his name was Lee A. Archer who downed three Hungarian fighter planes on a single mission.

Sincerely,

Edward L. Hsiao

[HGabor]

Correct. He downed 3 Hungarian Bf 109s while they were approaching the Veszprém airfield for landing:

101/3. Sq., Bf 109G, "W-0+??" - 1Lt. Balogh Károly (Charles) (KIA) at Nemesvámos.
101/3. Sq., Bf 109G, "W-0+52" - 2Lt. Bélaváry Pál (Paul) (KIA) already at Veszprém airfield, at the end of the landing strip. (See his color photo.)
101/3. Sq., Bf 109G-6/U2, "W-0+49" - 2Lt. Nánási Kálmán (OK) at Csopak, on the swampy shore of Lake Balaton.

It is hard to answer your question since there are waaaaay too many. (Vice versa!) Surely I have a long list with well identified pairs of victors-victims, but it is a sensitive topic as many cases could be considered as war crimes against defenseless pilots on open parachutes. (There were certain FGs in the 15th AAF where these cases were unusually common, compaired to other groups. Hungarian fighters usually did not commit this kind of crime, simply because -due to the large number of opponents- they could not afford to waste even a single shot on bailed out pilots, who got captured on the ground anyways. Therefore war crimes against American airmen were committed mainly on the ground by angry civilians.)

Gabor

[researcher111]

Gabor

As you state there are too many, I am certain if I would go through many of the 15th
Air Force FG's and BG's books and memoires at my end, I could come up with clear figures on this
though I wish to comprehend and add that both Hungarian Army,Police and civilians had a great
reputation on all this have mistreated Allied airmen along with their German partners probably worse
than any other Nation in Eastern Europe.

In comparison and by the same time frame the Romanians and Bulgarians understanding
that they going to lose the war, improved the POW airmen treatment , while the local population
and in many cases rescued the airmen and helpped them out in their misery .

Particularly the Hungarians have been very cruel with Allied airmen and showed no mercy
until they capitulated , off course there could have been same examples of humanity but
rather irrelevant comparing the other figures. I am not aware of any Hungarian and
Romanian pilots intentionally shooting on open chutes , but of Bulgarians frequently doing
this not to mentlion the Germans.

This is a painful subject which not worth entering into.

[HGabor]

Agree, but as I said, crimes against downed airmen were committed mainly on the ground, not in the air. (I am talking about tendencies.)

Gabor

[Ota Jirovec]

Hello HGabor,

Many thanks for your very information. Just to satisfy my curiosity: How have you came to the conclusion, beyond reasonable doubt, that all 3 Hungarian pilots listed by you were shot down by Archer? There were 6-0-1 claims for Bf 109s by Archer´s 302nd Fighter Squadron on this date, all in 1227 - 1630 timeframe and all in rather vague "Lake Balaton area".
Many thanks again.

Ota

[HGabor]

As far as I remember, Archer claimed all of his 3 victories very fast against some returning Bf 109s between Lake Balaton and Veszprém airfield. Since these three pilots were shot down during the landing approach, I think Archer claimed these ones. Other planes (now without the details) were lost during the short upcoming battle near Köveskál, Nagyvázsony, Várpalota and Pét, but their pilots all survived. Cheers,

Gabor

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

The list doesn't have to be very long. I kind of want to know if there were USAAF fighter pilots with four or more victories against the Hungarian Air Force. I know the USAAF fighter pilots tend to gun down not only Luftwaffe pilots in parachutes but also those from the Hungarian Air Force. A very painful reminder indeed.

Sincerely,

Edward L. Hsiao

[Edward L. Hsiao]

Gentlemen,

Need to study more.

Edward L. Hsiao

[Dénes Bernád]

Edward, you may also consult the two volumes of Hungarian Fighter Colours, written by György Punka and myself, published by MMP Books in 2014.