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Allied and Soviet Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the Air Forces of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. |
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P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
In an article on Johannes Steinhoff, he mentions that he took a P-38 pilot POW during the August 25th,1943 strafing raid. They both got so drunk that any escape attempt by the USAAF pilot would have been out of the question.
Does anyone know the identity of this pilot? I know the 82nd FG had three POWs out of four P-38s lost, the 1st had one POW out two P-38 lost and the 14th FG lost two P-38s. |
#2
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
A little mystery. Steinhoff himself says in some interviews that the name of the pilot was Capt. Widen.
When you go to the 1st FG website however (www.1stfighter.org"), you'll notice in the 1942 timeline that Capt. Norman "Cy" Widen was shot down on 18 Dec 42 by German ace Anton Hafner, who later visited Widen. Perhaps all three had a drink together? Regards, Leendert Brugge/Belgium |
#3
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
Hallo Carlos,
D'ont know the answer. However AN ESCORT OF P-38s by John D. Mullins states they lost two pilots, one missing and one POW. The POW was Lt. Marcel Williams who was apparently hit by flak over the target, baled out and was captured. Perhaps with the passage of time and too much alcohol Williams became Widen ? None of the 82nd FG names seem a likely match. I don't have much on the 14th FG unfortunately, though it appears one of their two pilots was a Lt. Hester who was KIA. Regards, Martin Gleeson. |
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
Hi Martin:-)
Thanks for the effort. I think it was probably a 14th FG P-38 pilot, though I have no way of checking. I'll keep digging. Carlos |
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
Hallo Carlos,
You probably know this already but the two 14th FG P-38 losses have MACRs. MACR No. 503 for 43-2534, MACR No. 506 for 43-2470. Regards, Martin. |
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
just for those more curious:
WWII: Please describe your humorous encounter with a Lockheed P-38 pilot named Widen in Italy in 1944. Steinhoff: This is a good story. I was test-flying an Me-109 with my aide near our base at Foggia. This was before I had been exiled from Germany, during my first tour as Kommodore of JG.77. Well, we were attacked at low level by a flight of P-38 Lightnings, about 100 American fighters in all, but the two of us figured, why not attack? We turned into them, and I flew through their formation going in the opposite direction, getting good strikes on a couple of them. I poured a good burst into this P-38 and the pilot rolled over, and I saw him bail out. I had this on gun camera also. Well, he was picked up and made a POW, and I invited him to my tent for a drink and dinner, as well as to spend the night. We drank some of the local wine... and drank and drank. I thought to myself, "What am I going to do with this guy?" Well, it was long after midnight, so I lay down in my tent and stretched my legs so I could reach his head. He woke up and said, "Don't worry, I won't run away, you have my word as an officer and a gentleman. Besides, you got me too drunk." We slept, and he kept his word, and I never placed a guard on him. and possible MACR's: 433 F-5 42-132?1 3 520 P-38 42-13433 1 480 P-38 43-2361 1 503 P-38 43-2534 14 506 P-38 43-2470 14 504 P-38 42-13438 82 485 P-38 42-13402 82 2nd Lt. Paul I. Paskiewicz 486 P-38 42-12906 82 2nd Lt. James R. Rudy 487 P-38 42-13042 82 2nd Lt. Warren L. Singer 484 P-38 43-2512 82 2nd Lt. Eugene F. Phillips Last edited by FrankieS; 25th September 2007 at 04:37. Reason: pilot infos added |
#7
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Re: P-38 Pilot POW August 25th,1943
Check here it has some information on the MACR and Pilots for those days.
http://www.geocities.com/raf_112_sqd...21943_mto.html Regards Rob
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