Claim Holland April 1944

[stahlbeton]

Hi,

I have a reliable (infantry) KTB which states on the 11th of april 1944 an English fighter has been shot above Amerongen (Holland) and the pilot bailed and got captured.

The unit responsible for the KTB never made any mistakes with nationalities on other crashes, so I have no doubt with this one.

However I cannot find an English crash (or even POW) in the central part of Holland on this day. All USAAF crashes are accounted for on the SGLO loss list, so I thought I could try finding the claim. With no luck.

As I said, the KTB is reliable as the pilot was captured in the unit's Jagdbezirk and there aren't any errors in dates, etc. as they had to file an report. Does someone has an idea?

[Rottler]

Hello stahlbeton,

MACR 3635
P-51 B-7-NA 43-7046 354th FG/353rd FS
2nd Lt Edward Victor Parnell Jr. O-813213 POW
crash 11.00 hrs near Amerongen, German casualty no./Abschußnummer J 804.

Regards
Leo

[TigerTimon]

Hello,

I can understand the mix up with 'English fighter', the British did fly the Mustangs before the USAAF showed up on the European Theatre.

Timon

[stahlbeton]

Thanks.

So, is the SGLO incorrect in saying it was hit over Münster by Flak, but instead shot down by a german fighter? I saw there is an Abschussnumber, but I guess it isn't known who shot him down?

Is there any place where these MACR can be found?

Best regards,

[Stig Jarlevik]

No it is correct

Aircraft was hit over Münster by flak and Parnell decided he could make it back to England. Over Utrecht he decided to bail out, since he most likely judged his P-51 would not last across the channel.

The German report quoted by Leo is also correct, although from the book I quote from, that report (J-804) listed the aircraft as being a P-47, while a second report KUJ804 correctly identified the wreck as a P-51 (and with German precision stated it was 95% destroyed).

It seems in this case no Luftwaffe fighters were involved.

Cheers
Stig

[stahlbeton]

Thank you very much. This clears up a lot.