Unknown Mustang III crash (Netherlands)

[Ivo Wilms]

Hello gents,

I would like some help with an unsolved crash we [a group of local researchers] are working on. We’ve tried many ways to solve this crash (local archives, literature, loss lists, etc.), but without any success so far. The plane crashed in the Sittard-Roermond-Heinsberg triangle (attached is an aerial photograph of the crash site, dated 1-1-1945). This is the information we have at the moment:

From eyewitness accounts we know that:
- The plane came down somewhere between November 18th and November 25th, 1944. Locals remembered the crash date quite specific as on November 18th Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB, MN475 crashed near the unknown crash site and on November 25th B-17G-15-VE, 42-97534 crashed nearby as well;
- The plane was shot down by FLAK located just across the border in Germany;
- The pilot didn’t bail out (flying too low), had one or both legs fractured and was directly taken across the border into Germany on a cart by German soldiers. And here the trail ends, alas…

For years we didn’t even know what type of plane it was, but from recent research with an archaeological approach we know that:
- The plane is a P-51 Mustang Mk. III;
- The plane was indeed shot down by FLAK (We found a wing lamp luminaire with shrapnel damage coming in from below);
- It was a hard crash landing (Many fragmented engine parts and some cockpit parts were found. Possibly the plane tipped over on impact.).

That is basically all the information we have. Does anyone perhaps have more information, or know where to look for a possible match? I was thinking of obtaining all the ORBs from the squadrons that flew Mustang Mk. III’s in November ’44, but I would first have to figure out which squadrons flew Mustangs…

Any help is greatly appreciated.