FRE 1458
IMAGEA bomber crew of the 553rd Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group with their B-26 Marauder nicknamed "Molly". Handwritten caption on reverse: '386 BG/ 553 BS.' Shot down in 1943. The Sgt in the middle was my friends uncle, Paul Bragg from Ohio. The Zimmerman crew: First Lieutenant G.F. Zimmerman. Second Lieutenants R.S. Molnar, S.D. McCollum, and C.S. Eaton, Jr. Staff Sergeants Y.P. Young, Jr., P.V. Bragg, and J.F. Cuthbertson. It was later learned that the Lieutenant G.E. Zimmerman crew had been shot down by a FW-190 pilot - Feldwebel Karl Willus. The enemy pilot filed a combat report stating he shot down a Boston type aircraft, (Douglas A-20) at 0705 hours, July 30, 1943. Location given was Northwest of Antwerp. He had mistakenly identified the plane because he had never seen a Martin B-26 up to that point. At the time he was assigned to the 2./ JG 26 on the Channel Front. It was his 34th victory. August 4, 1944 he was killed during an air battle with an American fighter pilot flying a P-47 over Holland; just after Karl Willus had shot down his 50th plane - a B-24 Liberator. His FW-190 was seen to spin down, crash into the ground, and explode!
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Units
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment