44-15144 Peggin

Assigned to 100FS, 332FG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) recon mission to Praha, Yugoslavia engine failure prompted bale out pilot Capt Lawrence E Dickson Killed in Action (KIA). 23-Dec-44 MACR 10734.

On July 27, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of Captain Lawrence E. Dickson, missing from World War II.

Captain Dickson was a Tuskegee Airman who entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York and served with the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. On December 23, 1944, he piloted a P-51 Mustang (serial number 44-15144) on a reconnaissance mission over Praha, Czechoslovakia. On his return flight, his aircraft developed engine trouble and crashed near Hohenthurn, Austria. CPT Dickson had attempted to bail out of the aircraft but was killed in the incident, and his remains could not be recovered immediately following his loss. Further attempts following the war to recover them were also unsuccessful. In 2017, DPAA was able to accurately locate CPT Dickson's crash site and recover his remains, and laboratory analyses later confirmed the identification.

Captain Dickson is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy.

Connections

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Units served with

A P-51 Mustang (10) of the 332nd Fighter Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Genuine WWII colour photo, Mustang Fossia Italy.' Printed caption with image: 'A/C of negro 33nd FG.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
  • Air Force: Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Fighter
 A ground crewman of the 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force on the tail of a P-51 Mustang. Written on slide casing: '332 FG.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Fighter

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 332nd Fighter Group 100th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12124614 / O-798945
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Fighter pilot

Events

Event Location Date Description

Crashed

31100 Treviso, Province of Treviso, Italy 23 December 1944 Failed to Return (FTR) recon mission to Praha, Yugoslavia engine failure prompted bale out KIA. MACR 10734.

Manufactured

Inglewood, CA, USA Built at North American.

Assigned

86042 Ramitelli CB, Italy Assigned to 100FS, 332FG, 15AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date20 May 2022 13:23:28
ContributorAl_Skiff
ChangesChanges to unit associations
Date8 Feb 2019 16:09:49
Contributoralexwall20
ChangesChanges to description
Date15 Jan 2017 19:45:34
ContributorAl_Skiff
ChangesChanges to description
Date15 Jan 2017 19:43:24
ContributorAl_Skiff
ChangesCreated entry with serial number, aircraft type, production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, description, events, unit associations and place associations