VIII Fighter Command FO - 34 FIGHTER SWEEPS

31 May 1943

Description

110 P-47s from 4FG, 56FG and 78FG are despatched on fighter sweeps over France in the Knokke/Courtrai/Dunkirk area. 1 P-47 is MIA but due to a mechanical failure in oxygen system. Pilot killed.

Mission Details

KNOKKE / COURTRAI / DUNKIRK

Description: FIGHTER SWEEP

Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt

Notes: Fighter sweep over Knokke/Courtrai/Dunkirk area. One P-47 of 56th Fighter Group rolled over in a vertical dive and crashed into the ground. Cause thought to be anoxia of the pilot.

4th Fighter Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Fighter

56th Fighter Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Fighter

From left to right: Captain Walker L. Boone, Flight Officer Manuel S. Martinez and Flight Officer Gerry E. Brasher, pilots of the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, sit on the bonnet of a jeep at Duxford air base. Passed for publication 28 October 1943. Printed caption on reverse: 'Thunderbolts - the "Guardian Angels" of Flying Fortresses. Here are pictures of Thunderbolts P-47s, the famous American fighter planes, which escort Flying Fortresses on their daylight missions over Occupied Europe. Pho

78th Fighter Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Fighter

Mission Statistics

People killed in action: 1
Aircraft sent: 110
Aircraft missing in action: 1

Revisions

Date4 Jan 2015 21:53:50

ContributorLee8thbuff

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham 4-Jan-2015. Added description based on "The Mighty Eighth War Diary" Roger A. Freeman.

Date27 Sep 2014 18:43:20

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'.