ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 202700
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| Date: | Friday 8 December 1944 |
| Time: | 15:00 |
| Type: |  Junkers Ju 88G-1 |
| Owner/operator: | Stab I./NJG 4 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | 714213 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 3 km west of Soest, Nordrhein-Westfalen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 8 December 1944, during an armed reconnaissance sortie to Hamm area, Germany, at approximately 1500 hrs, Major Ernest D. Tibbets of 508th FS, 404th FG, leading Granite White flight, sighted an airfield at Werl, Germany, and told the group leader he was going down to take a look at it. As the flight was going down, the American pilots saw what looked like a silver He 111 that had apparently just taken off. None of the four American pilots were in a position to shot at the enemy aicraft, so they all strafed the airfield.
Tibbets’ wingman, 2nd Lt Kemal Saied, then saw his leader break left and did the same immediately afterwards. Granite White Three, 1st Lt Joseph E Wilson, heard Tibbets on the radio calling that he was going to get the enemy aircraft. Tibbets stayed on the deck and chased the aircraft. Saied then lost sight of him, pulled up and called Tibberts on the radio. He told him he did not drop his bombs and asked if it would be OK if he made another run on the field. Tibbets called back saying it was all right if he wanted to. Saied then called him twice after that, but had no more reply. Wilson has also broken left, but higher, and went after a locomotive nearby. When he came up from strafing and bombing the locomotive, he immediately looked by Tibbets, and was just in time to see what appeared to be two planes crash into the ground and burn. He immediately called Tibbets on the radio, but receiving no answer, proceeded then to reform the flight and join the squadron.
The German crash report J2616 shows that a Thunderbolt crashed at 1508 hrs 3 km west of Soest after ramming a Ju 88 (misidentified by the US pilots as an He 111). Tibbets was killed and his P-47D-27-RE 42-27229 destroyed at 99%. The German aircraft involved in the collision was the Ju 88 G-1 WNr 714213 of Stab I./NJG 4. It was being ferried to another base and crashed also 3 km west of Soest without survivor.
Crew of the Ju 88 (all killed)
Lt Helmuth Praetorius (pilot)
Fw Adalbert Meinel
Uffz Gotthilf Müller
Sources:
MACR 10830 (http://www.fold3.com/image/28731149/)
http://p-47.database.pagesperso-orange.fr/Database/42-2xxxx.htm
"Deutsche Nachtjagd Personalverluste in Ausbildung und Einsatz - fliegendes Personal -", by Michael Balss
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soest
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/nordrhein-westfalen/arnsberg/soest/soest/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Dec-2017 19:53 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 03-Feb-2020 20:25 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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