HELP NEEDED ON FOURTH FIGHTER GROUP SHOOT DOWN

[TOM WALSH]

I NEED SOME HELP DETERMINING THE GERMAN PILOT AND UNIT THAT SHOT DOWN CAPTAIN JOSEPH LEO LANG IN P-51D - 10NA - MUSTANG, CODED QP-Z FROM THE 334TH FIGHTER SQUADRON, 4TH FIGHTER GROUP ON OCTOBER 14, 1944.
THE 4TH WAS ON A BOMBER ESCORT MISSION TO KAISERSLAUTERN, GERMANY AND LANG WAS SEPARATED FROM THE FORMATION. HE WAS HEARD TO RADIO "THIS IS LANG, I AM DOWN BELOW THE CLOUDS WITH TEN 109'S. I GOT 2. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM AND I NEED HELP!" HIS MUSTANG CRASH WAS WITNESSED BY GROUND FORCES.
THERE ARE DIFFERING TIMES AND LOCATIONS AS TO WHEN HE WAS SHOT DOWN. ONE SAYS 1310 HOURS AT NANCY-ST. DIZIER, FRANCE AND THE SECOND SAYS 1520 HOURS FOUR MILES SOUTHEAST OF EURVILLE-SUR-MARNE, FRANCE WHICH APPARENTLY IS CLOSE TO KAISERSLAUTERN!
LANG, AGE 22 FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, HAD 7.84 AERIAL AND 4 GROUND KILLS AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.
I AM ALSO LOOKING FOR ANY SURVIVING RELATIVES TO VERIFY, FOR A STORY, THAT HE WAS TRAINED IN THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE (RCAF) PRIOR TO TRANSFERRING TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR CORPS (USAAC).
ANY AND ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED.
CHEERS,
TOM WALSH.

[mhuxt]

St. Dizier is on the Marne, Nancy is to the east. Eurville-Bienville is also on the Marne, just south of St. Dizier - nowhere near Kaiserslautern.

Good map here:

http://encarta.msn.com/map_701514507/Marne_(river).html

Zoom in to see the smaller place names.

I don't see any claims by Luftwaffe pilots on 14 October on Tony Woods' site:

http://www.lesbutler.ip3.co.uk/tony/tonywood.htm


Although the mission is listed, there's no indication the USAAF forces put in any claims on their side, either.

http://www.usaaf.net/chron/44/oct44.htm

Hope this helps.

[TOM WALSH]

IN HIS BOOK "STARS AND BARS", FRANK OLYNYK SHOWS CAPTAIN LANG'S TWO ME-109 VICTORIES ON OCTOBER 14, 1944 IN THE NANCY/ST. DIZIER AREA. APPARENTLY AMERICAN GROUND FORCES IN THE AREA WITNESSED THE ENTIRE FIGHT AND GAVE EVIDENCE TO THE FACT THAT HE SHOT DOWN TWO ENEMY AIRCRAFT BEFORE BEING SHOT DOWN HIMSELF.

IF IT HELPS, LANG'S MUSTANG SERIAL NUMBER WAS 44-14123.

CHEERS,
TOM WALSH.

[mhuxt]

Frank Olynyk sometimes posts over here:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/forumdisplay.php?f=4

He or some of the other posters might have more info.

Hope this helps.