Warbird Information Exchange

Hello from another newbie who has signed up. This is the best reference site and Im glad to be aboard. Anyway, I was reading a book on the 71st infantry, Sixty days in combat, and the author referenced that a squad of four nazi captured p-47's that strafed their positions. I was wondering if anyone has pictures or knows the pilot names and how they were captured. Thanks, Keith G

I've never heard of the Luftwaffe having 4 P-47's or using them in combat (an Italian pilot did shoot up some bombers with a captured P-38 Lightning). They did have at least one flyable P-47 through.


http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/p47beetle.html

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Scott,

I think I remember reading about the Italian pilot using the captured P-38 Lightning. If I remember correctly...didn't the Italians destroy the P-38's engines due the low octane and poor quality fuel?

John

This is the caption for a photo of a P-47, as it appears on page 294, of Warren Bodie's book "Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, from Seversky to Victory" [ISBN0-9629359-1-3]:

"When an American fighter group moved into the abandoned Luftwaffe airfield at Gottingen (sp) Germany, the captured and German-marked P-47D pictured in the aerial view was found to be non-operational. The tailwheel strut was broken or collapsed, the propeller was missing and other components were in need of replacement or repair. All machine guns were operational and ammo boxes were full. (AAF 57465AC)

The caption makes reference to a picture in page 293, indicating the date as May 12, 1945.

I have to find and then I will check a book titled "Strangers in a Strange Land" where I belive, I have seen photo or photos of P-47 in Luftwaffe markings.


Saludos,


Tulio

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Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

This is probably a case of friendly fire. Often when a Allied aircraft was spotted attacking friendly forces it was marked off as 'one of the captured ones'.

Maintaining and utilising a enemy combat aircraft, when you have plenty of your own is not very likely, but certainly not unheard off. e.g the Axis use of Allied bomber (Kampfgeschwader 200).

And now i'm gonna completely contradict myself, there are a few accounts such as: http://www.stormbirds.com/hillis/tboltkill.htm



and interestingly



although i'm finding the above quote hard to believe <maybe someone can shed some light on this> the bit about an American flag being painted on as a kill!

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Vintage Warbird & German WWII galleries @ http://zeeat.spaces.live.com/

The Squadron Signal book on the P-47, shows the same photo as I captioned above, plus another P-47, coded F + U, this one has a propeller on, and there is also a weird looking character as nose art.

The location is the same airfield in Gottingen.


Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

Jack Cook posted a shot of a Corsair (?) with an American Flag kill marking on it...IIRC a C-47 that the crew had all ready bailed out of?

I searched the site here and couldn't find it....

Got the story right but it was a Mustang. I heard the guy was from Fort Wayne, IN.

[img][img]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/Mister51/CaptLouisCurdesinP-51D1945.jpg[/img][/img]

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"There are two types of people here; airshow whores and airshow prostitutes. The whores, like you and I, do airshow stuff for free, whereas the prostitutes are paid" - Reg Urschler

Crikey!
Trey thanks for posting the pic! I guess the story about Hillis having a US kill is true.

_________________
Vintage Warbird & German WWII galleries @ http://zeeat.spaces.live.com/

Off the top of my head.
The captured and flown P-47 was "Beatle", a C model flown by Lt Bill Roach of the 355th FG captured intact in Nov. 43 after landing out of fuel in France (thinking he was in england).
They're were some cases of friendly fire. Lt Coppolino of the 366th FS 358th FG claimed a enemy P-47 in April 45 but another group lost a P-47 with pilot killed downed at the same time and place.
Another 366th FS pilot named Fred Hillis (later one of Watson's Wizzers) claimed this a/c also has a destroyed enemy P-47. His story is in the Paine field ME-262 factory site. Sam Hitchcock, whom I mentioned in the Pearl Harbor thread was the 366th FS CO at the time said the story was BULL and Coppolino downed a US P-47.
http://www.stormbirds.com/hillis/tboltkill.htm

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Don't touch my junk!!

tulio, that 's the book!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

There are two books out, Strangers in a Strange Land, and Volume II Escape to Neutrality of the same name, but the first volume has the pictures of a couple German marked P-47's in it.

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Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

I tried to find the books I mentioned; given that I haven't been home almost since January, I have had a hard time remembering in which box they are.

If interest continues on this subject, I will continue looking, but if the names of the books are enough, then the search can continue by the interested parties, either at their local bookstores or libraries.

Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

I remember reading a book about this incident years ago. Supposedly the P-38 in question was shot down by a YB-40 that flew on that particular mission with the intent of shooting down the Italian P-38.