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P 51K-10NT 44-12152 crashed in Gamborg Fjord inlet 3/4
1945.
The aircraft belonged to USAAF, 8 Air Force, 493 Bomb Group, 862 Bomb Squadron.
T/O Wormingford. OP: Kiel.
While on a weather scouting mission the flight under command of 1st Lt William
T. Searby was attacked by a flight of friendly fighters. 1st Lt John Stein`s P
51 was last seen in a flat spin at 14000 ft. The right wing came off and the
plane continued to spin down and went into cloud at 11000 ft. There was seen no
fire and the canopy was intact.
44-12152 crashed into the Gamborg Fjord inlet at
approximately 16:45.
Ove Nielsen and his brother visited the crash site in the evening and found that
the P 51 was laying on one side with one side of the tail over water.
The crash was reported by Statens Civile Luftværn (Civil Air Defence) at 18:30
hours, but for reasons unknown it was not until 14/4 that the location was
inspected by an Explosive specialist from The Civil Air Defence. He found that
the P 51 had sunk into the mud in the inlet and that it would not be possibly to
recover it until the water level had come down during the summer.
Shortly after the liberation of Denmark in May 1945 attempts were made to
recover the aircraft. This was however not possibly due to the limited resources
present.
On 6/5 1948 a group of American soldiers from the American Grave registration
Command arrived with a diver and a crane truck. The diver located the P 51 and a
wire was attached to the plane. It was however not possibly to pull it out of
the water.
In October 1948 another attempt was done, and this time enough of the P 51 was
recovered to identify the pilot as 1st Lt John Stein.
The remains were taken to
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium where John Stein rest to this day.
(Via Finn Buch)
Pilot 1st Lt John Stein.
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Jonna Kongsted via Peer Petersen)
(Poul Erik Pedersen)
(Poul Erik Pedersen)
Note: Until February 1945, when it was redesignated, the unit had been known as
The 3rd Scouting Force.
Sources: MACR, LBUK, Fredericia Avis.
Back to 1945
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