P51B 42-106978 - The Baltic Sea                                                        Updated: 17 AUG 2021

Airman Surname Init Rank Service Sqdn P_link Plane Operation Crash_site Crash_d Buried_d C_link At_Next
o888605.htm Unknown X xx USAAF 364 p457.htm P51 106978 Bomb G The Baltic Sea d040844 o888 o888.htm POW


Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:

"4 august 1944 (kl. 1545), S for Keldsnor på Langeland. P-51B, 42-106978 (C5- ), 364 FS, 357 FG, 66 FW.
Eskorte for bombefly til Schwerin.
1 POW.

Umiddelbart efter at formationen forlod Kiel fik piloten motorproblemer og fløj mod Langeland for at springe med faldskærm.
Ingen fra den amerikanske formation så piloten springe med faldskærm, men han er registreret som overlevende og taget til fange i farvandet omkring Keldsnor.
Statens civile luftværn har registreret nedstyrtningen som et tysk jagerfly i vandet ud for Keldsnor Fyr (her)." (FT 85-80-38)

Se P-51 Mustang - Photos. Flere links i engelsk version.

(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes: "4 August 1944 at 15.45 hours, south of Keldsnor on Langeland. P-51B, 42-106978 (C5- ), 364 FS, 357 FG, 66 FW.
Escort for bombers targeting Schwerin.
1 POW.

The pilot had engine trouble right after the formation had left Kiel. He flew towards Langeland to bail out. Nobody from the American formation saw his parachute, but he is recorded as a survivor captured in the sea off Keldsnor. The Danish Civil Air Defence has recorded the air crash as a German fighter off Keldsnor Lighthouse (here)."
 
The website A Brief History of the 357th Fighter Group gives this information in the 357th Fighter Group Mission List, 1944:
Missions are listed by number, date, type, area, confirmed air losses/confirmed air victories, time, mission leader.
150  Aug 4- Bomber escort, Kiel, 1 Loss/No Victories, 2:36, Col Graham

3 BD, 66 FW, 357 FG, 364 FS.   See P-51 Mustang - Photos.