ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 114339
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| Date: | Saturday 13 January 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  North American P-51D-5 Mustang |
| Owner/operator: | 355th FGp /358th FSqn USAAF |
| Registration: | 44-13319 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Melbourn Village, Cambridgeshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On Saturday 13 January 1945, during Eighth Air Force Mission 791, 958 bombers and 469 fighters were dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges mostly by PFF methods; 7 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 2 P-51s were lost over Germany, while 13 more aircraft (5 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 7 P-51s) crashed in Allied territory.
This day saw typical British winter weather, the sort that is particularly poor for flying; bad icing, thick cloud and snow storms. The fighter groups of the 8th Air Force were nonetheless tasked with escorting the heavy bombers. This resulted in the deaths of six fighter pilots as their Mustangs crashed within the space of about an hour in East Anglia that morning. Very probably all the crashes were the result of the pilots suffering from vertigo – severe disorientation while relying on instruments, something that was difficult to train for in the clear skies of the American mid-west.
Lt Thomas Ksanznak of 358th FS, 355th FG crashed shortly after take-off. His P51D-5NA 44-13319 YF-O came down in front garden of a cottage in Rose Lane, Melbourn. The lady occupant and her baby inside were lucky to escape uninjured as the plane impacted just feet from the front of their home.
The crash site was excavated and the Mustang engine was carefully removed from under the immaculate front lawn of the cottage. As the turf was being removed the pilots lighter and a coin were found just below the surface of the ground.
Sources:
http://www.sweffling.freeserve.co.uk/13%20jan.htm
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jan.45.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourn
http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/east-anglia/cambridgeshire-county/melbourn/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Jan-2016 14:24 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Jan-2017 09:40 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Operator] |
| 13-Feb-2020 18:57 | Iwosh | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 23-Jan-2021 15:31 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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