ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 49079
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 26 February 1945 |
| Time: | 14:55 |
| Type: |  North American P-51K-5-NT Mustang |
| Owner/operator: | 78th FGp /83th FSqn USAAF |
| Registration: | 44-11655 |
| MSN: | HL-A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | along the Laanzichtsweg, Oldebroek, Gelderland -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Duxford /AAF Sta.357 Cambridgeshire |
On 26 February 1945, during Eighth Air Force Mission 849, 1,207 bombers and 726 fighters were dispatched to make H2X radar attacks on three Berlin rail stations:
1. 377 B-17s were sent to hit the Schlesischer rail station. 363 bombed it and 1 hit Osnabruck, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s were lost and 21 damaged; 1 airman
was WIA and 18 MIA. 214 of 244 P-51s escorted and claimed 4-0-0 aircraft in the air.
2. 446 B-17s set out to hit the Alexanderplatz rail station. 418 bombed it and 4 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s was lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 43
damaged; 8 airmen were KIA, 2 WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting were 232 of 240 P-51s; they claimed 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s were lost (2 pilots MIA).
3. 361 B-24s were dispatched to hit the North rail station. 285 bombed it, 37 hit Eberswalde, the secondary target, and 4 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s were
damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged; 3 airmen were WIA and 3 MIA. The escort was 20 P-47s and 190 P-51s.
4. 17 B-17s and 6 B-24s flew screening missions.
5. 31 of 32 P-51 flew a scouting mission.
____________________________
That day the P-51s of 78th FG were giving support to the bombers on their withdrawal from Berlin when, in the vicinity of Hannover, F/O Charles R O’Brien, Jr. of the 83rd FS rocked his wings. His element leader and squadronmate, 1st Lt Leonard Stanley Olson, attempted to contact him on the radio but failed to establish communication. F/O O’Brien aircraft apparently had an electrical failure. Olson called his squadron leader, Capt Harold Barbaby, and said he thought O’Biren wanted to go home. Barnaby told fim to give him escort. The two P-51s peeled off and headed on a course of 250 degrees, at around 1350 hrs. No further transmissions were heard from them and they did not return to England.
What happened was that O’Brien finally force-landed his failing P-51K 44-11627 "Green Eyes" at Oldebroek, near Zwolle, Netherlands, at 1455 hrs (local time). Olson tried to land and pick him up but was shot down minutes later. His P-51K 44-11655 "Poop Shooter II" crashed 2 km south of Oldebroek and Olson was wounded. His aircraft had been damaged by Flak over Zwolle in Overijssel. Both pilots were captured but O’Brien was shot and killed later the same day trying to escape.
A Dutch boy helped one of these two pilots and pickep up the parachute, that the Germans found while searching the area. The boy was interrogated but his father, Gerrit Blaauw, a member of the Dutch resistance, requested the Germans to release his son and take him instead. The Germans agreed and brought him to the prison of Deventer. It was hoped he would soon be liberated, but sadly he was among the men shot on 8 March 1945 as a reprisal for an ambush against the car of the SS general Hanns Albin Rauter the night before.
Sources:
MACR 12762 (available online at https://www.fold3.com/image/28830442)
"Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 115: Aces of the 78th Fighter Group", by Thomas Cleaver. ISBN 978-1-78096-715-8
http://www.8thafhs.com/old/get_mia_aircraft.php?acgroup_id=36&mission_date=1945-02-26
http://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php?SGLO=T5324
http://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php?SGLO=T5325
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Feb.45.html
http://www.stamboomonderzoek.com/joopsiep/getperson.php?personID=I4087
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanns_Albin_Rauter
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldebroek_%28gemeente%29
http://www.maplandia.com/netherlands/gelderland/oldebroek/
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T5325&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Google Maps
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/13969
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 02-Mar-2016 15:46 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 24-Feb-2020 11:15 | TigerTimon | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 23-Jan-2021 21:53 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator] |
| 20-Jun-2022 10:18 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation