Date:	Friday 11 February 1944
Time:	11:30
Type:	Republic P-47D-2-RE Thunderbolt
Owner/operator:	78th FGp /83th FSqn USAAF
Registration:	42-7963
MSN:	HL-T
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Great Hormead, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Duxford /AAF Sta.357
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 11 February 1944 Eighth Air Force Mission 218 was a repeat of the mission flown on 8th, with the B-24s flying a diversion and attacking V-targets in Northern France and the B-17s returning to Frankfurt. Its location along the Main River made it a recognisable target (in theory) for the pathfinder B-17s.

As on the 8th, the B-24s went first and both Jagddivisions of Luftflotte 3 scrambled their fighters (JG 2 and JG 26) at 0940 hrs and sent them to Paris, only to realize that the B-24s were turning to bomb targets on the Pas de Calais. They were not intercepted. 94 of 201 B-24s bombed the Siracourt V-weapon site with PFF equipment; the remaining aircraft were assigned individual targets without PFF and were unable to locate their targets. 1 B-24 was lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; casualties were 1 KIA, 1 WIA and 10 MIA; escort was provided by 85 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47’ s and 41 P-51s without loss.

In the meantine, the B-17s were crossing Belgium, out of range of the Luftflotte 3 fighters. The Luftflotte Reich scrambled fifteen fighter groups to intercept the raid but the 223 B-17s (at start) were covered by 606 escort fighters of 13 groups (82 P-38s, 486 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47’ s and 38 Ninth Air Force P-51s). The German fighters found it almost impossible to get through to the bombers. Of the 16 known claims made by Luftflotte Reich units, only 3 were for B-17s, the other were for fighters. The heavy fighters of ZG 26, who on this day managed for the first time to form an escorted Gefechtsverband, only made 3 claims, 3 P-38s, all by Hptm. Eduard Tratt, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./ZG 26 and the top ace of the Zerstörer units. 157 B-17s hit the primary target, the marshalling yard at Frankfurt, but again with poor results. 32 bombed Ludwigshafen, 19 hit Saarbrucken and 4 hit other targets of opportunity.

The American bombers withdrew over France and this time the Luftflotte 3 fighters were able to intercept but could make no headway against the bomber stream itself, and dropped to a lower altitude to wait for stragglers. Ten Allied aircraft were claimed shot down: 3 Flak-damaged B-17s, 5 P-38s and 3 P-47s. JG 26 made 9 of these claims, without loss.

Total losses for the B-17s were 5 aircraft lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 124 damaged; crew casualties were 1 KIA, 26 WIA and 51 MIA; gunners claimed 3-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft. The escort fighters claimed 30-2-28 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-1-4 on the ground; 8 P-38s, 4 P-47’ s and 2 P-51s were lost (all 14 pilots MIA), 2 P-47’ s and 1 P-51 were damaged beyond repair and 2 P-38s and 4 P-47’ s were damaged. On the German side, the Luftwaffe reported 17 KIA and 10 WIA.
______________________________________

During the take off of the 78th FG from Duxford airfield to escort the Frankfurt force, Flight Officer Archie "Sonny" F. Daniels of 83rd FS was observed to take off well behind his flight and, after becoming airborne, seemed to be having trouble getting his wheels to retract. He dropped behind his flight and was not seen again until 2nd Lt. Marlowe of 84th FS, returning to base early after losing his formation in overcast because of a defective artifical horizon, passed him going in the opposite direction.

Marlowe saw a P-47 which was streaming gasoline from its belly tank, heading in the general direction of south as if trying to catch up woth his flight. He flew over him at about 100 feet to identify aircaft and called him over the radio and told him that he might as well go back to the field as his belly tank was broken. It was the P-47 of Dabiels, who immediately turned but appeared to be losing altitude. Marlowe, then flying at about 700 feet, lost him very soon in the clouds. There was a lot of low, thin clouds at about 800 feet down to 600 feet, getting worse nearer Duxford airfield, with rain squalls.

1st Lt Dorian Ledington of 84th FS was flying that day in "A" Group, top cover. The top cover took off some minutes later than the rest of the group. Just before his section went into the clouds, he saw two aircraft turn away from the flights in front of them. One aircraft was in a slight turn, when Ledington noticed it go into a spin at an altitude between 900 and 1,100 feet. He did at least two or three turns of his spin when he disappered under his port wing. Almost immediately there was an explosion. The next time he saw the plane it had crashed.

Daniels’ P-47D 42-7963 HL-T "Dawson County Nebraska" crashed into a plowed field on the side of a slight hill just outside of the village of Great Hormead at approximately 1130 hrs. It appeared that he had the plane under control and was trying to make a forced landing but misjudged the angle on the hill and the softness of the ground. His angle of glide in relation to the ground appeared to be about 10 degrees. The plane, upon impact with the soft ground, dug in causing it to stop suddenly just beside the old Hormead mills. The aircraft caught fire immediately and despite attempts by local people and off duty sevicemen, the pilot was trapped and burnt to death in the cockpit of his aircraft.

Due to low ceilings and poor visibility caused by rain and haze, it was not possible for the other planes in the air to give accurate information concerning the accident. Due to lack of accurate information, the conclusion of the accident report was that it was not possible to determine the cause of the accident but the accident was probably the result of some form of material failure.

Daniels was born on 17 June 1920 and had joined 78th FG on 18 December 1943 and it was his 9th mission. He had an English fiancée, Miss Dorothy Hesketh of Newtown, Wigan, Lancastershire, England. He was buried on 15 February in the American Cemetery outside of Cambridge.

Dorothy Hesketh described the burial in a letter to Daniels’ parents:
"It was a mass squadron funeral, and there were other boys from the squadrons and other stations buried there at the same time. The chaplains representing each boy stood before the caskets, each of which was draped with the Stars and Stripes. The men from the squadron were lined up in military formation with the firing party at their head. The squadron commander, Eddie [Daniels’ room-mate], Ray Clotfelter [Lt. Raymond Clotfelter of Hillsboro, one of Daniels’ s best friends] and a number of other pilots from Danny’ s squadron were there. The officer in charge of the cemetery permitted me to stand before Danny’ s casket. Each of the chaplains stepped forward in turn, said prayers and read a verse from the New Testament, then the firing squad fired three volleys and the buglar stepped forward before the whole assembly and sounded taps. Just as we were leaving the grave, two Thunderbolts flew over and dipped their wings over Danny’ s grave. I wanted to take a picture of the grave for you, but military regulations would not permit it. At the end of the war when the regulations are removed, I will be able to do that for you. I was not permitted to have flowers on the grave because of a military funeral, but I arranged to have flowers placed there the next day from you folks and from me. Chaplain Plumley, who took me to the funeral has arranged with the chaplain of Danny’ s squadron to put flowers on the grave regularly for you and me."

On 22 August 2009, a WW2 Day was hold in the village of Great Hormead to raise money for a memorial stone for Archie F. Daniels.

http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Feb.44.html
"The JG 26 War Diary, volume 2: 1943-1945", by Donald L Caldwell. ISBN 1-898697-86-8
"The Luftwaffe over Germany. Defence of the Reich", by Donald L Caldwell and Richard Muller. ISBN 978-1-84832-741-2
Luftwaffe claim lists by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
http://www.ulongbeach.com/Daniels_Accident_Report.html
http://www.station131.co.uk/78th_FG/pilots/d_pilots/Daniels_%20Archie/Daniels%20Archie%20F%20FO.htm
http://www.station131.co.uk/78th_FG/home%20extras/Sonny_Daniels_memorial_page.htm
http://www.station131.co.uk/78th_FG/home%20extras/Sonny_Daniels_story_page.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hormead
http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/south-east/hertfordshire/great-hormead/
http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/22542

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Feb-2016 08:12	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
06-Feb-2019 18:05	TigerTimon	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source]
06-Feb-2019 18:05	TigerTimon	Updated [Source]
28-Mar-2020 20:50	Xindel XL	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
12-May-2020 19:48	Anon.	Updated [Photo]