ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 184878
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| Date: | Wednesday 21 February 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  North American P-51 Mustang III |
| Owner/operator: | 315 (City of Deblin) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | FB150 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Eschede, Niedersachsen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Andrews Field |
On 21 February 1945 12 Mustang III from 316 (Polish) Sqn RAF took off at 1355 hrs from Andrews Field in England for a Rodeo, deep in German territory, all the way to Saltzwedel. Instructions were to look out for trains which might be carrying fuel for V-2 rockets. As they approached the area of operation at 1610 hrs, even from a far distance, the formation leader, Flt Lt Zygmunt Drybanski saw a railroad station busy with three cargo trains. There was about 50 freight cars, including several tank cars. It was the station of Eschede, Germany.
Drybanski concentrated on the tank cars. The first step was to “release the steam”, destroy the locomotives. He did that with his section, while the rest covered us above. After the first pass all locomotives released their steam, those two that they attacked and the other unharmed pair. That was a German trick to simulate being damaged. Drybanski didn’t go for that, and during next passes they destroyed them. Now the real fun started as Polish airmen attacked the cars, with few aircraft strafing all at once. The ammunition boxes started to go off. One of the tank cars went up in a huge explosion, which might have containing a special fuel. The Polsih airmen did not stop their attacks.
The next huge explosion caught two Mustangs in the blast. Wt Off Stanislaw Zych was directly over it, was unable to respond and was killed when his Mustang III FB150 SZ-R crashed near the target. The Mustang III FB117 SZ-Y flown by Plt Off Eugeniusz Dyrmont-Jussewicz was badly damaged but the pilot was able to controll the aircraft. As he flew away to try to get back to his homebase, the remaining 316 Sqn pilots continued their attack at the trainstation and claimed two more trains destroyed. On the way home Flg Off Antoni Cholajda spotted and shot down a Fi 156 Storch, a German liaison plane. The whole sortie was widely reported in British press, which disclosed the squadron’s number and the pilots’ names. Their target was thought to have really been a V-2 fuel train.
Dyrmont-Jussewicz did not return from the mission. South East of Arnhem the engine of his Mustang FB117 caught fire and he had to bale out. His fighter crashed behind a farmhouse called "Mariënboom" at the Graafsesingel nearby the municipality of Duiven, Netherlands.
At approximately 1700 hrs Dyrmont-Jussewicz landed with his parachute behind todays Gasstation in the Westsingel street. German forces immediately moved in and took him prisoner. He was liberated on 29 April 1945 by US troops from the POW camp at Moosburg.
The remains of the Mustang III FB117 were recovered during the winter of 2001/2002. Fuselage parts, wing parts and the complete starboardside of the cockpit with the cranking mechanism of the Malcolm Hood were found. Also found on the oilcooler was the serial number of the aircraft: FB117. Due to the very soggy terrain all the parts were poorly preserved.
Sources:
http://www.arga-nl.nl/pages/duiven_mustang_raf_uk.html
http://polishsquadronsremembered.com/316/45/feb_21_45.html
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/dyrmont-jussewicz-eugeniusz.html
http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/316/316_losses.html
http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/316/316_pilotlist.html
https://www.defensie.nl/binaries/defensie/documenten/brochures/2008/04/08/verliesregister-1945/verliesregister-1945.pdf
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschede
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/niedersachsen/luneburg/celle/eschede/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Feb-2016 14:21 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 12-Dec-2018 20:13 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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