Greetings from a first-time poster (girl).
While in Normandy this year for the D-day celebrations I ran across the story of an American B-24 gunner who had been shot down over Bouville, France on January 7, 1944 after making a bombing run on Ludwigshafen following a group of B-17's.
I tracked him down here in the US, and just interviewed him, but could use some help in further research I'd like to do to write a book about his story.
It could be that Egon Mayer shot this plane down (seems to be corroborated by a list I found on the Internet of 4 kills Mayer made on B-24's between 1300 and 1330 on Jan 7, 1944, one over Bouville). Does anyone know if I can track down any flight records from Mayer in Germany or elsewhere for this day? I speak fluent German, and will be there in November, but don't know where to start.
The sole survivor I interviewed thinks rockets, not flack, mg fire or cannons, hit the plane, but he can't be sure as he was a little busy trying to survive. The first hit came from 1200 from the sun and wiped out the forward crew. The top gunner only got two short bursts in before being killed. One to two seconds later the wing with #4 engine ripped off the plane on raging fire. Approx 4-5 seconds later the plane exploded.The gunner, the lone survivor, blacked out and woke up seconds later in a field of debris at about 20,000 feet. Although wounded, he was finally able to pull the rip cord, and French Resistance were immediately on the scene to smuggle him to safety. After 3 months on the ground in France, he was successfully rescued by the British Navy.
He is really wondering if they were wiped out solely by rockets. I was wondering if the FW190's were supplied with gun cams, and if so, if I could try to find the footage of the shooting down of this B-24 at 1315 that day.
Any thoughts? I really appreciate any help and/or direction you can provide.
In gratitude.
While in Normandy this year for the D-day celebrations I ran across the story of an American B-24 gunner who had been shot down over Bouville, France on January 7, 1944 after making a bombing run on Ludwigshafen following a group of B-17's.
I tracked him down here in the US, and just interviewed him, but could use some help in further research I'd like to do to write a book about his story.
It could be that Egon Mayer shot this plane down (seems to be corroborated by a list I found on the Internet of 4 kills Mayer made on B-24's between 1300 and 1330 on Jan 7, 1944, one over Bouville). Does anyone know if I can track down any flight records from Mayer in Germany or elsewhere for this day? I speak fluent German, and will be there in November, but don't know where to start.
The sole survivor I interviewed thinks rockets, not flack, mg fire or cannons, hit the plane, but he can't be sure as he was a little busy trying to survive. The first hit came from 1200 from the sun and wiped out the forward crew. The top gunner only got two short bursts in before being killed. One to two seconds later the wing with #4 engine ripped off the plane on raging fire. Approx 4-5 seconds later the plane exploded.The gunner, the lone survivor, blacked out and woke up seconds later in a field of debris at about 20,000 feet. Although wounded, he was finally able to pull the rip cord, and French Resistance were immediately on the scene to smuggle him to safety. After 3 months on the ground in France, he was successfully rescued by the British Navy.
He is really wondering if they were wiped out solely by rockets. I was wondering if the FW190's were supplied with gun cams, and if so, if I could try to find the footage of the shooting down of this B-24 at 1315 that day.
Any thoughts? I really appreciate any help and/or direction you can provide.
In gratitude.
