Hello everybody. I'm trying to locate a pilot who crashed near Beauvais, France in july 1944 , possibly the 5th, but it could be a few days before. The exact crash place is Oroer, near the Beauvais TILLE airfield. The pilot evaded and was helped by the French resistance. Unfortunately the lady who helped him does not remember his name or his Squadron (they used nicknames). However she remembers the man was a Texan. I know this is a difficult question, as I don't have any further details, any hints would be welcome.

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Well, I have some more information now. According to the lady who helped this airman he flew a P-51. The Texan was nicknamed "Guy Petit" and stayed in a cellar with a Raf boy until the Americans liberated the area.
I have found four German claims in the area that could fit (or was it Flak?)

Who could help me to compare these claims with
P-51 losses on July 4th or 5th 1944?
The claims on July 4th are made by :
FW Edouard Bübel from 4/JG11
FW Ernst Richter from 4/JG11
UFFZ Josef Wüst from 4/JG3
On July 5th: GEFR Kurt Berger from 2/JG5 at Sérifontaine (I doubt this is the one as it's 30km from Oroër which is the actual crash place).
There are no places mentionned for the previous claims, but these units claimed aircrafts in the area the previous and next days and were based at a reasonnable distance from Beauvais. There are other claims but too far away.

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Heres what I could dig up....

Aircraft Ser. No.: 42-103314
Type: P-51C Mustang
Group/ Squadron: 339th FG/ 505th FS
Code Letters: 6N-*
Pilot: Rutan, Lt. Frederick S. ,Jr. (Usual)
Markings: "Whistlers Wings" (Aircraft Name)

Comments: (Lost) 4 July, 1944 - (Borrowed Aircraft by Lt. Carl H. Bundgaard (1st mission!)

Mission Result: Evaded

This is the information that I have found on Lt. Carl H. Bundgaard....

Aircraft Ser. No.: 44-??????
Type: P-51D Mustang
Group/ Squadron: 339th FG/ 505th FS
Code Letters: 6N-*
Pilot: Bundgaard, Lt. Carl H.
Markings: "Little Phyl" (Aircraft Name)

This is the only individual that I could find that matched up to all of the criteria that you described in your posting. He was downed on July 5th, 1944, he flew a P-51C that particular day and he evaded capture.

Hope this helps....

Regards,
MARNE

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"ROCK OF THE MARNE"
Sgt. James Dunigan III
Able Co., U.S. 30th Infantry Regiment
U.S. 3rd Infantry Division(Reenacted)

Skipper, have you been in contact with Michael LeBlanc from Canada? He is an authority on the escapelines from Holland to Spain, especially Belgium and France and has been instrumental in a documentary that has just been released about an P51 jock that also escaped.

Check thi ssite for the doc:

http://www.alpheusmedia.com/lastbesthope/

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

(banner by Otto)
www.basher82.nl

Thank you for this Marne and Steven. I have thought about Bundgaard. He actually looks like the guy on a 1945 picture I received from the lady who helped him. He is wearing a large hat on it, so it's difficult to compare. I will ask the lady to confirm. The trouble is that I have always thought that Bundgaard crashed towards Tours, but that could be wrong. I will need to check that out. If only he were the man! I will let you know.

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Well guys, I drew a blank with Carl Bundgaard. The lady had never seen him before and is positive that he is not the man.
I will try to focuss on P-47 crashes now. She once said it was a P-51, but I really start to wonder. Are there any P-47 losses in the Beauvais area to be found on July 5th or possibly a few days before? Thanks for your help.

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I have some new information. The man I am looking for was helped by a network called "Alsace". The Leader was Gilbert Thibault. This network helped 118 allied airman. The americans liberated the aera in late september 1944.

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Have you tried this forum :

http://www.checksix-forums.com/forum...bfd4aeb4&f=307

this is about a flight simulator, but there are many people who are incredibly knowledgeable in WWII aerial warfare history

Et en plus, ça cause Français

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http://www.costnet.com/images/skyhawk-pic.jpg

I will give it a try. Another hint (could be) the nick name given to this airman by he resistance was Guy Petit : therefore his name could be Petty or something which has to do with small. I can imagine the man trying to tell his name and just say call "small guy" or something. The man was helped by the Gendarmes from the Bresles brigade near Beauvais. This is where most of the airmen where hidden until a host family was found for them.
Merci pour l'info chocapic

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Well ,I have another lead. It could be this man (or not) . I don't know where he crashed and whether he evaded or not, but some details seem to fit.

His name is Lt Lester Howell
1) He flew a Mustang p651b (42-106857 code PZ-V )
2) He was probably a Texan unless he flew someone else's plane, as it was called TEXAS KNIGHT)
3) The loss was on July 2nd

I tried the "Little friends" site but the line says "details unknown". Thank you for helping me. I am doing this for an old lady and for the family of an English airman who would love to find out what happened to the Amercian who stayed with them in France in 1944.

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Hello Marne,

After you gave me Carl Bundgaard's name I did some research on this man, even though I knew he wasn't the one I am looking for. His story is interesting and deserves to be mentionned .Bundgaard bailed out and evaded with the help of French villagers on July 4th after being shot down by FLAK at Buzancais (Chateauroux , central France ) . His family came back to the village several times including 2004 when the villagers inaugurated 2 plaques for this fighter pilot. I found nine articles in the local paper (from 2003 to 2005) which mention his story, so he is quite famous there. Bundgaard was from Wisconsin.

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Skipper! We must know each other.

The lady in Question is Mde Pelltier n'est pas. She also saved Wainwright, one of the crew of ME699; 44 Squadron Lancaster shot down on the night of 4th/5th July 1944 after having bombed Saint Leu D'Esserent. Robinson from ME699 was picked up by the old Mayor of Airion along with Kieth Stevens from 57 Squadron Lancaster JB370 DX-O. (Which I am 99% sure crashed at Remaugies (Somme) on the night 7th/8th July 1944 again returning from Saint Leu d'Esserent.

I was in contact with Mike Wainwright but that person decided not to contact me after a while and visited France without contacting me. Nevertheless, I too have been trying to find "Guy Petit".

In the book by M.Mavré there is no reference to this crash. Mrs. Pelletier wrote a letter to us asking if we could help. You seem to have pin-pointed the crash site, in the OISE. I'll see what I can dig up. Mrs.Pelletier was part of the "Reseau Thibault" saying that I have tried to find out more concerning "Reseau Alsace"... to date nothing has come up...



I hope one day we can find this Yank

Regards
Graham