Memorial Crash Site P-47D Thunderbolt 42-7924

On November 3, 1943, 18 American P-47 Thunderbolt fighters took off from Halesworth Air Base (Essex) in England. Together with other fighters, they had to protect a group of 566 American bombers from attacks by German fighters. The bombers had to bomb the shipyards and submarine bunkers in Wilhelmshaven.

After an air battle above the Wadden Sea and Hippolytushoef with German Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters, the American fighter crashed at around 12:30 on the Wieringer Vlaak in the IJsselmeer. The pilot Gallion was killed. The plane wreckage with the pilot was found on October 21, 1993 and recovered on February 10, 1995. Gallion was returned to the USA and buried on May 27, 1996 at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Killbuck in the state of Ohio.

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Source

• Text: Adri Kramer
• Photos: Adri Kramer
• Stichting Herdenkingspalen Hollandse Kroon