March
8, 1944 24th victory
March
8, 1944 24th victory
Boeing B-17G-30-DL "Sleepy Time Gal" Serial 42-38211
of the 452
BG / 731 BS piloted by 2nd Lt. Theodore J. MacDonald
[Photo courtesy of
Squadron/Signal Publications]
|
serial number |
plane type or name |
squadron |
code |
reason |
mission lost on |
pilot / crew |
|
|
"Sleepy Time Gal" |
731 BS |
M
|
|
Crash Location Nienburg 25 km North/West of Wunstorf 415 / I11 |
2nd
Lt. Theodore J. MacDonald P
POW, |
"Sleepy Time Gal" is undoubtly Heinz Knoke's victim on March 8, 1944.
A direct proof : the amazing testimony of Sgt william Valigura Jr.
(ball turret gunner of "Sleepy Time Gal") who encountered Heinz Knoke on March 8, 1944 !
Searches concerning this victory :
| progress of the search | 4 | Last update | January 27, 2004 | Evaluation quality of information | 4.8 |
The mission of the USAAF
COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCESWEDNESDAY, 8 MARCH 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS :
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force) :
Mission 252:
The primary target is the ball bearing plant at Erkner, a suburb of Berlin; enemy opposition is fierce and 37 bombers and 16 fighters are lost;
320 of 414 B-17s and 150 of 209 B-24s dispatched hit the primary;
36 B-17s hit Wildau and targets of opportunity;
33 B-24s hit Berlin and targets of opportunity;
the bombers claim 63-17-19 Luftwaffe aircraft; 28 B-17s and 9 B-24s are lost, 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair; casualties are 4 KIA, 14 WIA and 364 MIA.
Escort is provided by 104 P-38s, 613 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 174 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; claims/losses are:
1. P-38s claim 9-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-38s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA and 4 MIA.
2. P-47s claim 49-6-18 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 P-47s are lost, 13 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 2 WIA and 10 MIA.
3. P-51s claim 29-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; casualties are 4 MIA.
An additional 8-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft are claimed on the ground.
Sgt William J. Valigura, Jr. Ball Turret Gunner at Moses Lake, WA
He was shot down with "Sleepy Time Gal" victim of Lt Heinz Knoke (5./JG11) on March 8, 1944
and became a prisoner of war.
[Photos courtesy from Alan Foreman]
Extacts from messages from: ForemanA@MLHS.ORG
To: fruffino@club-internet.fr
Sent: during August, 2003
Subject: B-17: "Sleepy Time Gal"
Franck,
...Have Interviewed 4 of the 5 surviving members of Sleepy Time Gal and have obtained mission report of
452nd Bomb Group from 8 March 1944 mission.An interesting note, the ball turret gunner, William J. Valigura, met Knoke on the day he was shot down.
Apparently Knoke went to Valigura's cell at the Wunstorf air base and introduced himself as the pilot that
shot down Valigura's B-17 (Knoke even provided the tail number to Valigura to legitimize the claim).
Valigura didn't know the pilot's name until just recently when he found your website and placed the face
in his memory to the face and name in the photos on your website.
I wrote a short article on this encounter entitled "The Last Piece of the Puzzle."
Mr. Valigua has developed an interest in Knoke and has done a bit of research recently...
clic on photo to enlarge it.
- - - Very special thanks to William J. Valigura, Jr. for his precious testimony - - -
Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information :
Heinz Knoke Informations
Personal comments
Source I flew for the f... page 148
Date march 8, 1944
In the original German edition of his book, Heinz Knoke claimed 2 victories on March 8, 1944. The last English edition of "I flew for the fuhrer", reshaped, places these events on March 6, 1944. Knoke evokes (see detail below) the death of Uffz. Weith. This death is listed in the losses of the JG11on March 6.
A direct testimony show that B-17 N ° 42-38211 "Sleepy Time Gal" was the victim of Heinz Knoke on March 8 1944.
These 2 victories are probably distributed on two days: March 6 and 8, 1944.
Type of claimed plane Fortress
Place of the interception
Crash Location
Presumed mission USAAF Bombing Berlin
Presumed route USAAF
Schedule second mission
Wunstorf's takeoff
Victory : 13.25 (Source REVI+)
Weather report
Knoke's Unit 5./JG11
(all Bf 109 of II./JG11)
Description of the fight "On our second mission I succeed in shooting down yet another Fortress. It also went down during the first frontal attack, aimed at the control cabin. Probably both pilots were killed and the controls put of action, because the plane crashed without any signs of fire."
A sure victory.
But this description didn't exactly sat with 8 March victory, so I suppose that it is about Heinz' victim on 6 March.Detail 1
Uffz. Weith is listed in the losses of the JG11 on March 6, 1944.
The airfield about which speaks Knoke is that of Wunstorf.
