August 25, 1944, 32nd victory

P-51 Mustang

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Searches concerning this victory :

progress of the search

3

Last update

October 2 , 2003

Evaluation quality of information

2

P-51 declared lost on August 25, 1944 (current result of my works) :

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Source : MACR
Mail from Martin Kyburz

serial number	plane name	squadron	code	reason	mission lost on	pilot
42-103326	P-51C-1-NT	9 USAAF 354 FG	?		?	MACR 8494
42-106445	P-51B-10-NA	9 USAAF 354 FG	GQ-Q		?	MACR 8493
42-106854	P-51B-15-NA "Peabody's Pet"	357 FG 364 FS	C5-?	Mechanical failure	Interned in Sweden	1/Lt. Walter (NMI) Baron MACR 7948
42-106915	P-51B-15-NA	9 USAAF 354 FG	?		?	MACR 8479
42-106973	P-51B-15-NA	10 USAAF 311 FS	?		Far East	MACR 7858
43-6275	P-51A-10	10 USAAF 311 FS	?		Far East	MACR ???7
43-6559	P-51B-5-NA	9 USAAF 354 FG	?		?	MACR ?
43-6821	P-51B-5-NA	15 USAAF 31 FS	?		?	MACR 7988
44-13345	P-51D-5-NA "Mary Ann"	357 FG 364 FS	C5-I with bar	Mechanical failure	Interned in Sweden	1/Lt. Charles E. Burtner MACR 7947
44-13355	P-51D-5-NA	9 USAAF 354 FG	?		?	MACR 8495

Source : 364th Fighter Group 385th Fighter Squadron: Code 5E Symbol Triangle
Mail from Martin Kyburze

serial number	plane name	squadron	code	reason	mission lost on	pilot
42-103593	P-51C-5-NT	385 FS	5E-	Lost	?	Lt. Duane W Owens POW MACR 8541
43-25030	P-51C-10-NT "Lucky II"	385 FS	5E-	flak	Crash location near Gross- Buensow	Lt. Edward K Tazzia POW MACR 8540

- - - Special thanks to Martin Kyburz (Swiss Mustangs) for his help - - -

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Elements for searches :

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Michael Meyer's Mail July 21, 2002 : Referring to victory over Mustang on 25 August 1944 :

It seems the victorious P-51s (they shot down Knoke) were from the crack 355th Fighter Squadron / 354th Fighter Group USAAF.
From the Fighter claim list (Tony Wood), the times and positions, it is obvious that 355th F.S. after dealing with III./JG.1 run into Fw.190s of II./JG.26 that lost 4 pilots against claims for four P-51s shot down (there were five victories claimed including Knoke's one).
355th F.S. in fact lost four Mustangs.
The american pilots claimed 14-0-3 German fighters (Caldwell, The JG.26 diary, vol. II, p.334-335).

(List of the German victoiries claimed :)

Rank / Pilot	Group	Plane	Crash Location	Time	Confirmed
Hptm. Heinz Knoke	III./JG 1	P-51	05 Ost S/SG-3 Chauny 3.200 m	18.55	Yes
Lt. Wilhelm Hofmann	II./JG 26	P-51	SG-1/5 Chauny	19.00	Yes
Uffz. Salomon	II./JG 26	P-51	SG-1/5 Chauny	19.01	Yes
Lt. Wilhelm Hofmann	II./JG 26	P-51	SG-1/5 Chauny	19.04	No
Ofw. Mayer	II./JG 26	P-51	RG-8 Saint-Quentin	19.05	Yes

hope that will help you
greetings from Michael Meyer, Mainz, Germany

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Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information :

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Vailly-sur-Aisne was the III./JG1's base between 18 & 28 August 1944.

The towns Amiens, Nesle and Chauny are mentioned by Heinz Knoke in his book.

1 Heinz Knoke take off from Vailly-sur-Aisne with 5 other Bf 109G. Direction : Square Siegfried-Gustav. Over Tergnier began the fight.

Against 60+ P-51s & P-47s the fight is last in only few minutes.

2 Wagner is chased by 4 P-51s and achieve to escape himself, going back to base. The Fw. Freidank bailed from his flamed Bf 109 G. His wingman, probably the Obgfr. Alfred Finking, fall down in flame killed.

3 Knoke and his wingman Ickes are shot down. Knoke set on fire a P-51 then rushed in it. The wrecks of the two aircrafts goes down together. Knoke and Ickes falling down with parachutes are shot by a Thunderbolt. Ickes is killed. Knoke land in a clearing near Nesle.

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What I'm still searching for :
Uffz. Friedrich Ickes's grave. Maybe the place were the body was first buried can locate precisely the place were Ickes and Knoke fall with their parachutes.	During August 2002 I've found the actual grave.
I'm searching for the exact crash locations of the german and allied aircrafts lost near Soissons, Saint-Quentin, Amiens during August 25, 1944 fights. Knoke's Bf 109 G and the P-51 fall down together (allmost during the first part of the fall) The crash locations of the two planes must be very close, or merged.
The civilians victims list, from French resistance or not, near (20kms round) Nesle on August 25, 1944. My objective is to find the idebtity of the French partisan killed (or head wounded) by Knoke. Bad souvenir, but there's few chance that the exact story of this event and what happened to Knoke's victim will be actually known. It will be really surprising to find it now.

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	Heinz Knoke Informations	Personal comments
Source	I flew for the f... page 168 /169
Date	August 28,	In fact it is about August 25, 1944, a mistake in the date recognized by Knoke.
Type of claimed plane	Mustang
Place of the interception	"<<Go to sector Siegfried-Gustav>> North of Soissons lies the little town of Tergnier. It is a large railway junction at the point where the Somme Canal meets the river Oise. ...Above it , the III./JG1 now fights its last air batlle against the américans over the french territory."
Crash Location		05th East S/SG - 3, [Nord-East of Tergnier]
Presumed mission Luftwaffe	"Base reports by radio to advise me that the otghers Suqadrons are enable to leave the ground, because their fields are being strafe by enemy fighters-bombers. <<Go to sector Siegfried-Gustav>>"
Schedule		Takeoff from Vailly-sur-Aisne during the morning?
Weather report
Knoke's Unit	III./JG1 6 Bf 109 G	From III. / JG1, it remains only 6 bf 109s, two of which with badly twisted fuselages judged unusable!
Detail 1	"The enemy try to cross the Seine on pontoon bridges between Vernon and Mantes... ...During six missions in this sector yesterdayn the squadron lost twelve aircraft. We are finished."	To book these losses Heinz Knoke include manifestly two very close units: the III. / JG1 and the II. / JG11. Anything of amazing, in fact he is the commander of the first one, later to have been that of the other one.
Detail 2	"I décide to fly one of the worm-out crates myself, and let my wingman, Corporal Döring , take the other... ...[on takeoff] Döring tries to climb too soon and stalls. His left wing drops and he plunges into the trees. Flames belch forth. Döring is instantly killed, and then we are five."	In fact this event (the accident of Horst Döring) took place on August 23, 1944. Flying a #1 Bf 109 G-6, Horst Döring probably take one of Knoke's aircraft ! The Bf 109's Werk Nummer was 165819 Heinz Knoke described this period of his history by using his memory several years after war. In that case he made a mixture of events having taken place on 2 different days. According to archives and testimonies here is the list of the pilots having participated in this fight : Hptm. Heinz Knoke III./JG1 Obgfr. Alfred Finking 11./JG1 Fw. Freidank 11./JG1. Uffz. Ullrich Wagner 11./JG1 Uffz. Friedrich Ickes 11./JG1 The same day two pilots from JG11 were killed : Ofhr. Reissner 7./JG11 Ofw. Horst Schulze 8./JG11 Considering narrow relations between the JG1 and the JG11 these pilots participated maybe in this fight where all the still available planes were sent.
Description of the fight	"We encounter more than sixty Thunderbolts and Mustangs. There can be no escape : it is the end. All that remains is for me to give the order to attack. Thus at least a moral victory caan still be claimed by my men and myself... ...My aircraft cannot climb above 10,000 feet. It is very slow and unresponsive. I feel certain that this is its last flight. The batlle does not last for more than a few minutes. Corporal Wagner is the first to be shot down ; he does not escape from his flamming aircraft. Then I see another aircraft on fire, and Sergeant Freigang bales out. His wingman goes down in flames a few moments later. That leave only my wingman, Sergeant Ickes, and myself. For us there can be no way out. If this is to be the end , I can only sell my life as dearly as possible. If I ram one of the Yanks I shall be able to take him with me. . . . Tracers converge on us from all sides. Bullets slam my aircraft like hailstones, and it gradually loses forward speed. Ickes remain close beside me. I keep on circling in as tight a turn as possible. A Mustang gets on my tail. I am unable to shake it off. Mt plane is too sluggish, as it felt too tired to flight any farther. More bullets come slamming into the fuselage behind my head. With the last burst of power from the engine I pull the aircraft up in a climb, half-roll on to the side, and cut the throttlle. The Mustang on my tail has not anticipated this. It shoots past, and now it is in front of me and a little below. I distinctly see the face of the pilot as he turns his head to look for me. Too late, he attempts to escape by diving. I am on him now. I can at least ram him if I cannot shoot him down. I feel icy cold. My only emotion, for the first time in my life, is intense personal hatred of my anemy ; my only desire is to detroy him. The gap close rapidly : we are only a few feet apart. My salvoes slam into the fuselage : I am aiming for the pilot. His engine burst into flames. We shall go down together ! There is a violent jolt at the first impact. I see my right wing fold and break away. In a spilt-second I jettison the canopy annd am out of the seat, ...while Messerschmitt and Mustang are fused in a single ball of fire."	In fact Ullrich Wagner from 11. / JG1 was not shot down this day. He even was the only one to be got back to the base ! His testimony on this fight appears in page 271 in Eric Moombeek's book: JG1 history of the jagdgeschwader 1 " Oeseau ". It is really about Fw. Freidank from 11. / JG1. The Freidank's team member was probably Obgfr. Alfred Finking.
Detail 3	"A few moment later my parachute mushrooms overhead. Six to eight hundred feet away and a little higher up there is another open parachute. Ickes. ... ..A Thunderbolt come diving towards me. It open frire ! For age-long seconds my heart stops beating. I throw up my hands and cover my face . . . Missed ! Round it comes again, this time firing at Ickes. I can only watch, while, the body of my comrade suddenly slumps lifeless. Poor Ickes !"
Detail 4	"I come to land in a forest clearing. ... ..About fifteen minutes after my descent I notice four French civilians at the other end of the clearing... ...Evidently they are underground terrorists of the French Resistance. ... ...I happen to be wearing an American leather flying-jacket, a dark blue silk sports shirt, rather faded trousers, and black walking-shoes. The whole effect is so un-Prussian that no one will recognise me immediately as German. ... ...We make our way through the dense forest until we come to a railway embankment. ... ...I ask where the line goes. <<Vers Amiens.>> Amiens!!? Did I really drift so far west during the dogfight?... ...The nearest town, I learn, is Nesle. Then the Somme Canal must be somewhere to the north."	From Heinz Knoke's account the crash location should be near Nesle.
Detail 5	"The tallest of the Frenchmen carries a German tommy-gun. I do not like the look of him at all. He remains in the background, suspiciously quiet. Does he doubt that I am what I appear to be ?... ...A few hundred yards farther on we come on a highway... ...The first three Frenchmen cautiously cross the road. The big fellow takes two or three paces after them, then turns towards me. Our eyes meet. I can tell that he recognises me. I must be off ! There will be no second chance to break away ; it must be now or never. I dash back towards the forest. Then the big fellow is coming after me, before his comrades realise what is happening. He lifts his tommy-gun and start firing. I drop behind a bank of earth. Bullets thud into the ground all round me. The bandit empties his clip. He must take his eyes off the target long enough to insert a new one. There is just enough time to draw my pistol and snap up the safety-catch. I leap at the big fellow, who is raising his tommy-gun again, and fire once. It is enough. He goes down with a bullet in the head. I take his tommy-gun. <<Sorry my friend, but who hits first lives longest.>> ... ...Fifteen minutes later I run into a German patrol. They are soldiers from an armoured unit."

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