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Operation: Armed Reconnaissance, Germany
Date: 2nd February 1945 (Friday)
Unit No: 513th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force
Type: P-47D Thunderbolt
Serial: 44-20730
Code: 4P:?
Base: ALG Y-34, Metz, France
Location: 2 km (1¼ mls) west of Sulzheim near Wörrstadt, Germany
Pilot: 2nd Lt. Paul Charles Davenport O-716068 AAF Age 23. PoW *
* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).
2nd Lt. Davenport was credited shooting down at least one German aircraft.
(Credit: The Eugene Guard dated, Monday December 18th, 1944)
REASON FOR LOSS:
2nd Lt. Davenport took off, as part of a four aircraft flight, from the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG), Y-34 at Metz, France on the morning of 2nd February 1945 on an armed reconnaissance mission in the Bad Kreuznach area, Germany.
The following is the after mission statement by Maj. Richard D. Graves O-427497, which described the circumstances of the loss of 2nd Lt. Davenport’s P-47:
On 2nd February 1945 at approximately 13:00 I was leading yellow flight on an attack of an enemy airdrome in the vicinity of Ober-Olm. Lt Davenport was flying on my wing. After about four passes Lt Davenport called me and said be had no oil pressure. I immediately set course for friendly territory, and pulled into close formation to examine Lt Davenport’s airplane. The underside of the airplane was covered with oil, indicating he had been hit by flak on the underside of the engine.
After about five minutes Lt. Davenport began to lose altitude and his engine started to smoke. He informed me over the radio that his engine had lost all its power, and I then informed him to bail out. He did so at an altitude of one thousand to fifteen hundred feet. I saw his parachute open, and also saw him run with the parachute on the ground, indicating he was not injured in the jump.
At the time of this the weather was CAVU. At the enemy airdrome the high flak was intense and accurate. The airplane crashed and burned, and Lt Davenport landed nearby.
CAVU = Clear or scattered Clouds And Visibility Unlimited (greater than ten miles)
The airfield attacked was the Mainz-Finthen aka Ober-Olm airfield, 9¾ km (6 mls) WSW of Mainz and 4½ km (2¾ mls) NW of Ober-Olm was attacked by 9th Air Force fighter-bombers on the 2nd February 1945.
Ten Ju88 G-6s from Stab II./NJG2 and one Ju88 G-6 from Stab I./NJG4 were destroyed or damaged on the ground. (Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) - Henry L. deZeng IV (Edition: Jun 2014).
2nd Lt. Davenport’s P-47 crashed about 2 km (1¼ mls) west of Sulzheim near Wörrstadt, 18 km (11 mls) east of Bad Krauznach, and some 15 km (9¼ mls) SSW of the Mainz-Finthen airfield.
Credit: The Eugene Guard, dated Friday March 2nd, 1945
The circumstances surrounding 2nd Lt. Davenport’s capture and subsequent treatment was established by an Intermediate Military Government Court which was convened at Ludwigsburg, Germany during the period 1st to 4th February 1946.
Three German nationals were charged in that they, did, at Wiesbaden, Germany, on or about the 2nd February 1945 wrongfully commit an assault upon 2nd Lt. Paul C. Davenport, a member of the United States Army who was then an unarmed PoW in the custody of the then German Reich, by hitting him about the head, face, and body with their fists and by kicking him.
The three accused were:
Friedrich Katz, who was a retired Major der Polizei (Maj) but due to manpower shortages he remained in the force and was given the honorary rank of Oberstleutnant der Polizei (Lt Col);
Emil Geisser, a civilian with no known Nazi party affiliations;
Karl Nerge, a civilian with no known Nazi party affiliations.
The court heard that 2nd Lt. Davenport was captured by the Wehrmacht and turned over to a guard to escort him to Dulag Luft. They boarded a train which arrived in Wiesbaden at about 22:00 hrs where he was put in a jail cell overnight.
At about 23:00 hrs there was an air raid on Wiesbaden by the RAF and the jail was damaged in the bombing which jammed the cell doors. Nerge obtained a crowbar and with the help of Geisser he pried open the cell doors. While they were working Katz, who was standing nearby, demanded that the airman be beaten.
After the door had been opened Geisser took 2nd Lt. Davenport by the arm and proceeded to take him through a passageway toward the air raid shelter. As they passed Katz he assault the airman. Nerge followed behind the two into the courtyard still carrying the crowbar. Nerge kept hitting Davenport on the back of the head, causing the airman to move forward in an effort to escape the blows.
When they arrived in the courtyard Geisser saw Nerge with the crowbar raised over his head threatening the airman, Geisser shouted out words to the effect "Man, Nerge are you crazy?" Whereupon Nerge lowered the crowbar. Another prisoner who had been freed from the cells entered the courtyard and along with a second person, witnessed Geisser striking the airman with what appeared to be a stick.
2nd Lt. Davenport was seen by witnesses being pushed into the air raid shelter by Nerge and Geisser with Katz following behind. The airman was holding his hands to his face and was taken to a corner of the shelter and seated on a bench. When he dropped his hands the extent of the injuries inflicted by the accused was evident. His eyes were swollen shut, his nose was bleeding and he was also bleeding from the mouth. His jacket was covered in blood and dirt and he appeared to be in great pain.
This did not stop the three from continuing their assault. When they eventually stopped a German woman washed the airman’s face and gave him some Aspirin to ease the pain. The next morning 2nd Lt. Davenport was taken to a hospital for treatment.
On the 9th September 1945, 2nd Lt. Davenport made a statement that the blows he received were delivered by the accused with their fists and went on to describe his injuries:
"My four front upper teeth were knocked out, I was cut right under the left eye and under my left cheekbone. There are still two bumps on my lower lip from cuts. The cartilage in my nose was loosened a bit and bled for a week off and on. My left eye was swollen shut for six or seven days and my face was numb for quite a while on the left side of my nose. It still feels a little funny”.
The court found all three guilty of the charge and sentenced Katz to 10 years imprisonment commencing on the 26th September 1945, but upon review this was reduced to 5 years. Geisser and Nerge were each sentenced to 5 years imprisonment commencing on the 10th August 1945 and 14th August 1945 respectively, but upon review their sentences were reduced to 2½ years. The final disposition of all three sentences is unknown.
Burial Details
None - Survived the war
Credit: Nathan Haines - FindAGrave
Paul Charles Davenport was born on the 2nd October 1921 in Lane County, Oregon. he was discharged from the USAAF as a Capt. with an Air Medal (AM) and the Purple Heart (PH). He passed away on the 19th March 2014 aged 92 and is buried at the Willamette National Cemetery in Section Col-6, Row 230, Site E. in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Researched by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this Pilot with additional thanks to Traugott for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’.
RS & TV 28.10.2021 - Initial upload
RS & TV 28.10.2021 - Initial upload
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