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Archive Report: US Forces
1941 - 1945

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via Helpdesk
8th Air Force
11.08.1944 369th Fighter Squadron P-51D Mustang 44-14307 1st Lt. Frank W. Holliday

Operation: Bomber escort (Mission #623) to Merseburg, Germany

Date: 11th September 1944 (Monday)

Unit No: 369th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force

Type: P-51D

Serial: 44-14307

Code: IV:P

Base: East Wretham (Station #133), Norfolk, England

Location: About 1 km (1100 yards) NW of Meiches, Germany

Pilot: 1st Lt. Frank William ‘Bill’ Holliday O-701758 USAAF Age 22. KiA

1st Lt. Holliday was officially credited with the destruction of an Me109 on this mission approximately 15 mins before being shot down himself.

On earlier missions he was credited with damaging an Me109 and damaging 2 railroad coaches.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The 359th Fighter Group took-off on the morning of the 11th September 1944 from East Wretham (Station #133) in Norfolk, England on a Bomber escort mission to the Leuna Oil Refinery at Merseburg in Germany.

Above: Capt. Wilbur C. Ziegler, base Chaplain, leads pilots of the 359th Fighter Group in prayer at East Wretham during January 1944 (Source Wikipedia)

The following is a statement made by 1st Lt. John E. Keur, DFC O-701685, who was leading the element in Yellow Flight with 1st Lt. Holliday as his wing man:

“The flight saw a formation of about 20 or 25 Me109s. We bounced them and after my first burst I saw the Me109 to the left of me have his belly tank blown off. That was the last time I saw my wing man, Lt. Holliday. This was just north of the town of Erfurt towards Kolleda”.

John Bramwell, a nephew of 1st Lt. Holliday, has determined from his research and eye-witness accounts that it appears that 1st Lt. Holliday chased or was chased westward for some 10-20 mins and was engaged by 1 to 3 German fighters above the low cloud over Meiches. German pilot Ofhr. Gerhard Piel was shot down, parachuted and landed some 3¼ km (2 mls) from the crash site of 1st Lt. Holliday’s P-51. Another German fighter also crashed nearby, all three with a few minutes of each other.

Note: Ofhr. Piel was from 5./JG 300 and he was flying a Fw190A-8. He was KiA on the 27th November 1944 when his Fw190A-8 Werk # 681524 ‘Red 5’ was engaged by Allied fighters over Halle. He was credited with destroying 5 Allied bombers. (The Kracker Luftwaffe Archive - Aircrew Remembered)

German documents confirm that the P-51 crashed at 11:00 hrs on or adjacent to Storndorfer Straße (today numbered L3162) about 1 km (1100 yards) NW of Meiches in the district of Lauterbach and about 40 km (25 mls) east of Giessen. The Germans determined that 1st Lt. Holliday had been killed by being hit by gunfire during aerial combat.

The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) (German Air Force High Command) Fighter Claims for the Reich, West & Südfront for the 11th September 1944 lists a Fw. Konrad Bauer from 5./JG 300 (Stab II./JG 300) flying Fw190A-8 Werk # 681469 ‘Red 1’ claiming a P-51, at 50 m. at 11:58 hrs in the Schwarmstädt - Arsfeld area.

Notes: This P-51 was one of three P-51s claimed by Fw. Bauer with the first two SE of Kassell at 11:52 and 11:53 hrs. All three were later confirmed.

Arsfeld is the most southerly extent of the Schwarmstädt - Arsfeld area and within 13 km (8 mls) of where 1st Lt. Holliday’s P-51 crashed.

Records show that Fw. Konrad Bauer was shot down during this engagement, losing two fingers on his right hand. He was wounded seven times but survived the war as an Oblt. and was credited with destroying 57 Allied aircraft. (The Kracker Luftwaffe Archive - Aircrew Remembered).

There is a disparity, yet to be resolved, between the reporting times in two German documents. The times are normally reported as Central European Time (CET) but the time in the OKL listing appears to be CET+1. Therefore, although it is probable, it has not been possible to definitively attribute Fw. Konrad Bauer ‘s claim to 1st Lt. Holliday’s P-51.

Burial Details

1st Lt. Frank William ‘Bill’ Holliday. Air Medal (3 OLC), Purple Heart. Recovered from the Meiches Cemetery and reinterred in the Netherlands American War Cemetery in Plot H, Row 9, Grave 22. Born on the 7th May 1922 in Denver, Colorado. Son of Frank and Grace Helen (née Padgett) Holliday of McCook, Red Willow, Nebraska, USA.

Originally researched by Michel Beckers and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot. With thanks to Pete Stevens, Des Philippet, Loren Bender for photographs (Nov 2016). Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered with thanks to John Bramwell, a nephew of Frank Holliday, for his information (Jul 2024).

Other sources listed below:

RS 10.07.2024 - Reviewed and updated

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgments: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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Last Modified: 11 July 2024, 04:02

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