Operation: Escort mission to Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Germany

Date: 10th September 1944 (Sunday)

Unit: 339th Fighter Group, 505th Fighter Squadron, 66th Fighter Wing, 8th Air Force

Type: P-51D Mustang

Serial: 44-14069

Code: 6N:B

Base: Fowlmere (Station #378), Cambridgeshire, England

Location: At or near Weißenburg airfield, Germany

Pilot: Maj. John Russell Reynolds O-397458 AAF Age 29. Survived/Murdered

Above: Pilots of 504FS, 339FG in front of P-51 'FABASCA'.L-R: Frank D Guernsey, Edgar Bruce 'Skinny' Gravette, John R. Reynolds, Lewis S Peter Jr. (Credit: American Air Museum in Britain)

Above: Maj. John Russell Reynolds (Credit: Michel Becker - Aircrew Remembered)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Maj. Reynolds took off from Fowlmere on the morning of the 10th September 1944 on a bomber escort mission to Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Germany to be followed by a strafing mission.

An after mission witness statement by 2nd Lt. William R. Moore O-824493 described the loss of Maj. Reynolds and his aircraft:

“On the 10 September 1944, at approximately 1200, we hit an airfield near Weissenburg [Weißenburg], Germany, heavily armed with flak. Just after I crossed the field I saw the canopy come off a P-51 flying 90 degrees to my left I turned sharply to observe the scene and saw the ship nose over from about 300 feet and the pilot shot straight out. I saw his parachute open and observed it hit the ground a few seconds later. Meanwhile I had turned on my camera and took a few pictures of him, as I passed by he had gotten to his knees and looked all right.

I did not know at the time who this pilot was but after reforming noticed that Major J.R. Reynolds’ plane was missing from our flight and upon returning to my own field was informed that it was his plane that was hit”.

Weißenburg airfield was in Bavaria about 46 km south of Nürnberg. On the 10th September 1944 the airfield was attacked by 8th Air Force P-51s. It was claimed that 1 x Bf 109, 1 x Fw 190, 5 x Me 410s, 1 x Ju 87, 5 x Ju 88s, 1 x Do 217, 1 x Ju 52 and 8 other unidentified aircraft were destroyed. 7 x He 111s, 4 x Ju 88s and 12 other unidentified aircraft were damaged. (Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) by Henry L. deZeng IV).

Maj. Reynolds’ Mustang was last seen midway between Weißenburg and Eichstätt to the south.

(1) The fate of Maj. Reynolds was unknown until a General Military Government Court was convened at Dachau, Germany on the 20th March 1946.

Two German nationals were charged that they did at or near Ingolstadt, Germany, on or about 10th September 1944, wilfully, deliberately, and wrongfully aid, abet, encourage and participate in the killing of Major John R. Reynolds, ASN O-397458, a member of the USAAF, then an unarmed, surrendered PoW in the custody of the then German Reich, by shooting him.

The two German nationals were:

Johann Georg Sponsel was the former Kreisleiter (Nazi district leader) of Ingolstadt, Bavaria and a member of the Nazi party;

Walter Joseph (Josef) Ziehnert who was the former Landesinspekteur (Nazi state inspector) in Upper Bavaria East, Kreisleiter of Rosenheim and a member of the Nazi party.

The court heard that on the 10th September 1944 Maj. Reynolds parachuted to safety near Ingolstadt, Germany. He was picked up by a police Oberwachtmeister (S/Sgt) and a woman driver of the Reich’s Luftschutzpolizei (Air raid police) and taken to the police station at Ingolstadt.

Ingolstadt is some 23 km to the SE of Eichstätt.

Here, first aid was administered to the airman who had lost a shoe and suffered some superficial burns to his foot and face. The Luftwaffe airfield at Ingolstadt-Manching and Sponsel were then notified of the captured airman’s presence at the police station.

Ingolstadt-Manching airfield was 9km SE of Ingolstadt near the village of Manching.

When Sponsel was telephoned by the Hauptmann der Polizei (Capt) there was difference in opinion regarding their respective instructions in the handling of captured airmen. The Hauptmann der Polizei was insistent that he was to hand over the airman to the Wehrmacht and that he had already informed the Luftwaffe airfield at Ingolstadt-Manching.

Three Luftwaffe officers from the airfield and Sponsel, together with Ziehnert, arrived at the police station at the same time. Sponsel told the officers that he would transport the captured airman to the airfield to which the officers agreed and left. With Ziehnert driving, the airman in the passenger seat and Sponsel in the rear seat, they departed and drove off in the direction of the Ingolstadt-Manching airfield.

In their statements it was claimed that Ziehnert had become lost and stopped the vehicle near an autobahn. Sponsel and Maj. Reynolds then exited the vehicle to relieve themselves. It was at this time that the airman had attempted to escape and that they had shot and killed him.

Note: The scenario described above was a common theme in the Nazi attempts to justify the cold-blooded murder of captured airmen.

Initially they both claimed to have fired at the airman from a distance of 20 to 30 metres. In their second statements the events leading up to the shooting were substantially the same except that Sponsel and Ziehnert each claimed that they had shot the airman and the other was not present.

A prosecution witness testified that he was about 300 metres away when he heard a shot being fired and when he arrived at the location where the sound had come from he saw Sponsel and Ziehnert standing about 10 to 20 metres from the body of the airman. The body was lying face down near some bushes about 200 metres from the autobahn.

A local physician examined the body and in his opinion death was caused by a shot in the neck which had been fired from a “short distance”. A second witness with 18 years experience dealing with corpses who had handled five other deaths of this nature testified that in his opinion the shot had been fired from a distance of about 80 centimetres.

A policeman who had specialized in criminal and security police work since 1919 testified that there was powder smoke near the entry wound and also that the hair around the wound was singed. In his opinion the shot had been fired from 6.35 caliber pistol from a distance of not more than 1 metre.

Probably meant to be 6.35mm .25 caliber. There were a number of manufacturers and models of this caliber pistol in service at this time.

The accused both admitted that Maj. Reynolds had been shot by one of them in order to prevent his escape despite the airman having lost a shoe and suffered burns to his foot, albeit there was some dispute whether both fired at him and which shot killed the airman.

The court did not believe their version of events and found them both guilty of the charge and sentenced them to death. Both were hanged at Landsberg on the 4th March 1947.

Burial Details

Maj. John Russell Reynolds. Air Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart. Lorraine American Cemetery, Plot K, Row 32, Grave 13. Born on the 19th May 1915 in Harrision, Kentucky. Son to James Paterson and Jeanie T. (née Penn) Reynolds of Kentucky. Husband to Gwendolyn Elisa (née Woolery) Reynolds of San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Researched by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. Thanks also to Traugott Vitz for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’.

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt