November 9
I did no flying on this date during the WW II years.
November 10
1944:
I flew two flights in a P-47D. One was a dive bombing and
strafing mission at Bologna for 2:35 hours. The other was slow
time for one hour.
November 11
1944:
I flew a P-47D on a dive bombing and strafing mission in the
Cremona area. My flight time was 2:30 hours.
November 12
1943:
The squadron moved from Reghaia Airfield, Algeria to Alghero
Airfield, Sardinia. Still suffering from malaria, I departed
Reghaia Airfield in a P-39N, flew convoy patrol for 1:20 hours
and landed the aircraft at Alghero Airfield. My total flight
time was 3:10 hours.
1944:
I flew a P-47D on a dive bombing and strafing mission in the
Parma area. My flight time was 3:00 hours.
2nd Lt. Garwin C. Pape of the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th
Fighter Group was killed. First reports were that when he pulled
up from a strafing pass on a vehicle and he ran into a church
steeple at San Caterine in northern Italy. A subsequent report
from a Mr. Ferdinando D'Amico of Italy states, "All that I
learned is that probably Pape didn't really hit the steeple, but
maneuvered abruptly to avoid it (he probably noticed its presence
at the very last second) and lost control of his plane, crashing
on the ground. The cart of gypsies apparently escaped untouched
from the whole matter..."
Here is the part of Mr. D'Amico's letter that pertains to Pape:
In the meantime I have further news for you about another of your
KIA mates: this time I'm speaking of 2nd Lt. Garwin C. Pape,
crashed on 12 November 1944 reportedly after having hit a church
steeple while trying to strafe a horse drawn carriage (they
turned out to be gypsies!). The church was that of S. Caterina,
but the village's name is Diolo di Soragna (Parma).
I was contacted last year by a local amateur researcher who was
searching about that episode, not knowing who was the Allied
pilot crashed and I was able to help him retracing that it was
Pape's fatal accident...!
The enclosures are two photographs of the wing ammo panel of
Pape's P-47 still preserved in the church... hope you will enjoy
these further mementos of your unit's history.
Warmest wishes
Ferdinando


November 13
I did not fly on this date during the WW II years.
earl