WWII P-51 Found In Pathum Thani

[NxaiPan]

Mystery solved, Thai Visa comes through again, It shows that there are some good interesting posts on this site and some good interesting people keep it up folks.

It seems that Capt Abraham is/was one lucky guy as not only did he survive being shot down over Don Muang, but also walked away from a crash landing in November 1942 when his P39D Airacobra came down at French Field Airbase in the Canal Zone, Panama where he was serving with 52 Fighter Squadron, 32nd Fighter Group.

[Thongkorn]

Mystery solved, Thai Visa comes through again, It shows that there are some good interesting posts on this site and some good interesting people keep it up folks.

It seems that Capt Abraham is/was one lucky guy as not only did he survive being shot down over Don Muang, but also walked away from a crash landing in November 1942 when his P39D Airacobra came down at French Field Airbase in the Canal Zone, Panama where he was serving with 52 Fighter Squadron, 32nd Fighter Group.

Talk about lucky or unlucky , My friend who is dead now , he was Polish , he was in the RAF, during the second world war as a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber.He went all the way through the War and never got hit or hurt , which in itself was an amazing feat, One the last day of the War he was coming into land at a place called Syston. near Bingham. Nottingham. England , the pilot clipped the wing on a hanger because of bad visibility .All the crew was killed apart from him , because He was in the rear gun turret, he got burns from the waist down , he suffered for years after, What bad luck to go all through the war and on the last day get injured , some people are Lucky and some not , I live in lincolnshire England it was called Bomber County , it had 360 aerodromes for the RAF and the Americans, I live not far fron Scampton the home of the Dam Busters 633 squadron.

[gpdjohn]

I found this..

Yank Internees Recall Courtesy

CALCUTTA - Six American airmen, interned by the Thailand government after being shot down by ground fire while on bombing and strafing missions, calmly related here the kind and generous treatment afforded them, after their release last week.

The six airmen are: Capt. Albert Abraham, Marshall, Tex.; Lt. Malcolm MacKenzie, Greenville, S.C.; Lt. Dean E. Wimer, Sheridan, Wyo.; Lt. Theodore H. Demezas, Silverton, Ore.; S/Sgt. Laurel D. Kinsey, LaPorte, Ind., and Lt. James K. Kintz, Chicago, Ill.

All six airmen, now convalescing at the 142nd General Hospital in Calcutta, narrated the same story of good and plentiful food, sufficient reading material to while away the time, the matter of work being 'optional.' Five of the airmen, fighter pilots, and a ball turret gunner of a B-24 Liberator, were held prisoners at Vachirawaud College in Bangkok, capital of Thailand.

At Bangkok, where 32 prisoners were interned - the six Americans, 19 British, 2 Chinese and five Thai army privates - kept current with the news through a concealed radio, smuggled into the camp some three years previously. Generous portions of curie, rice, chicken, fish and eggs were served the prisoners three times daily. At the hospital they all tipped the scales at their "flying" weight.

Through the Swiss consul, they were loaned money to purchase soap, razor blades, tobacco and cigarette paper. However, the high cost of clothing found the airmen strutting about in shorts most of the time. High price of commodities restricted purchases (one razor blade cost 65 cents) and found one airman using 10 blades in 16 months.

The airmen had the "liberty" of the camp, could move about freely and could work if they desired. Most of their time was spent utilizing the vast amount of reading material which was at their disposal from the library, which was part of the college. Such books as Gone With The Wind and others published up to 1942 were available.

All had the occasion to taste raisin gin, Indo-China rum and even had beer - which wasn't too bad, as they expressed it. Through the Danish consul, athletic equipment, including baseball gloves, was available. They learned the popular game of cricket - "handling the stick as a baseball bat," they enthusiastically chimed.

[gpdjohn]

Found this small article in the "IBT Roundup" Sept 13 1945"

[gpdjohn]

Got me started and I cannot stop....

The acft he was flying is registered as P51D USAAF # 44-15302 -lost 09 Apr 1945.

Cpt. Albert Abraham was assigned to the 2d Fighter Squadron Commando, 2d Air Commando Group, 10th Air Force.

I found 1 page describing the actions that day over Don Muang in "Air Commando Fighters of World War 2" ( ISBN 1-58007-022-1) Ed Young , page 81. Cpt Abraham is noted in the forward as providing the details of his shoot down in 2000, so he has lived a long life. Unknown if he is still alive.

" Captain Abraham led the last flight across the field and then pulled up to look for a target. A 40mm shell took out his cooling system. He flew past the airfield and bailed out."

[folium]

More detail on the raid in which Abraham was shot down.

The P51 Mustang was a formidable ground attack aircraft but they were flying on 9 April 1945 at extreme range from Cox's Bazaar in Burma (now part of Bangladesh), an almost 1600 mile round trip (the P51 had a max. range of 1650 miles carrying external fuel drop tanks). This would have given Abraham and the other pilots little margin for error or linger time over Don Muang.

The Achilles Heel of the Mustang in the ground attack role was its vulnerability to ground fire, as, in common with all liquid cooled engines, a single round could bring the plane down. This seems to have been exactly the cause of Abraham's plane being brought down and a 40mm round would have made a right mess of the coolant system. A photo of the Japanese 40mm Shiki anti aircraft gun is below.

Makes our concerns today look pretty sad by comparison!

The RTAF lost, destroyed on the ground 5 Curtis Hawk IIIs and a Mitsubishi Ki-30. These planes by 1945 were no match for the Allies' aircraft, and the Ki-30s were downgraded from a combat role by the Japanese and some were then transferred to Thailand.

Ki-30

Curtis Hawk

Shiki

[Mrjlh]

Update to this story. I was able to locate the Capt Abraham's family. Unfortunately he passed away Feb 2009. They family is sending pictures and clippings about him. Some already received. A newspaper in Marshall, Tx has just recently published an article about him which I am waiting to receive and another writer is doing a more intensive story about him. Also to Mr. Gpdjohn if you have any other info please forward to it me. Thanks...

Picture of Capt Abraham:

Edited August 6, 2011 by Mrjlh

[Mrjlh]

Capt Abraham:

[KarlaWhiteheadDeLuca]

The pilot didn't die in the crash. He surrendered to the Thais and was very well looked after until the liberation. His name was Capt. Albert Abraham and was from Marshall, Texas. He died at age 89 after a long and very productive life.