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Our good friend John Mollison confirmed something I did not know,
that Capt. Morris W Magnuson was not shot down in Maj Mac (42-28947)
and not on Mar 16 1945.
Contrary to many online sources, and contrary to what I thought I knew,
Magnuson was shot down two days earlier, Mar 14, in another P47, serial number 42-28927.
*Note it was the same type of P47, a P-47D-28-RE,
and from the same block with almost the exact same serial...947/927.
I'm sure this led to a lot of confusion over the years.
I even found conflicting MACReports online.
MAJ MAC was obviously left without her Pilot, and on Mar 16,
a Lt Wayne Hoeck was assigned to take Maj Mac on a mission into Germany, and was also shot down.
Hoeck also bailed out, survived and was later captured by the Germans (like Magnuson).
This doesn't change anything regarding Maj Mac...or my scale model.
Its just more interesting and important historical information
and proves you should never stop hunting for the facts.
As someone said I'm the type that will "never take things on face value"
and I never just accept the general concensus.
Or in this case, the internet's concensus.
I told someone else they were completely wrong about Hoeck being in the aircraft.
I argued that they based their thinking on a weak statement by a WW2 pilot and one single B/W photo.
And while I ended up being wrong about the facts, I'm still glad I made the effort to search for more details
and eventually uncover a more substantial truth based on more information.
Now, I need to find a photo of P-47D 42-28927.
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