2 August 1944 - 2nd Lt. Gerald C. CHAPMAN - P-51B "Mustang" # 43-6846 - 4th Fighter Group, 336th Fighter Squadron - 8th Air Force

2 August 1944

2^nd Lt. Gerald C. CHAPMAN

P-51B « Mustang » # 43-6846

VF-A

4^th Fighter Group

336^th Fighter Squadron

8^th Air Force

Le Mesnil-sur-Bulles (Oise)

4^th Fighter Group

Born on 16^th September 1923, 2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman came from Stoughton, a town south of Boston, Massachusetts. Trained for many months in the United States, he was sent to the European Theater of Operations in December 1943 and assigned to the 4^th Fighter Group based in Debden, Essex.

2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman

On 2^nd August 1944, a patrol of "Mustangs" of the 4^th Fighter Group including 2^nd Lt. Chapman took off from the Debden Air Force base. Led by Captain Otey M. Glass Jr, their mission was to search over France for potential enemy targets to strafe. The mission almost completed, the "Mustangs" were preparing to return to England when they flew over the Beauvais-Tillé German airfield. Preparing to strafe possible aircraft on the ground, anti-aircraft batteries protecting the base began to target the attackers who were forced to disperse in a sky with poor visibility.

East of Beauvais, the "Mustang" piloted by 2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman was again targeted by a German mobile anti-aircraft battery positioned on the edge of the Bois de Mont to protect the large fuel depot located there. The German gunners fired on 2^nd Lt. Chapman’s "Mustang" as it approached at low level.

Hit head-on and immediately catching fire, the out-of-control and destabilized aircraft crashed into a field near Huyard Woods, close to the road between Fournival and Le Mesnil-sur-Bulles, about 400 meters from the German battery, leaving the young 20-year-old pilot no chance to evacuate his plane. It was about 8:30 p.m.

It was harvest time. Witnesses working in a nearby field recalled the plane crashing. The Mustang's engine was torn apart on impact and thrown into the woods on the other side of the road.

Crash site

The pilot's horribly mutilated body was taken away by the Germans. The dog-tag found on his body allowed his identification. On 5 August, they buried him in the Beauvais-Marissel cemetery. His grave, surmounted by a British-style metal cross, bore the inscriptions found on his identification plaque: "0-815581 T43 S43 AP, Gerald C. Chapman USAAF 2-8-44."

Several months after the Liberation, members of an American commission inspected his grave and confirmed the pilot's identity. On 15^th June 1945, 2^nd Lt. Chapman's remains were transferred to the U.S temporary cemetery in Champigneul, Marne. The pilot's family was then contacted to see if they wished to have his body repatriated to the United States. They choose to keep it in France.

Exhumed once again on 23^rd August 1948, the body of 2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman now rests in Epinal-Quépremont American cemetery, Vosges.

Epinal - Grave of 2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman

Wreckage of 2^nd Lt. Chapman's Mustang

2^nd August 2014 - Memorial Ceremony for 2^nd Lt. Gerald C. Chapman

Accueil English Airmen 2 August 1944 - 2nd Lt. Gerald C. CHAPMAN - P-51B "Mustang" # 43-6846 - 4th Fighter Group, 336th Fighter Squadron - 8th Air Force - Le Mesnil-sur-Bulles (Oise)