Date: 1944 Apr09/09			A/C Type: P-38 J Lightning		SN: 42-67192		Code:		A/C Nickname:
File: 604		Airforce: USAAF		Sqn/Unit: 20 FG - 55 FS			Mission/Raid: Bomber escort
1	Pilot	1Lt. Rexford H. Dettre         Evaded, POW in Brussels					9
2							10
3							11
4							12
5							13
6							14
7							15
8							16
Pilot parachuted out and landed safely, could evade with help of local farmers. Aircraft dove in a 45° angle into shallow water at the Lake shore between Molkwerum and Hindeloopen. Because of the soft muddy seabed the aircraft vanished completely.

1Lt. Dettre was a West Point graduate and needed some operation flying over Germany to gain experience. On one of his first missions he got an electrical failure and his colleagues saw him go down into the overcast. He evaded successfully with help of the Dutch resistance. Begin June 1944 he was in Breda and met there another P-38 flyer, Captain Richard M. Scott (P-38 42-68062, 364FG). They knew each other, teamed-up but got arrested in Brussels on July 8 1944, POW.














































Sources/Read More:

- Website Hindeloopen in Oorlogstijd
- http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/107245/major-general-rexford-h-dettre-jr.aspx 
- MACR
- http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/13120/ 
- Pdf, page 12: http://www.nationalww2museum.org/v-mail-sneak-peek/v-mail-spring-2013.pdf 









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