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| USAAF 5th AF 49th FG 9th FS |
Pilot Wade Lewis Crashed ? MACR none Aircraft History Built by Republic. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-47D Thunderbolt serial number unknown. Disassembled and shipped overseas to the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 49th Fighter Group (49th FG), 9th Fighter Squadron (9th FS). No known nose art or nickname. Mission History Took off piloted by Wade Lewis on a fighter sweep over the Markham Valley. During air combat with Japanese fighters, hit by enemy canon fire he was injured by shrapnel from a [13mm machine cannon] cannon shell that damaged his plane, impacting the control stick and wounding him inside his legs. Damaged, Lewis forced landed wheels up in enemy territory. On impact, the P-47 skidded over several hundred yards of jungle, clearing a swath in the vegetation before it came to rest. During the landing, the engine, wings and tail separated from the fuselage. Afraid of Japanese in the immediate vicinity, Lewis fired a few rounds then became unconscious from his wounds and a broken leg sustained during the landing. Fate of the Pilot Lewis was rescued and returned to duty. Relatives David Lewis (son) adds: "Apparently, he made a private agreement with his commanding officer that if he could re-qualify with his cast on that he wouldn't send him home. He had to deny the crash location in order to remain with his squadron or he would have been shipped home. My father is still alive today and claims he knows where he went down and can approximate it on a map. On the accident report my father told me the paperwork was changed to show that the crash happened on a takeoff and not in a combat area. Unfortunately this took away his benefit of disability but most importantly the honor of receiving his purple heart for being wounded in combat." References Thanks to David Lewis for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated
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