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MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) je standardizovane hlaseni armady USA o clenech osadek letadel, ztracenych v prubehu let 1941 az 1948. Cislo 14206 ma prideleno 2nd Lt. Herbert F. Koenig, ktery se nevratil v dubnu 1945 z mise v severnich Cechach. Na uvodnich souradnicich teto cache neni pro neznaleho pozorovatele nic zajimaveho, pod povrchem jsou vsak ukryty zbytky letounu P-47D Thunderbolt, vyrobni cislo 42-26826, v jehoz troskach dne 17.4.1945 priblizne v 15:15 Koenig zahynul.
Herbert F. Koenig byl prislusnikem 397. perute "Jabo Angels". Tato jednotka spadala pod 368. stihaci skupinu, jez byla soucasti Devate letecke armady. Skupina byla vyzbrojena letouny P-47 Thunderbolt a jejim primarnim ucelem byla takticka podpora pozemnich vojsk. Jak takova podpora vypada v praxi muzete videt na autentickych historickych zaberech. Dne 17. dubna 1945 provadela perut bojovy pruzkum, pri kterem zavitala do severnich Cech. Velici dustojnik kapitan Harris F. Krause popisuje ve svem hlaseni udalost takto: "Lt. Koenig provedl nalet na napratelsky MT (=vojensky dopravni prostredek nebo prostredky, mozna i pasovy transporter). Utocil kolmo k silnici, na ktere byl MT zaparkovan. Po ukonceni strelby se snazil pritahnout, ale narazil do sloupu. Jeho letoun zacal temer okamzite horet, narazil do zeme asi sto yardu od silnice a klouzal po zemi dalsich sto yardu nez se, stale horici, zastavil."
Ostatky pilota byly provizorne ulozeny na nedalekem hrbitove v Mlekojedech. Odtud byly 8.srpna 1946 exhumovany pod cislem X-7286 Americkou vojenskou komisi, prevezeny na centralni vojensky hrbitov u St. Avold ve Francii a ulozeny do hrobu 4K-5-110. Posledni spocinuti nasel letec na hrbitove St. Stephen's, Hamilton, Ohio. Tragicka udalost ze sameho konce valky velmi rychle upadla v zapomeni. Mistni historici ji casto spojovali s naletem na Lovosicke nadrazi 26.4.1945 a jmeno pilota bylo predmetem dohadu. Zaznamenali pritom zajimavy detail, podle ktereho se mi podarilo oblast dopadu letounu zpresnit a posleze s pomoci detektorare Milana L. v terenu dohledat.
Technicke udaje o letounu asi netreba zminovat, muzete si je najit treba na Wikipedii. Snad jen pro fajnsmekry uvadim, ze letoun byl ve variante P-47D-27-RE a byl vyroben v zavode ve Farmingdale.
A ted proc asi ctete tento listing. Samotna schranka na uvodnich souradnicich samozrejme neni. K nalezeni finalky budete potrebovat dovednosti bojoveho pilota - rychle reflexy, dobry zrak a nebat se pracovat mezi nebem a zemi. Prosim nepodcenujte obtiznost terenu (T4*). Zacnete tady (original Scratch - vyzaduje Flash) nebo tady (phosphorus - bez Flash).
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MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) is U.S. army report which was used during 1941 -1948. MACR #14206 belongs to 2nd Lt. Herbert F. Koenig who did not return from reconnaissance mission in April 1945. Starting coordinates of this cache are located on place of last landing of P-47D Thunderbolt, serial no 42-26826. The pilot of this plane, Herbert F. Koenig, lost his life in April 17 1945 approximately 15:15.
Twenty two years old pilot was member of 397th Fighter Squadron "Jabo Angels" which was a part of the 368th Fighter Group. The squadron was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt. They provided air cover for the First and Third Army. You can see some missions on video. Squadron was providing sweep in April 17 1945. Operation officer Captain Harris F. Krause described in his report: "Lt. Koenig made a strafing pass at an enemy MT, perpendicular to the road on which the MT was parked. Upon firing he endeavored to pull up, but crushed into a utility pole. His plane burst into flames almost immediately, hitting the ground about one hundred yards from the road and scattering approximately one other hundred yards before comming to rest, still burning."
The pilot was temporarily buried at near cemetery in village Mlekojedy. His body was exhumed in august 1946 by American Graves Registration Service (no. X-7286) and transfered to military cemetery St. Avold, France to grave no 4K-5-110. The last grave of Koenig is in St. Stephen's cemetery, Hamilton, Ohio. The tragical incident at the end of WW2 was very quickly forgotten. Local historicians connected it often with attack of railway station in Lovosice (Lobositz) in April 26, 1945, the name of a pilot was generaly not known. But they fortunately registered small piece of information which helped me localize the place where the plane hit the ground. Many thanks to Milan L. who found with metal detector small rests of plane there.
If you are interested in military aircraft you can find the technical data about P-47 on Wikipedia.
The geocache is not hidden at starting coordinates. If you want to find final coordinates you have to be like pilot of fighter - have good reflexes, have good eyesight and also be able to work between ground and sky. Please consider the terrain hardness (T4*). You can start here (original Scratch - needs Flash) or here (phosphorus - without Flash) .
Zdroje/Sources:
- [EN]MACR 14206
- [CS]server www.valka.cz (1)
- [CS]server hloubkari.bloguje.cz (1, 2)
- [EN]server www.368thfightergroup.com (1)
- [CS]VESELY, Martin. Hvezdy nad Krusnohorim : letecka valka nad severozapadnimi Cechami 1944-1945. Praha : Nase vojsko, 2005, s. 98
- [CS]HELT, Radovan. A z nebe padaly bile hvezdy : letecka valka nad Mostem v souvislostech, brezen – duben 1945. Cheb : Svet kridel, 2007, s. 388-389
- [CS]SKALSKY, Jiri. Historie Lovosic od praveku do roku 1948