Who shot down Frank Sorensen on April 11, 1943? Update

UPDATE

Researchers like Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, and Michael Plannthin have to be commended for their research on WW II.

Michael Plannthin in his research on Danish pilots who flew with Allied forces had tried to find out who had shot down Frank Sorensen.

With Vicki Sorensen’s transcription of her father’s letters we are now being able to say for certain who shot down her father. Tom Kracker has now confirmed in a message to Vicki Sorensen who shot down her father.

This is the entry I found in the German records concerning the 11 April, 1943 incident. This entry appears in the 4 Vol OKL (OberKommando der Luftwaffe), Luftwaffe High Command, Claims List, as follows:

“11.4.43 Ofw Heinrich Hackler: 50 8./JG 77 Spitfire 97/27/1: 100m 11.38 Film C. 2027/I Anerk: Nr.232”

Ofw is his Non-Commissioned Officers (enlisted mans) rank at the time of the victory.

50 represents his 50th confirmed victory

8./JG 77 is his squadrons designation, 8 Staffel (section)/Jagdgeschwader 77 (Fighter Sq. # 77)

97/27/1 is the location of the incident, usually more descriptive. In this case, most likely Hackler’s map coordinates at 100 meters (W. of Tebourba ??)

11.38 is the approx time of the claim

Film C. etc is the microfilm reference data supporting the claim.

ORIGINAL POST

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I had finally connected the dots last month when I had been reading documents especially the 232 Squadron ORBs. I think I know who shot down Frank Sorensen as well as Ronald Frederick Keller.

Fact 1

On April 11, 232 squadron was over the Gulf of Tunis attacking Ju52 transport planes evacuating German troops from Tunisia.

Fact 2

Ronald Frederick Keller was attacked, shot down and crashed into the water.

Fact 3

Frank Sorensen was a witness to Keller being shot down. There is only one possibility according to German claims. Uffz Otto Russ was the pilot who shot down Keller.

4./JG 53 Uff Otto Russ Spitfire 1055 5km N La Marsa 1055

Fact 4

Later Frank Sorensen was chased for 15 minutes by many Me 109s according to what he wrote later…

I welcomed the order by my flight commander one Sunday morning at about 7:00 while flying on a wing (3 Squads) sweep 23,000 feet over Tunis; to break away and polish off a few Ju52s flying low over the Bay of Tunis.

It didn’t seem to have taken any time at all before we – all three of us, our No. 4 (Keller?) had been shot down in flames on the way down and landed in the drink – , were skimming the waves, creeping up on our sitting targets. My flight commander got the first one, I flew right past him as the cannons tore in to the fuselage and engines. Next time I looked back it had crashed into the drink in a large ball of fire. It had been heavily laden with troops for I could see them swimming about in the burning petrol. When I had caught up with mine a huge fleet of 52s heading north Italy-bound turned back towards land and safety, but I sent two of them crashing in flames into the drink. Bags of fun I thought, until I was reminded by half a dozen ME109s that crime does not pay. I wouldn’t have met these 109s if my commander upstairs had not told us to come back up for I had it in mind to go home on the deck. I was first attacked at about 3,000 feet while crossing the coast on my lonely way home. Out turning three attacks there and using the rest of my ammo with no results, I prepared myself for an exciting flight home. It only lasted fifteen minutes for after having out turned about a dozen attacks the thirteenth finally hit my engine. Oil covered my windscreen completely. I was in a steep turn at the time and all my straps were loose for I like flying with them so, I only tighten them for landing; this I was trying to do as the ground came closer.

I never did get myself strapped in nor did I get time to switch off or turn the petrol off. I knew it was hilly country and not enough height to bail out so I did as I had done before when crashing with Spitfires – I closed my eyes. Well, I hit, I thought and I felt I hit again, I could still think and feel – then I turned a somersault and then with a final crash my flying carrier had come to an abrupt end – upside down. At that moment I thought I was dead and my thinking was just my subconscious mind carrying on. When I had convinced myself that I was not dead I took off my flying helmet and goggles, oxygen mask and loosened my parachute straps I had a look through a hole in the ground, you see I had ploughed right into the ground so my cockpit and myself were completely under the ground. I took one look at the puffing and steaming motor and started digging with my fingers. After five minutes of hard work I heard footsteps and then “Hands up!” I had landed right beside a German post. They grabbed me and pulled me out from under the wrecked aircraft. Not until then did I realize how tired I was. I was quite exhausted. Blood was dripping from my head and shoulder where I must have hit, but it soon stopped.

The Germans took me to a tent where they searched me then they drove me to Tunis in an American jeep. There I stayed overnight. An intelligence officer there made a vague attempt to get anything out of me, including the Red Cross forms but we were warned of them. I was alone in a small room, the food was terrible. The next morning I was introduced to an English officer who claimed to have been shot down on the same day as I. I was suspicious of course, and his name didn’t help matters much, Roder was his name. He told me later that he felt just as suspicious as I, but he was never the less so pleased to see me that he could have hugged me. We just shook hands. While we were in Tunis the Americans bombed it heavily. Lovely sight.

They drove us to an aerodrome the next morning. From there they flew us to Italy at the same time and over the same place where we had shot down four German aircraft the previous day. We flew over with twenty to thirty German paratroopers escorted all the way by ME109s. I was ready to die a second time after seeing with my own eyes what my own cannons could do to a JU52. However nothing happened. Roder and I stayed locked up in Rome overnight, then continued up through Italy, Munich and Frankfurt. We spent the night in the civilian prison – a dirty old cell (breakfast two slices of rye bread and water) then the following morning we were escorted by our paratroop guards to Dulag Luft outside Frankfurt. There I was kept in solitary confinement for five days on poor food. After the second day they discovered I wasn’t talking, not even to the extent of being polite so they shoved me back in again and closed the window and from then on I had no more fresh air. They didn’t need any information they might get out of me for afterwards they told me everything about myself – my squad, my friends in the squad – and also quoted a couple of promotions which had taken place less than a week previously. They just wanted me to confirm it, I guess. From there they sent us by rail to Sagan. Arrived there on Hitler’s birthday – every house had a flag out. That was 1943 – in 1945 on our march we didn’t see a single flag out on his birthday.

Fact 5

Frank Sorensen was over land when he crashed and German soldiers were nearby to capture him. He had to be near a town. The only possibility is that Obfw Heinrich Hackler shot down Frank Sorensen.

8./JG 77 Obfw Heinrich Hackler Spitfire West of Tebourba 1138

Heinrich Hackler was killed on January 1, 1945 during Operation Bodenplatte.