April 22, 1945:

2nd Lt. Richard G. Greggerson, 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, was hit by AAA while strafing north of the Po River in Italy and crash landed his P-47 in an orchard. The P-47 hit a road and flipped over on its back. After the war, a farmer reported that when he approached the cockpit 20 minutes after the crash, the pilot was blue with only a small cut on his forehead. Speculation is that the pilot was knocked unconscious with a kinked oxygen hose and suffocated in his oxygen mask. He was declared KIA.

1st Lt. Howard L. Barton of the 346th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, lead a 4-ship flight of P-47s on an attack against a concentration of enemy motor transport attempting to cross the bridge at Finale Emilia, 15 miles west of Ferrara. 1st Lt Addison A Bachman was a member of that flight. In spite of the intense AAA and small arms fire, they made repeated strafing passes destroying 34 motor transports and damaging an additional 25 and destroying and damaging 31 horse-drawn field pieces and munitions wagons. They estimated about 60 horses and numerous troops were killed. Bachman was KIA. (See below)

1st Lt. Addison A. Bachman, 346th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, was killed while his flight was strafing a retreating enemy concentration of transport crossing the river at Finale Emilia. His P-47 was observed to "mush" into the ground, exploding into a ball of flames. Although an experienced pilot, it is believed he misjudged his pull-up.

Capt. Roy E. Boettcher, 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group crash landed near Parma, Italy, when his P-47 was hit by AAA. Friendly civilians helped him avoid capture until the area was overrun by Allied forces. He returned to the squadron on 26 April.

2nd Lt. Charles R. Perryman and F/O Royce L. McCleskey, both of the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, failed to return from a mission against retreating German forces backed up against the Po River near San Benedetto, Italy. The Wehrmacht had massed AAA weapons to protect its river-crossing concentrations. Both pilots were declared KIA.
The quote below is from the War Diary 345th Fighter Squadron by Captain Allan C. Wills, S-2 Officer:

"22. Today only two missions were flown due to bad weather conditions. Both missions were armed recces.
Today the news came that Bologna, the German communication center, had fallen.
Today the 350th received another commendation on their work - this time from the C.O. of the 2nd Corps.
Lt. Jack Collingsworth has been transferred to the XXII TAC Hq. as an Aide-De-Camp to Gen. Darcy."

350th Fighter Group, 346th FS; MACR 14015 for 345th FS pilot Richard J. Greggerson. … Greggerson is a possible match for the eyewitness account a P-47 pilot lost near Mantua on April 22, 1945. Photos of Greggerson from Keith's archives. Special thanks to Patti Johnson for locating the info & photos of 345th FS pilots Royce L. McCleskey and Charles R. Perryman, also lost that day. Patti, your tributes to USAAF airmen on on findagrave.com are wonderful. If you come across any info on Greggerson or Addison A. Bachman of the 346th FS.

……..Photo Credit; Photos of Lt. Richard J. Greggerson, credit to Keith Vizcarra.

Find a Grave;

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68047349&rand=333

Research by Patti Johnson, Placed by Barbi Ennis Connolly PrincessbarbiB25@msn.com _

Richard J Greggerson