Walter Manning
Walter Manning | |
---|---|
Birth name | Walter Peyton Manning |
Born | Baltimore City, Maryland | May 3, 1920
Died | April 3, 1945 Austria | (aged 24)
Plot K, Row 36, Grave 37 | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army Air Force |
Years of service | 1943-1945 |
Rank | 2nd Lieutenant |
Unit | 301st Fighter Squadron |
Awards |
|
Relations | Dicey Thomas (Fiancé) |
2nd Lieutenant Walter Manning (May 3, 1920 - April 3, 1945) was a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He flew 50 missions, and was awarded the Air Medal for heroism 6 times. In 1945 he was shot down and captured in Austria: he was subsequently lynched by a mob.[3] He was Posthumously awarded the congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Manning is the only known black man to have been lynched in Austria during World War II.[4]
Military service
World War II
In 1942 Manning was rejected for military service because of a hammer toe. Manning used his savings to pay for surgery to repair his toe so that he could enlist.[1] In 1943 he enlisted in the Army Air Force. in 1944, after graduation he was assigned to the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd fighter Group with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He served as a pilot and his base was Ramitelli Air Base, Italy.[6]
Dogfight
Manning was involved in a dogfight with Nazi planes on Easter morning April 1, 1945 over the Danube River. Tuskegee airmen escorted B-24 bombers on a bombing mission to St. Polten, Austria. On the return trip to their base at Ramitelli Air Field in Italy, the group spotted enemy planes near Wels, Austria. There were 7 Tuskegee Airmen flying the mission that day and they engaged the German planes. The Tuskegee Airmen shot down 12 German planes in the dogfight. However three of the Tuskegee Airmen's planes were shot down: one pilot was able to make crash-land in friendly territory, one was killed outright when he was shot down and the third pilot was Manning: his plane was damaged so badly that he had to bail out. He ejected, and parachuted into a waiting mob.[1][7][8]
Lynching
On April 3, 1945, Manning was captured and jailed in Austria: He was held in a jail at a Nazi Luftwaffe Air Force base near Linz. A gang of citizens helped by Luftwaffe officers broke into the jailhouse and tied Manning's hands behind his back. They dragged Manning outside and beat him badly.[9] They hung a wooden tablet around his neck that read "We help ourselves! The Werewolf," and they hanged him from a lamp post.[10][3][7][11]
After the end of war the body of Walter Manning was recovered by US troops. Although they found clear signs of murder US officials closed his case early. Nobody was ever sentenced for the war crime.[4]
Research and commemoration
In 2013 the Austria historians Nicole-Melanie Goll and Georg Hoffmann carried out a research project together with Jerry Whiting to clarify the fate of Walter Manning.[12][13] As a result of their findings the Austrian Army raised a commemoration plaque at the place where Walter Manning was murdered.[14][15][16]
Awards
- Air Medal for heroism with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters,[1]
- European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (EAME)
- Purple Heart Medal.
- Congressional Gold Medal (2007) (posthumously)[2]
Education
- Attended Howard University[1]
- Tuskegee Institute (1944)[1]
Personal life
Manning was born in Baltimore, Maryland but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He loved swimming and growing up he always wanted to fly planes. He was engaged to Dicey Thomas before he left for war.[1][7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Newall, Mike (April 20, 2018). "Honors, finally, for a Tuskegee Airman from Philly, lynched by the Nazis". The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Guzzo, Paul (November 21, 2016). "Oldest remaining Tuskegee Airman, a St. Petersburg man, dies at 101". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- ^ a b Berger, Tia (May 29, 2018). "Tuskegee Airman Lynched By an Austrian Mob Is Commemorated 73 Years Later". Atlanta Black Star. atlantablackstar. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 293–297. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
- ^ Rice, Markus. "The Men and Their Airplanes: The Fighters." Tuskegee Airmen, 1 March 2000.
- ^ "2Lt Walter Peyton Manning". findagrave. Find A Grave. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ a b c Dwinell, Joe (June 1, 2019). "One of 12 surviving Tuskegee Airmen recounts his 43 WWII combat missions". Boston Herald. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Erica (September 26, 2009). "Lt. Walter P. Manning scores aerial victory". STLtoday.com. St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. p. 296. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
- ^ Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
- ^ Patterson, Brandon (May 27, 2018). "Tuskegee Airman honored 73 years after being lynched in Austria". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Goll, Nicole-Melanie; Hoffmann, Georg (2016). Missing in Action - Failed to Return (PDF). ISBN 978-3-9504258-0-2.
- ^ "Der Standard: Der Fall Manning: Vom Mob gehängter Afroamerikaner".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Memorial for Walter Manning".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Research project and commemoration ceremony for Walter Manning".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Austrian Database of Downed Allied airmen".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Notes
External links
- Tuskegee Airmen at Tuskegee University
- Tuskegee Airmen Archives at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
- Tuskegee Airmen National Museum
- Fly (2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
- Executive Order 9981
- List of African American Medal of Honor recipients
- Military history of African Americans
- 1920 births
- 1945 deaths
- United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
- People from Baltimore
- Tuskegee Airmen
- Tuskegee University alumni
- Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama
- Congressional Gold Medal recipients
- United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II
- 1940s murders in Austria
- Lynching deaths
- Shot-down aviators