Air battle over Merklín
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Air battle over Merklín | |||||||
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Part of Cold War | |||||||
![]() ![]() USAF Republic F-84E and MiG-15 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
2 MiG-15 | 2 F-84 Thunderjet | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
none |
1 F-84 shot down Pilot survived |
The Air battle over Merklín was an air-to-air engagement between Czechoslovak and USAFE air units over the Czech village of Merklín, in the Bohemian Forest, on 10 March 1953. During the action Czech pilot Jaroslav Šrámek, flying a MiG-15, shot down one of a pair of American F-84E Thunderjets (from 53rd Fighter Bomber Squadron, 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing). The American pilot, Lt. Warren G.Brown ejected from the aircraft, which crash-landed in German territory, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border, and survived.[1][2]
It was reported in the London Times that the attack on the American aircraft was ten miles from the border near the town of Falkenstein, Bavaria.[3] The aircraft crashed near Regensburg, Bavaria and the burnt out wreckage of the F-84 was recovered by American soldiers.[3] The attack followed reports of other Czechoslovak aircraft over Bavarian territory. Brown, the pilot of the F-84, reported they were on a routine patrol along the border when they spotted two aircraft appear from the East, he was fired upon and bailed out after losing control.[3]
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Coilin O'Connor (4 October 2004). "Radio Prague - Czech fighter pilot recalls Cold War dogfight". Radio.cz. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
- ^ a b c "The Shot-Down Thunderjet". The Times. No. 52568. London. 12 March 1953. p. 5. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
Sources
- "Czech fighter pilot recalls Cold War dogfight" by Collin O'Connor. Radio Prague, 4 October 2004
- Souboj nad Železnou oponou (Duel Above The Iron Curtain), 2000 article by Tomáš Soušek Template:Cs icon
- 23 March 1953 article from Life Magazine, pages 29 – 31, (via Google Books)
- Air-to-air combat operations and battles
- 20th-century aircraft shootdown incidents
- Battles involving Czechoslovakia
- Battles involving the United States
- Battles and conflicts without fatalities
- Cold War military history of the United States
- Czechoslovakia–United States relations
- 1953 in Czechoslovakia
- Military history of Czechoslovakia
- Combat incidents
- Conflicts in 1953
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Czechoslovakia
- March 1953 events