Earnest Wallace H Lt

Assigned Aircraft	P-51C 43-25069
Mission History	Not Known
Mission List	Not Known
Air Scores	1-0-0
Ground Scores	0-0
Score Detail	7 July 1944 FW-190 destroyed (air) W/Bernburg
Notes	MACR No. 06845 2/Lt. Elmer L. Mercurio reported: "On the 20th July 1944, Lt. Earnest, Lt. Weins and myself were spares. We flew with Acorn Squadron to the French coast and as no spares were needed, started toward home observing R/T silence. Weather was 2 to 4/10ths low clouds and mist, seriously hampering air to air visibility. We were flying new ships and wanted to check our guns, we descended to 2,000 feet from 10,000 feet and dropped our belly tanks. I saw them hit the (English) Channel and we shot at them for about 10 minutes making passes in trail at low deck level. Lt. Earnest and I were shooting at the same tanks, making passes in trail at low, deck level speed and Lt. Weins was 1/4 mile away. When I thought it was time to leave I flew over Lt. Earnest and wiggled my wings for him to join formation. I saw him start toward me so I flew to Lt. Weins and wiggled my wings for him. As Lt. Weins joined me I noticed that Lt. Earnest was not in sight. I thought he had lost me in the mist and that he had started for home. However, he never reached home base. Lt. Earnest was last seen at 51 degrees 10 minutes N, 1 degree 50 minutes E at about 200 feet altitude having just completed a pass. As we were on radio silence I could not call him and he never called me. I did not see his ship hit the water, nor did I observe any unusual movement in his airplane." Lt. Earnest was from Illinois. His name is on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Military Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, Cambridge England. Reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Robert M. Littlefield from the author's book Double Nickel - Double Trouble
Memories