P-38H 42-67061

Not Known

Lt. Aldecoa was the first pilot lost in the 343rd Fighter Squadron.  The following are excerpts from two sources:  Capt. R. C. Franklin reported: "On 25 November 1943, I was flying and saw a FW 190 firing on a P-38 that had a right engine trailing smoke.  The plane started a vertical dive at 6000 feet and a parachute emerged at about 5000 feet and the plane crashed."
An unreadable name reported: "I was in Col. Jenkins flight and saw a P-38 in a 70 to 80 degree dive leaving a trail of smoke.  I saw the chute stream out at an altitude I would judge to be about 5000 feet.  The plane crashed near a railroad track and when I last looked the chute was floating down.  The time was approximately 1320."
The Germans reported: "Manuel J. Aldecoa, killed in action (air combat).  Pilot was killed because of torn parachute (sic).  Buried 11/27/43 in the English part of the local cemetery of Marville (North), (France)"  Lt. Aldecoa is now buried at St. John's Cemetery, Ada County, Idaho.
Reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Robert M. Littlefield from the author's book Double Nickel - Double Trouble

Lt. Aldecoa was killed on 25 November 1943 when his P-38 collided with Maj. Johannes Siefert's FW-190 during a dogfight.  Lt. Aldecoa attacked Maj. Siefert head-on and as they passed, their wings collided.  Lt. Aldecoa managed to bail out of his P-38, but sadly his parachute failed to deploy.