Erby Phlip A. Lt

Assigned Aircraft	P-51D 44-15025 "Beautiful Lavina"
Mission History	Not Known
Mission List	Not Known
Air Scores	1-0-1
Ground Scores	1-0
Score Detail	21 March 1945 FW-190 destroyed (ground) Hopsten A/F 30 March 1945 Me-262 damaged (air) SW Lubeck A/F 17 April 1945 FW-190 destroyed (air) Kamenz A/F
Notes	Entered service from Evanston, Illinois. MACR No. 13920 Lt. Erby was hit by flak while chasing a FW-190 over Kamenz airdrome. It is believed he bailed out. Lt. Erby's name is on the Wall of the Missing, Henri-Chapelle American Military Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.
Memories	At least three S.G. 77 FW 190s were about to fly a mission to attack advancing Soviet forces when the American fighters dove to attack. Capt. Robert E. Welch led the attack on Kamenz, flying the first pass with 2/Lt. Philip A. Erby. Welch describes the attack: "Lieutenant Erby was on my wing when we made the bounce on two FW 190s that had just taken off from Kamenz airfield. I took the one on the left and he took the one on the right. They were flying line abreast at 1,000 m. We came down on them from 3,000 m and attacked, from dead astern. We both knocked them down at about the same time. I watched his 190 crash, just south of mine, in a woods near a lake. It exploded and burned upon crashing. Suddenly I was hit by flak, so I called Lieutenant Erby and told him I was heading for Russian lines. He called over and said, 'Wait for me, I've been hit and am leaking coolant'. He called about four minutes later and said he was going to bail out. I couldn't see him due to a bad haze that greatly limited visibility. He never called again and I could not raise him after repeated attempts". Welch believes Erby bailed out about 36 km north-west of Kamenz, but Erby was never heard from again