Hello -

My great uncle - Ray Pitre - was shot down while flying a B-26 near Vieira de Leiria off the coast of Portugal on October 17, 1943. The remains of the plane were never recovered, and he was officially listed as MIA as his body was never recovered. His sister (my Aunt) is still alive and I have worked a bit to try an unravel the 70 year old mystery of his fate.

Local Portuguese residents claimed that the plane was indeed shot down by U-Boats on the surface offshore. An account follows:

"There is a suspicion that the crew surprised one or more U-Boats at the surface in front of Vieira da Leiria. Testimonies heard, during the night, the shooting and the noise from the engines of one aircraft that flew twice over the village, first inland and the other into the sea. Minutes after the second passage they heard one explosion. The bodies from the crew members were found in beaches in the next weeks. The newspaper Diário de Notícias published a short story about the event that generated one major problem between the Legation in Lisbon and the State Department. The airmen where berried in Vieira de Leiria before being taken, at the end of the war, to the Lorraine American Cemetery, in St. Avold, France."

Below is a link to some information about the "Texas Bomber" and her crew:

[www.b26.com]

I would certainly be keenly interested if any U-boat researchers have any information that would be helpful in solving this mystery, as I note no records of any U-boats shooting any planes down on October 17, 1943.

Regards,
Brian