UPDATE TO JIM BROWNING CRASH SITE
Captain James W Browning’s Crash Site by Jim Anderson
Captain Jim Browning was lost 9 Feb 1945 in P-51D, 44-15630, B6-L, “Junior Miss,” near Wurges, Germany. Jim and Captain Don Bochkay, both from the 363rd FS, 357th FG, “Yoxford Boys,” were engaged in a fierce dogfight with German ME-262 jets, when Jim was Killed in Action (KIA) due to a mid-air collision with one of the jets. Jim was an Ace with 7 victories and was two missions shy of completing his second combat tour.
Merle Olmsted documented Jim’s fate in March 1955, but the exact location of Jim’s crash was unknown. From the description in Merle’s report, a friend did a site survey of the area while working in Germany. I published his survey and photos on this web site. Two young German police officers, Andi and Yannik , who enjoy searching for historic artifacts, used the information from our web site, which included Merle’s report and the survey, to search for Jim’s crash site. They noted that the Mayor of Worsdorf visited the crash site, so started their search near the city. Using a metal detector, they found pieces of Jim’s P-51. After they found the site, an old German farmer, asked them what they were doing. They told him about finding the P-51 and he confirmed that when he was a young boy, he had witnessed the P-51 crash there and picked up one of the 50 Cal Machine guns from the Mustang and took it home. He was severely reprimanded by his parents and turned the weapon over to the German authorities. Most of Jim’s aircraft was removed from the crash site by the German army just after the crash, but some small pieces remain.
Andi contacted me to tell me of their find and wanted to send pieces of the crash site to me. I told him I would be hiking in Switzerland that summer and asked if they would take me to the site. Andi and Yannick agreed and on 19 Sep 2015, I met them and traveled to Jim’s crash site, located in a beautiful, peaceful forest, may he rest in peace.
UPDATED INFORMATION
However in 2023, I was contacted by Klaus, who had found the actual Jim Browning crash site, as well as the ME-262 Jim had collided with. The new site was about a mile from the site Andi and Yannick had taken me to. The site I had visited was the crash site of Lt Robert P. Edwards, of the 385th FS, 364th FG, based at RAF Honington, England. On 27 Nov 1944, Lt Edwards was flying his P-51D, 44-14456, 5E-X, on a bomber escort mission to Offenburg, Germany. After the escort mission was over, White flight, consisting of 3 aircraft, left the bombers and started down for the deck looking for targets of opportunity. They spotted a train in the vicinity of Braunfels, near Frankfurt. The train was standing on the track on the side of a valley right next to a hill. They got in trail formation, and made a pass from the side of the valley. There were high tension wires lying parallel to the track. Others in the squadron observed a large explosion, followed by billowing smoke. They saw the wreckage of Lt Edwards plane, still burning when they climbed up, and set course for home. Lt. Edwards was killed in the crash, he was 24 years old. Lt. Robert P Edwards, from Merchantville, New Jersey, is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Liege, Belgium.
Visiting the crash site with Andi and Yannik!
Original Survey Map
Red X marks the location of the Lt Edwards crash site.
 Hike to the crash site begins |  Base of tree where first crash site item was found |  Beautiful Forest |
 Pile of P-51 parts |  Hunter's stand where we survey the area north of the crash site |  Looking North from the hunter's stand, Wurges in the distance |
UPDATE TO JIM BROWING CRASH SITE
UPDATED MAP WITH CRASH SITES
Map of Jim Browning's crash site and the ME-262 site.
Engine pieces from Jim Browning's crashed P-51D, Junior Miss.
Pieces of the P-51D and ME-262 send by Klaus. Thank you Klaus!
Cody Browning, Jim Browning’s great grandson, holding pieces of Jim’s P-51D and the ME-262 provided by Klaus. Cody serves with the US Coast Guard.
As a side note, how wonderful is it that people from Germany contacted me about the crash site of Jim Browning? I really appreciate Andi, Yannik and Klaus for their kindness and for taking the time to contact us and provide closure for Cody and his father Lance.
