Help please: Walter Frederick "Fred" Morrison, P-47 pilot in Italy

[Angiolillo]

I am looking for infos about Walter Frederick "Fred" Morrison who "was a fighter pilot during World War II, flying 58 missions over Italy before being shot down and imprisoned for a month and a half in Germany's infamous Stalag 13". So the net says.
Not here: http://www.axpow.org/dbfiles/ww2.php

Any clue about his unit and service? Thanks!

He is also famous as the designer of Frisbee.

By the way, here there should be an interview with him:

http://web.archive.org/web/202011302...lotonline.com/

On that page, I can only read "Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism."
Whoever can take it and smuggle it to my postbox will make me a favour. Thanks again!

[Jager]

Same message here in the USA; I didn't know we became EU
Karl

[Angiolillo]

Thanks anyway for trying! Maybe with this direct URL?

https://www.tribpub.com/gdpr/pilotonline.com/

[OldGuy59]

Canada can't get it either? Maybe we have to subscribe to get the video?

[Angiolillo]

It should be text. I guess that's just lousy programming.

[flash]

Not available in the UK either

[Jager]

I tried to reach the site by googling The Virginia Pilot, but I was blocked for not taking their cookies. Also, Webroot doesn't like it either.
I did find some Obits on him on lines, but none say anything more about his wartime activities. Guess being the inventor of the Frisbee was too much space to add anything else.
Karl

Karl

[Diamondback]

Andrea, start by looking for records of the 12th Air Force, which was the US Army AF in the Italian theater. You're going to have a huge problem going through US military personnel records, as most of them were lost in a 1971 arson fire.

I will see what I can find, so far just that the shootdown was March 19, 1945. There are no MACR's (Missing Aircrew Records) for P-47 units based in Italy on that date. I'll check Osprey Combat Aircraft #92, P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the 12th Air Force and see if it has anything.

Does this mean that the Squadron Packs haven't killed the traditional Aircraft Packs after all?

Oops, missed a MACR. The 350th FG was based in Italy, lost c/n 42-74991 (MACR 13275) on Mar 19. That might give us a lead to start from, would be the 345th, 346th or 347th Fighter Squadron.

Turns out this isn't our guy, but 347th FG's Robert Eul. I'm now starting to wonder about the accuracy of the claimed Mar 19 down-date...

However, drilling into 12th AF gives us this for 1945 fighter units:
XII Fighter Command/ XXII Tactical Air Command: 1942-1945
62nd Fighter Wing (formerly 1st Air Defense): 1943-1945
87th Fighter Wing (1944-1945)

62nd FW gives us 52d, 81st, 332d and 350th FG's.
---52nd FG: Mustangs from Spr '44. Not our target.
---81st FG: Left MTO in '44 and moved to CBI. Ditto.
---332nd FG: Tuskegee Airmen. Mustangs before '45.
---350th FG: Already discussed.

87th FW yields the 57th, 79th and 86th FG's.
---57th FG - 64th, 65th and 66th FS's. No W.F. Morrison in 57th FG crew rolls.
---79th FG - right plane, right place, right time; need personnel data.
---86th FG - same story as 79th.

Osprey was a strikeout.

But, here's his POW record:
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-...pg=1&rid=96848

Interesting, per another website that MACR WAS Morrison:
13275 19 Mar 45 42-74991 Republic P-47D-10-RE Thunderbolt Morrison,, Walter F. , O1998911 . 350FG 12AF POW Plane got shot in the rear auxiliary tank by 20 MM flak on the outskirts of Sanguinetto, Italy, pulling off a strafing run on an empty boxcar 19 March 1945, Stalag 13-B, 347FS, 350FG, plane shot down over Sanguinetto, Italy
http://raf-112-squadron.org/350thfghonor_roll.html

O1998911 is Morrison's serial number as recorded in National Archives, so this seems legit. His bird is a D-10 "Razorback," which means you can just redeco the existing sculpt and call it a day.

Now we need some pics... At that time the 347th FS was getting new D-25s in NMF with OD anti-glare panels, and this was probably one of their last razorbacks so it's a 50-50 whether it's ODG or NMF.

Also, check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/350th-Fighter.../dp/0764302205

One more thing: Look into Robert Watkins's Battle Colors, Vol. 4: Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the USAAF in World War II European/African/Middle Eastern Theaters, published by Schiffer. I've recommended this admittedly pricey series before, but only have access to the first 3 myself.

Also found this decal-set instruction sheet that gives us a little more:

If I had to guess the three-digit codes are 1st digit squadron (last digit of sq #), letter ID's flight, last # individual plane but don't hold me to that.

[Angiolillo]

Thanks a lot, Timothy! This is exactly the kind of information I needed. You are a great information digger indeed! I did not manage, in many hours toying with Google.

Alas it's not for Airplane Packs. I tell games' and toys' stories on the Italian state radio Rai Radio Tre:
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/1...-toy-histories
I am now recording the history of Frisbee, to be broadcasted on January 13th. That's why I am interested in Morrison. But then, all this is interesting for P-47 reprints that will anyway come. A confirmation of him being actually a pilot, the name of the unit, the confirmation of him being prisoners and the details on his last mission are a great bulk of infos compared to the vague references I has before.

Very strange that the 350th FG page links the name of Morrison here, but then it's an unauthorized access:
http://home.mchsi.com/~lkheckenkamp/...t_morrison.htm
In any case, that's already quite enough.

Maybe it could be interesting to dig out the wartime career of Morrison's partner in the production of Frisbie, then called Pluto Platter. His name is Walter Franscioni and, according to what I read, he piloted cargo planes in India and China.

[Stumptonian]

My Dad bought a blue "flying saucer" in 1957 or 1958.
We used to get quite a bit of attention when we played with it on the beaches and parks of Vancouver over the years - a lot of tentative "Can I try it?"
Then it took off in the '60s and everyone had one.

[Angiolillo]

Pete you were pioneers! That was before the big fashion of Frisbee indeed.

Here you have Franscioni, the partner of Morrison:
https://books.google.it/books?id=JIR...7&lpg=RA2-PA17
But I'd rather need his wartime record. The history of transports from India to China through Himalaya is another very interesting one, by the way.

[Diamondback]

About all I can find about Warren Franscioni is that he rejoined the US Air Force in 1950, and in 1952 was reassigned to a base in South Dakota. The only active military base of any kind at that time in SD I can find is Rapid City (now Ellsworth) AFB and the 28th Bomb Wing, which would have put him on the monster B-36 Peacemakers. According to his headstone, he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.

DO NOT cite anything other than the 1950 rejoin, 1952 SD reassignment and his final rank as fact; things in between are most probable conjecture based on my knowledge of the USAF in the early Cold War.

[Angiolillo]

Thanks a lot! Work done. Now it's more a matter of personal curiosity.