Date
Location
Force
Aircraft
From-To
Crew
27-04-1943
Portela Airport - Lisbon
USAAF Ferry Command
Bell P-400 Aircobra AP292
Portreath (GB) → Port Lyautey (Marroco)
2Lt Richard L. "Dixie" Alexander USA
A B-17 was guiding a group of P-39’s but in the middle of the voyage this aircraft had propeller and electrical problems.
The pilot abandoned the group and tried to reach land as he was still over the Ocean. Some time latter He found the city of Oporto and continued south until he found the Lisbon airport where he landed.
He was interned in Elvas, and as was repatriated to Gibraltar in July.
On May 30, 1944, while escorting B-24 Bombers he was shot down over Germany flying a P-51. Altough he was able to escape for a couple of days he was eventually captured and become a POW, being liberated only at the end of the war.
“Dixie” Alexander was member of the Eagle Squadrons, made of American pilots flying with the RAF colors, before their country entered the war.
The Aircobra was flown to a Portuguese military base on April 29, by Alferes Maia. It was probably part of OK Squadron, from the Aeronáutica Militar.
Resources:
* “Aviões da Cruz de Cristo” – Mário Canongia Lopes
* "Spitfires e Hurricanes em Portugal - Mário Canongia Lopes.
* ARQUIVO ANA -Aeroportos de Portugal
*Book: "They called me Dixie" - Captain Richard L. Alexander
* Missing Aircraft Report - AFHRA, footnote.com
