Air battle over Merklín

Air battle over Merklín
	Part of Cold War
	; USAF Republic F-84E and MiG-15
Date	10 March 1953
Location	Merklín, Czechoslovakia, Bohemian Forest
Result	Czechoslovak victory American F-84 fighter-bomber shot down
Belligerents
Czechoslovakia	United States
Commanders and leaders
Jaroslav Šrámek	Lt. Warren G. Brown
Strength
2 MiG-15	2 F-84 Thunderjet
Casualties and losses
none	1 F-84 shot down; Pilot survived

The Air battle over Merklín was an air-to-air engagement between Czechoslovak and USAFE air units over the Czech village of Merklín, in the Bohemian Forest, on 10 March 1953. During the action Czech pilot Jaroslav Šrámek, flying a MiG-15 (from 5th Fighter Regiment, 2nd Squadron, Plzeň-Líně air base), shot down one of a pair of American F-84E Thunderjets (from 53rd Fighter Bomber Squadron, 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing). The American pilot, Lt. Warren G.Brown ejected from the aircraft, which crash-landed in German territory, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border, and survived.^[1]^[2]

It was reported in the London Times that the attack on the American aircraft was ten miles from the border near the town of Falkenstein, Bavaria.^[3] The aircraft crashed near Regensburg, Bavaria and the burnt out wreckage of the F-84 was recovered by American soldiers.^[3] The attack followed reports of other Czechoslovak aircraft over Bavarian territory. Brown, the pilot of the F-84, reported they were on a routine patrol along the border when they spotted two aircraft appear from the East, he was fired upon and bailed out after losing control.^[3]

References[]

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Coilin O'Connor (4 October 2004). "Radio Prague - Czech fighter pilot recalls Cold War dogfight". Radio.cz. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Shot-Down Thunderjet". The Times. No. 52568. London. 12 March 1953. p. 5.

Sources[]

"Czech fighter pilot recalls Cold War dogfight" by Collin O'Connor. Radio Prague, 4 October 2004
Souboj nad Železnou oponou (Duel Above The Iron Curtain), 2000 article by Tomáš Soušek (in Czech)
23 March 1953 article from Life Magazine, pages 29 – 31, (via Google Books)

Coordinates: 49°33′38″N 13°11′52″E / 49.56056°N 13.19778°E / 49.56056; 13.19778

[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Coilin O'Connor (4 October 2004). "Radio Prague - Czech fighter pilot recalls Cold War dogfight". Radio.cz. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[times-3] "The Shot-Down Thunderjet". The Times. No. 52568. London. 12 March 1953. p. 5.

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