Walter Manning

Walter P. Manning
Walter Manning in 1944
Birth name	Walter Peyton Manning
Born	(1920-05-03)May 3, 1920 Baltimore City, Maryland, US
Died	April 3, 1945(1945-04-03) (aged 24) Austria
Plot K, Row 36, Grave 37	Lorraine American Cemetery, France
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army Air Force
Years of service	1943–1945
Rank	2nd Lieutenant
Unit	301st Fighter Squadron
Awards	Air Medal for heroism with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters,[1] European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (EAME) Purple Heart Medal. Congressional Gold Medal (2007) (posthumously)[2]
Relations	Dicey Thomas (Fiancé)

Walter P. Manning (May 3, 1920 – April 3, 1945) (POW) † was an American fighter pilot of the primarily African American Tuskegee Airmen. He flew 50 missions, and was awarded the Air Medal for heroism six times. After being shot down in 1945, he was captured in Austria and subsequently lynched by a mob.^[3] He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 along with all other Tuskegee Airmen. Manning is the only known black man to have been lynched in Austria during World War II.^[4]

Military service

World War II

The Tuskegee Airmen's aircraft had distinctive markings that led to the name, "Red Tails".^{[N 1]}

In 1942 Manning was rejected for military service because of a hammer toe. Manning used his savings to pay for surgery to repair his toe so that he could enlist.^[1] In 1943 he enlisted in the Army Air Force. In 1944, after graduating from the Tuskegee Institute he was assigned to the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd fighter Group with the rank of 2nd lieutenant. He served as a pilot from Ramitelli Air Base, Italy.

Dogfight

Manning was involved in a dogfight with German planes on Easter morning, April 1, 1945, over the Danube River in Austria. The Tuskegee Airmen were escorting B-24 bombers on a bombing mission to the town of St. Polten, Austria. On the return trip to their base at Ramitelli Air Field in Italy, the group spotted enemy planes near Wels, Austria. There were seven Tuskegee Airmen flying the mission that day who engaged the German planes. The American pilots shot down 12 German planes in the dogfight. However three of the Tuskegee Airmen's planes were shot down in return: one pilot was able to crash-land in friendly territory, one was killed outright when he was shot down, and the third pilot was Manning: his plane was damaged so badly that he had to bail out. He parachuted to a waiting mob but was pulled away by a local policeman.^[1][6][7]

Lynching

Manning was captured and jailed in Austria at a Luftwaffe Air Force base near Linz. On April 3, 1945, a mob of civilians, agitated by SS troops and helped by Luftwaffe officers broke into the jailhouse and tied Manning's hands behind his back. They dragged Manning outside and beat him badly.^[8] They hung a wooden tablet around his neck that read "We help ourselves! The Werwolf", and hanged him from a lamppost.^{[9][3][6][10]}

American soldiers discovered his body in a shallow grave near the air base. A civilian had marked the spot with a wooden cross. Although they found clear signs of murder US officials closed his case early. Suspects were identified, including two German officers believed to be part of the Werwolf guerilla group. However, nobody was prosecuted.^[4]

Research and commemoration

In 2013 the Austrian historians Nicole-Melanie Goll and Georg Hoffmann carried out a research project together with Jerry Whiting to examine the fates of downed Allied airmen, including Manning. Together they created a database of the 9,000 Allied pilots killed or shot down over Austria. The historians discovered that 150 Allied pilots, 101 of them American, were murdered on the ground, most by civilians. While white airmen were either shot or beaten to death, Manning was hanged.^[1][11][12] As a result of their findings the Austrian Army raised a commemoration plaque at the place where Walter Manning was murdered.^[13][14][15]

Awards

• Air Medal for heroism with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters,^[1]
• European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (EAME)
• Purple Heart Medal.
• Congressional Gold Medal (2007) (posthumously)^[2]

Personal life

Manning was born in Baltimore, Maryland but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He loved swimming and growing up he always wanted to fly planes. He attended Howard University. Before leaving for war Manning was engaged to Dicey Thomas.^[1][6]

See also

• Rüsselsheim massacre - the lynching of 6 American airmen in the German town of Rüsselheim
• Freeman Field Mutiny
• List of Tuskegee Airmen
• Military history of African Americans

References

1. Newall, Mike (April 20, 2018). "Honors, finally, for a Tuskegee Airman from Philly, lynched by the Nazis". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
2. Guzzo, Paul (November 21, 2016). "Oldest remaining Tuskegee Airman, a St. Petersburg man, dies at 101". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
3. Berger, Tia (May 29, 2018). "Tuskegee Airman Lynched By an Austrian Mob Is Commemorated 73 Years Later". Atlanta Black Star. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
4. Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. pp. 293–297. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
5. Rice, Markus. "The Men and Their Airplanes: The Fighters" Tuskegee Airmen, 1 March 2000.
6. Dwinell, Joe (June 1, 2019). "One of 12 surviving Tuskegee Airmen recounts his 43 WWII combat missions". Boston Herald. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
7. Smith, Erica (September 26, 2009). "Lt. Walter P. Manning scores aerial victory". St. Louis Post Dispatch. STL Today. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
8. Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. p. 296. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
9. Hoffmann, Georg (January 1, 2015). Fliegerlynchjustiz: Gewalt gegen abgeschossene alliierte Flugzeugbesatzungen 1943–1945 (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh. ISBN 978-3-657-78137-9.
10. Patterson, Brandon (May 27, 2018). "Tuskegee Airman honored 73 years after being lynched in Austria". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
11. Goll, Nicole-Melanie; Hoffmann, Georg (2016). Missing in Action – Failed to Return (PDF). Republik Österreich/Bundesminister für Landesverteidigung und Sport, BMLVS. ISBN 978-3-9504258-0-2.
12. "Der Standard: Der Fall Manning: Vom Mob gehängter Afroamerikaner".^{[full citation needed]}
13. "Memorial for Walter Manning". April 6, 2018.^{[full citation needed]}
14. "Research project and commemoration ceremony for Walter Manning".^{[full citation needed]}
15. "Austrian Database of Downed Allied airmen".^{[full citation needed]}

Notes

1. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red rudder; their P-51B and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.^[5]

External links

• Tuskegee Airmen at Tuskegee University
• Tuskegee Airmen Archives at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
• Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
• Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
• Tuskegee Airmen National Museum
• Executive Order 9981
• List of African American Medal of Honor recipients
• Military history of African Americans