Group
picture of Class 44-C, Dorr Field, Florida.
Taken from the yearbook. Richard Taylor is
on the front row, fourth from left. (picture
courtesy of Paul Patist)
Robert went on to
fly on B17 bombers with the 15th Air Force.
2nd Lt.
Richard W. Taylor was assigned to the 84th Fighter
Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, from 18
December 1944 until 30 January 1945. He was
then transferred to the 357th Fighter Group,
363rd Squadron.
On the
morning of February 23 1945, 2Lt Taylor's
363rd squadron of the 357th Fighter Group
were sent on a bomber escort mission to
Germany. 22 year old 2Lt Taylor took off in his Mustang
P51-D, 44-14768. He was flying as wingman
to 1Lt Paul Bowles that day, and was
codenamed Cement Green 2.
Sometime
during the morning, the people of the
Dutch village of Castricum were startled
by the howling noise of a plane in
distress followed by the sound of a
devastating crash in
a nearby field.
Every
week from that day, until the end of
the war, fresh flowers were laid at his
field grave by two Dutch sisters who
took care of his grave.
2Lt
Richard Taylor in the cockpit of his
Mustang P51-D (Picture courtesy of Paul
Patist)
The report
filed by 1st Lt Paul Bowles reads: "On
the 23rd Feb 1945, on a combat mission,
( F.O. 1654A ) I was leading Cement
Green Flight. Lt Taylor was flying my
wing as Cement Green 2, While climbing
out on course we were forced to climb
through 10/10 overcast, extending from
4,000 to 14,000 feet. After coming out
of this cloud layer, Green flight was
slightly lower and ahead of Cement
leader. I started a climbing turn to the
right in order to get back in position,
arriving at 18,000 we began forming up
with the rest of the Squadron. Lt Taylor
was in good formation position at the
beginning of the turn, but I lost sight
of him when he crossed over to get on my
left wing. A few seconds later I noticed
he was lagging quite a bit behind and
then when I had the flight in the proper
position I looked again, I checked all
around behind me but could not locate
him at all. Lt Joe Cannon, another
member of the flight called me on the
R.T. and asked if Lt. Taylor had returned
to base. At this time I did not know
that my Radio Transmitter was
Inoperative, my receiver was loud and
clear, so I called for Taylor several
times on "A" channel and then switched
to "D" and tried again. I finally tried
to get a fix on the "B" channel but of
course this was to no avail as my
transmitter was out. All of this
occurred at approx 1015 hours about 15
miles West of Noordwigerhout, Holland,
and over the North Sea. This was the
last I saw or heard of Lt Taylor.
I have of course given considerable
thought to what might have happened to
Lt. Taylor, the most logical conclusion I
have been able to arrive at is that he
may have been suffering from Anoxia and
passed out up there at 18,000 feet.
disappearing into the layer of clouds at
14,000 feet before anyone noticed he was
missing."
Richard's remains were recovered in
1946. He was reburied at Glenwood
Cemetery, Geneva, NY. in 1949.
(Picture
courtesy of Paul Patist)
His
older brother 1Lt Robert Hugh Taylor who
flew a B17 with the 97th Bomb Group of
the 15th Air Force, out of Foggia/Amendola
Italy, was reported MIA on March 11, 1944
and is still listed on the Florence Wall
of the Missing.
Within
one year their mother lost both her
children.
The memory to Richard Taylor is kept
alive with a small display in the Museum
of the Aircraft Recovery Group 1940 -
1945 in Heemskerk, starting with the
words ' Born To Fly - Richard Wallace
Taylor '.
The
cause for his crash was maybe due to a
medical reason as he suffered from a
heart murmur as a child, probably giving
heart trouble during this
mission...(Paul Bowles stated that
Richard Taylor was lagging behind while
flying in and out of clouds and suddenly
disappeared). Recent investigation
revealed a new fact. Some days after the
crash a witness found an almost intact
released P-51 cockpit canopy at a
distance of about 800 meters from the
crash site, indicating that Richard
Taylor tried to bail out but it was too
late.
On July
29, 2000, at the initiative of local
researcher Paul Patist, who researches
air crashes in The Netherlands and
Castricum and surroundings in
particular, the council of Castricum
decided to name a new street after
Richard W. Taylor for 'the role he
played in the wartime history of
Castricum and for Freedom in The
Netherlands'. Richard Taylor was the
only American killed in Castricum during
the war.
Richard W.
Taylorstreet, American Flier, Killed in
action 23-02-45 (Picture
courtesy of Paul Patist)
