Alexander Jefferson
MilitaryIWM HU 21074 German official photograph from the collection of Oberst Von Lindeiner (Commandant of Stalag Luft III)
Jefferson was a P-51 Mustang pilot assigned to the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group. He completed 18 long range escort missions in 1944, until he was shot down by ground fire on 12 August 1944. Jefferson was taken prisoner of war and imprisoned for eight months at Stalag Luft III. Despite his skin colour he recalled being treated the same as the white officers by his captors.
Towards the end of the war Jefferson was moved to Stalag VII-A, and marched to Munich, where he was liberated by the US Third Army. He returned to the US aboard the RMS Queen Mary in 1945, later commenting that his racially charged treatment upon his homecoming was inferior to his treatment by the Nazis.
Jefferson served at Tuskegee field, Alabama as an instrument instructor, until its closure in 1946, then served in the US Air Force reserves. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1969.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Żagań, Poland | 12 August 1944 | Stalag Luft III |
Revisions
Added the POW event per info in the "Summary biography".
Added an Association to Stalag 7A per info in the "Summary biography".
IWM HU 21074
Biography and oral history interview at The History Makers a digital respository dedicated to Black experience