Memorial

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2nd Lt Peter Jr. Mandros graduated from Peabody High School and attended Pittsburgh College for 2 years.

He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 16 November 1942. He was awarded the silver wings of the aerial navigator in graduation exercises held at San Marcos, Texas and went overseas in May 1944.
Eyewitness account by S/Sgt Harry A. Bennett, tailgunner on aircraft n° 42-31509:
"The first thing I saw was fighters pouncing on the entire High Box where this airplane was flying. This was about ten minutes after bombs away. The pilot had to feather his No. 3 and 4 engines, his No. 1 engine was set on fire, and the Tail Gunner's position was shot off. He started losing altitude under control. Then, when he got to cloud level, he started bouncing and I saw parachutes come out. Then I saw the ship hit the ground and explode on the ground."

Six crew members survived and were taken prisoner. Two crew members were killed in the plane. They were initially buried at the cemetery of Friedberg.

According to a surviving crew member, Lt Mandros was slightly wounded when he bailed out. He was captured near Bauernheim and delivered to the village mayor's office. Very soon thereafter, two members of the SA and the Volkssturm, Willi Rieke and Karl Schenk, arrived in an automobile. Rieke went inside, and immediately came out with Lt Mandros. The automobile was driven to a small bridge over de Usa River on the outskirts of Fauerbach, a district of Friedberg. The car stopped and Rieke got out with Lt Mandros. Immediately Rieke shot Lt Mandros, and after he fell beside the car, Rieke fired more shots into his head or neck. Rieke drove away toward Fauerbach. At that moment Lt Mandros still showed signs of life. Rieke returned within ten or twenty minutes and fired another shot into Mandros' head.

The body was taken to the cemetery of Friedberg where it was buried the next day.

At his trial in 1947, Rieke testified that Lt Mandros was shot while attempting to escape. He further attemted to raise the issue that Lt Mandros had been finally killed by Ortsgruppenleiter Damme.

The other accused, Schenk, testified that close before Fauerbach, Rieke had stopped the car and got out with Lt Mandos. Lt Mandros remained standing outside the car. Then he heard Rieke load his pistol. At that moment he saw Lt Mandros stand before him with raised hands. At the same moment he heard two or three shots and he saw Lt Mandros, falling on the ground, wounded in the breast. Rieke then placed himself beside Lt Mandros and fired two or three shots in his head behind the left ear. When driving back to Friedberg, Rieke told Schenk that, when he was asked something in the office, the flier was shot while escaping or while trying to escape.

Other witnesses could confirm this statement and also saw Rieke came back after ten of twenty minutes and shoot at Lt Mandros again.

Rieke was sentenced to death and hanged at Landsberg/Lech on 15 October 1948.