Lt. Mallett's aircraft was shot down by enemy fighters while on an escort mission to Villairba Airdrome, Italy on 18 March 1944. Bomber crews report that subject officer and 1st Lt Daniel Davis. 0800485. the only P-47 pilots who failed to return from the mission, bailed out shorty after the initial combat. Captured German Records report the crash of Lt. Davis' plane and the pilot's capture, southeast of Fiume, area of Novi, Yugoslavia. No reference is made to Lt. Mallett or his aircraft. In a statement of circumstances surrounding his disappearance, it is stated that Lt. Mallett was observed to land his plane on the surface of the water in Lussana Channel. Either event could afford opportunity for capture by the Germans in case he survived. The fact that German records fail to report the downing of his plane and since his remains have been declared non-recoverable, the most likely conclusion as to his fate is that he landed in the water and succumbed by drowning. However, since there is no evidence to support this conclusion, it is considered that available information in the Department of the Army is insufficient to justify the issuance of an official report of death in the case of Lt Mallett, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 of the Missing Persons Act.