Jan.14,1945, Uffz.Theo Nau (JG11) vs Lt. Rolland C. Potter (368FG)

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seesul

Senior Master Sergeant
I´ve found this interesting article about this story in German magazine ''Jägerblatt'' that Willi Reschke gave to me during our visit.
Then I did some research on web and here is it....

On 14 January 1945 there were heavy dogfights in the Kaiserslautern area during which both German and American aircraft were shot down.

German fighter pilot Theo Nau shot down the Thunderbolt of pilot Roland C. Potter of 368 FG (397 FS), stationed at Metz in France. His plane crashed 1 km northeast of Heltersberg into a forest. Potter was found dead some days later, sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree. He must have been seriously injured and given himself morphine injections because the empty syringes were found next to the corpse. Theo Nau was also shot down shortly thereafter near Kindsbach (cf. Landstuhl area).

Please read the attached files. The text is written in pdf file so I couldn´t copy it.

Source:Zweibrücken
 

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  • Heltersberg_Potter_Telegraph.pdf
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Pics of Lt. Roland C. Potter
 

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to add

Theo Nau was flying a 109G-14/AS, yellow 4 on this date. Nau had 3 kills to his credit before being shot down and hospitalized. JG 11 as a whole was ripped up pretty badly with US and RAF forces losing 11 plus a/c and pilots
 
Yes, it was two P-47's and a Boston. Theo was shot down by a P-47 of Capt. Joe Cordner on January 14, near Kaiserslauter/Ramstein. After is Hospital stay, he was transferred to JG 77, based at Prossnitz. Flew in Schlesia and Slowakei, at the end of war in Skutch , near Prag. His last flight with the BF 109 was on May 8, the day of the capitulation. The next day the squadron with their trucks headed towards the west and crossed the Moldau River. On the west side of the river was the American army and of the east side the Russian. His squadron was prisoner of war and the camp was near Stalingrad. They were released after 1948. Theo however was in his home town of Koblenz on June 4, 1945.
 

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