G'day Thomas!
According to Donald Caldwell's The war diary of JG 26 part two: 1943-45 (my version the Hungarian edition 'A JG26 hadmüveleti naplója II. Kötet: 1943-45' (p.488 ):
27 November (1944)
The (US) 8th AAF still tried to push home attacks towards North-Western Germany, before the weather changed for the worst. 580 B-17 and B-24 bombers bombed 3 railway junctions before an Eastward moving weather front covered Germany in cloud. The pilots of the Geschwader could see the huge cloud mass approaching, and were very surprised when they received orders to take-off and rendezvous with Bf 109s of JG 3 and JG 27 and support them in the interception of the heavy bombers. At 11.05 Oblt. Gottfried Schmidt took off with 15 Bf 109s from Plantlünne, and met up with the Fw 190s of I.Gruppe over Furstenau. These consisted of some four aircraft, two other aircraft being unable to take-off. The III. Gruppe were authorised to go to high altitude, so started climbing to 10,000 m, a height that probably none of the pilots had ever flown at. The I. Gruppe Schwarm tried to keep up with the Messerschmitts, although the Focke-Wulf was very hard to control at heights above 9000 m.
According to Uffz. Georg Genth, the Messerschmitts were unable to keep to tight formation, rather staggering like drunks in the rough weather conditions. The cockpit of his Bf 109K-4 iced over, and he was only able to see straight ahead through the armoured windscreen. Genth was able to scrape away the ice in a small area on the port side canopy, which enabled him to see rearwards a little. He flew on, and when he noticed two P-47s turning towards them, gave the warning signal. He then dived (...) to escape the dense middle of the cloud mass. The cloud layer proved to be hundreds of meters thick, and Genth pushed his aircraft to it's extreme, which in the meantime had reached the maximim speed of 750 km/h, and even so was barely able to clear the cloud after an approximately 500 m dive. His engine cowling then suddenly flew off, and oil erupted from the overstressed motor. Despite that, he was able to land at Rheine, and later went back to Plantlünne. After he landed at Rheine, however, he heard the sound of three motors scream in the cloud above and saw the aircraft fall from the sky. One of them was piloted by Fhj- Uffz Robert Röhrig, and another by Genth's good friend, Ofhr. Helmut Lorberg. The two aircraft ploughed so deep into the earth, that the remains weren't excavated and positively identified until 1992. Georg Genth said he would never forget the horrible sounds he heard that day for as long as he lived.
It is not known if Lorberg and Röhring were shot down, or possibly just lost control of their aircraft in the cloud mass and were unable to keep their aircraft flying straight. (although the reason is recorded as 'P-51' in the unit's loss register: )
Date / Name / Rank / Status / Unit / Aircraft type / W.Nr / Call sign / Place / Time / Reason
44.11.27 Röhrig, Robert Fhj-Uffz. KIA 10. Bf 109G-14 460514 Black 16 Wettringen, Rheine area 12.30 P-51
44.11.27 Lorberg, Helmut Ofhr. KIA 12. Bf 109K-4 330152 Blue 26 Wettringen, Rheine area 12.30 P-51
(Four other pilots of the Geschwader were shot down by P-51s during this encounter, all surviving, one without injury, 3 with light injuries.)