German losses were due to Luftkampf (fighter combat).
Weird but even the 4 engine heavies crews though the Minengeschoss rounds of 2cm and 3cm felt like Flak; no doubt the B-26 crewmen thought the same thing.
December 24, 1944 is another tradgedy which I covered who knows when. this is the operation that was led by ............anyway some of this coverage was to be present on our sturm website some years ago but has not materialized yeet as the association contact failed to write me back/487th US bg.
For once the Luftwaffe managed to get the drop on the Americans. German SturmFw's suddenly pounced on the unprotected box of Heavy bombers as they crossed the Meuse River. Lt. General Castle was in one of the 487th bg B-17's which had an engine malfunction and had fallen out and slightly back of formation, when a gaggle of Fw's suddenly appeared. IV.Sturm/JG 3 spotted the bombers while they were passing Liege Belgiium. The US fighters were not in position (a rarity) to help, so a rear attack developed.
Immediately 7 B-17's burst into flame and 2 others so badly damaged they struggled to keep formation and a forced landings to destruction.
30 SturmFw's were in the attack and a small group of Sturms broke away in front which did the overall damage. 3 boxes were attacked in the 487th at 22,000 feet via Y-control.
Fw. Wilhelm Hofensitz picked out the outer B-17 on the starboard side of the middle box. Attacking from above with his four cannon, the B-17 went spiraling out of control. On a seceond attack Wihelm's machine was hit by a B-17 70 feet below him, hitting his engine and causing a fire whcih then he bailed out. His wingman Obergefreiter Hubert Hirschfelder was shot down by the tail gunner of the B-17 he was attacking, Hubert also bailing out but the B-17 also going down to the severe heavy Minen rounds.
General Castle's Treble Four was hit broadside as Castle struggled to get back to the rear of a protective box of bombers. he would not jettison the B-17 bomb load, fearing he would kill civilians and or Allied troops. As the B-17 crew parachuted, a SturmFw came in with it's cannon firing, and severed one of the wings at the root, the B-17 went into a high speed spin smashing into the ground at Rotheux Rimieres, Belgiium.
8 SturmFw pilots calimed victories and 2 other B-17's HSS/ shot out of formation. SturmFw losses amounted to 6 with 5 pilots bailing out POW and 1 KIA. Ace Wolfgang Kosse flying an Fw 190A-9 was shot down in combat with a group of Typhoons in the area of Lüttich as well as two other Fw pilots, names unknown.
A German pilots account who shot down two of the B-17's, Karl Kapteina.
Cockpit readiness was ordered at 11.15. The order to scramble came through 15 minutes later. Around thirty of the Gruppes fighters got airborne and climbed away behind the machine of Hptm Weydenhammer, assembling over the field before climbing to an altitude of 7,000 metres. guided by the Y-Führung, we were vectored to meet the incoming 3BD Boeings over the Lüttich sector. No escorting fighters accompanied the Sturmgruppe and there was no forming up into a battle formation. the Gruppe had been up for well over an hour and over Belgiium and thus Allied held territory, when three large boxes of B-17's were sighted. the bombers were themselves still climbing for altitude and were thus not covered by fighters at that time.
I detected a perceptible sense of unease in the formation. My comrades tightened up closer and Hptm Weydenhammer led us in a wide sweep to port, gaining some 300m altitude, bringing the formation around into the attacking position behind the bombers (487th bg survivors say the Sturms attacked from the front, which was not true). We were now some 200m higer and trailing some 800m behind the enemy bomber formation. Our Kommandeur radioed back our ground control....We are attacking now! Throttles wide open, our ships accelerated to draw rapidly within firing range. We had selected the bomber formation flying furthest out wide to the left as our targer. Ott, who was flying the machine nearest to me on my right hand side, was all over the place and, fearful of a collision, I had to keep a very close eye on his manuevers. then I had to draw a bead, in other words, select a targer in the reflecting sight. with my initial salvos i raked the tail-gunners compartment leaving it riddled (more like blown off). Easing my aim onto the wings I hammered away with everything I'd got. In the meantime I'd drawn in so close that debris from the bomber's fin and rudder was flying around my ears. by now flames had erupted from many points on the bomber's upper surfaces'; as it's undercarriage dropped down, the machine tipped over on it's port wing and went down. I didn't have time to see if any of the crew were able to bail out. As the bomber plunged earthwards I saw my comrade Hopfensitz going down, trailing a banner of white smoke.......
After diving 500 metres down under the bombers I shot a glance back up at the formation (pulk) under attack. It now comprised just a confused mass of burning aircraft in their death throes. two or three untouched bombers were attempting to fly evasive manuevers. they also had to be brought down ! with my spirits high, I pulled up the nose of my fighter and with my momentum climbed quickly back to their altitude. I noticed that a 16th staffel machine had also climbed back up and was now closing on one of the bomber's tails. Seeing this, three bomber crew threw themselves clear before the Fw even fired a shot. the entire B-17 soon followed them down as the Fw raked it with fire. I had meanwhile close to within 500m of a new target. three shapes jumped clear. by now the bomber was flying evasive maneuvers and at a range of 200m I pressed the firing button for the 2cm cannon, lossing off short bursts; once I could see hits I opened up with the 3cm cannons, spraying the bombers wings. My fire was frighteningly effective. the netire machine had erupted in flames and seconds later the wing peeled back off at the port outer engine ............
the 487th was heading for Germany when attacked. thanks to friend Neil Page for translating Karl's acct. one day we will get this re-written and placed on the site