The Greatest Air Battle

Yeah the LW was clearly losing that one Revisionism at its best.

claidemore said:

Great essay pb!

Click to expand...

I can't write that well I scooped it from this site and its only the meat of the essay included is the OOB
AIR UMBRELLA - DIEPPE - South African Military History Society - Journal

I was wrong, the Germans did get one escort destroyer, but a good write up, many thanks. You have to feel for the Hurricanes, at least a Spit V had a fighting chance.

Great stuff, PB!!!!

9 February 1945 - Black Friday

Black Friday

Coastal Command's Strike wings performed many memorable shipping strikes during the last war, many of which are classic examples of this kind of warfare. These attacks on the vital supply lines of the German forces was deeply felt within the German Surpreme headquaters, especially after the invation of continental Europe had begun. But as can be expected, the scarce German naval resources was heavily defended, both by anti-aircraft guns and the aggresive fighters of the Luftwaffe. These effective defences took a heavy toll of the attackers, and the bravery of the young men in their heavily armed flying machines can easily be understood. This is the story of one of the blackest day in the Strike wings' history, the appropriately named "Black Friday", 9. February 1945.
....The last two years of the war saw the Strike Wings flying almost daily against targets on Norway's long western coast. The German army in Norway numbered almost 300 000, and these men and their war machninery had to be supplied. Vessels carrying supplies and soldiers were thus frequently encountered, targest were plentiful. And not only freighters and transports used this route, the Kriegsmarine's few remaining major warships were also encountered on this weatherbeaten coastline, providing escort for the convois or just seeking refuge from the ever-increasing allied raids on German naval bases in Germany. These vessels were considered prime targets.
.....Two Beaufighters from 489 Sqdn. piloted by F/Sgt. Priest and W/O Brightwell had been on an Recce-mission since 08.50. At 10.30 they reached the Norwegian coastline south of Utvær Lighthouse and quickly sighted their first vessel of the day; "similar to R/boat" to quote the original report. More was to come. At the entrance to Vevringefjord they sighted a Narvik destroyer with heavy escort; this was the Z-33. After encountering heavy Flak from the destroyer, the two Beaufighters continued their patrol in and out of the numerous fjords. No less than 5 transports were seen in Nord-Gulen , the largest between 4000-5000 tons. After almost an hour of recce they set course for base at 11.20 and reached their home base at Dallachy on 13.24.
....During the subsequent interrogation the pilots reported that the destroyer in Fordefjord and the transports could not be attacked by more than 2-3 aircraft at the same time. The nearby Strike Wing base at Banff was alerted as was Peterhead, home of 65. Sqdn flying Mustang Mk IIIs . They would act as escort. A large strike Force was assembled and consisted of the following forces;
(RAF) Squadron 9 Beaufighters TFX Cannon and MGs only 404.
(RCAF) Squadron 11 Beaufighjters TFX Cannon/MGs and rockets 455.
(RAAF) Squadron 11 Beaufighters TFX Cannon/MGs and rockets 65.
(RAF) Squadron 12 Mustang MK IIIs MGs 279.
(RAF) Squadron 2 Warwick MK Is
....At this time in the war, Coastal Command had a great deal of experience with shipping strikes, having perfected them during three intence years of operations. And enemy fighters were still to be reckoned with. On 10. January 1945 the Luftwaffe had only about 45 single-engined fighters in Norway south of Trondheim, barely more than the total number of planes in the strike force! But they were flying high-performance Focke-Wulfs or Messerschmitts and most of the pilots were battle-hardened veterans from the nothern front, having fought the Russians for over three years. More specifically, 9.and 12. Staffel of the famous "Eismeergeschwader" JG 5, was stationed at Herdla just outside Bergen. As the only Staffels in Norway at this time, they flew both late and early variants of the Fw 190. And at Gossen near Molde 10. and 11. Staffel had their Bf 109G-6s and G-14s ready. Planes from both bases could reach Fordefjord and effect an interception if alerted in time. There was no way a heavily loaded Beaufighter could stand a chance against those small and nimble German fighters.
....Shortly after take-off one of the Mustangs had to return to Peterhead because of engine-trouble. Another joined in as an escort, just in case of a forced bail-out. Now they had only 10 escort fighters, but hopefully that would suffice. At 15.40 the formation reached the Norwegian coastline west of Sognefjord. At this time the outriders started their search north and south looking for other vessels or even the destroyer. It might just be that the destroyer was heading in one of these directions and if so the outriders would report back to the main force. A German fighter was sighted to the north, but it quickly disappeared. A small convoy was seen to the south, but no trace of the destroyer. It must still be at Fordefjord. The outriders turned back and headed for base after completion of their missions.
....The formation headed towards Fordefjord from the south. The German fortress at Furuneset fired a few rounds at the Allied aircraft without inflicting any damage. Milson led his planes over Bygstad just south of the fjord. If the boats were still situated at Heilevang they could attack out of the fjord and head for the relative safety of the North Sea. The time was just past 16.00. The formation turned north expecting to see the enemy at the entrance of Fordefjord. Then; a nasty surprise. Butler relates; "But as we turned north with the intention of turning west into the fjord when we reached it, and making our attack "out to sea", we suddenly found ourselves under fire from the ships which were almost underneath us".
....The German sailors were quite familiar with the dangers of the Norwegian Coast. Wisely, the German commander had decided to take up residence elsewhere. Further into the fjord, near a place called Bjorkedal, the mountains rise almost vertically from the fjord and this was a near-perfect place to situate some of the ships. Two vessels sought the protective cover of these mountains, the others, including the Z-33, placed themselves at the other side of the fjord, near Frammarsvik. Yet three others were in the middel of the fjord, possibly to give their Flak guns a wider arch of fire. These vessels included several converted trawlers used for anti-aircraft duties. This was indeed an unwelcome surprise. Having been outmanouvred like this, Milson had no other choice but to initiate another attack run. Abandoning the attack was simply not an option. Because of the placement of the enemy vessels, Milson probably decided that it was impossible to launch an attack in the normal way out to sea. They had to get further east to make the attack run out the fjord. As the 40-plane formation turned east, the German sailors prepared for the forthcoming attack; some continued firing their guns, the officers shouted their quick orders; one vessel ran aground near Frammarsvik and the crew hurridly evacuated as did some from Z-33 itself. After having turned east, Wilson led his strike force south toward Forde and then west just south of the fjord. Wilson now realized that an attack out the fjord was virtually impossible if they were to have any chance of success. They would have to continue on a westerly direction and then make a 180 degree turn northeast again to attack into the fjord; just the opposite of the usual practise. Wilson ordered the Beaufighters into echelon port just before the Wing turned into the final attack run. Finally they were ready.
....The alarm had sounded at Herdla shortly before 15.50. On this fateful day 9. Staffel had 9 Focke-Wulfs on readiness, 12. Staffel had three. The grey and blue painted fighters had white and blue identification numbers painted on their fuselage sides, white signifying 9. Staffel, blue 12. Staffel. The nose rings were also painted in the appropriate Staffelcolour. Fw. Rudolf Artner, a very experienced pilot from the Eismeerfront was leading the 9. Staffel in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8, "White 10". Having been the favourite wingman of famous Eismeer aces such as Heinrich Erhler and Walter Shuck, he was credited with 17 victories up to this date. Lt. Rudolf Linz used his faithful "Blue 4", an A-8 with close to 70 black victory bars on its white rudder, most of them from his time on the northeren front.
....Milson made the first attack, behind him others were queing up to make theirs. There was simply no room in the fjord for more than two or three Beaus to attack at the same time. Projectiles of all calibres were streaming towards the planes. The Flak was very heavy this day as the ships had been placed with the intention of giving such effective cover. The German gun crews were also highly skilled in their profession after more than 5 years of war. But it was not a one-sided battle. The Beaufighters singled out their targets and according to one of the eyewitnesses "it seemed to us as if it was the boats in the middle of the fjord which got the worst of it". Some planes attacked from south-west, others from a more western direction, the latter used cannon and rockets against the Z-33. If not hit, there were certainly near-misses as the boat "rocked and shaked in the sea".

continued....
....By 16.10 another factor was about to be brought into the battle. Beaufighter PL-Y of 144. Sqdn. piloted by P/O Smith and P/O "Spike" Holly acting as navigator, was one of the first into the attack. As they dived into the fjord, Smith noticed about 8 small planes coming from the south-west. Having succesfully attacked and evaded the enemy ships, they headed up the valley of Naustdal barely 50m over the landscape. Holly saw a fighter a couple of hundred yards behind them. He also wondered if this was a Mustang, but his hopes were shattered as he noticed the characteristic broad cowling of a radial-engine. It was a Focke-Wulf! The German fighter attacked and he and Holly fired almost simultanously. A cannon shell exploded near Holly, and splinters wounded him in the belly, knocking him unconsiouss. The cockpit and port Hercules was also hit, destroying the intercom and any hopes of regaining base. At low level they cut off some treetops and headed west, just north of Fordefjord. Smith had trouble controling the Beau' and a crashlanding was the only option. PL-Y continued to fly westwards, and Smith managed a crash-landing on the sea in Hoydalsfjord. They were rescued by civilians, but Smith and Holly were captured later that evening, and eventually transported to Bergen. But they had survived.
....Others were not so fortunate. 9./JG 5 had attacked directly into the Beaufighters waiting to attack the ships. Artner wrote after the battle: "About 50 km north of Sogne-Fjord, we saw the enemy formation which consisted of approximately 30 Beaufighters and 10 Mustang escort fighters. During a combined attack with my Staffel, I managed to gain hits on a Beaufighter which I attacked from behind and above. The beaufighter crashed burning in a flat angle. The crash was noted at 16.10 about 10 km north-west of Forde (Quadrat 06 East LM 1.5) The crew did not leave the plane."
....At about this time, FD/L Foster, leader of the 10 Mustang MK III of 65. Sqdn. discovered the German fighters too. He could see how they attacked the Beaufighters over Vevring, diving out of the sky from about 4000 feet. Then he saw three more fighters, heading directly for him. He fired a short burst at one of them, obtaining hits in the engine. Pursuing the Focke-Wulf, he observed how the fighter was trailing black smoke; this was at least a "probable". The German fighter crashed into the sea near Heilevang. The pilot, Lt. Karl-Heinz "Charly" Koch took to his parachute and he ended up in the cold fjord. He was eventually rescued by Norwegians. These events indicate that the three Focke-Wulfs of 12./JG 5 flying top cover attacked some of the Mustangs, whilst the 9./JG 5 dealt with the Beaufighters, at least initially.
....Another Mustang managed to pick off Fj.Ofw. Otto Leibfried's "White 22", actually an F-8 fighter-bomber, near Gjesneset just opposite to where Z-33 lay. Leibfried managed to bail out despite being wounded, but he landed in very difficult terrain. In the nights following the battle, people could see his flares calling for assisance. There was however, little the Norwegian and German patrols could do.
....The battle soon spread over a large area in all directions. The Beaufighters suffered heavily at the hands of the Focke-Wulfs. Near Gaular civilians witnessed how a Beaufighter was pursued by a Focke-Wulf and was hit several times. The Beaufighter tried to land on an elevation, but the terrain made this impossibe. The plane broke in half during the crash and the cockpit-section slid down the hillside for more than 500 meters. Sadly, the crew perished in the crash. This was EE-C of the ill-fated 404 Sqdn. The crew, F/O Knight and F/O Lynch was on their first strike.
....A single Mustang tried to help out, and attacked the German fighter. A long aerial duel developed. The Mustang finally caught fire, and made a wide turn out the fjord. But the British pilot turned back. According to eyewitnesses the pilot must have been badly wounded, for instead of bailing out he continued the fight. But to no avail. The Mustang crashed in the green pine forrest being the only Mustang loss of this battle. W/O Cecil Claude Caesar was dead.
....The German fighter was in trouble also. The engine had been damaged and this forced the pilot to bail out. But he was too close to the ground for the chute to open. Fortunately, the snowy hillside enabled the pilot to survive, a small avalanche carried him to the bottom of the valley. During the journey down, the flare gun accidentally went off, causing severe burns on one leg. He could walk, and he found his way into a small barn. After a little while some Norwegians contacted him and took him to hospital. This pilot was Heinz Orlowski. He spent the rest of the war in hospital and reconvalence at Herdla, and did not see further combat. In 1994 he and his newly-restored "Weisse 1" was actually reunited in Texas, survivors of a fierce battle some 49 years before.
....Further north, in Naustdal, three fighters followed closely in the tracks of Smith and Holly's damaged Beaufighter. The leading plane had an in-line engine, a British Mustang. The other two were clearly Germans as the Mustang suddenly dived into the valley to emerge below one of the Focke-Wulfs and then fired a short burst of fire at it. It was a certain "kill" as the Focke-Wulf quickly flicked over and spiraled down with black smoke trailing behind to crash in a ball of flames near Solheimsstolen. The occupant, Lt. Rudi Linz was probably killed before impact as he made no attempt to evacuate the plane. 28 years of age, he was the most successful German pilot in Norway at this time, having been credited with 70 victories, most of them against Russians.
....Artner got his second victory of the day not far from where Linz fell. Coming barely three minutes after the first, Artner wrote the following report detailing his 19th victory of the war: "As the battle developed I managed to hit another Beaufighter twice during a low-level tailchase. The plane finally turned and crashed straight into the ground after yet another salvo. The crash was noted at 16.13 about 5 km nort-northwest of Naustdal (Quadrat 06 East KM 8,5)."
....Beaufighters were shot down over a wide area. The Beaufighter of F/O Savard and P/O Middleton bellied in on the ice, but turned over and trapped to crew. Norwegians tried to help them but turned around as German soldiers fired at them. Middleton was severly wounded and died when he was being transported to land, but Savard survived to spend the rest of the war as a POW. Another Beaufighter fell at the entrance to Fordefjord. F/L McColl and W/O MacDonald from 455 (RAAF) Sqdn. survived the crashlanding only to be taken in arrest by German soldiers in a nearby civilian house. Much to the german's intence irritation, Norwegians supplied McColl and MacDonald with food rarely seen at this stage of the war.
....The last Beaufighter to attack the vessels was PL-O with F/S Stan Butler at the controls. He had just attacked a small vessel with cannon fire and was trying to escape the inferno when a small caliber projectile pierced the cockpit and destroyed a manifold in the hydraulic system at the base of his control column. As Butler was maneuvering wildly to put the Flak gunners off their aim, the liquid splashed all over him and his canopy, making it very difficult to see out. At that moment the navigator F/S Nicholl discovered " the unmistakable front silhouette of an Fw 190 with little lights sparkling along its wings". Butler used a special trick he had learned during his training by a Canadian instructor in Calgary, Alberta. By careful control of the rudder and banking port and starboard, he was giving the impression that he was weaving from side to side. This would make it difficult for any attacker to get a good shot at his target, especially since Butler was constantly changing his altitude. Before the German pilot could figure out what to do about this elusive Englishman, Nicholl had fired a red Verey cartridge which thankfully alerted a Mustang to their problems. The Mustang successfully chased the offending Focke-Wulf away.
....The battle lasted only about 15 minutes. Thus at about 16.30 the last combatants withdrew from the battle and set course for home. The remaining Beaufighters and Mustangs, many of which were damaged, flew singly or in small groups all the way to Dallachy. Not only the planes had suffered; aboard Beaufighter UB-X of 455. Sqdn. F/O Spink , the pilot, was severely wounded. The navigator, F/O Clifford, had suffered a wound in his arm, but still he was able to assist his pilot. It did not help that the starboard engine had been damaged and was running out of control. At Dallachy they made a wheels-up landing in the dark, quite remarkable in view of the damages on both men and machine. Both received the "Distinguished Flying Cross" for this considerable feat.
....1 Mustang and 9 Beaufighters were shot down, no less than 6 of the Beaus from the hard-hit 404(RCAF) Squadron. This squadron lost 11 men killed on a this day, with another one taken prisoner. The Germans suffered losses also, though not so appalling. As related above, Otto Leibfried died after the battle was over, and Rudi Linz was probably dead before his Focke-Wulf hit the ground. The two other Germans shot down survived. Thus only two Germans fell in aerial combat.

As far as time spent, intensity and impact on the outcome of the war, the approximately 5 minutes when the dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown started three IJN fleet carriers on their voyage to the bottom of the Pacific has to rank near the top.

That was amazing! Maybe I could start another poll that would be public and add all these additions.

The Blackest Day: 10 June 1944

Flight Journal, Dec 2003 by Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey

The great complex of air bases near Foggia, Italy, bustles with activity as the sun rises. Forty-six 82nd FG Lockheed P-38J Lightnings from the 95th, 96th and 97th Fighter Squadrons, each carrying a 1,000-pound bomb on the right wing shackle and a 310-gallon ferry drop tank on the left, shake the Foggia No. 11/Vincenzo airfield as they taxi for takeoff. Over the Adriatic, 48 1st Lighter Group P-38Js of the 27th, 71st and 94th FS flying escorts will join them. One after another over southern Italy, nearly 100 P-38s take wing and climb to altitude, Their target: Ploesti-the major oil refinery complex in Europe and more than 600 miles away across the Adriatic Sea and over the mountains of Yugoslavia. The mission: to dive-bomb the Romano-Americano oil refinery, which is the primary producer of high-grade aviation gasoline for the Luftwaffe. It will be recorded as the blackest day in the history of the American fighter forces in WW II.
....Among the pilots of the 96th Fighter Squadron detailed for the attack on Romano-Americano was Capt. Richard "Dick" Willsie, the Squadron Operations Officer and an experienced pilot with more than 40 missions under his belt. "There were 46 of us with bombs, and 48 P-38 escorts from the 1st Fighter Group," Willsie explained. "The strategy was that we would join up while crossing the Adriatic and fly over Yugoslavia until we got to the mountains, at which point we would go into Romania on the deck-and I mean we were to remain at 50 to 100 feet altitude when we came out of the mountains."
....Low-level formation flying is difficult under the best circumstances, let alone when two, three-squadron formations are flying on the deck under radio silence for two-and-a-half hours. Unfortunately for the Americans, the German air-defense radar spotted them over Yugoslavia before they entered Romanian airspace. This negated the value of the difficult low-level penetration, since they had lost the element of surprise. To cap things off, shortly after coming out of the mountains, the two groups had been separated. Both accelerated into their attack as they punched off their drop tanks over fields.
....With the radar reports now definite with regard to the U.S. attack, Luftwaffe Oberst Neumann and his assistant controller, Capitan Comandor Aviator Gheorghe Miclescu of the Romanian Air Force, scrambled their defenders as the P-38s spread out over the Romanian plain. At this point, the Germans-having identified the attackers as Jabos-expected an attack on their airfields. All operational IAR 80s of Grupul 6-led by top IAR 80 ace Capitan Aviator Dan Vizante (15 kills)-lifted off Popesti-Leordeni airfield and clawed for altitude while the Bf 109Gs of Grupul 7 flew back from the Russian Front and the Messerschmitts of I/JG 53 and III/JG 77 rose from Pipera airbase near Bucharest. Among the scrambling Luftwaffe Experten were I/JG 53 Gruppenkommandeur Knight's Cross holder Maj. Jurgen Harder (64 victories), Lt. Rupert Weninger, Lt. Erich Gehring and Uffz. Willi Dreyer, each of whom would raise his scores this day.
....Within minutes, Capitan Vizante and Grupul 6 were in position. Moments later, the P-38s of the 1st FG passed Popesti-Leordeni airfield and spotted four Do.217s attempting to land. Three flights of the 71st FS broke off to attack these aircraft. Moments later, they were bounced by the diving IAR 80s of Grupul 6. Four P-38s went down in the first pass as the others salvoed their drop tanks and tried to turn with the enemy. All the advantages the heavy P-38 had over the lighter IAR 80 were canceled out in dogfights waged at altitudes of between 100 and 300 feet. In the four-minute battle, the 23 Romanian pilots who made the interception claimed 23 P-38s for a loss of two of their own. The P-38s of the 71st FS suffered the highest casualties; nine of 16 were lost, while 2nd Lt. Herbert "Stub" Hatch Jr.-element lead for Cragmore Green flight-managed to shoot down five IAR 80s. These were the only Romanian losses of the day, and his success made Hatch one of the few P-38 "aces in a day." Capitan Aviator Dan Vizante added two P-38s to his score to solidify his position as top IAR 80 ace of the Romanian Air Force. Of 23 P-38s claimed by the Romanians, the 1st FG lost a total of 14 and numerous others were crippled.
....Not knowing that the battle was under way and still right on the deck as they approached Ploesti, the men of the 82nd overflew Pipera airbase looking for their missing escorts. Past the field, they began their climb to altitude to make the attack. At that moment, they were struck by the 40 Bf 109Gs of Grupul 7, I/JG 53 and III/JG 77. "It was as though the roof fell in on us," Willsie recalls. "There were Messerschmitts and heavy flak bursts everywhere." Of the 48 Lightnings in the attack, only 24 were able to drop their bombs on the target; nine were lost to flak and fighters and another 10 were badly damaged. During this combat, one Bf 109G-6 was shot down.
....Gefreiter Helmut Koditz was killed when his White 3 crashed near Brosteni. A second Bf 109G-6 made a successful belly landing at Horsesti, with minor battle damage. Lt. Merrill Adelson of 96th FS claimed an Me 210 and an he 111 hit while they were trying to lift off from the Pipera airbase; he also claimed the destruction of an unidentified single-engine fighter. Another 96th FS pilot, Lt. John Sognia, claimed a Bf 109G in the wild dogfights over the refinery.
....June 10, 1944, would go down in history as the blackest day in the combat history of the P-38 Lightning; the 30-percent loss rate represented the worst losses suffered during a single mission by American fighters in WW II. The Romanian claim of 51 U.S. fighters shot down was more than twice the actual loss, but 23 P-38s failed to return to their bases around Foggia. U.S. claims of 33 were also more than double the actual Romanian loss of 14-only 10 of which were fighters. The inflated claims of both sides indicate the intensity of the battle over Ploesti that day. Most important, despite all the sacrifice, the Romano-Americano refinery hadn't been seriously damaged.
.... "We pretty much felt like we'd gotten kicked pretty hard that day," said Willsie. "It took a lot of hard work by the ground crews for us to be ready for the mission we flew on the next day." Despite the battering of June 10, the 82nd flew support on the next day for a B-24 mission to Constanta. The June 11 attacks showed the growing power of the Americans; a return flight of Operation Frantic I (a repeat of the first shuttle raid flown by the 15th AF to Russia on June 2) hit Ploesti with one of the hardest blows, as the B-24s destroyed their target at Constanta.

Njaco said:

That was amazing! Maybe I could start another poll that would be public and add all these additions.

The Blackest Day: 10 June 1944

Flight Journal, Dec 2003 by Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey

The great complex of air bases near Foggia, Italy, bustles with activity as the sun rises. Forty-six 82nd FG Lockheed P-38J Lightnings from the 95th, 96th and 97th Fighter Squadrons, each carrying a 1,000-pound bomb on the right wing shackle and a 310-gallon ferry drop tank on the left, shake the Foggia No. 11/Vincenzo airfield as they taxi for takeoff. Over the Adriatic, 48 1st Lighter Group P-38Js of the 27th, 71st and 94th FS flying escorts will join them. One after another over southern Italy, nearly 100 P-38s take wing and climb to altitude, Their target: Ploesti-the major oil refinery complex in Europe and more than 600 miles away across the Adriatic Sea and over the mountains of Yugoslavia. The mission: to dive-bomb the Romano-Americano oil refinery, which is the primary producer of high-grade aviation gasoline for the Luftwaffe. It will be recorded as the blackest day in the history of the American fighter forces in WW II.
....Among the pilots of the 96th Fighter Squadron detailed for the attack on Romano-Americano was Capt. Richard "Dick" Willsie, the Squadron Operations Officer and an experienced pilot with more than 40 missions under his belt. "There were 46 of us with bombs, and 48 P-38 escorts from the 1st Fighter Group," Willsie explained. "The strategy was that we would join up while crossing the Adriatic and fly over Yugoslavia until we got to the mountains, at which point we would go into Romania on the deck-and I mean we were to remain at 50 to 100 feet altitude when we came out of the mountains."
....Low-level formation flying is difficult under the best circumstances, let alone when two, three-squadron formations are flying on the deck under radio silence for two-and-a-half hours. Unfortunately for the Americans, the German air-defense radar spotted them over Yugoslavia before they entered Romanian airspace. This negated the value of the difficult low-level penetration, since they had lost the element of surprise. To cap things off, shortly after coming out of the mountains, the two groups had been separated. Both accelerated into their attack as they punched off their drop tanks over fields.
....With the radar reports now definite with regard to the U.S. attack, Luftwaffe Oberst Neumann and his assistant controller, Capitan Comandor Aviator Gheorghe Miclescu of the Romanian Air Force, scrambled their defenders as the P-38s spread out over the Romanian plain. At this point, the Germans-having identified the attackers as Jabos-expected an attack on their airfields. All operational IAR 80s of Grupul 6-led by top IAR 80 ace Capitan Aviator Dan Vizante (15 kills)-lifted off Popesti-Leordeni airfield and clawed for altitude while the Bf 109Gs of Grupul 7 flew back from the Russian Front and the Messerschmitts of I/JG 53 and III/JG 77 rose from Pipera airbase near Bucharest. Among the scrambling Luftwaffe Experten were I/JG 53 Gruppenkommandeur Knight's Cross holder Maj. Jurgen Harder (64 victories), Lt. Rupert Weninger, Lt. Erich Gehring and Uffz. Willi Dreyer, each of whom would raise his scores this day.
....Within minutes, Capitan Vizante and Grupul 6 were in position. Moments later, the P-38s of the 1st FG passed Popesti-Leordeni airfield and spotted four Do.217s attempting to land. Three flights of the 71st FS broke off to attack these aircraft. Moments later, they were bounced by the diving IAR 80s of Grupul 6. Four P-38s went down in the first pass as the others salvoed their drop tanks and tried to turn with the enemy. All the advantages the heavy P-38 had over the lighter IAR 80 were canceled out in dogfights waged at altitudes of between 100 and 300 feet. In the four-minute battle, the 23 Romanian pilots who made the interception claimed 23 P-38s for a loss of two of their own. The P-38s of the 71st FS suffered the highest casualties; nine of 16 were lost, while 2nd Lt. Herbert "Stub" Hatch Jr.-element lead for Cragmore Green flight-managed to shoot down five IAR 80s. These were the only Romanian losses of the day, and his success made Hatch one of the few P-38 "aces in a day." Capitan Aviator Dan Vizante added two P-38s to his score to solidify his position as top IAR 80 ace of the Romanian Air Force. Of 23 P-38s claimed by the Romanians, the 1st FG lost a total of 14 and numerous others were crippled.
....Not knowing that the battle was under way and still right on the deck as they approached Ploesti, the men of the 82nd overflew Pipera airbase looking for their missing escorts. Past the field, they began their climb to altitude to make the attack. At that moment, they were struck by the 40 Bf 109Gs of Grupul 7, I/JG 53 and III/JG 77. "It was as though the roof fell in on us," Willsie recalls. "There were Messerschmitts and heavy flak bursts everywhere." Of the 48 Lightnings in the attack, only 24 were able to drop their bombs on the target; nine were lost to flak and fighters and another 10 were badly damaged. During this combat, one Bf 109G-6 was shot down.
....Gefreiter Helmut Koditz was killed when his White 3 crashed near Brosteni. A second Bf 109G-6 made a successful belly landing at Horsesti, with minor battle damage. Lt. Merrill Adelson of 96th FS claimed an Me 210 and an he 111 hit while they were trying to lift off from the Pipera airbase; he also claimed the destruction of an unidentified single-engine fighter. Another 96th FS pilot, Lt. John Sognia, claimed a Bf 109G in the wild dogfights over the refinery.
....June 10, 1944, would go down in history as the blackest day in the combat history of the P-38 Lightning; the 30-percent loss rate represented the worst losses suffered during a single mission by American fighters in WW II. The Romanian claim of 51 U.S. fighters shot down was more than twice the actual loss, but 23 P-38s failed to return to their bases around Foggia. U.S. claims of 33 were also more than double the actual Romanian loss of 14-only 10 of which were fighters. The inflated claims of both sides indicate the intensity of the battle over Ploesti that day. Most important, despite all the sacrifice, the Romano-Americano refinery hadn't been seriously damaged.
.... "We pretty much felt like we'd gotten kicked pretty hard that day," said Willsie. "It took a lot of hard work by the ground crews for us to be ready for the mission we flew on the next day." Despite the battering of June 10, the 82nd flew support on the next day for a B-24 mission to Constanta. The June 11 attacks showed the growing power of the Americans; a return flight of Operation Frantic I (a repeat of the first shuttle raid flown by the 15th AF to Russia on June 2) hit Ploesti with one of the hardest blows, as the B-24s destroyed their target at Constanta.

Click to expand...

This was by far the worst loss the USAAF had in a fighter to fighter engagement. Contrast that with losses the LW suffered against USAAF over the course of the war

no comment about C's writing but does not base everything on truth, I would say his article needs to be further researched to see if what he says happened the way it happened

I agree Erich. I found a few head scratchers there but instead of re-writing the whole thing I just posted with the website. Maybe it'll spark an interest in some other members?

to be honest I used to get flight j and then threw them all away.........what does that say to ya ?

Yeah, I stopped also. Now I have a bunch of old copies of Flypast from my dad. Its sometimes hard weeding out the faireytales.

flypast is worthy for the most part

The 82nd FG website gives losses of 4 missing, 3 shot down over the target, 1 lost on route to the target. 2 more crash landed at other bases and 2 more landed away.

The 1st FG website agrees that they lost 14 P38's that day so at first glance the write up is pretty close.

Glider said:

The 82nd FG website gives losses of 4 missing, 3 shot down over the target, 1 lost on route to the target. 2 more crash landed at other bases and 2 more landed away.

The 1st FG website agrees that they lost 14 P38's that day so at first glance the write up is pretty close.

Click to expand...

It was not a good day for the USAAF Fighters.

Hello problem is how to define greatest.
For BoB, was it
15 Aug, when LW losses were biggest, 75 a/c, FC lost according to one source 28 in combat and 17 operationally or
18 Aug, when highest number of planes were lost according to A. Price, LW lost 69 and RAF/FAA 68, but 36 of RAF/FAA losses were on ground and 17 were trainers or other non-operational types. FC lost 39 a/c of which 8 on ground. Or
15 Sept when LW lost 56 and RAF 30 of which one was bomber. But psycologically 15 Sepy had big impact to LW aircrews who had heard for a some time that FC was down to last 50 Spitfires but after being harrassed by Spitfires and Hurricanes all the way to London met a new formation of 60 fighters over the city. In fact LW met over 250 RAF fighters twice during that day.

IMHO choice would be between 15 Aug and 15 Sept. But was the greatest air battle of BoB same time the greatest air battle of WWII?

Juha

Sorry for being cloudy, guys, with the question.

Hello problem is how to define greatest.

Click to expand...

Juha, that would be a personal decision. Maybe I should have said favorite.

Day of the Blenheim: 14 May 1940

RAF History - Bomber Command 60th Anniversary

14 May - A maximum effort was made against the German bridges across the Meuse at Sedan. 6 Blenheims bombed a road junction at Breda without loss. Ten Battles were detailed to pontoon bridges erected by then Germans across the Meuse River north of Sedan. All the aircraft returned safely. The remainder of the morning's bombing operations were flown by the few surviving bombers (29 in all) of the French Air Force in attempt to halt the German breakthrough at Sedan. The AASF faired little better with just 62 Battles and 8 Blenheims available for operations. The afternoon saw Air Vice-Marshal Playfair, the Commander of the AASF, gamble everything with all available aircraft being ordered into the air to bomb the Germans at Sedan. It was a massacre; No 12 Squadron lost 4 out of 5 aircraft; No 142 Squadron 4 out of 8; No 226 Squadron 3 out of 6; No 105 Squadron 6 out of 11; No 150 Squadron 4 out of 4; No 88 Squadron 1 out of 10; No 103 Squadron 3 out of 8 and No 218 Squadron 10 out of 11 aircraft. Total Battle losses were 35 out of 63 aircraft. Eight Blenheims were also involved (all flown by No 114 Squadron) and only three returned. A total of 102 crew members either lost their lives or were taken prisoner - a terrible price to pay as the pontoon bridges remained intact. In one last raid on the bridges, 6 Blenheims of No 2 Group were lost during an attack by 28 aircraft. This series of losses effectively finished the AASF as a fighting force and all attacks over France were subsequently carried out by home-based bomber units. In the days that followed the squadrons of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and AASF moved from base to base in an attempt to stay ahead of the German advance.

I vote for 5th of July over Kursk. Ca. 400 claims altogether over such a small territory!

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U ~ I'm glad you edited out your statements about J. Manhro and his book on Bodenplatte