Re: 14th FG mission on 8 February 1945
 

Interesting aspects Guys

I also checked Olynyk's claims lists and can add the following with regard to Bach
The time when he made his claims was between 12.16H to 12.32H
The place is not listed, but only the coordinates, 46.54N/15.31E
Now if my map-reading is not completely flipped I make this to be south of Graz and rather close to the border of Jugoslavia. So maybe 37th FS was on its way back from the Vienna area. I also feel these coordinates are much more in line with where we could expect NSGr 7 to be flying....

I also note that the same coordinates are used for all four claims which might indicate that's when Bach spotted his victims. If they were heading south when spotted the combat might even have taken place south of the border when he caught up with them.

Cheers
Stig

Re: 14th FG mission on 8 February 1945
 

Very probable, Stig, very probable. It was common practice for 15th AAF fighter escort groups to descend to low altitude on the way back from missions further north and beat up Axis airfields and other targets in Croatia. They destroyed some aircraft on the ground from time-to-time, but air action was rare because of the paucity of Axis aircraft based there. What little there was didn't do much flying after December 1944 because of fuel rationing and the weather.

Re: 14th FG mission on 8 February 1945
 

The engagement between the CR.42s and P-38s was over Croatia and the two P-38 losses occurred over Austria. Despite of this, the CR.42s claimed one kill against the Lightnings. It was found by me in BA-MA in a German document, which contains some details about the mission.
It was the last biplane claim of the aviation history but unfortunately, the name of the pilot was not mentioned.

Re: 14th FG mission on 8 February 1945
 

The hour of the claim is interesting as it was before the bombing...

450th BG listed in its mission report it bombed Vienna on 1251 hrs. I bet all 15th Air Force units will use the same time zone by reporting hours...

The 5th Wing B-17s bombed between 1224 and 1240 hrs.

So possibly the CR 42 were seen while the fighters were flying north... and the juicy targets were enough for some pilots to bounce them.