Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Eric - I've wondered about JG26 and Vogt on the 14th - the timing is right but from the Encounter Reports of Graham and Elder and Mills, etc I didn't get the notion they actually got as far south as Koln but somewhere south of Munster in that direction.

..the 78th FG was more likely adversaries of the JG26 force as Vogt went down right at Cologne and the 78th for sure was in a big fight all around Cologne getting claims for 12 air for no losses..

Frank - was I right that Harmon had no confirmed scores? What was the time of his encounter - a probable has been known to be a 'certain' depending on the record.

I checked on Montmedy, however, and it closely aligns with both the direction and description of Gresham's fight, and way south of Bastogne.. close to Fumay...

Capt McKee of 359th FG had a damage claim for a 190 near Neufchateau which is also very close. The key to a probable 'certainty' is where his wingman went down as the 358FS/355FG claimed both as 'destroyed' in the same general area.

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Karl - thanks - the location for Erhardt closely aligns with area of 352FG claims for that day - too far west and NW of 355thFG location

Leo - Magdeburg doesn't align with any 190 claims for any 8th AF unit unless Calvorde is close. The 352nd shot down a 190 there and also strafed Burg which is close to Magdeburg. I don't have access to the 354FG records so they are also a possibility

Henry Brown of 355th shot down a 109 at Brunswick on the way back from Berlin.. so maybe Stienke went down to bomber fire.

As to Schmidt - I suspect the adversaries for the 355th were Stab/JG53 and JG3 on the 3rd of August. Most of the action was around Baden Baden/Sarreburg/Mannheim area. Combination of both 109's and Fw 190s.

There weren't that many fights on the 3rd so Schmidt is still a candidate for a 355 adversary

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Schmidt was probably shot down in his SturmFw 190A-8/R2 over the Alpen as the SturmFw unit of JG 3 engaged B-24's of the 15th AF. Will Unger shared with me his plight on this very mission of 3 August 44. Neil described much of his story on the SturmFw pages of his web-site.

Bill after reading the 355th fg book and the appearance of Dora 9's, JG 26 is the only Luftw outfit I can find that would come close to the ID made by the 355th.
The 78th fg encountered both Fw 190A's and Bf 109G's

E ~

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Eric - Dr Caldwell seems pretty sure it was 78FG around Koblenz that got JG26 that day.. of course long nose 190's should stand out like a sore thumb and the 355th definitely ran into a mix of 190D' and 109's.

Vogt actually going in at Koblenz still moves the adversary to the 78th.

On the other hand the claims of the 355th are closer to actual losses as they claimed 6 Fw190D's plus 5 109G's whereas Caldwell says actaul was 7 190D's plus 4 109's - the 78th claimed 6 and 6... still pretty close.h

355 engaged along Quackenbruck to Munster axis getting last one south of Munster.

With regards to Schmidt do you know which targets IV/JG3 was defending from the 15th on 3 August? The 355th wasn't too far north of the Alps on that day, Hoffman almost evaded via Switzerland after the mid air and Floyd Taylor - Scout Force pilot slipped over after mechanical problems.

The fight was with a mixture of Sturm Fw's and cover 109's - but could have been JG300 plus JG53.. Tony has Major Gotz, Ltn Ziems and Uffz Muller of JG53 claiming three near Pforzheim which would match up to the two from M/A and one shot down out of 354FS that day - but they were flying 109s.

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

IV.Sturm/JG 3 was encountering B-24's on their way to Freidrichschafen, Brenner Pass..... there were also claims of B-17's from part of the Sturmgruppe. the B-17's bombing Immenstadt

Herr Schmidt was shot down by return fire of the B-24's.

E ~

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Bill,

Harmon's only aerial credit is the probable, at 1240 hours. I didn't check Miller's 8thAF book(s) to see if he has any ground claims.

Frank.

355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Hello guys

A RK holder that I missed in my first post:

Ehrenberger: 8 March 1944 in Bf 109 G-6 (W.Nr. 440 111) near Wittenberg.

Note the date as well as that he was serving with 6./JG 53. The only thing I can add about 14 January 1945 is that according to Caldwell several Staffeln of II./JG 26 and III./JG 26 were spotted by the 78th Fighter Group three miles southwest of Köln. Vogt's Fw 190 D-9 "White 13" (W.Nr. 210 176) crashed southeast of Köln. As far as I know, the only units flying the Fw 190 D-9 at that time were I./JG 2, I. and II./JG 26 and III./JG 54. Was I./JG 2 involved in an air battle that day and thus possibly been the opponents of the 355th Fighter Group? That or most likely a mis-identification of Fw 190 D-9s by the 355th Fighter Group.

Horrido!

Leo

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Leo - Ehrenberger definitely NOT 355, nor does it seem likely that any 8thAF fighter group was that far south of Berlin.. Magdeburg area closest with 4th FG. Possible 354FG (which claimed 3)or bombers. 357FG engaged all along the Dummer Lake to Berlin and back track and did not go that far south. 355th got theirs around Dummer Lake, probably JG3, and all 190's. Curiously enough one was described as a long nose 190 which was way before the 190-9 showed up in operations.

Erich - You are right. Schmidt too far away and wrong direction.. 355th went as far as Stuttgart area before turning for home and Schmidt obviously was hit by bombers and 70+ miles away.

Leo/Erich - yes the ID could be wrong on 190D's - but have to find out more about I/JG2 or III/JG54.. I'm pretty sure the 78th was group that tangled with Vogt..

Hptm Omert is still 'missing' as to location on 24th April? The 352nd got all theirs at or W Ingolstadt, the 355th got two as far N of Munich as Regensberg area but no further and all the rest from N to S to SW of Munich.. so anything north of Regensburg is either 354FS (don't know where they were flying but they claimed 4) or bombers.

All of you have helped a great deal. Thanks again.

Bill

Re: 355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Bill IV.Sturm/JG 3 on 14 January 1945 got into a struggle with Tempests of the 486th and I think the 3rd squadrons in the area of Gütersloh. More Fw's lost over Holland-Arnhem

what I see is that I. and III./JG 2 lost some Dora 9's, I. and II./JG 26 lost Dora 9's. II./JG 301 lost Dora 9's to 357th fg. III./JG 54 was not in the battle or simply did not lose any Doras to enemy action

355 FG engagements w/experten
 

Hello guys

Erich is correct in that both III./JG 2 and II./JG 301 were also flying the Fw 190 D-9 at the time. Many thanks for bringing this to my attention. I have no information as to JG 2 but it seems as if III./JG 54 was not in the fighting as apparently no claims nor losses except for that loss on the ground. JG 301 claimed four victories in the Mecklenburg area on 14 January 1945 including Reschke's 23rd and 24th victories. In turn JG 301 lost 29 fighters (six Fw 190 A-8, 18 Fw 190 A-9 and five Fw 190 D-9).

Horrido!

Leo