LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Apart from Matti, can anyone tell me if any Do 17s were lost in air-to-air combat after 10 October 1944 when a Do 17 Z of Nahaufklärunggruppe Kroatien was shot down by 39 Sqn

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

FiAF Do-17 Zs didn't suffer any combat losses after that day.

BTW the last combat sortie of FiAF's Do 17 Zs was flown on 4.4.1945 (DN-55, photo recon)

Juha

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Thanks Juha. I should have been specific by saying German or Croat but it is useful to know

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Hello Chris,

On 30 March 1945 F/O Norman Pearce of 73 Squadron shot down Croat AF Do 17Z '0401' near Perušić village. You have the details in my Do 17 book, which I sent you many years ago :)

Cheers,
Boris

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Boris: I have it and have been using it and it will get mentioned in the bibliography. This is useful as my next book will be Luftwaffe only and what you have said will be used in the next one....................!

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Chris,
Not sure if they suffered any air-to-air losses but the Do 17's of Schleppstaffel z.v.V. Reich (after Hptm. Klaus-Dieter Reich) were in action until the end as glider tugs. Perhaps it is worth investigating this unit.
Hans

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Hans: I am aware of this unit but apart from a few accidents as opposed to combat losses, nothing. This unit became 4./Schleppgruppe 1 in Feb 45 from what I can see

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Not quite the last but I also have a Do 17 of Luftdienstkommando Italien shot down near Ovada (Province of Alessandria) on 15 May 1944. Source for this is BA-MA RL 20/311, KTB Nr. 7 of Flughafenbereichskommando 18/XI.

Matti Salonen was able to add the following in a post back in July 2011:

1944-05-15, Ld.Kdo. Italien, Do 17E, 3077, Südöstlich Ovada, 30 km nordwestlich Genua, Jägerbeschuß. Bruch 100 %.
F Ofw Ludwig, Gerhard, tot
B Uffz Neumann, Erwin, tot
Bf Uffz Bachhuber, Josef, verletzt

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Thanks Nick. By whom is now the question

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

WNr 3077 sounds very high for an E version.
Can someone confirm that subtype E was still in production in the midst of large numbers of Do 17 Z?

Cheers
Stig

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Funny you should ask that, turns out I've got something on it — see paras. 4, 5, 6 & 9 of the attached extract from MATAF Int/Opsum No. 400 (for 1900 hrs 14th–1900 hrs 15th May 1944) which narrows it down a bit.

Source: TNA AIR 23/6510.

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Nick - awesome to see some archival research.

John Weal and Google Brigade, please take note....

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Stig, 3001-3131 is said to have been E versions built on license by Henschel Berlin Schönefeld

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Thanks Mikael

Much appreciated.:)

Cheers
Stig

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Hi all

The 15th May claim was made by 3 pilots of 237 Sqn and 1 pilot of 238, who together formed Red Section. a practice made necessary by the bomb damage from a few nights earlier. The location is where the chase started, not where it finished.

237 Sqn Flt Lt I. Ipson Spitfire IX MJ186 }
237 Sqn Flg Off A. Burne Spitfire IX MH956 }D 217 3m N Genoa 1535
237 Sqn Flt Lt B.Wilson Spitfire IX MH75 }
238 Sqn Plt Off Forrest Spitfire IX

Ipson, who made the last attack noted one person baled out at 100 ft.

Cheers

Russell

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Cheers Russell,

The location given in the original German source is "bei Ovada", so N Genoa still fits more or less — about 35 km NW in fact.

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Don't tell me you aren't eagerly awaiting Osprey's "Allied Do 17 Killers of World War II"!

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

As long as it's not written by Weal or Mellinger, it might be halfway fit for human consumption....

Re: LAST DO 17 TO BE SHOT DOWN
 

Thanks all & this is why I am asking the questions so it will be included in my Osprey book & then the Crecy book. Not much of any note on Wikipedia on the Do 17!