Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Ltn Achleitner of 9/JG3 was shot down on the 24th August 1940 and survived as a POW.
He had claimed 5 RAF aircraft before his capture:
Hurricane 19th May
Spitfire 29th May
Spitfire 20th August
and 2 Blenheims on the 2nd May

Obviously all kills were in 1940.

Has anyone details on who he shot down during these dates ?

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Hi,

on 10.07.40 9/JG3 combated with 107 RAF Blenheims. 5 Blenheims were lost in this clash.


Regards

Robert

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Too many Hurricanes to chose from on 19 May but I suggest you look at '10 Days in May'; Spitfires from 64 and 610 Sqn lost on 29 May.Only one Spitfire lost on 20 Aug-Plt Off K G Hart of 65 Sqn but I do not have a time for Achleitner's kill or whether there were nay other German claims that day. I would be careful calling him an ace-maybe in British terms but many Germans had 5 kills

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Hi Chris

I think (hope!) you mean 'Twelve Days in May'!

Cheers
Brian

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Due to Government cutbacks....................yes, 12 Days!

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Hi Jon,

Good question, and I hope someone can give details on these kills. Coincidentally, my uncle claimed a Spitfire on May 29th as well, while leading 4. Staffel, at 1830 hours northwest of Dunkirk. BTW Robert, according to my records the clash with 107's Blenheims resulted in the destruction of 7 Blenheims, with Achleitner leading the first Schwarm and Hauptmann Dr. Ochs leading the second. It was for this action that Achleitner received the EK 1 personally from Kesselring at Desvres.

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Hi VtwinVince,


seven were claimed but in BC Losses Vol.1 only 5 are listed as lost:
L9468, P6894, R3606, R3815, R3916. Perhaps there were also damaged planes?

Regards


Robert

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Robert, you could be right. I received a letter from Achleitner only a few weeks before he died, describing this action. He claimed that 9. Staffel got seven Blenheims over France, with the eighth crash-landing in England. This is corroborated in an inscription on the back of a photo I have, showing the pilots of 9. Staffel being interviewed for the Rundfunk after this engagement. Strangely enough, I was having a beer with some vets years ago, and one of them, S/L Peter Duggan-Smith DFC, was an old Blenheim pilot. When I mentioned that my uncle led the attack on 107 RAF, he nearly started to cry, having been with a neighbouring Blenheim unit when this happened.

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

Jon, there's some more info on Achleitner on the home page at www.luftwaffe.cz.

Re: Battle of Britain Luftwaffe ace
 

No soup for you!!