Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Gent's

One last try and sorry for the constant posts.

Did JG 3 or JG 27 lose any aircraft or pilots on the December 12th 1944 operation against a daylight RAF Bomber Command attack on Witten.

Details would be appreciated.

TIA

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Hello Smudger,

Have you visited Eric Mombeek's website "Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots" ?
Therin you will find a wealth of information on the Luftwaffe's KIA and MIA's and lots more.

I looked at JG27 and non were listed.
But for JG3 there was one.

A/c from 2/JG3 Bf109 G-10
WkNr: 490759
Black 13
Lost in combat
Pilot : Gefr. Kurt Nickel

hope that this is a help

night

Alex

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your reply.

Regards

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

JG 27 lost 6 a/c, a mixture of G-10, G-14 and K-4 machines. JG 3 lost 3, again G-10 and G-14 machines. Some were lost in a fight with fighters, other just listed as "Luftkampf". One JG 3 machine is listed as lost in Luftkampf in the Witten area.

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

One Bf 109 was claimed as destroyed by Lieutenant Jack H. Hallett, a P-38 pilot from the 394th Fighter Squadron (367th Fighter Group). Hallett gave a detailed account of this combat (see The Dynamite Gang) but he did not say that any of the Bf 109s were painted yellow.

Fight started when Hallett's flight was weaving above the Lancasters. His P-38 was jumped by two German fighters and slightly damaged, but he managed to elude them at full power. Hallett then spotted another 109 behind him and outmanuevered it after a few Lufberry's. He got onto the tail of the same 109, firing a few short bursts that missed. The German pilot then rolled over and split-essed, but he was unable to shake off Hallett or his P-38J-25, a newer model with power boosted controls. Hallett chased the inverted 109 down through a cloud layer, still firing, and as they passed through the German pilot apparently misjudged his altitude -- he never pulled out of his dive and the 109 exploded when it flew into the ground.

Hallett saw the crash but did not believe that he registered any hits on the 109. He was a replacement pilot who joined the group less than two months earlier, and this was his first taste of air-to-air combat. It was the only time he saw German planes in the air. I tried to post a photo of Hallett but had some problems.

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Gent’s thank you all for your replies, all of which are most welcome.


Alex, yes I did try the site and a great interest is was too.

John the German losses are what I’ve been after, is there anyway I can explore the cause these losses. ?

Six Nifty .50’s I was unaware that the Witten raid of December 12th had an escort of US fighters, I have checked at the NA and can confirm that six squadrons of RAF Mustang’s were scheduled to provide cover, the involvement of the P38 equipped 367 FG is another avenue I need to explore.

Once again thanks.

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

I forgot to mention that my message about Lt. Hallett was referring to your previous posts about yellow-nosed 109s and the December 16th RAF raid on Siegen.

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Hi Guys,

In this fight one Bf 109 was claimed as destroyed by F/Lt Janusz Walawski from 316 (Polish) Sqn in Dortmund area.

regards
Kris99

Re: Bf109 Loss 12th December 1944
 

Good evening Smudger !

There must be something wrong between 367th FG Hallet's report and the official report of the unit.

The original Oprep A Report of this unit states:

"367th Fighter Group, Site A-68.
Oprep report for 24 hours ending midnight 12 December 1944.

NEGATIVE

(Signature)
JOHN P. BUSAM,
1st Lt., Air Corps,
Stat. Officer

By the official reports of 367th FG, this Dec. 12th, 1944, no single P-38 of the unit was on a combat mission.

Best wishes !

Horst Weber