[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

A detachment of II./J.G. 51 was indeed based on Sardinia in February 1943. The first aircraft transferred there on 8 and 9 February, and there were still three aircraft and pilots on the island on 6 March 1943.

There seems to be confirmation from the German side for the combat occurring on 26 February 1943, but no confirmation from the Allied side.

The Genst.Gen.Qu.6.Abt. loss list says that Uffz. Hans Pfluger of 4./J.G. 51 was killed at Cagliari in Bf 109 G-4 W.Nr 10895 in a crash due to enemy fire on 26 February 1943.

Aders & Held state that Uffz. Hans Pflüger of 4./J.G. 51 was killed in action on 26 February 1943 at Sardinia in combat.

NA HW 1 contains a report from the evening of 26 February 1943 which stated that eighteen four-engined aircraft bombed Cagliari and Elmas. Freya picked up the approaching aircraft at 14:28 at a distance of six kilometres, and four BF 109s subsequently scrambled at 14:32. Two Bf 109s landed at 15:20 and another at 15:28, while one made a forced landing after being shot up. One Boeing Fortress was shot down 50 km west of the island from an altitude of 5,000 m by Ofw. Schultz (53rd victory) (NB – This victory does not appear in the Tony Wood list). Two other Fortresses were claimed damaged. The Italian fighters made no contact.

The British official history by Molony et al. notes that Cagliari was bombed on two occasions in the last week of February. However, the USAAF official history doesn’t mention the late-February raids on Sardinia at all.

There is no mention of fighters involved in Pflüger’s loss, so perhaps he was hit by return fire from bombers. However, I think this combat requires a little more research before I can make any firm conclusions!


Sources
NA HW 1

NA HW 5

Genst.Gen.Qu.6.Abt.

Gebhard Aders & Werner Held, Jagdgeschwader 51 ‘Mölders’: eine Chronik: Berichte, Erlebnisse, Dokumente, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 1985.

Wesley Frank Craven & James Lea Cate (eds), Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume II: Europe: TORCH to POINTBLANK, August 1942 to December 1943, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1949.

C.J.C. Molony, F.C. Flynn, H.L. Davies & T.P. Gleave, The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1966.

Günther Rübell, Kreuze im Himmel – wie auf Erden: Fronterleben in Jagdgeschwader Mölders, Orion Heimreiter Verlag, Heusenstamm, 1980.


Cheers,
Andrew A.