[Laurent Rizzotti]

Thanks Leo for your very detailled accound. By the way it is the first time I have seen a so low loss count for German fighters involved in this operation. I have never studied it in details, but it seems to most sources describe it as a far more costlier failure, with more than 100 of the Bf 109 shot down (for example, the German wikipedia I just checked to be sur my memory was correct says that 133 German fighters were lost !). But your data seems far more complete and shows that it almost al (if not all) Elbe pilots that engaged the enemy this day were shot down or forced to crash-land (nothing surprising given their mission and the powerful US escort), they were only about 50.

Best regards