[drgondog]

Laurent - I would tend to disagree if you want to cite actual losses recorded and carried on record vs newcast sound bites? For example Schweinfurt mission had announced losses of 60 B-17's which were as you noted those that did not cross back over the Channel to even crash land! I'm pretty sure the total number of losses, including returned but damaged beyond repair was in the 90 range.

But I am an expert on the 355th FG for example. I know what the actual number of a/c either 'lost' as in did not return, the causes and the number of 'lost' as in damaged beyond repair or destroyed in accidents, etc.

The 355th lost 191 P-47's and P-51's for all causes. 46 were destroyed in air to air combat (including one that flew all the way back to England and Crash Landed) while destroying 340, 82 to German Flak while destroying 500, 63 others to Operations (mechanical failure, landing and take off accidents, bad weather, etc) Non-Combat.

The wost air to air combat loss the 355th had was 4 on two occasions and on one of those, 2 were lost in a mid air collision diving to attack, while their best days in victories was 26, 24 and quite a few in the 10-15 range.

I've studied the other 8th AF Fighter groups and the worst air to air losses were 8 by the 20FG in Feb-44, 7 by the 4th and 55th FG (once each) and a possible 9 by the 4th on Aug-18, 1944. That is it for losses greater than 6 in air to air combat for the 8th AF Fighter Command in operations from 1942 (4th FG).

The point is that offhand I know of only one occasion in which as many as 9 fighters (six certain, 3 unknown) from one Group (4thFG 18 August 1944 - caught on deck while strafing) were lost in combat with Luftwaffe.

Was there a major battle (or battles) with other USAAF Fighter Groups that resulted in very lopsided results in favor of Luftwaffe?