[drgondog]

Luarent - Thank you. I suspected that a badly damaged Luftwaffe a/c might not have been deemed destroyed even though shot down for all the reasons you mentioned.

I know in the case of the 355th FG I analyzed each loss, each encounter report to try to figure out when "lost to unknown causes' was a.) probably air to air as in the case of a battle in which Luftwaffe fighters were clearly in the area, b.) either mechanical, weather or flak when a P-47 or P-51 went down in absence of Luftwaffe opposition depending on the area and circumstances. I believe I have erred to 'conservative' (assign loss to enemy fighter if there is a question, but probably the best that can be achieved after 60 years...

so at the end of the day the 355th FG (including 2SF and 1SF(exp) which I included as they were always supported at Steeple Morden and often flew with 355th) lost at least 28 and at most 46 to enemy fighters, mid air collisions chasing or evading fighters or flying into debris of destroyed enemy fighter.