[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by drgondog

The June 26, 1943 scrap resulted in 56FG losing 5 for 2 destroyed/1 probable.

On November 1943 the 55th Fg lost 6 P-38's for 2 destroyed and 1 probable.

We talked about the 4th (above) but that day was actually a couple of separate engagements and the 4th claimed 5 destroyed for the day's losses of either 7 or 8 in the air (Fraser per above looks like he was not a 'claim by LW around 0620) and the 18th August was 9 lost for 7 destroyed - bad but not terrible considering they were suprised on the deck..

So far the most lopsided seems to be the 20th on February 11, 1944 for 8 P-38's down for 2 destroyed / 1 probable.

I've got to believe some other USAAF fighter group had a worse day than the above but haven't found it yet.

On 30th August 1943, 44 P-38 Lightnings of the 1st Fighter Group escorted the 319th and 320th Bomb Groups to attack the marshalling yards at Aversa, Italy. All of the B-26 Marauders returned safely, but 13 Lightnings were lost. According to the MACR index, one of the missing P-38 pilots was a member of the 14th Fighter Group.

This battle featured substantial inflated claims of aerial victories, which was typical of both sides at this time. Luftwaffe pilots from JG 53 and JG 77 claimed to have shot down at least 32 Lightnings and two Marauders. I don't know if the Germans suffered any losses in these combats, but the 1st FG claimed eight Bf 109s destroyed.