[Nick Hector]

Hi Dover Dave,

Basically the way it's been done is like this:

Known circumstances of the B-24's loss + info from German aerial victory claims = Fritz Willinger looks like he was most likely the pilot that downed your dad's plane. And that's how Joe Baugher has reported it on his website.

From my own listing, I have it entered like this:

Fritz Willinger's claim. Location:near San Fele PQ 51274/14 Ost @ 5500m. This one said to be 42-40606 "Timba-A-Ah" of 506th BS, 44th BG. Crew of 1/Lt. Charles A Whitlock Jr, 5 KIA and 5 POW

Martin Mueller's claim. Location:6km W of Melfi (PQ 51212) @ 5500m. This one said to be 42-40664 "Teggie Ann/Honey Chile" of 515th BS, 376th BG. Crew of Col. Keith Compton 8 POW, 1 evaded capture

Herbert Kutscha and Adolf Hoffmann's claims. Day's losses include B-24D-5-CO 41-23817 "Suzy Q" (shot down near Reggio di Calabria, by a Bf109) of 67th BS, 44th BG 67th BS also lost B-24D-25-CO 41-24229 "Buzzin Bear" . 515th BS of 376th BG lost B-24D-45-CO 41-40319 over Foggia and 68th BS, 44th BG lost B-24D-53-CO 42-40373 "Natchez Belle".
...which is my way of acknowledging that I don't yet know enough about Kutscha and Hoffmann's claims other than the remaining losses are possibly attributable to them. Plus, hopefully further research on my part or someone else's will narrow down the possibilities.

Please bear in mind, that a great many attempts to match up a specific claim with a specific loss need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Cheers
Nick