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Re: Luftwaffe Unit responsible for two P-51Ds-April 4,1945
Here tis...
On April 4th, 1945 I was flying Falcon Blue 4 on a fighter sweep north of the Hanover-Madgeburg area. Between 8:15 and 8:45, we bounced three flights of bogies and consequently became separated from the group. At approximately 9:30, we let down through the overcast, the base of which was at 1200 ft. and broke out 5 miles east of Ludwiglust . At this time Lt. Goth , who was flying Falcon Blue 3 . called in a flight of four bogies just west of Ludwiglust and circling the town. We made an orbit around the town and they continued to circle. By the time they had arrived at a position east of the town, our flight leader, Capt. Al White identified them as long nose Fw-190s and ordered the flight to drop tanks and attack. The E/A at this time were in a string formation. Capt. White and his wingman, Lt. Truel, fell in behind the last two E/A and the first E/A element turned into them. Lt. Goth and myself were approximately 500 yards behind our lead element , tucked onto the tails of the last E/As and the eight ships went into a Luftberry just below the base of the overcast. As soon as Lt. Goth was in position to fire, the last two E/A broke off and shot up into the overcast. We continued to circle below the overcast, I being approximately 100 yards behind Lt. Goth. Shortly thereafter, one E/A came down through the overcast in a steep diving spiral between Lt. Goth and myself and fired a short burst at him. I , in turn, fired at the E/A and observed several strikes in his tail section, after which he broke off and shot back up into the overcast. A second later, the second E/A attempted the same tactics and apparently succeeded, for although I could not see any strikes on Lt. Goth’s ship, nor was he smoking, he rolled gently out of his turn and struck the ground in a 20 degree dive, exploding. I followed this E/A up into the overcast but was unable to keep him in sight.
Just before following this E/A into the overcast, I observed another E/A to strike the ground and explode.
Albert A. Kaplan --2nd L:t. A/C Pilot
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