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Old 11th November 2015, 17:49
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Re: Ernst Erich Hirschfeld's FW 190A-8

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurse1342 View Post
Nice work.

This does provide a listing closer to the 27 victories than the link I found.

I also found it interesting that 1/Lt James McElroy is listed as a possible victor in Hirschfeld's case.

Another possiblity is that he fell to the guns of tail gunner SSgt Arthur Kemp of the 351st Bomb Group who was credited with a FW 190 near Erfurt on the same date - July 28th, 1944.

The pilot of the FW 190 was seen to bail out but no parachute was observed to open.

Sounds very similar to Hirschfeld's demise
It is highly probable that 358FS/355FG ace James McElroy shot down Hirschfeld near Erfurt. The lead elements of a mixed FW 190/Bf 109 force attacked the rear boxes at about 1000 and McElroy and his wingman chased one Fw 190 and three Bf 109s as they dove away. The McElroy destroyed the Fw 190 and it was seen hitting the ground. The target that day was Merseburg, my father led the mission for the 355th - and also destroyed a 109 near Mulhausen 20 minutes later on the return leg.
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