[pdame141]

All:

Thanks for your replies. I tend to agree with Roland's working theory that this was a more modern trainer (maybe a Bu-133 as suggested by Nick - sorry for the lack of umlaut) fleeing from East to West.

The excellent history of the 368FG by Tim Grace records that the plane in question "probably being used for observation, was strafed and forced to land" and that "after the pilot escaped, the plane was strafed on the ground until it exploded." Lt. Eyrich "scored most of the hits and was credited with one enemy aircraft shot down."

This event occurred on the only mission of the day for the 395th FS, an armed recce to the Prague area in bad weather from Frankfurt-am-Main (Y-73). Perhaps the poor weather encouraged the German pilot to attempt this flight, given the low likelihood of surviving such a flight in that type of aircraft in airspace so thoroughly dominated by the Allies.

Best regards,
Paul