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Originally Posted by Six Nifty .50s
The 87th Fighter Squadron was on a ground attack mission with 500-lb bombs when jumped north of Messina by ten German fighters, identified variously as ME-109s and FW-190s. At that time Paul McArthur claimed one German fighter destroyed, while one Curtiss P-40 was shot down. Francis Hennin bailed out safely and he was later rescued from the sea.
The 87th continued on with the mission and later German fighters attacked over the Gulf of Milazzo. No other P-40s were shot down, but several pilots reported seeing a German fighter explode in the air. After debriefing, it was agreed that none of the P-40 pilots opened fire on this enemy aircraft. The conclusion was that a Me 109 was shot down in error by a German pilot. Morris Watkins nevertheless petitioned for and received credit for its destruction.
I'm not sure if McArthur's claim was approved by higher HQs.
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I forgot to mention that during the second engagement, Leo Berinati and William Rogers each claimed one German fighter shot down into the sea.