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Re: Aircraft battle of July 6, 1944, in northern Italy
I am sure that the conclusions drawn on "Air War Italy" are historically perfect. There is probably no claim on that B-17 because the plane had been heavily hit by the flak. My doubt about the presence of ANR was fortified by the macr 6513 (F/O Ostrom, P-51 clashed on the same day). From 2nd Lt. Leland's Report (page 3): "I observed three enemy aircraft attacking the bomber formation (...) Attacked one MA 205 and called to my flight that there were at least two more enemy aircraft in the vicinity, warning them to watch our tails. After following the enemy aircraft through a brief dog-fight, which brought me to 15,000 feet. (...) I looked behind me and observed another enemy aircraft (MA 205) preparing to attack me".
I did not find in any Italian book any reference to the presence of the 1 and 2 Gruppo Caccia that day. I can not even find a confirmation that on July 6, 1944, the ANR still used the Macchi 205 (replaced by G55 and immediately following the ME109). In the book "L’Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana" of Arena, the MA 205 seems to have been used until August, but I cann’t trust the information of that book without further confirmation of qualified historians.
Excuse my bad English,
Elena
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