Hi Reno, thanks for posting - now, this is news, indeed. An entire chapter (XII) is devoted to this story in Bob Johnson'sautobiography "Thunderbolt!". I can't believe that man has just made it up. Anyway, very intriguing...
I imagine that both cases will remain a bit of a mystery forever. Btw, I've seen photos of Johnson's Half Pint after the famous scrap of 26 June and, while it certainly was shot up, it didn't look like a complete write-off - as described in the book.