[George Hopp]

"The Blitz Then and Now" volume 3, page 291, says that Bf 109G-4/R3, 14763, Blue 1+, was shot down from 32,500 feet by F/L P. Harwood and F/O B. Brooks in Spitfire VIIs of 124 Sqdn. on 16 Aug 43, at 7.20pm. The a/c broke up in the air killing Lt. H. Jaschinski. The crash site was at Hill Farm, Newchurch, Isle of Wight. Interesting is the altitude of the shoot-down which would have made ground observation highly problematic.

Especially interesting was the additional note that at the crash site, Steve Vizard, John Ellis and Simon Parry excavated the remains of the DB 603 engine of that a/c. That was hardly likely if the a/c was a 109 since the 109 was never operational with the DB 603. So, was the excavated engine type a mis-print, or was it actually an Me 410, which was powered by the DB 603, that had been shot down? My vote is that the engine type is a mis-print, and that the a/c was the Bf 109G-6 mentioned above.