[drgondog]

I know Eric. One of the reasons I looked at all the 355FG encounter reports (and Scout Force) is to piece together the times and locations. I now have that for all the major engagements from 4 October 43 to 20 April 45.

Then thanks to you and Leo and Richard and Tony and others, I have been piece by piece looking at claims on the LW side (for times and locations) and losses when that info is available.

The last piece is the escort track to RV and the bomber track to point of BE. If a 355 encounter took place outside that envelope then I compute a straight line back to Steeple Morden.

Thus far Tony Woods has been prime source but has a lot of time and place 'holes' for claims. Even so it is very useful in tracking B-24 and B-17 claims to help fill in my own knowledge gaps in the planned routes for those missions where I don't have a picture of the Mission Board, as well as the order of battle for the LW as the claims link to the tracks and times.

For example I don't have the Mission Board image for April 19, 1944 but I have the RV point south of Brunswick near Goslar and know the target for the 355 escorted bombers was direct toward Eschwege so the 'track' was almost 190, just East of Gottingen and over Duderstadt.

This info along Leo's info re: Wessling - pretty well links him to Woody based on claim/loss location. Still could be a mismatch but still high probability link. For example, it was very rare for perhaps the 4th FG and 355th to be in a scrap at exactly the same place and time.. but when the place confluence existed then only a 'time' is close to a tie-breaker

Having said that I do not claim certainty!

In the book I will link the pilot to the fight but won't express certainty- as you noted it is just too hard in a highly fluid environment and 'spotty' recollections based on time and place when the adrenaline is flowing at mach 1...

I would love other approaches if they work for you.

Regards,

Bill