[Dénes Bernád]

Hello,

Excerpt from Bulgarian Fighter Colours, vol. 1, page 192: "Even before the first combat missions against German ground targets could be logged, Bulgarian Avia B.534s clashed in the air with their erstwhile ally, now enemies, and it ended to their detriment. On 10 September [1944], in the early morning at 06:40 while en route from Graf Ignatievo main base where they had picked up bombs and bullets, two Dogans of 2/2. Orlyak. which had taken off later than scheduled, were suddenly intercepted by five Luftwaffe Bf 109Gs, near Verinsko, close to Ihtiman (located south-east of Sofia). The German fighters were escorting six twin-engine bombers, which targeted the VNVV main fuel depot at Verinsko. In the unequal air mêlée, the engine of aircraft No. 26, flown by Feldfebel-shkolnik Toncho Veselinov, was hit and knocked out. The pilot was wounded in his back and right arm, thus could not bail out. The Dogan eventually crash-landed, the bombs exploded, the pilot lost conscience. He ended up in the hospital in Ihtiman and his life was spared, but the aircraft was a total wreck.
There is no matching air victory claim filed by a Luftwaffe pilot for 10 September, but the records are incomplete." [49]

Footnote 49: A highly interesting entry can be found in the Luftwaffe air victory claim list for 2 September. On that day, Major Johann Gamringer, Kommandeur of NSGr. 4, claimed an ‘Avia’ in area No. 00757, at 11:50. It was his second victory, after the first one claimed in Spain, prior to the war! The veteran pilot must have been flying a Junkers Ju 87D-3, as this was the only armed aircraft of the staff unit. However, by checking the location of the air base of NSG 4 in that period, it was at Balice, which is the current airport of Kraków, Poland, making this claim irrelevant to the air war over Bulgaria.

Even though I could not locate any victory claim matching the aforedescribed event, hopefully such claim does exist. If anyone is aware of it, please share it with us. Thanks.