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Originally Posted by Ota Jirovec
The possibility that "your" He 177 was shot down by VVS fighters in the area of Siemiatycze so early in June seems to be rather unlikely to me - the front line was simply too far away (and your area not in the range of Russian fighters). In mid-June 1944 the Germans still held Belorussia including towns like Vitebsk, Orsha and Mogilev.
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That's the problem
German pilots said that their plane was attacked by few English fighters. Of course this is impossible, because there was no RAF fighters in the area. But Greif could be shot down by Russian pilots flying Lend-Lease planes.
I think that He 177 could be pursued and intercepted during recon mission. IMO P-39s or Spitfires from PVO units had sufficient range.
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Originally Posted by Ota Jirovec
Couldnīt the Heinkel have been shot down later?
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In fact I'm not sure when this plane was shot down. Villagers claims that it was on Corpus Christi holiday - Thursday, June 8th, 1944. Another witness claims that it was a week later, on June 15th. All relations connect this shot down with Corpus Chritsi holiday so it should be June. But, of course, human memory can be very treacherous.