[ianatheling]

PS.

Božik was involved in one of my favourite stories of the war. When the Slovak fighter pilots were retired from the Eastern Front they lost the Bf 109Gs shown in many of the photos above. These had been leased to them by the Luftwaffe. Until new arrangements could be made for the defence of Slovakia, the Slovaks relied upon an assortment of obsolete types including Avia B-534 biplanes and Bf 109 Emils.

On the 13th April 1944 Božik was in the air in a Bf 109E when he spotted what from a distance he identified as a US Liberator. He began his attack upon the American heavy. However the ‘American heavy’ was a Bf 110G-2 WNr. 6397 2N+HM of II./ZG 1. From afar Božik had misidentified the two engines and fuel tanks as four engines. He realised the error as he was about to open fire.

However the crew of the Bf 110 were also guilty of a misidentification. They ignored the remote possibility that a Bf 109E was still in the air in 1944, and believed that they were about to be attacked by a US P-51. The rear gunner opened fire upon Božik. Although he had evidently realised the error, he decided to open fire himself. The Bf 110 was hit and crashed. Pilot Wilhelm Meilinger was killed, but the gunner bailed out and survived. Fortunately for Božik, the gunner sustained the story that they had been attacked by a P-51. Božik confidently claimed a victory against a Liberator.


Ian