Re: III./JG 77 vs 12th USAAF, 1 Oct 1943
Looks like two B-17Fs of the 99th BG were shot down by fighters (per Footnote)
B-17F 42-30126 99th Gp 416th Sq
B-17F 42-5856 99th Gp 347th Sq
For 42-5856, an eyewitness report:
"I was the tail gunner on Aircraft no. 42-30474...at the start of the mission 42-5856 was the lead ship of an element in the second wave.
We had just executed a 180 degree turn heading from home almost directly due south ...we had gone about 50 miles directly south-not having reached the target (Augsburg,Germany) due to a solid overcast. We had gone to 50 miles of the target. Twenty-five to thirty enemy fighters hit aggresively at the turn. At approximately 1215 I observed a...Fortress which exploded in the air as a result of enemy fighter action.
|