Brian
Good points, but I also think it is easy to read too much into a combat report.
First of all we don't know which direction the Ju 52s used on their approach. It is likely they know about lurking night fighters or at least suspected they could be around, otherwise the crews would have been, well, plain stupid if you ask me. Bottom line here is that we don't know the exact approach of the two aircraft, but if I had been piloting one of them I would certainly not have taken the 'easy' way in.
Neither do we know the exact spot where Kendall/Nedahl opened fire. How far away were they from El Aouina? We don't know. In darkness light can be seen from very far away. From own experiences I know it is difficult to exact pinpoint such distances. I also doubt that was on either Kendall or Nedahl's mind.
We don't know the exact place where the two aircraft went down, but since one must have ended up in the water and the other on land we can then take either Kendall/Nedahl's statement at face value and/or follow the Luftwaffe loss reports. Manzil Tamim is what comes up when I google Menzil Temime. If anyone has something better than that I stand corrected, but if that is the place one aircraft came down, we have to accept that, at least so far.
We have no idea what the crews did or did not do when shot at. Did they take evasive action or not? It seems at least the first one did.
Finally it is not the first time that German crash/loss reports differ quite a bit from British/US claim reports. We have to remember that real combat back then was not something performed in the sofa or behind a computer, and both reality and memories did play tricks with a large number of individuals.
Because what else is there? Kendall/Nedahl shooting at two ghost aircraft and Luftwaffe loosing two Ju 52s to something completely different? Four separate incidents without any connection? A bit unlikely I would say....
Cheers
Stig