[HGabor]

Thanks Dan, but in research I hate time pressure, so if I decide to write an article, I would rather complete it first, before contacting any publisher. But back to Hartmann. On November 17, 1944 he claimed an Boston III bomber:

316: 17.11.1944 – 14:25 Boston III 4./JG 52 98 584: at 2.000m

In November, 1944 the soviets were still testing the defense of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. On November 4, 1944 eg. a mixed soviet tank-group reached the -SE suburbs of the city and got completely destroyed. 8 SU-76M of 1509 САП, 1 IS-2 heavy tank of 30 Гв.ОТТП and 3-4 T-34 of 39 Гв.ТП burned out at Pestszentimre ('Pest-St. Emeric') - Gyál in a well organized ambush. Learning the lesson, the soviets decided to keep a little break and gather more forces before starting the actual battle for the city.

The 5th Air Army also flew recce. missions over the City. As part of this, on November 17, 1944 small groups of 5 VA, 218 BAD A-20G Bostons bombed the southern area of Budapest. As discussed earlier, the 453 BAP lost 2 Bostons this day, one in combat mission, one in an accident. These were the only Boston losses of the 5 VA on November 17, 1944. The one lost in combat (A-20G-10-DO, S/N: 42-53956) from a group of 3 Bostons became Capt. Pottyondy László, Hungarian ace's (102/2. Sq.) confirmed victory. 6 Bf 109s attacked the plane, including the pair of friends: Hartmann and Pottyondy, shooting out its RIGHT engine (radial R-2600-23, S/N: 42-174979). Both the Hungarian and the soviet reports agree in this detail! The bomber crashlanded and burned. Only 2 crewmen returned to their lines (Pilot Danielyan, and gunner Kopilov), the other 2 (Rizhkov and Vigovskii) died in the fighter-fire.

But: Other Bostons also reported dogfights in the Budapest-S area! Perhaps one of these was attacked and claimed by Hartmann. But if so, it was an overclaim:

While leaving the target at 2600 m, 5 VA, 218 BAD, 452 BAP A-20G Boston, piloted by Maj. Evgenii Efimovich Stroganov (under 15-20 degree angle) was attacked by 2 Bf 109s. Radioman-air gunner, Sgt. Alexei Ermolaevich Chernikov claimed a Bf 109 shot down.

5 VA, 218 BAD, 452 BAP, 3rd Sq. A-20G Boston, piloted by Capt. Pavel Arsentevich Zhalibo (к-н Жалибо Павел Арсентьевич, Sq. commander (№046738)) was attacked by 9 Bf 109 under ~25-30 degree angle. All attack were repelled by the gunners, but during the last strike the plane was slightly damaged. (AC number is unknown, but on January 2, 1945 Zhalibo was killed in A-20G-15-DO Boston, S/N: 42-54186, so perhaps he flew the same plane this time too. Capt. Zhalibo (and his crew), by the way, was a real hero. While taking off from Debrecen airfield towards the city for another Budapest mission, one of their engines stopped. Instead of releasing their bomb-load on civilians and the city, at low altitude, he tried to return to their airfield with the fully loaded bomber, flying on only one engine. They reached the airfield OK, but at landing their bomb-load went off and the whole crew lost their lives.)

5 VA, 218 BAD, 452 BAP A-20G Boston, piloted by Ml.Lt. Petr Mihailovich Kovzalov, flight-commander was attacked by 4 Bf 109s without any result. They were flying recce-bombing mission in the Dunaföldvár-Budapest-S area.

Gabor