Do24 Claims 3-5-1945

[Brian Bines]

Are there any known losses that link to the Clostermann claims for Do24's on the 3-5-1945 as written in his book 'The Big Show'. None are shown in the claims section of 'The Typhoon and Tempest Story',

Brian Bines

[RT]

If really made it , not the best thing he made

Rémi

[Brian Bines]

Hi Remi,

I had a few werk nummers of Do24's lost in May 1945 from the Do24 Homepage site and wondered if any of these may have linked to Clostermann's claims. Shame if some parts of 'The Big Show' are not as they seem, I believe his chapter on the recon. Bf109 over Scapa Flow
has already been discussed on TOCH,

All the best

Brian Bines

[Laurent Rizzotti]

His chapter on the 3 May 1945 is certainly not the most historical of the book. He writes that a huge air battle opposed numerous German fighters to 122 Wing, that claimed 14 fighters shot down (and numerous floatplanes and transports) against TEN losses. AFAIK there was never a day when ten Tempests were lost in air combat, and certainly not this one.

According to the victory list available at http://cieldegloire.com/004_clostermann.php, Clostermann claimed four aircraft destroyed on 3 May 1945 (2 Do 24s, a Ju 52 and a fw 190) but the unit ORB listed them as "destroyed on the ground". That is more likely than the furious battle described in "Le grand cirque".

[Brian Bines]

Laurent, Thanks for the Closterman site, seems then that he got two Do 24's albeit on the ground, or water, and not in the more dramatic way as in the book,

Regards

Brian Bines