Combat reports of 31st FG on 25 JUne 1944 in France

[gilles collaveri]

Dear all

I have two questions today :

1)on 25 June 1944 Charles Mc Cockle, Robert E. Riddle and Carl H Brown (31st Fighter group, ) claimed each a victory in the South of France. I am looking for the combat reports of these claims.
I asked to the 31st fighter group (31st Fighter Group Contact Form) for these combat reports, but got no feedback.

these reports would be very helpful to understand what happened exactly that day, and this is in connection with Werner Bauch death on Bf109, see: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=67323

2)Was an Amercan aircraft shot down that day ? the German archives claim “one aircraft- type unknown”: is this true ? Obviously, this is also in connection with the above fight.

Thanks for your inputs, guys.

Gilles

[Leendert]

With just 'south of France' as reference, the only USAAF fighter loss in that area for which a MACR was filed was for P-38J 43-28774 of 82nd FG/95th FS with Lt Melvin E. Weidbusch KIA. Toulon area.

Also see https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4779...objectPage=106 and https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4779...objectPage=422

Leendert

[gilles collaveri]

Thanks Leendert. It is difficult finding information on this very day.
BR
Gilles

[gilles collaveri]

Dear all

thanks to the support of everyone, I have been able to rebuild what happened that day and how Werner Bauch was killed.
Here is the story :

25 June 1944

On that day, a massive American air armada of more than 650 aircraft attack strategic targets in southern France. B-17s bomb the rail yards and port facilities at Sète, while four groups of B-24s target installations at Sète, Balaruc-les-Bains, and the Avignon railway yards. They are escorted by dozens of P-38s Lightning from the 82nd Fighter Group and P-51s Mustang from the 31st Fighter Group.
Around 9:30 a.m., the first engagements begin. They are difficult to reconstruct because of widespread confusion, incomplete reports, and conflicting accounts. Victory claims on both sides do not match the actual losses, illustrating how difficult it is to retrace these air battles accurately.

Nevertheless, thanks to archival research and the assistance of specialized aviation history enthusiasts, it is possible to reconstruct the broad outline of the events of June 25, 1944.

A P-38 Dives After Climbing Bf 109s

At approximately 9:35 a.m., Lieutenant Melvin E. Wiedbusch (credited with three victories), flying P-38J Lightning serial number 43-28774, reports enemy fighters climbing through the clouds toward the formation of the 95th Fighter Squadron. His wingman, Jack Jooley, later recalled:
"I was flying as Lieutenant Wiedbusch's wingman in Lieutenant Butler's flight, escorting bombers to their targets at Sète/Balaruc, France. We were on the right side of the bomber formation and had reached the Toulon area, flying inland about twenty miles from the coast. A cloud layer covering seven to eight tenths of the sky lay beneath us at an altitude of approximately 10,000 to 11,000 feet.
Suddenly, Lieutenant Wiedbusch reported enemy fighters below us climbing through the cloud layer. He dived toward them and I followed, but I leveled off above the clouds.
Lieutenant Wiedbusch got onto the tail of a Me 109 at close range. The last time he was seen, he was diving almost vertically into the clouds while firing at the enemy aircraft. He failed to return when the squadron regrouped, and we never heard a distress call from him over the radio. It is possible that he was unable to recover from the dive at such a low altitude."
Lieutenant Wiedbusch was indeed reported missing in action and is now buried at the American Cemetery in Draguignan.

Confused Dogfights Unfold

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6s of JG 200 climb to intercept the American aircraft. Werner Bauch is among them.
At around 10:00 a.m., combat breaks out near Avignon with P-51s of the 31st Fighter Group. German Freya and Würzburg radar stations operated by 9./Ln.Rgt. 51 track the engagement in real time and report a victory over an "unknown aircraft type," which is credited to Werner Bauch. It may have been Wiedbusch's P-38.
On the American side, three victories are claimed by Lieutenant Robert Riddle (who achieves the "ace" status that day), Lieutenant Carl H. Brown, and Colonel McCorkle.

In reality, however, only one Bf 109 crashes: Werner Bauch's. Another manages to belly-land with its pilot wounded.
On the Luftwaffe side, two B-24s are claimed by Fw. Lünsmann and Ogefr. Horst Rippert, the latter becoming famous 64 years later when he claimed in 2008 to have shot down the P-38 flown by writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.


The above text will be part of an article to be published soon.

Again, thanks all for your support with a special mention to Adriano, Nick, nogo99 and others..

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Dear friend Gilles,
As I suggested, the P-38J from Wiedbusch may have crashed due to compressibility during this vertical dive towards the 109's below. There were several cases of P-38 crashing due to that problem, some reported on books about the type.
Of course, Bauch could have claimed it as well, since he is credited with one victory that day.
I guess that the clue to who claimed Bauch (on the American side) was to discover on the Logbooks who saw the German pilot bailing out. I have tried out for you, but we got no joy...Maybe some American members of this Board can track down the relatives of those three American pilots from the 31st FG....that would help getting a better view of the combats of that day.
Humbly yours
Adriano

[Leendert]

Also see (in German) https://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/i...-1944-jgr-200/

Fw. Karl Bernhardt (1./JG 200) in Wnr. 440267 is listed as the Bf-109G pilot who made the crash landing?

Lt Wiedbusch (0-753769) was 'dropped from the rolls' on 28 June 1944 by his squadron after being reported missing some days before. See https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4779...ect-thumb--427

Leendert

[gilles collaveri]

Leendert : Karl Bernhardt could be the second Bf109 that day but I have no information on that.

Adriano : you are right, the best would be to find the reports from the P-51's pilots but so far, we did not succeed, neither you or me. If someone has a clue, I take it.

Anyway, let me thank you all for your support and help in that story.

Adriano, a special mention for your friendship & passion.

Gilles

[Stig Jarlevik]

Gilles

I am not going to intervene in who-got-who, since that is mostly a best guess affair.
However JGr lost three aircraft that day, most likely all of them to 31FG unless the two Staffeln
split up and went different ways. Do we know that?

31FG claimed in the Aix-en-Provence area (just north of Marseille)
82FG claimed their probables in the Toulon area
The two places are not really too far away so could be connected but the two units most likely protected
their own defined bomber unit(s).

The three losses were:
2./JGr 200 Uffz Werner Bauch Bf 109G WNr unknown KIA
1./JGr 200 Fw Karl Bernhardt Bf 109G-6 WNr 440267 WIA
1./JGr 200 Ogefr Georg Klauka Bf 109G-6 WNr 441303 KIA

At least previously Bauch was reported as having also crashed in the Aix-en-Provence area making him
some distance away from where 82FG made their claims, hence my belief Bauch fell in combat
with the 31FG.

Lt Wiedbusch is reported as coming down near Cuers (which is NE of Toulon) and quite far away where
Bauch came down.
I can't really see how these two losses can be connected, since the distance between listed
places are too far away from each other.

Adriano makes a good point on why Wiedbusch failed to recover and is a good theory.

B Rgds
Stig

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by Leendert

Lt Wiedbusch (0-753769) was 'dropped from the rolls' on 28 June 1944 by his squadron after being reported missing some days before. See https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4779...ect-thumb--427

Leendert
How have you managed to find this particular frame?
Franek

[Leendert]

Re Stig's #8 with name of Georg (or Gerhard?) Klauka, also see Nic's website here https://www.ghostbombers.com/JG200/june_1.html at bottom. 'He would die in combat two days later', which would make it 25 June 1944 indeed.
On this page however it says he had had an accident and died of burns? See bottom of https://www.ghostbombers.com/JG200/june_2.html

Leendert