Bf 109 massacre of 24 March 1945 (359th FG)

[Richard Goyat]

I second John Manrho in that it may have been I./JG 27, but III./JG 27 can’t be ruled out without further examination.

According to Werner Girbig in “Start im Morgengrauen”, I./JG 27 lost 7 pilots (4 KIA and 3 WIA), while III./JG 27 lost 9 pilots (8 KIA and 1 WIA), all in the Osnabrück, Teutoburger Wald and Störmede area. With 13 pilots lost (not taking into account the three wounded on the ground), I. and III./JG 27 may well have lost something like 20 aircraft. Since the 359th FG claimed “only” 13 aircraft destroyed, it is clear that another US fighter unit engaged JG 27 that day.

This fighter unit was without doubt the 357th Fighter Group, which claimed 16 Me 109s destroyed SW, W and N of Gütersloh, that is some 30 km North from Störmede.

To determine which fighter group engaged which JG 27 Gruppe, times of combat must be taken into account. The 357th FG engaged first, from 12:10 to 13:00, then the 359th clashed over Störmede/Eikeloh from 13:00 to 13:20.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Prien’s books with me, but they may contain more precise data about the losses of both German units, as well as information about the time of combat.

Now, RT, JG 300 was definitely not involved in this combat. It lost at least six Bf 109s and many more Fw 190s, but later in the day in the Göttingen area. This is another story, told in a recent book (for the time being available in French only).

Richard Goyat