12 Sep 44 Battle, 474th FG vs II./JG6, III./JG26, and JG?

[Don Caldwell]

JG 4 was in a Gefechtsverband that intercepted the 8AF stream near Magdeburg. JG 3 and JG 300 were in another that intercepted near Berlin. All of their combats were far to the east of the 474FG battle -- geography is important, even in tiny Europe.

IMHO the 474th, a 9AF (tactical) unit, almost certainly engaged fighters of II. Jagdkorps, the main Jagdwaffe tactical command in the west. Their first combat is well established -- it was with II./JG 6 and III./JG 26. It's the second that's still a mystery. According to ULTRA intercept XL-8 (I didn't insert that stupid icon in my previous message!) the only other II. Jagdkorps unit engaged in a major way was JG 2, which lost 15 a/c + 9 not yet returned by nightfall. Most of these had obviously landed "away", as the daily RLM summary lists only 9 losses for I./JG 2, and none for any other JG 2 Gruppe. The ULTRA msg says the combat was with P-51s, the only known I./JG 2 claim was for a P-51, and time & location match 4FG documents perfectly. Whether P-38s also become involved in this combat, I can't say.

HTH and Horrido!

Don