Luftwaffe fighter losses in Tunisia

[Christer Bergström]

Another quite interesting day is 10 March 1943. At around 1630 hrs that day, Bf 109s of JG 77 were escorting Ju 87s when - according to the German report - several formations of P-40s attacked. JG 77’s fighter pilots claimed 13 P-40s shot down between 1632 hrs and 1648 hrs, for the loss of a single Bf 109, plus that the Allied fighter pilots were prevented from shooting down any Ju 87s. Major Jochen Müncheberg and Hptm. Heinz Bär claimed to have shot down two P-40s each.

Again, I don’t have Shores’s excellent book here, but due to the 112 Squadron website, RAF 112 “Shark” Sqn alone registered six of its P-40s shot down, with another two receiving damage. http://www.geocities.com/raf_112_sqdn/planelosses.html

Are there any other Allied fighter losses registered that day, maybe in Shores’s book?

Nevertheless, by mid-March 1943, the Allies had managed to build up their combined air force in North Africa to no less than 1,500 combat aircraft. (Hooton, “Eagle in Flames”, p. 223.) Against such an overwhelming numerical superiority, the German fighter pilots would find that the “easy days” were gone. The German situation was further deteriorated through the decision to return II./JG 2 to France in March 1943.