JG 301 mission on 17 Dec 44

[Don Caldwell]

Hello Horst --

I have no evidence for or against any of these dates. There is no JG 301 data for any of them in my German sources. RLV activity against the 8th AF on these dates was so scant that I did not copy the 8th AF mission reports or INTOPS summaries, so don't have the TOTs. I have been promised some data from Reschke's logbook next week. Assuming it lists a mission for "17 Dec", his landing time and location, plus the TOTs, might allow some of these dates to be eliminated as possibilities. But given the fact that I can't confirm Reschke's "17 Dec" claims and losses from any other source, positive confirmation of a date (any date!) may be impossible.


Don

[John Manrho]

Don,

I reschke book he states that Lt. Walter Tauscher was lost on 17.12.1944. Actually RL2-III-1170 says this happened on 5.12.1944. Perhaps a clue?

Regards,

John

[Jerry Crandall]

Hi Don,
In Checking Reschke's Flugbuch here's what I found; on 17 December He took off at 10:55 on a Feindflug from Stendal landing back at Stendal at 11:40.
He did not fly on the 23 of December. His next combat mission was on 1 Janurary 1945.
Cheers, Jerry

[Erich]

Hey Jerry just got into a work related injury-accident so the call will have to wait.

Reschke's book has several gaps resulting in some great big questions. the 5th of December 44 mission which I have much was over-riding the area around Berlin and to the east with JG 1's Fw's, JG 301 meeting head-up with the brightly colored STangs of the 356th fg with one of the biggest hideous fighter vs fighter engagements.

still think the 23rd works in part not for Reschke personally. the 24th the Jagd flew as well as the 31 and probably inbetween with call backs due to late start and just not being in the right area at the right time.

more to come.............later

[Don Caldwell]

Hello John, Jerry, Erich --

From Jerry's Flugbuch report we can rule out 23 Dec as a replacement for Reschke's "17 Dec". John's report from German records on Tauscher's loss (or injury?) on 5 Dec is an intriguing clue, but Reschke's extensive writeup of the 5 Dec JG 301 mission makes no mention that he himself flew. Could he have forgotten that he flew on 5 Dec, but had a definite memory of flying another mission (shooting down a B-24, etc., for which he apparently had film at one time) to which he arbitrarily assigned a date of 17 Dec? Possibly, but that's a memory trick I find hard to believe. Jerry, you can help with this one. Does Reschke's FB mention a flight on 5 Dec? If so, we can possibly mush his 17 Dec report into the 5 Dec report. If not, we can't -- unless his FB is in error! (Which did happen, by the way.)

Gosh, this is fun....

Don

[Jerry Crandall]

Don,
He did fly on 5 December. It's listed as a vergieicns fliegen (what ever that is). He took off at 9:10 and landed at 9:29 again from Stendal. When he gave me this copy of his Flugbuch He did warn me there possibly could be "errors". Hmmm. Good luck!
Cheers, Jerry

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Jerry Crandall

Don,
He did fly on 5 December. It's listed as a vergieicns fliegen (what ever that is). He took off at 9:10 and landed at 9:29 again from Stendal. When he gave me this copy of his Flugbuch He did warn me there possibly could be "errors". Hmmm. Good luck!
Cheers, Jerry

«Vergleichsfliegen»

«vergleichen» means "to compare"

[Erich]

as mentioned earlier JG 301 engaged B-17's on the 5th of December along with numerous P-51's, so the B-24 engagement(s) by Reschke and one or more of his Kameraden is ruled out.

[Don Caldwell]

Thanks Jerry & Nick --

A "Vergleichsfliegen" could have been a comparison flight with another type of aircraft, but since this one lasted only 19 minutes it was probably to check out new equipment in his airplane. It wasn't a Feindflug, so he wasn't on the 5 Dec combat mission he describes in his book. So we're left with no good candidates for the mysterious "17 Dec" flight.

Gosh, this is fun.....

Don