Claims in the Med 19-21 Feb 43

[Chris Goss]

Does anyone have any claims for a Do 217 between Rome and Gabes on the above dates. Date of loss is stated as being 20 Feb so it could be 19-20 or 20-21 Feb

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo Chris,

You are probably interested in RAF claims and I cannot help there. For the USAAF there seems to be no match. According to Frank Olynyk's USAAF CREDITS FOR ENEMY AIRCRAFT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATRE the USAAF recorded no claims for 18-20 February 1943 inclusive. Their claims on the 21st amounted to 9 destroyed, 2 probables and one damaged - all by the 82nd Fighter Group. Indeed all bar one by the 95th Fighter Squadron. The odd one out was for a He 177 by the 97th FS. at 1415 hours between Cap Rosa and Cap Surrat.
Notwithstanding that the He 177 was not in the MTO then and single tail versus twin tails, neither the Do 217 or He 177 would have been familiar to the American pilots.
Would the time of day match your loss ?

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.

[Chris Goss]

Thanks Martin. No ideas of the time from the family of one of the Germans lost