Fw.190 (?) lost over Berlin, night of 30/31 Jan 1944.

[Mark Crame]

Hi, I am hoping one of you may be able to point me in the right direction for a Luftwaffe loss at around 20:25 (GMT presumably?) on the night of 30/31 January 1944. 467 Squadron record the following in the Form 540:

"We have claimed a Fw.190 destroyed on this raid, being attacked by BRUCE SIMPSON’s crew, the Air Gunners 1355357 F/Sgt Thompson H and AUS426306 F/Sgt CAMPBELL CA being the men responsible."

The Form 541 for this crew records: “Coming out of target Me.110 was crossing under, I banked to port and my gunners ordered corkscrew starboard which I did and brought all my guns to bear on the Me. Hits were observed and it was seen to turn on its back and disappear.”

Can anyone help? Was a fighter shot down at around that time, if so what sort, and who was the pilot / unit etc?

Any help gratefully received. My thanks in advance,

mark

[Chris Goss]

I just have one single seater lost that night from 1/JG 300 but that was due to an accident

[RT]

As JG301/302 were just activ the day, this night. Maybe date is wrong as 29 jan. was more prolific for losses = 6 at least

remi

[Mark Crame]

Thanks Chris and RT. Date is definitely 30/31 Jan - 467 sqdn were stood down the previous night and didn't fly (well, according to the ORB's anyway).

The 541 records the crew as saying a Me.110 - were any of those (or Ju.88 etc) lost? It's pretty inconclusive as it turned on its back and disappeared - doesn't take long to do that at night, unless you are on fire - and no-one saw it downed. A damaged/probable more than a confirmed I should think.

Target ID at night must be a nightmare. Thanks again for looking it up for me,

Mark