Losses - III./JG76 in October 1944

[Eagle0025]

Andre,

Great post on an obscure group that only existed from May until October 1944. I have done research on III./JG76 since my father's FG (the 474th FG) was involved in a large dogfight with them on 25 August 1944. III./JG76 suffered more than the 12 losses listed according to official sources. ULTRA intercepts showed they had 18 aircraft missing (likely shot down), 3 aircraft destroyed, 5 badly shot up, and 2 crash landed back at their home base of Athis, France. The intercept also listed 18 pilots MIA with 3 WIA. These figures match up pretty close with the 474th FG claims for that mission. I know that many of the Bf-109G-14s went down in an area bordered by the cities of Clermont, Creil, and Beauvais, France.

I am still attempting to identify all of the III.JG76 pilots and aircraft on that 25 August 1944 mission. Jim P.'s post particularly caught my eye when I saw the following entry:
17-Oct-44, Bf 109G-14, 462967, Koch, Uffz. Herbert, , JG 76, 3., weiße, 3 +, , , 17-Oct-44, KIA due to Luftkampf with P-47s by Effringen-Kirchen near Wintersweiler. FSA., , RLV, Trendle, Brennendes land, , Raum Mappach in den Berg, 100%

My father, Don Koch, was shot down on the 25 August mission and held as a POW in a local French farmhouse. While waiting to be interrogated, my father remembered a tall, lanky German enlisted fighter pilot walk into the farmhouse after being shot down in the very same fight. He saw my father's name on his Mae West and asked him "Ist das deine Name?" or "Is that your name?" My father understood what he said and nodded. The German replied "Ah, das is meine Name auch!" or "That is my name too!".

Fw190s from I./JG26 and II./JG26 also participated in this same fight against the 474th FG, but my sources indicate there was no JG26 pilot by the name of Koch that flew on that mission. This led me to deduce that this German pilot had to be a Bf109 pilot with III./JG76. I would be very interested to find out more about this particular pilot. This might be the "Koch" I am seeking.

Cheers, Gary Koch (474th FG Historian)