Jagdgruppe 200

[kaki3152]

Nick,

Love the stuff on JGr-200. I still have some 15 year old correspondence from you on this subject.

The 332nd FG did lose a P-51 on July 12,1944 but it was not in combat.

The "July 1944 Overseas Accident Losses" has P-51C-7, s/n 42-103946, flown by Lt. George M. Rhodes as BOEF (Bailed out Engine Failure) 50 miles ENE Rome.

This is in line with the account in "The Tuskegee Airmen" by C. Francis who reports "During the takeoff several memebers of the 100th Squadron got lost in the overcast and not being able to locate their flights returned to base. One member of the 100th,Lt. George Rhodes, developed engine trouble and was forced to bail out in the vicinity of Rhodes. He was picked up by friendly natives..."

I believe the account in the latest book on the 332nd FG "332n Fighter Group - Tuskegee Airmen" by Bucholtz is incorrect. "Lt. George Rhodes was shot down during the battle,bailing out near Viterbo, but he was returned and brought back to squadron"

Carlos

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by kaki3152

Nick,

I believe the account in the latest book on the 332nd FG "332n Fighter Group - Tuskegee Airmen" by Bucholtz is incorrect. "Lt. George Rhodes was shot down during the battle,bailing out near Viterbo, but he was returned and brought back to squadron"

Carlos

If Rhodes did get shot down and bail out near Viterbo he had drifted a long way from Miramas! Your account makes much more sense. As far as I know, there was no combat over Viterbo that day.

[Nick Beale]

In the last couple of days, I've posted some new material to my website:

• The Jagdgruppe 200 in Provence story is now up to 31 July 1944.
• The Luftwaffe and Saint-Exupéry article now includes some more thoughts on the supposed possibility of a pilot concealing a victory on learning the name of his victim.
• Using Ultra to research the Luftwaffe: this has been updated now that I've taken a look at National Archives file AIR40/2697.
• III./SG 4 in Normandy: minor corrections.

[Nick Beale]

I've just posted some new material to my website:

• The Jagdgruppe 200 in Provence story is now up to 6 August 1944 (and I've now decided that I'll continue it right through to 20 August).
• The story of I./JG 2 in Italy now includes an American pilot's account of the combat on 24 Match 1944.
• Minor corrections to page layouts etc.

[Nick Beale]

I've just posted some new material to my website:
The Jagdgruppe 200 in Provence story is now up to 10 August 1944.

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, Nick

Just a brief question with regards to your excellent JGr 200 article:

You mention 1. Kdo 4. JGr Süd as the unit of Fw. Rainer Müller-Hagen in a Luftflotte 3 communication. Where did this information come from?

The reason for me asking is that I wonder if it should really read Eins.Kdo 4./J.Gr. Süd.

If this was based on translated information the distinction of numerical number one (or in other cases I.) and a short version of Einsatz (Eins.) could have been difficult.

As you certainly know the translation of name of units in the Ultra material really makes you twist your brain to find the correct german spelling sometimes :-)

Regards,
Andreas B

[Nick Beale]

It was from the attached Ultra message.

Your point about the confusion between "eins" and Eins." sounds right to me.

My favourite was a message where they'd translated «Haube» as cockpit hood rather than engine cowling — it really didn't make much sense!

[Nick Beale]

I've just posted new pages on my website, bring the story of Jagdgruppe 200 in Provence up to 15 August 1944.