Friendly fire WWII

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Some more cases, issued from the JG 54 loss list from the late Günther Rosipal:

9 January 1942
The Bf 109 F-2 WNr 12647 of 3./JG 54, flown by Gefr. Gustav Haubner, was shot down in error by German Flak and crashed near Krasnogwardeisk airfield, killing its pilot.

22 March 1943
Uffz. Josef Guth of 3./JG 54 was attacked in error by a Bf 109 of II./JG 54 in Russia (Pl. Qu. 9036) and bailed out wounded from his Fw 190 A-4 Wnr (14)5760.

14 May 1943
Oblt. Rudolf Klemm, an ace of 9./JG 54, claimed his 25th victory (a B-24 shot down at Rieseby, 8 km N Eckernförde) during the interception of an American raid on Kiel but his Bf 109 G-4 WNr 16144 10 + ^^ yellow was then shot down by his own Flak and destroyed at 100%. Klemm was wounded, blinding him in one eye. Despite this handicap, Klemm returned to combat duty some weeks later and survived the war with 42 victories.

12 November 1943
Luftflotte 6 dispatched all available aircraft, a total of 215 sorties, despite the poor weather conditions, to the Nevel area. The Russians had broken through and were heavily supporting the advance with ground-attack aircraft. This was to be Walter Nowotny's last combat mission on the Eastern front, and Uffz Karl Schnörrer of Stab I./JG 54 flew as his wingman. Nowotny attacked a Russian Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft and shot it down for his 255th victory. A second Il-2 attacked Nowotny's Fw 190 but Schnörrer managed to bring down this Il-2 for his 35th, and last, victory with JG 54. Schnörrer's Fw 190 A-5 (W.Nr. 410 021 green 2) then received hits from another Il-2, or from German Flak according to another source. He baled out of his blazing Fw 190 at an altitude of no more than 50 to 70 meters. The parachute deployed only a few meters above the ground. German soldiers rescued the badly injured pilot, who had suffered broken legs and a skull fracture. Having recovered from his wounds, Leutnant Schnörrer was then assigned to Erprobungskommando 262 in June 1944, flying the Me 262 jet fighter.

31 January 1944
Fw Heinrich Brücher of JG 54 was killed by his own Flak at Towaschewo. No more details.

6 November 1944
FhjUffz. Günther Kurz of 12./JG 54 was killed when German Flak shot down in error his Fw 190 D-9 WNr 210012 (TS+SL, red 7+) over the airfield of Achmer.

Source:
JG 54 loss list, by Günther Rosipal (http://www.jg54greenhearts.com/LossList.htm)
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/klemm.html
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/schnorrer.html

[alex crawford]

Hi Brian,

Don't know if you have seen my post here

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=3657

I'm trying to find out the ID of the Gladiators involved in attacking and damaging a Seagull from HMAS Sydney.

Alex

[George Hopp]

Apologies to one and all. Seems like I should have put more water in my whisky! My attempt to brighten up the day seems to have been a miserable failure! Never mind, once bitten , twice shy.

I thought it was cute, so don't apologize. Everyone has to relax once in a while, so why not with good whisky and a riske joke.

And a Happy New Year to you Brian,
George

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

Apologies to one and all. Seems like I should have put more water in my whisky! My attempt to brighten up the day seems to have been a miserable failure! Never mind, once bitten , twice shy.

Back to business: WHERE ARE YOU NIKITA? Did you receive my e-mail? WHERE ARE YOU SIX NIFTY? My e-mails to you were returned!

All the best for 2006

Brian

Apologies for the late reply.

I've been busy and haven't read the message boards for a few weeks. My e-mail is active and seems to be functioning properly. If you still have problems reaching me through the Yahoo account, then please try the Private Messages feature in this forum.

Happy New Year!

[Brian]

Hi everyone who has been contributing for the last three weeks or so!

As you may be aware I suffered a disastrous PC crash and now have a new machine. Fortunately, most of my files have been retrieved although I have lost some, particularly my updated Friendly Fire file! I am sure you all sympathise with me, apart from those wise guys who save their information on a daily basis. I intend to join those ranks but am a forgetful type!

I will now endeavour to catch of on the posts. In the meantime, thanks

Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hi Brian, sorry for your crash. My advice will be to buy a big USB device to store 500 or 1000 Meg of data in it, so you can save daily without losing much time.

[Brian]

Hi Laurent

Thanks for the advice. Please let me have your address to enable me to send the book (recent events have thrown my intentions askew!). Private mail if you so wish.

Cheers
Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

A new case:

7 October 1944

Allied aircraft strafed in error Montepetra, Italy, killing 10 civilians and 7 English soldiers.
Source:
http://www.criad.unibo.it/isr-forlicesena/storia/biografie.html

[Brian]

Many thanks Laurent, I am now doing a quick Italian language course so that I can read it!! Excuse sarcasm!

One of my previous enquiries concerned a P-38 shot down in error by airfield defences at A.2 ALG near Grand-Camp-les-Bains on the Normandy coast on 25 June 1944. This is recorded in Richard Turner's BIG FRIEND, LITTLE FRIEND. I haven't made much progress re the identity of the pilot or unit, but believe it would have been one of teh following. Does anyone have the relevant MACRs that could establish idenitity?

P-38s all from 370thFG are recorded as lost on this date:
42-104016 (MACR 6181)
42-67282 (MACR 6182)
42-67930 (MACR 6183)
42-67886 (MACR 6184)
42-4196 (MACR 6229)
42-68023 (MACR 6268)
42-67927 (MACR 6270)
Also, 367thFG lost 43-28702 (MACR 6350)
And, 82ndFG lost 43-28774 (MACR6429

If no one has the info I am looking for, perhaps by process of elimination, I will narrow down the enquiry.

Thanks in advance.

Brian

[Laurent Rizzotti]

If the P-38 was shot down above Allied territory, there will probably be no MACR.

The Italian link doesn't provide any more data than what I have translated. Sarcasm accepted.