August 2, 1944 – USAAF claim, north of Rennes, France

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour,

On August 2, 1944 while on mission north of Rennes France a group of P-47s (365FG) spotted several Bf-109s heading westward. Three of the P-47s engaged the German formation but the Bf-109s dived and fled toward south. During this fight(?), a Bf-109 was seen losing its tail assembly. This encounter match with the loss of a Bf-109 belonging to 3./NAGr. 13 (Bf 109G-8 Werk-Nr.200040) but - the American pilots are speaking of eleven Bf-109s, so I wanted to know if a reconnaissance fighter had a wingman, an escort of fighter for its cover and if so, if details are known (German unit, name of wingman...) .

Best regards,
Frederic

[Chris Goss]

Such aircraft usually flew in pairs for mutual protection hence the 2./NAG 13 aircraft shot down in 1943 tended to get shot down in twos. Why so many aircraft were flying in this case could be additional protection or looking at the date, moving to a new airfields. Ofw Alois Landsmann apparently came down at Combourg whilst the same day Uffz Werner Eckert went missing between Evreux and Chartres

[Henofred]

Hello Chris,

It is indeed Alois Landsmann. Thank you for these precisions, that is what I though.

I assume that few archives about the activities of that Gruppe have reached us through the time and that it will be a bit complicated to know who was its wingman and which Jagdgeschwader was in charge to cover the sortie.

Best regards,
Frederic