Axis fighters lost to Allied bombers

[Mifletz]

Are there figures for the number of Axis fighters brought down by RAF & USAF bomber defensive fire?

[Mifletz]

If it's correct that the actual number of planes downed was only 10% of those claimed, then I'd guess that in the entire war c100 Axis (including Japanese) fighters were lost to the guns of RAF bombers and c400 to USAF bombers.

[Boandlgramer]

the USAAF bomber gunner claimed more than 9000 enemy planes shot down in air to air combat in europe/ north africa only .
so 10 % are about 900 enemy planes shot down.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Your numbers (100 and 400) seem really too low for me. As the post above sail, claims by US gunners numbered 9000, so the real number of losses is probably over one thousand. Remember that until 1944 the US heavy bombers often flew unescorted and the Luftwaffe still suffered losses. Both 1943 Schweinfurt raids cost the Luftwaffe 25-30 fighters IIRC. JG 1 and JG 11 also lost many fighters against B-17/24 in 1943.

As for the RAF, the real number is probably several hundred. Medium and coastal bombers should reach the 100-mark alone and RAF night bombers did shot down nightfighter sometimes.

[Graham Boak]

My understanding was that the number of fighters brought down during the Schweinfurt raid, and attributable to bomber gunners, was six. This suggests that the figure should not be 10% but considerably less. I believe I have seen 2-5% suggested, for massive daylight raids. I've seen no similar figure for night missions, but because of the 1-on-1 nature I would expect it to be nearer the dayfighter average of about one in three.

It would be interesting to see a good analysis, but attempting to compile a reasonably accurate wartime total would be a massive, and thankless, task.

[George Hopp]

"It would be interesting to see a good analysis, but attempting to compile a reasonably accurate wartime total would be a massive, and thankless, task."

Amen to that sentence, Graham. As can be seen from the above comments, if anyone did take the time to do something like this, there would not be thanks, but complaints that this-or-that incident was not actually a shoot-down, but a force-down, or any one of a million other things that invalidated the data.

[Josh Osborne]

I believe that in the last Schwienfurt raid where 60 4-engine bombers were lost, 40 fighters were shot down (I think ~200 were claimed). I think another 20 bombers were written off. The final ratio is 4 to 1. 12,000 heavy bombers where shot down, maybe 1/3 by enemy aircraft, or 4,000. It is therefore reasonable that 1,000 Luftwaffe planes were shot down by their defensive fire. A cursory read of the careers of Luftwaffe aces shows that it was not all that uncommon to be shot down by bomber defensive fire, although usually the pilots were able to bail unhurt. I think a lot of Lufwaffe planes had heavy bulletproof windshield glass, and the engine also served to protect the pilot somewhat.