Who claimed this B-17 on 14. Oct 1943?

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anybody can help me.

On 14. Oct 1943 B-17 42-29511 was shot down on the attack on Schweinfurt. I have all the info on the crew but I'm looking for the german pilot who claimed this B-17.

Thanks in advance,

Norbert

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Tony Wood's claimlists show 155 known German claims for B-17 during the Schwienfurt raid. That is about 2.5 claims for each US loss.

I don't think it is possible to identify who shot who in such a battle, except for some planes lost away from the main action.

[Ruy Horta]

155 claims, however I do recall from several sources that at the end of the day (not literal) final confirmation was given for a much lower number, one being closer to the number of US a/c lost.

Does this mean that the Tony Wood list includes claims unconfirmed by the RLM?

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Yes, Tony Wood's lists show sometimes claims rejected by the MLR but more often claims without a known confirmation number. It also list claims found in unit lists and not in the confirmation lists.

Of the 155 claims listed on 14th Oct 1943, 67 have a known confirmation number and 88 haven't or are issued from unit lists.

So Ruy you're right, 67 is far closer that the real number of losses (60 B-17 MIA and some more damaged beyond repair). But most of the other claims are counted like confirmed kills in German pilots score.

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Thanks for the replys. Still hoping to find my guy. I've been researching this attack for quite some time. It is very close to home.

Thanks for all the responses,

Norbert