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Old 2nd January 2018, 17:05
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German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

Hi,

Looking to establish what German units were involved in series of combats with RAF Mustangs on January 5th 1945. RAF Bomber Command sent 160 Avro Lancaster's against Ludwigshafen in daylight.

Any claims, losses or unit details appreciated.

TIA

Steve
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Old 3rd January 2018, 11:27
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Re: German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

Hi,

Can I take from the lack of replies that the identity of any German units that opposed this operation are unknown? The RAF Mustang escort, namely 129 Squadron claimed two Bf109's at 03:15 hours. A Lancaster crew claimed a FW190. Are there no losses recorded on this date?

Any guidance welcome.


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Old 3rd January 2018, 15:08
Laurent Rizzotti Laurent Rizzotti is offline
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Re: German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

The summary of Luftwaffe losses database for this date show only JG 11 losses to enemy aircraft in air battle: two for II./JG 11 (flying Bf 109s) and four for III./JG 11 (flying Fw 190s)

A Luftwaffe claim list by Jim Perry has Uffz. Herbert Drühe of 5./JG 11 claiming a P-51 in Mannheim area as his 8th victory, time unknown. The source is given as "Prien: JG 1/11 List" (JG 1/11 books written long ago by Jochen Prien)

Known Allied claims (from the book Fighter Command War Diaries, Part 5):
129 Sqn RAF: 2 Bf 109s claimed shot down
USAAF P-47s: 4 aircraft shot down, 3 damaged (no more details)
USAAF P-51s: 1 aircraft shot down (no more details)

From another source, the claims by P-47s were all made by 371st FG:

371FG War Diary entry for that day: “Weather bad early and we were held up making repairs to the runway but flew 4 missions. Got into a bunch of enemy aircraft again destroying four and damaging 3 FW 190s, but we lost Major Leonard, 405th Squadron Commander, and F/O Marks. Three squadrons that could not land at their bases due to weather, landed here and we have a field full of aircraft.”

His loss was recorded in the squadron’s history for January 1945 as follows: “At 1415 hrs on 5 Jan 1945, Major Leonard, leading a flight of 12 P-47 type aircraft, took off on a fighter sweep to the Worms area.

The squadron bounced 15 plus FW-190’s going SW at 13000 feet approximately 15 miles NW of Worms. The enemy aircraft started climbing upon being attacked. The 404th Fighter Sqdn stayed up as top cover, while a “hairy” dog-fight ensued. Approximately 12 more FW-190’s joined the fight as Major Leonard called in the location of the aerial battle to the “Baggage” controller.

Major Leonard’s ship was seen to crash in the vicinity of M-3010, but not before he had destroyed one FW-190 and shared another FW190 with Lt. McGonigle.

Further claims were one FW-190 destroyed by Capt. Tait, one FW-190 damaged by Lt. Meyer, making a total of 3 FW-190’s destroyed and 2 damaged.

Also MIA after the encounter was F/O Marks.

The encounter lasted 5-10 minutes, and the flight landed at 1600 without further loss.”

The squadron history provided additional context for the daunting period of Leonard’s loss in January 1945: “The first week in January was the hardest week for the 405th, in its history. The resurgence of the Luftwaffe and its willingness to do battle exacted a high toll from us in the loss of pilots, All MIA. On the 1st we lost Lt. Schleppegrell, followed on the 2nd by the loss of Lts Martin, Gamble, and Holm. Our heaviest loss came on the 5th when the 1st mission of the day returned without our CO, Major Leonard and without his wing man, F/O Marks. In the short time that he was CO, Major Leonard set a high operational record. It was sincerely regretted that he was not present to receive the Oak Leaf Cluster to his DFC or to receive his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.”

The Missing Air Crew Report (MACR #11603) reported the time of loss on 5 Jan 45 as 1545 hours, with Leonard flying P-47D 44-20078, a Block 28 Republic (RE)-built ship. The report included a statement from 1st Lt. Curtis L. McGonigle, who witnessed the following: “I, Lt. C. L. McGonigle, was flying on Discharge Leader’s wing when a large number of FW 190’s were sighted south-east of Worms at about 15,000) feet. Major Leonard attacked the last flight of FW 190’s in a shallow dive from about seven o’clock to the enemy. The Major shot down the last plane in the enemy’s flight. This FW- 190 exploded in a mass of flames. I was flying on the Major’s left wing at this time and stayed there while we closed on the next plane in the enemy flight. The Major got hits on this one then the 190 broke left, giving me a shot. The 190’s belly tank flew off and the airplane almost fell into me. I had to cut my throttle and dive to keep from running into the 190.

The 190 pilot bailed out. In the meantime, the Major got about half a mile away from me. Before I could catch him, two FW 190’s made a pass at the Major and broke off. The Major said he was hit and asked if I was with him, over the RT. I replied, “Roger”, and stayed with him; his engine was dead but he did not say so, he glided down to about five thousand (5,000) feet and said he was going to bail out. I saw him jettison his canopy and then turned into two 190’s coming in at six o’clock. The 190’s broke off immediately and I looked for the Major’s ‘chute, but couldn’t find it. I did see his airplane glide into an open field and burst into flames on contact with the ground. I circled looking for the ‘chute on the ground, but did not find one. I then returned to base alone.”

According to a German civilian witness of the dogfight, Major Leonard did bail out of his stricken aircraft, but his parachute failed to open and he was killed. German citizens of the nearby village of Hertlinghausen, SW of Worms, buried him respectfully with a soldier’s burial in their cemetery.

Sources:
https://371stfightergroup.wordpress....hter-squadron/
http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/12717/
Luftwaffe claim lists by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertlingshausen
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/rhe...rtlingshausen/

The P-51 claim was shared between two pilots of 364th FS, 357th FG, 1st Lt Thomas H Adams and 1st Lt Irving E Snedeker. It was also a Fw 190 during a patrol in the Kassel area according to the Osprey book "Mustang Aces of the 357th FG".

So, from available data, the German opponents of the RAF raid seem to be from JG 11, especially II./JG 11 lost two Bf 109s in an air battle and the only Bf 109s claimed by Allied fighters were the two claimed by 129 Sqn.

But sources are not complete:
_ no German claim is known to me for the two P-47s lost by 371st FG in the air battle against the Fw 190s.
_ the summary of Luftwaffe losses ended in January 1945 (last loss recorded is on the 29th) and is incomplete. I have an entry from GenSt.Gen.Qu.6.Abt for a Bf 109 of II./JG 51 that was damaged beyond repair (at 70%) on this date (on the Eastern Front, so not relevant for your case) but was only reported on 13 February, and so is not included in the summary.

Checking JG 11 activity, losses and claims this day may help. Especially if German fighters reached the RAF bombers (and the claim by a Lancaster gunner for a Fw 190 implies that). It did not occur often during the late war.

Bets regards
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Old 3rd January 2018, 19:43
Tempest Tempest is offline
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Re: German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

There is another thread to this look up "Info on U.S.9th A.F. P-47 mission 05-01-45 ?" And you should find it, I believe 129 Sqn so the Bf109's from II/JG11.
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Old 3rd January 2018, 21:34
CENTURION CENTURION is offline
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Re: German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

Hello,

apparently there were 3 different combats on 5 January 1945:

1) Lt. Adams and Lt. Snedeker of 364th FS (357th FG) shared a FW.190 destroyed at 13.45 North of Hanau (about 80 Km NE of Mannheim) during an escort mission for 370 B.17s of 3AD.

2) As reported by Laurent, the P-47s of 404th FS and 405th FS (371st FG) clashed with FW.190s 10 miles W / 15 miles NW of Worms (20 Km NW of Mannheim) at 15.00/15.15, claiming 4 FW.190s destroyed (one by Capt. Cox) and 3 FW.190s damaged (one by Lt. Penne and one by Lt. McLeod).
They clashed with III./JG11 who reported a combat with P-47s near Kirchheimbolanden (22 Km WNW of Worms) losing 4 FW.190A-8s (Uffz. Faust KIA, Hptm. Funck and Fw. Witte baled out wounded, Lt. Pichocky crash-landed near Kirchheimbolanden wounded) but claiming 2 P-47s shot down (by Lt. Keil and by Fw. Pfeffer).

3) 2 Bf.109s were claimed shot down by 129 Squadron at 15.15 near Ludwigshaven.
They engaged the II./JG11 who reported a combat with P-51s over Mannheim losing 2 Bf.109s (Fw. Probst KIA crashed near Firnheim, Uffz. Druhe baled out uninjured near Mannheim). A P.51 was claimed shot down by Uffz. Druhe.

Sources:
"USAAF Credits for the destruction of enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat" of Frank Olynyk
"Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11 - Teil 3, 1944-1945" of Jochen Prien and Peter Rodeike

Hope this helps. Regards.

Marco
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Old 3rd January 2018, 22:42
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Re: German reaction to RAF Daylight raid January 5th 1945

Gents,

Thank you both for the comprehensive replies.

Very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Steve
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