Downed Bf-109 Ardennes - ID ?

[Matthias Radu]

This Bf-109 picture had been taken by a GI of 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, most likely in the Ardennes region. There is a small tactical number 7 visible, probably green. Is this a "Bodenplatte" loss?

http://i12.tinypic.com/44gsdp0.jpg

Any ideas which unit & identification of the a/c as well as date & location of the loss?

Best Regards

Matthias

[John Beaman]

Hi Matthias:

W/O a date or a location it is difficult to say who, what. During the Battle Of The Bulge, hundreds of Luftwaffe fighters were lost even prior to Bodenplatte. There are some possibilities, but a date or location would narrow the possibilities down, considerably.

[Matthias Radu]

John,

thanks for taking care. All I can say is that most of the other pictures in the series (which do not show a/c) have been identified as being taken in the Hotton area, Ardennes, Belgium.

There is another series predominantely taken in the Stolberg sector in Germany in November 1944, but I would tend to rule out this area for the picture in question. Not much to go by, sorry.

I had hopes that

a) this Messerschmitt is already known and identified from other pictures or
b) the distinctive small tactical number without an outline, "combined" with no other markings, could be of use to identify the unit.

Best Regards

Matthias