Group marking was a ‘K’ in a triangle (the triangle represented the First Bomb Division of the 8th). €œYe Olde Pub†of 527th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, was serial #23167, coded FO*S. Eberhard Schade of 5./JG 27 for his 3rd victory. Only one B-17 was claimed by the II/JG 27 on this date, Lt. More about Franz Stigler, who was not flying with the 9./JG 27, but with the 6./JG 27 at this time:Ģ0.December 1943 – the German defense claimed 45 aircraft shot down the 8th Air Force admitted 27 four-engined and 6 fighter losses. There ARE other incidents of Luftwaffe fighters 'escorting' crippled machines - Rudorffer (2./JG 2) reported on escorting a smoking, limping Hurricane across the Channel back to England during the Battle of Britain, but he also stated that such a thing would NEVER occur in Russia (where he later let the II/JG 54). I'm sure that this B-17 incident has been embellished in the retelling, something along the lines of, "The fish that gets away always looks big." claims were between 26.June – 16.August 1942, and ten of these in a ten-day period of 6. Ordinarily, this sort of thing would have been the subject of a court martial, but JG 27 was already under-strength, and then came the British offensive in October, with the retreat across Libya and withdrawal to Sicily, and eventually north to Austria to serve in the Reichsverteidigung (home defense). Another, Karl-Heinz Bendert was eventually awarded the Ritterkreuz! Stigler continued flying to the end of the war - which for a German fighter plot was no mean feat in itself. The highest claimant, Erwin Sawallisch, disappeared over the sea on a "test flight" not long afterward, and his body was washed ashore later. The Gruppenkommandeur, Gustav Roedel, grilled these fliers, and this 'team' was broken up. These four (including Stigler) submitted more claims for this flight. One day, however, a very experienced pilot of the 2./JG 27 ("Fifi" Stahlschmidt, who later, at the time of his death, was the German pilot with the MOST combat flights in theatre) landed to report that he'd witnessed this flight of four Messerschmitts repeatedly diving toward empty sand dunes and firing their guns - at nothing. Other pilots marvelled at their success, but non – 4./JG 27 personnel with a lot of experience, such as Stahlschmidt, Boerngen and Sinner all doubted the claims being made. YET, on almost every mission, the "Expert Schwarm" (composed of Vogel, Sawallisch, Bendert and Stigler) of the 4./JG 27 returned with claims for multiple kills. ![]() During the summer of 1942, following the retreat of the British Army to the El Alamein line, R.A.F. Some background, however: Stigler was a member of the 4./JG 27 in North Africa at the time of its hushed-up false-claiming scandal. This incident has been the subject of a painting, and of course you can see the reunion photos (showing, curiously, artwork of Stigler's Bf 109F-4/Trop in NORTH AFRICA). Beneath is a response to an earlier, similar request to yours. I don't know if you are more interested in history, or war stories, but this Stigler and Brown incident seems to be the latter rather than the former.
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