Subject: Death Over Paris 28 May 1944
From: "Jukka O. Kauppinen"
Date: 11/20/03 1:39 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

But I understand some (very few) were there but were quickly shot down by
our
fighters. But I saw none that day

Actually Luftwaffe was up in whatever force they had already in the
first day.

The British squadrons report several clashes with German fighters, with
losses to both sides. German interceptors attacked, as far as I know,
medium bombers as well. And the Luftwaffe bombers started bombing the
beach heads already during the first night.

The Normandy aerial campaign is easily dismissed, as above, but there
was rather more to it. It's not much known though and information is
scarce. But the number of sorties of first day is pitifully low, in any
case.

JG26 flew most of the 172 combat sorties of Fliegerkorps II. Results
seem to have lost in the confusion. Next day first and second gruppen
claimed 8 kills versus 2 losses. Next day 6 kills vs 1 loss. They surely
weren't "swept" from the sky in single blow - but by steady attrition.
Remember that the pilots were still fighting over friendly territory,
had radar controllers etc available to them. So they still could choose
their fights.

There's at least one book on the subject:
Angels Eight
Normandy Air War Diary
Introduction:
"Because Allied air superiority was so awesome in Normandy, many believe
the German Luftwaffe did not appear at all. How surprising to learn that
the fierce battle in the skies over the Normandy beaches was much like
the Battle of Britain -- both in duration, about 80 days long, and in
severity, about 3,000 aircraft shot down. Only one or two books deal
with the aerial battle over Normandy and those that do treat it from the
viewpoint of one nation. For the first time, the squadron records of
German, American and British units in the Normandy Campaign reveal
details of nearly every aerial encounter that occurred, provide
tabulation of the number of losses and yield the names of the pilots who
fought."
http://www3.sympatico.ca/angels_eight/book.html


jok



Jukka I am sure report is accurate. But all I can attest to is what I saw or
what I didn't see. Nothing more. "Battleof Britain" over Normandy? May be but
not from where I sat.Thanks for the report.

Regards,

Arthur
Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer