On 29 December 1944, III./JG 54 would suffer dearly against the RAF and RCAF in clashes that would later come to be known as "Black Friday". The day began when the Gruppe was ordered by the 3. Jagddivision "to intercept Fighter-bombers in the Münster-Rheine area".

The Stab and 11. Staffel with around 20 Fw 190 Doras, led by Hauptmann Robert Weiss, took off from Varrelbusch at 10:15. The German flight leaders could not comprehend the assigned mission altitude of 2,000 meters and below, especially after the situation reports had spoken of a steady stream of enemy fighters above that height.

This would result in the Luftwaffe pilots facing the constant threat of being bounced from above. After 35 minutes, at 10:50, enemy aircraft were sighted below and Weiss ordered an attack. They had run into the midst of a large formation of over 20 Typhoons of RCAF No. 439 and RAF No. 168 squadrons busting up some trains.

Soon, the German formation was broken up by the superior forces of the 2nd TAF. Northwest of Rheine, pairs and Schwarme of German fighters were engaged with the Typhoons. During the dog-fight the Germans claimed a total of three Typhoons for the loss of three Dora-9s with all three pilots going down with their machines.

Over the town of Lengerich, No. 331 Norwegian Squadron Spitfires joined the battle by conducting a perfect bounce from above. First to be hit was Ofw. Philipp from the 11th, a Knight's Cross recipient with 80 victories. He managed to down one of the attackers before being forced to leave his stricken "Yellow 6". Taking to his parachute near Nordham, the chute "bunned-up", and upon hitting the ground he suffered severe fractures and sprains thus putting him out of the war.

After following Hptm. Weiss the next to be downed near Kleineast/Vreden was Uffz. Werner Rupp in is "Black 4", Rupp who was on tis day flying his second combat mission as a fighter pilot. The remaining two Dora-9's then turned into the attackers. Shortly thereafter, Fw. Neersen in his "Black 2" crashed to his death attempting to belly-land his Dora.

In the following low-level dogfight, hopelessly outnumbered by the Norwegian pilots, Hptm. Weiss blew the entire tail section off of Capt. Readers' Spitfire. Readers failed to escape his spinning crate and was killed in the ensuing crash. Hptm. Weiss' Dora-9, "Black 10", was then hit and entered a steep dive. He was able to pull up narrowly missing a farmhouse, but crashed into the woods 400 meters beyond it.

Robert "Bazi" Weiss, holder of the Knights Cross with 121 victories met his death in the crash. The day would get even worse however for III./JG 54, as both the 12. Staffel under Oblt. Hans Dortenmann, and the 9. Staffel led by Oblt. Willi Heilmann, were later involved in fighting the RAF and RCAF.

To sum up "Black Friday", the III./JG 54 pilots filed claims for a total of eight enemy fighters; three Typhoons and five Spitfires. The Germans however lost 13 pilots KIA, three pilots WIA, and 16 Dora-9s totalling half of the III./JG 54 inventory. The RAF and the RCAF lost a total of ten machines during the clashes with III./JG 54 on this day, five Spitfires MK IXs, three Typhoon MK Is and two Tempests MK Vs. The pilot losses amounted to six KIA, three POW, and one who evaded capture.

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