Mission to Berlin, 6th of March 1943

Republic P-47D-11 Thunderbolt

B7-S, Snr. 4275211 "Daisy Mae" flown by Captain Robert S Sedman, 374th FS, 361st FG, USAAF, Bottisham/England, 6 March 1944

 

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7

Black 3 from 2./JG 1, Flown by Unteroffizier Alfred Haupt, Twente/Holland, 6 March 1944

On this day, the USAAF dispatched 730 Bombers to Berlin protected by 801 escort fighters. This force was met by a total of 463 German fighters. This number included 23 Fw 190s of I./JG 3 that took-off from the airfield at Twente. I/JG 3 was on this day led by their Gruppen Kommandeur, Hptm. Rolf Hermichen. During this air battle, that for the unit in total lasted from 11:55 to 15:00 hours, the pilots of the Gruppe claimed ten B-17 bombers shot down, for the loss of five Fw 190s to the P-47 escort. This resulted in two pilots KIA and one WIA. One of the pilots lost this day was Uffz. Alfred Haupt, that crashed in his Fw 190 A-7 at Almelo after "Luftkampf" with a P-47 Thunderbolt.


The pilot that shot down Haupt this day was Capt. Robert S Sedman of the 374th FS of the 361st FG flying in his P-47D-11 named "Daisy Mae". This is what Sedman wrote in his Encounter Report: "I saw one Fw-190 flying 180 degrees to me about 3,000/4,000 ft. below me, calling to my wingman Lt. Moor, white 2, to cover me, I cut my throttle and split S [onto] his tail [at] 14,000 ft. At approx. 700 yards I opened with a short burst observing no hits. I then closed to about 250/300 yds and opened fire with a very long burst, observing many hits around the cockpit and wing-roots. Very large pieces of the Fw-190 were breaking off. The Fw´s wheel dropped down and he went into a shallow left dive, thru a break in the clouds. I followed the E/A to around 8,000 ft and saw it dive on into the ground, whereupon it exploded.". Capt. Sedman had made a perfect bounce. He hit a lone and unsuspecting victim that was forced to return to home base alone, most likely after losing sight of his flight-leader during the air battle.


To sum up the days fighting, the USAAF gunners and fighter pilots claimed a total of 178 enemy fighters shot down, 36 probably shot down, and another 81 damaged. The Luftwaffe on the other hand claimed 94 bombers and ten USAAF fighters shot down, with another 90 bombers and nine fighters damaged.


This shows rather inflated numbers, not uncommon during a prolonged day of heavy fighting involving close to 2000 aircraft. The true losses for the USAAF on this day was 75 heavy bombers and 14 fighters, with another 347 of the four-engine bombers damaged. The true Luftwaffe losses were 62 fighters, with 38 pilots KIA and 22 WIA. Another 18 fighters were damaged.

© Claes Sundin 2020