Originally posted by OttoJespersen
One 262 was shot down near Brussels on 28 August 1944 by a pair of USAAF P-47 Thunderbolts.
78th FG records show that Maj. Joseph Myers and Capt. Manford O. Croy shared a kill of a 262 on August 28, 1944.
Carter & Mueller documents the first victory over a 262 as being credited to Lt. Valmore J. Beaudreault of the 365th Fighter Group flying a P-47D-27 on October 2, 1944 just west of Munster. Oddly enough, this was a case of two P-47s evading repeated attacks by a 262 and then pursuing it until its engines quit. Before either P-47 was close enough to shoot, the 262 crash-landed of its own volition. Beaudreault, being the closest of the pursuers, received the victory credit.
Here's where history gets very strange. BOTH 262s were piloted by the same Luftwaffe pilot!!!
From the 78th FG website:
"The German pilot of the Me262 downed on 28 August, 1944, and the pilot of the Me262 downed on 2 October, 1944( credited to P-47 pilots of the 365th Fighter Group(9th Air Force) near Munster ) was the same pilot, Ofw Rony Lauer. I have been corresponding with him since 1996.
He had just completed his sixth bombing mission in a Me262 on 28 August, 1944; returned to his base at Juvincourt, France, when he was ordered to fly to another base at Chieves, Belgium( Patton's Third Army was advancing in the area ). After becoming airborne, his main landing gear failed to retract fully( he used the compressed air supply for the previous landing). This drastically affected his cruising speed and potential top speed. P-47s from the 78th intercepted him at 500 feet and since he was unable to outrun or outmaneuver them, he chose to crash land near the village of Haaltert, about 10 miles northwest of Brussels. Major Joe Myers hit the Me262 as it touched down and it began burning immediately. Lauer jumped out of the cockpit as it slid to a stop and ran away from the burning aircraft. Lt. M. Croy fired at him as he ran across the field and Lauer dropped to the ground. A German salvage platoon picked him up with his aircraft that night, then drove him to his new base at Volkel, Holland the next day. He survived without injury
On October 2, 1944, he intercepted two P-47s of the 365th Fighter Group( 9th Air Force ) at 9,000 feet and played a "game of tag" with superior speed down to 500 feet, when one engine began trailing white smoke. Then both engines quit. Once again, he had to make a crash landing, this time without power. He was severely injured in the crash and spent two months in the hospital and rehabilitation. The P-47s of the 365th never fired a shot, but were credited with the victory.
Lauer later returned to his unit, KG51, and flew until the end of the war. His letters express little affection for the Me262, which was questionable for it's combat role. As a multi-engine pilot, he greatly admired the Ju88., which he had flown in the Mediterranean theater 1942-1943. It was fast, maneuverable, reliable and could be used in a variety of roles. He also regretted to have to give up his Ju88 crew( 3 men) when he was transferred to flying Me262s on July 21, 1944. The Me262 was noted for a variety of problem: high fuel consumption, inability to accelerate suddenly on takeoff or landing, engine flame outs, turbine blade failures and landing gear failures on grass fields.
Lauer's military history was typical of other German pilots. He was called to service in 1938, after basic training, received training as an engine mechanic and assigned. In the summer of 1939 he was approved for pilot training and completed flight school in 1940. He then trained in instrument and night flying plus operational training in the He111, Ju52 and Do17. As a pilot he flew radio operator trainees for almost one year. In 1941, he was assigned to Konigsberg on the Baltic to fly Ju86 transports to and from the Russian front. In the winter of 1942, he transferred to Ju88 bombers, flying out of Italy against Mdeitterranean shipping, the Allied invasion and occasionally to England in 1943. He was transferred to the Me262 program in the Spring of 1944 and flew out of various bases in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.
Upon returning to civilian life, he had difficulty in finding work. Discrimination against former military personnel was common after the war in Germany. He finally found employment with the National Railway and became an engine operator throughout central and northern Germany for many years. He is now retired and lives in Kirchain, approximately 40 miles north of Frankfurt. "
In his book, " Eagles of Duxford "(5), Garry L. Fry writes of the August 28, 1944 encounter :
"Working their way north around the fringes of Brussels, Major Joseph Myers, 82nd " Surtax" Blue Leader, was providing top cover for the Group. At 1915 hours near Tormonde, Belgium flying at 11,000 feet, he saw what he thought was a B-26 going South very fast and very low. Joe dove at 45 degrees registering 450 mph and got right above the bogie at 5,000 feet noting that it was painted slate blue with no markings. The bogie began doing wide ninety degree evasive turns as Myers cut him off from above, right astern, in his 450 mph dive to 2,000 feet. Closing to within 800 yards, it became apparent the stranger was not a B-26. Myers recalled a similarity between the aircraft and Me262 recognition plates.
As he prepared to fire from 500 yards astern, the jet slowed and crash landed in a plowed field. Myers started shooting as it touched the ground and continued pumping strikes into it down to 100 yards getting hits in the cockpit and both engines. The German jet skidded over the field, stopped and caught fire. The pilot, Oberfeldwebel Hieronymous Lauer of the unit Kommando Schenk, jumped out and ran as the rest of "Surtax" Blue Flight came in strafing. In his strafing run, Lieutenant Manford Croy, hit the pilot as he ran away from the jet. The Messerschmitt had been transferring from Juvincourt, near Reims, France to a base at Chievres, Belgium when the encounter took place. "
So, no matter which is correct, the USAAF records or the 78th's records, poor old hard-luck Lauer certainly flew the first Luftwaffe 262 credited to USAAF fighters.
Sometimes truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.
My regards,
Widewing
