Best Heavy Fighter

[Scherf]

Raid on B-17s at Poltava wasn't bad either.

[Ack-Ack]

Raid on B-17s at Poltava wasn't bad either.

The US was hampered in that raid, the Soviets wouldn't allow the US to up their P-51s to defend the base and Soviet AA was so terrible, that they didn't hit one German aircraft.

ack-ack

[GScholz]

I'm not sure what good the P-51s could have done since the attack took place at night. The airfield was illuminated by flares dropped by German pathfinders half past midnight before more than 300 He 111s from KG 4, KG 27, KG 53 and KG 55 attacked the field en masse.

[save]

The Bari raid was so successful much of the offensive planning in Italy had to be cancelled for months

[MiloMorai]

& FYI, m.m.,

 On 1-1-45,  F/O J.W. J. ['Judy'] Garland,
flying Tempest W2-B (EJ 774) of 80 Squadron, 122 Wing 2nd TAF, RAF,
was indeed,  awarded a victory claim  - for an FW 190 shot down 15 miles north of Munster..

Looks like jaw is on a wee vacation.

To quote Chris Thomas:

Garland's combat report (and 2nd TAF Vol3 p394, plug!) gives the time of the combat as 1130 hrs. The CR gives the 'place of attack' as approx 15 miles NW Munster but in the narrative gives the crash locations as "approx 8 miles SE Rheine" and "approx 16 miles due west of Osnabruck".

The second Dora was described as "camouflaged light blue".

[GScholz]

The Bari raid was so successful much of the offensive planning in Italy had to be cancelled for months

The result is irrelevant to the proficiency of how the attack was executed.

Attack on Bari was the best executed bomb-attack Germans did from 1943 on, and with JU88s only.

[J.A.W.]

Hardly irrelevant, since an incompetently executed attack or when  attack is successfully contested by defences..
 - would make a big difference in outcome.. See Operation Steinbock

What about the He 177 missile attack on the Rhona troop-ship  - packed with GI's - too?

[J.A.W.]

Interesting, a full LW late war KG bomber selection at hand..

Bari & Corsica ops with Ju 88's,

Poltava with He 111,

Roma with  Do 217 (& Fritz-X),

Rhona with He 177 ( Hs 293),

& Steinbock with 88/188/177/190/217..

& Ju 87 doing tactical night strike, while He 111's performed stand-off cruise missile ( V1) duty..

[J.A.W.]

Quote from top-scoring RNZAF Evan Mackie (m'kay) who made ace status on Spitfire & Tempest..

"The Spitfire was a great machine, & after 805 hours on the various marks I grew really used to it,
but it did not take me long to realize that the Tempest was ever so much superior in many ways,
both as a fighter & a ground attack machine.

At the the closing stages of the European conflict I had the option of changing to the Meteor jet aircraft,
but turned it down in favour of the tried & proven Tempest.

The harder they were flown, the better they went, & despite their almost 7-ton weight they could be
thrown around the sky like a piece of paper."

Heavy fighter fan, then E. Mackie - it appears..

[Jabberwock]

Mackie flew Spitfire Mk Vs (primarliy) and Mk VIIIs. Its little wonder he would label the Tempest V as "superior in many ways" - moving from a 1,720 hp, 7,800 lb fighter to a 2,200 hp, 11,500 lb fighter might do that.

If he'd moved to Spitfire Mk XIVs, I wonder what he might have said?

[J.A.W.]

Well since he was also Wingco of 122  2nd TAF which had Spit XIVs attached, & being a Spit fan too,
its very likely he'd have no problem blagging one for an 'air-test' ,&  it'd be in his log-book, I suppose..