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The aerodrome at Nancy was bombed on 25 May 1944 from 07.32–39 GMT, causing severe damage to III./JG 26. The British intercepted four messages which seem to have been overlapping fragments of a full listing of the resulting aircraft losses. Because each loss was numbered (“First report”, “second report” etc.) and Gruppenstab aircraft were listed in order of fuselage tactical number, the list can be reconstructed albeit with some gaps:
Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 440624
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black 20
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Gruppenstab
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100%
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 440179
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black 21
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Gruppenstab
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 163445
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black 22
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Gruppenstab
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NOTE: this may be the same aircraft photographed by a German war reporter:
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 163432
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black 23
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Gruppenstab
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Bf 109 G-6
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—
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black 24
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Gruppenstab
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 163440
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black 25
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Gruppenstab
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40% (airscrew, engine, fuselage, … tail-unit)
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 740723
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white 1
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9. Staffel
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NOTE: this Werk Nummer is probably an error for 440723, white 1, which was flown to Étain by Uffz. Heinz Kemethmüller on 10 April 1944.
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 410419
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white 4
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9. Staffel
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162250
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white 20
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9. Staffel
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Bf 109 G-6
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—
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—
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9. Staffel
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90%
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Bf 109 G-6
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—
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—
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9. Staffel
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Bf 109 G-6
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—
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—
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9. Staffel
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(airscrew, fuselage, wings, tail unit)
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162258
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white 23
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9. Staffel
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50% (airscrew, engine, fuselage, tail unit, wings)
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162248
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white 8
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9. Staffel
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60% (airscrew, engine fuselage, wings, tail unit, undercarriage)
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162413
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blue 6
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12. Staffel
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Also lost in the bombing were a Go 145, apparently belonging to III./JG 26 and an He 111 of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division:
Go 145 A
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W.Nr. 236
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GN+NG
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—
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50% (airscrew, engine, fuselage, tail unit, wings, undercarriage)
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He 111 H-6
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W.Nr. 4407
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VG+SR
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HG Fallschirm Pz. Div.
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90% (tail unit, engine airscrew)
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Donald L. Caldwell’s The JG 26 War Diary: 1943-1945 (Grub Street, London, 1998; ISBN 978-1898697862) describes how III./JG 26 had taken off to oppose the American raid and that it was the non-operational Bf 109s which fell victim to the bombing. Another three of the Gruppe’s machines were lost in combat with the 356th FG:
Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162701
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black 2
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10. Staffel
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Uffz. Egon Rummler, KIA
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 162681
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yellow 4
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11. Staffel
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Uffz. Kurt Beck, KIA
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Bf 109 G-6
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W.Nr. 440989
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blue 18
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12. Staffel
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Uffz. Albert Boeckl WIA
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The I./KG 66 suffered the following damage in an air raid:
Ju 88 S-1
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W.Nr. 140611
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Z6+AB
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30%
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Ju 88 S-1
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W.Nr. 140605
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Z6+FH
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45%
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Ju 88 S-1
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W.Nr. 140579
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Z6+EN
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3%
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Ju 188 E-1
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W.Nr. 260528
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Z6+GK
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5%
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There were no casualties among the unit’s personnel.
NOTES: W.Nr. 140579 was reported lost on a mission over the Baie de la Seine on the night of 30 June/1 July 1944 along with its crew: Fw. von Allen (pilot), Uffz. Rödel (observer) and Uffz. Kühner (wireless operator). The Gruppe had been assigned to drop flares and Lux sea markers in support of a mining and torpedo operation off Courseulles-sur-Mer.
W.Nr. 260528 was found “destroyed” at Villacoublay by US troops. It had FuG 214 antennae. Z6+GK on fin.
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continued on next page …
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