By recent standards this was a big day for Luftflotte 2 with a total of 175 sorties. P-47s of the 79th FG saw four Fw 190s at 06.50 but no contact resulted. Twenty-four aircraft of I. and II./SG 4 took off at 18.00 hours, escorted by 17 Bf 109s of III./JG 53 and thanks to some astute work by MAAF Signals Intelligence, things started going wrong almost from the off. Twenty minutes into their flight, over Lake Bracciano, they met two groups of Bostons (possibly the twin-engined formation that other German fighters failed to contact); at 18.30 came an encounter with two Spitfires, then 15 minutes after that Spitfires attacked the Focke-Wulfs, some of which jettisoned their bombs.

HQ No. 244 Wing RAF:

145 had it all their own way to-day, and put the biggest score of the present battles. They took off from Nettuno to give area cover to Baltimores attacking Velletri. They were just airborne, when 20+ were coming S. After 2 minutes they saw 20 190s at 20,000 covered by 4 109s. They came toward the Spits head on, and as bombers had not arrived, we got stuck in.

Lt. J.H.G. Anderson chased a 190 in a shallow dive North, and fired, getting strikes on the tail, which caused a white flash. as Anderson pulled up above it, he saw the a/c hit a hillside.

F/O Ekbery chased another 190 which was lagging behind. He fired from 200 yds, and saw strikes on the fuselage and port wing, then black smoke poured out … and the e/a slipped away like a falling leaf. It was last seen still going down at 2000’. Ekbery then turned in on another … firing until the hood was jettisoned and the pilot baled out from 1000’. Seeing another 190 East of Rome … he overtook it when it was at 500’ … gave it 2 bursts, and with bits flying off the fuselage and port wing, the 190 crashed.

F/Sgt Stirling closed in on a 190 on the deck North of Rome .. fired from astern .. saw hits on fuselage and debris, whilst the cockpit burst into flames. the 190 attempted to pull up, then flicked over and went in. Stirling had attacked other 190’s before this, but saw no results. Men in a POW camp near Rome saw the combat.

S/Ldr Duke closed on a 190 from 150 yards … raked it, until it crashed. He followed another, and got in bursts as the 190 turned on its back and dived. The pilot baled out from 14,000 .. but the chute was not seen to open. Turning South, the C.O. saw our bombers coming in, and gave them a lone escort without let or hindrance. It was his 24th destroyed, a record for the D.A.F and Mediterranean War.

Meanwhile F/Lt Wooler chased 3 190s. 2 stayed together, the other dived. Wooler chased it above the deck, until he got in a burst which blew it up.

Lt. Millborrow chased a 190 North of Rome down to the deck.. saw strikes on port fuselage and cockpit, and much grey smoke. He himself was then attacked, and had to break away without further result. He turned South, and saw 2 below him going North. Turning into them, he attacked one until the pilot baled out from 400’, the chute opening … the 190 blew up, oil spattering the Spit.

F/O Somer, who was last seen East of Velletri did not return.

The Spitfires appear to have pursued individually because the German formation was split up by their attack: seven of the Bf 109s escorted six Fw 190s to Aquino and back; another seven Messerschmitts evaded the Allied fighter screen and flew a direct course to Cassino. That six SG 4 aircraft and 14 fighters continued to the battlefront suggests that these at least still had their bombs although others radioed that they had been forced to jettison theirs. Meanwhile, four Bf 109s shepherded four Fw 190s from Rome back to base.

According to RAF monitoring of R/T, the Focke-Wulfs’ intended targets had been around Velletri on the Anzio front, not Cassino and Aquino. Taking all the sources together, it appears likely that one Gruppe was assigned to each target and that they were to proceed from base as a single group, loop around east of Rome, continuing south east until one formation split off to hit Velletri and the rest carried on to Aquino.

The Spitfires’ claims totalled 8–1–1 and according to British Signals Intelligence, 20 Focke-Wulfs landed at 19.00 hours but from Luftwaffe records SG 4’s personnel losses for the day totalled five killed and two missing, all in combat with Spitfires:

(Three of these aircraft had been among those flown from Vicenza to Piacenza on 17th).

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