Komm.Gen. Mittelitalien: put up 38 sorties by SG 4 aircraft and 53 by fighters, all on fighter sweeps in the area Viterbo-Orte-Rome.

Around 10.00 hours, Spitfires of 87th FW escorting B-26s of 321st BG to bomb a bridge at Montalto di Castro were jumped by four-plus Bf 109s. The Spitfires made no claims but two of them were damaged with one pilot injured. The Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 53, Maj. Franz Götz, was credited with shooting the two Spitfires down. Half an hour later, four Fw 190s "took long shots" at B-25s of 321st BG near Tivoli (B-25s) but there were no claims or losses arising from this action.

At 15.30 hours Komm.Gen. Mittelitalien informed 26. Panzer Division that ground attack operations were at present impossible as his ground attack aircraft were employed on fighter missions.

The day's next action came just before 17.00 hours when a reported 20 Bf 109s and Fw 190s attacked P-47s of 27th FBG near Lake Bracciano. One P-47 was lost and another damaged. In return, the Americans claimed a Bf 109 damaged and one Fw 190 destroyed. Pilots of I./SG 4 were credited with two victories in this engagement:

Later, the Allies decrypted a German signal that the Kommandeur [sic] of SG 4 had been killed and that two other pilots were missing also. In fact all three had died:

Allied photo-reconnaissance cover of Piacenza during the day recorded 17 Fw 190s among the aircraft present on the aerodrome.

The day saw a series of actions reported to have involved Fw 190s. During the day, Komm. Gen. Mittelitalien sent up 25 sorties by ground attack aircraft, 55 by fighters and 10 by tactical reconnaissance machines. While this might not seem a great number, at least four separate engagements with Allied aircraft took place.

At 06.35 hours, P-47s of the 27th FBG were jumped by 15-plus Bf 109s of I./JG 77 west of Lake Bracciano, claiming one damaged for one loss of their own although Luftflotte 2's daily situation report had originally been more optimistic:

Freelance fighter patrol in area Rome – front area. 1 Thunderbolt shot down, 2 Thunderbolts probably crashed.

The successful German pilot was Oblt. Hammel of 3. Staffel. At 10.00, 79th FG’s P-47s emerged unscathed after being attacked by 18 Bf 109s and Fw 190s (or, according to another part of the same report, 15-plus Fw 190s) “from long range using Rockets” but sustained no losses. Nonetheless, Lt. Weber of of 2./SG 4 and Fw. Maikranz of the 3. Staffel each claimed a P-47, south west of Amelia and south east of Terni respectively. The damaged German machine my have been the Fw 190 of Lt. Otto Kallenberger of 6./SG 4 (Fw 190 G-8, W.Nr. 190049), reported killed in combat with Spitfires over Amelia. The I./JG 77 also lost two Bf 109s during the day.

At 13.10 hours, two Bf 109s attacked F-6As of the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flown by 2/Lts William R. Hornsby, Jr. and Lt Warner E. Johnson who claimed both their assailants as destroyed. Ofw. Josef Budzinski of 2./NAG 11, killed in air combat at Fiano-South (Bf 109 G-5, W.Nr. 110258, white 15):

From Command 218/VII on 27/5:

1110 hrs. [GMT = 13.10 local time], 2 km. SW of Fiano South, 1 Me 109 of 2./NAG 11 crashed. Cause: shot up by enemy. Pilot killed. A/c completely burnt out in places.

The 2./NAG 11 did have another casualty but at Trevi. There are three towns with this name in Central Italy (Trevi nel Lazio, Trevi di Terni and Trevi di Perugia) as well as a district of Rome, none of which is particularly close to Fiano and this loss must be attributed to DAF (see below).

Thirteen Bf 109s of III./JG 53 scrambled at 14.45 hours, landing again at 15.25 without contacting any enemy aircraft.

At 16.25, P-47s of the 79th FG were jumped by an estimated 15-plus Me/Fw between Orvieto and Lake Bolsena. The Americans suffered no losses but claimed a Bf 109 damaged. Two of 1./SG 4’s pilots claimed success in this engagement: Oblt. Schick was credited with a P-47 at16.26 and Uffz. Ochs with a Spitfire two minutes later, both over the Monti Cimini.

The Advanced HQ of Desert Air Force reported:

A most successful last light fighter sweep … An excellent show.

From 18.55-20.25, Lt. Col. A.C. Bosman in a Spitfire VIII led five Spitfire IXs of No. 1 (SAAF) Squadron on a sweep. Over Foligno, they met what were identified as 10 Fw 190s and Bf 109s, reporting that some were in German and some in Italian markings.

Col. Bosman destroyed 2 MEs. 1 was seen to leave the sky and ended up in a tree, the other crashed into the ground and burned out. Col. Bosman also strafed an ME on the ground with Lt. Wallace which burst into flame. Lt. Brebner destroyed an FW190. The pilot was seen to bale and the a/c crashed between satellite and FOLIGNO main.

In addition 2 ME 109s were damaged and a FW190 or possibly an ME was seen to belly flop. 1 parachute seen in the air indicating another victory has not yet been accounted for. No further allocations have been made pending further checkup and examination of combat films. A good time was had by all, and no loss, injury or damage was sustained.

That evening 2./NAG 11 had been transferring to Trevi (a satellite strip, a few kilometres south of Foligno). One group of five Bf 109s (white 1, 5, 10, 12 and 14) had left Littorio at 19.10 hours and a 25-man advance detachment had reached the new base. That evening, Flughafenbreich Perugia reported:

From ARC 3/VII, IC to Aircraft Movement Report Collecting Centre and GAF Close Support Corps South on evening of 27/5:

2010/27/5 8 Spitfires with a/c armament on Trevi a/f, 2000 to 300 metres from 3 to 9. [Defence] M.G. and rifle fire. 1 pilot wounded while landing. 2 Bf 109 total loss, 1 Bf 109 80% damaged.

The injured pilot was Uffz. Franz Lielacher from the 2. Staffel (Bf 109 G-6. W.Nr. 20374, yellow 8). Crew strength of 2./NAG 11 after this incident was 11 pilots, two of them officers. The officers and five others were ready for operations, three pilots were conditionally ready and one was on leave.

The South Africans’ report of some aircraft in Italian markings was almost certainly an error since fighters of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana did not operate so far south. It is also unlikely that any Fw 190s were involved, although the Komm. Gen. Mittelitalien did report one such aircraft missing in addition to the one shot down:

Final day report of 27/5, stamped 0745 [GMT] signed FANAL [Kommandiernder General der Deutschen Luftwaffe in Mittelitialien] IC:

Own ops: 25 g/a/, 53 fighter, 10 recce a/c.

Shot down: 1 Thunderbolt. A further one presumably force landed.

Losses: 1 Fw 190 missing; 1 Fw 190 shot down, pilot killed.

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