On 11 September 1944, a massive, intense air battle took place over the mountains between Germany and what was then Czechoslovakia. The memory of this battle is still alive today.

Preparation

Towards the end of the second world war, American fighters stationed in airfields in England were ready to attack Nazi Europe¹. While the Allies were advancing from western and southern Europe, England was still the main source of bombing raids on Nazi Germany. This why England was sometimes called an aircraft carrier off the coast of Europe.

On 11 September 1944, the Allies were readying for a mssive bombing of the Ruhrland, Hitler’s industrial heartland¹. Bombers were on high alert at these airfields²:

• Thorpe Abbott (Norfolk)
• Horham (Suffolk)
• Fowlmere (Cambridgeshire)
• Wormingford (Essex)

American P-51 Mustangs were to escort these bombers. The P-51 was faster and more agile than anything else which flew at the time¹. They also had greater range so they could escort bombers as far as central and southern Germany¹.

Heading for Germany that evening were¹:

• 1 131 B-17G Flying Fortresses of the 100th Bomb Group, 3rd Bomb Division. This was the ‘Bloody Hundredth’ under the command of Colonel Thomas Jeffrey².
• 440 P-51 Mustang fighters of the 55th and 339th Fighter Group².

They flew south-south-east towards Belgium, flying west of Oostende on the Belgian coast. They turned eastwards past Brussels and headed for Mainz, south of Frankfurt. There, they pivoted north-east to pass Frankfurt and made a beeline for Dresden.

It wasn’t long before the Germans reacted. From their bases in Welzow and Alteno, they scrambled 500 German Messerschmitt Me109 and FW190 intercept fighters^{1 2}. These belonged to the II.Sturmstaffel, “Storm Squadron” and III.Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 4^{1 2}. The II.Sturm’s main job was to intercept heavy American bombers³. Each plane had 5mm armor plates around their fuselage³. The firepower from the German fighters was enormous; each plane had³:

• Two x 20 mm guns
• Two x 30 mm guns
• Two x 13 mm cannons
• Separate machine guns.

Despite the equipment, many of the pilots in the group had little or no flying experience.

One pilot who had plenty of experience was Squadron Commander Gerhard Michalski. He had shot down 26 British fighters in the Battle of Malta, and had experience in the Eastern front as well³.

Battle

Over Germany’s Thuringian forest, the Luftwaffe engaged the Allies¹. The brevity of the battle means that most of the downed aircraft fell in a small region along the Czech-German border².

At first contact, the Germans destroyed 13 Flying Fortresses, but lost tens of their own to do so⁴. As parachutes erupted in the air, 40 German fighters attacked head-on, opening fire from about 350 metres⁴. After this sudden attack, a few Germans peeled away, executing a 360-degree turn, and re-attacking from below⁴.

In total, the Allies lost 40 America bombers and 17 fighters¹. The Germans lost 50% of their planes². Almost all the allied planes that returned bore heavy damage from the furious battle.

Despite these losses, the Allied plan continued. The remaining bombers continued to the Ruhrland and bombed the refinery⁵.

The battle lasted 10 minutes. The brevity of the battle means that most of the downed aircraft fell in a small region along the Czechoslovak-German border².

Aftermath

Squadron Commander Gerhard Michalski survived the war with 73 victories. He lost his life in a traffic accident in 1946³.

Suspicion greated Germans who had seen the crashes, or found remains¹. By the time the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, the East German Stasi preferred keeping their counterparts in the West in the dark¹. Anyone who spoke about the incident ended up under investigation¹.

In March 1982, electricians re-wiring a school in the Czech town of Kovarska discovered a bundle of USAF overalls¹. They contained identification information of Staff Sergeant John C Kluttz¹. This triggered the imagination of Jan Zdiarsky, a 12-year old Czechoslovak kid at the time.

This is not far from the church that moved.

Zdiarsky continued his fascination by searching, digging and recovering whatever he could. In part thanks to him, the USAF found and excavated remains of American pilot Bill Lewis in 1999. The book Courtesies of the Heart describes the search for the remains of Bill Lewis.

In 2001, the US Army’s Central Identification Laboratory started digging in the area¹.

Today

The 100th Bomb Group is now the 100th Air Refuelling Wing, based in RAF Mildenhall, Norfolk.

Jan Zdiarsky still lives in Kovarska and works nearby. He is still fascinated by this air battle and runs a museum dedicated to this fierce air battle. The museum is usually open on the weekends. It is fit to burst with memorabilia and hundreds of fragments found in the region. Jan is a font of information and the battle, and never happier than when he can discuss all this with keen visitors.

References

1. The Final Mission Is Completed; Esther Schrader; Los Angeles Times; 2002-11-02[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. History of the air battle on September 11th, 1944; Jan Zdiarský; Museum119.cz; (Retrieved 2022-12-02) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Jagdgeschwader 4, 1944; Jan Zdiarský; Museum119.cz; (Retrieved 2022-12-02) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. Aircraft: 2102657; The Bloody Hundredth; (Retrieved 2022-02-14) [↩][↩][↩]
5. 100th Bombardment Group (H) “The Bloody Hundredth”; Jan Zdiarský; Museum119.cz; (Retrieved 2022-12-14) [↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.