Me 262 on April 10, 1945

[mfy4444]

Hello. I don't think I've posted to the German portion of this forum before, but I am looking for some clarity on the events of April 10, 1945, and especially the operations of JG 7. I was under the impression that on this date, JG 7 sent up 55 Me 262s to oppose a raid by 1,232 B-17 bombers escorted by 868 fighters. The best information I could find on the results were that 27 Allied aircraft were shot down, but 27 Me 262s were also lost (with 19 pilots killed). However, I just read another source giving the number of planes in the US raid as 1,315 bombers and 801 fighters. Also, the same source claims 63 Me 262 sorties on the day, with planes from KG (J) 54 also participating. This also conflicts earlier information I had that indicates the biggest day of Me 262 operations was April 7, 1945, with JG 7 and JV 44 combining to fly 59 Me 262 sorties in the course of the day. Any help I can get in clarifying which numbers may be correct (or what the correct numbers are, if different from what I posted above) would be much appreciated, including also on the Allied and Me 262 losses for the day.

Also, I read a reference to heavily damaging Allied bombing of Rechlin at the same time, opposed by Me 262 of III./JG 7 (who claim one bomber and three fighter while losing one Me 262). This raid said to destroy 29 planes on the ground (and I suppose also resulted in death of Franz Schall when his Me 262 hit bomb crater while landing?). Would these numbers also be part of the figures I posted above?

Again, I would be extremely thankful for any information or clarification on this topic.

Regards and thanks

Mike Yaklich

[sturmgear]

I read in several places over the past 25 years that only 37 Me 262s got airborne and 3 or 4 were lost.