September 27, 1943, 14th victory

Boeing B-17F-30-VE "Elusive Elcy" Serial 42-5888

of the 94BG / 331 BS piloted by 1Lt. Harley G. Roberts (first on the left, standing.)

---

The mission of the USAAF

---

COMBAT CHRONOLOGY OF THE US ARMY AIR FORCES

MONDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):
VIII Bomber Command

Mission 104:

The port of Emden, Germany is the target. 2 of 3 H2S equipped pathfinder B-17's of the 482d Bombardment Group (Pathfinder) lead the mission. This is the first Pathfinder (PFF) mission.
246 of 308 B-17's hit the Emden industrial area and targets of opportunity at 0958-1008 hours ;
they claim 32-7-24 Luftwaffe aircraft ;
7 B-17's are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 78 damaged ;
casualties are 1 KIA, 18 WIA and 71 MIA.

This mission is escorted by 262 P-47's which claim 21-2-6 Luftwaffe aircraft ;
1 P-47 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged ;
casualties are 1 MIA.

---

What I still look for:

The plan of painting of B-17F-30-VE " Elusive Elcy " Serial 42-5888 of the 94BG / 331 BS
The complete list of the crew
The contents of the MACR 732
The list of victories claimed by German pilots in this sector on September 27, 1943

Special Thanks to John Sletten for 1lt Harley G. Roberts and "Elusive Elcy" informations
Thanks to Louis Hopkins for "Elusive Elcy" and 94BG informations

---

Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information :

---

Warning ! To facilitate the reading, lines of Heinz Knoke's flightbook, appearing above, were modified with small computing assembly. If the disposal is not in accordance with the original, the main thing of the information, namely the mission 226 of September 27, has no change.

	Heinz Knoke Informations	Personal comments
Source	I flew for the f... page 115
Date	September 27, 1943
Type of claimed plane	Fortress
Place of the interception	Jever's surroundings. 20000 feet in height.
Crash Location
Presumed mission USAAF		Target was Emden.
Schedule	Stand by : 10.30 enemy concentrations in map reference sector Dora Dora. Jever's takeoff : 10.55 Landing with parachutes near Jever : 11.26 (31 minutes)	31 minutes on the whole, everything happened near Jever.
Weather report	"The sky is completely overcast. We come out above the clouds at 10000 feet..."
Knoke's Unit	5./JG11 Bf 109G from II./JG11	All Bf 109G are equipped with rockets of 210 mm. Since August 19, 1943 the 109 are equipped with extra reserve fuel-tanks.
Detail 1	"10.45 : all set. I have a new aircraft. Arndt has been polishing it until it shines like a new mirror : no doubt that will add another ten miles per hour to the speed."
Detail 2	"The reserve tanks are still almost full when I order my Flight to jettison them."	It is a precious indication about Jever's nearness. Just the time to rise in 20000 feet heading East.
Description of the fight	"We swing quickly in to attack with our rockets. As we get in position, the Fortress split up into separate groups of some thirty or forty aircraft each, and keep on constantly altering course... I order all our rockets to be discharge when we are in formation at a range of 2000 feet. The next moment a simply fantastic scene unfolds before my eyes. My own two rockets both register a perfect bull's-eyes on a Fortress. Thereupon I am confronted with an enormous solid ball of fire. The bomber has blown up in mid-air with its entire load of bombs. The blazing, smoking fragments come fluttering down."	A sure victory. Knoke didn't mention parachutes. No survivors.
Detail 3	"Wennekers also score a direct hit. His victim goes down in flames.	A sure victory for Wennekers.
Detail 4	"They [P-47] have the white star and broad white stripes as wing marking."	Knoke's first meeting with P-47.
Detail 5	"It is a black day indeed for the squadron. By evening it is ascertained that among my own pilots Sergeant Dölling has been killed, and Raddatz and Johnny Fest shot down also. 4./JG11 has lost two killed and one seriously wounded. One of the Headquarters aircraft has not returned. 6./JG11 seems to have got the worst of it. Nine our of its twelve pilots are lost. All the nine have been killed. The remaining three have been forced to either crash-land or bale out. Not a single one of their aircraft returned. On the credit side, however we have brought down twelve of the enemy to offset these heavy casualties. No fewer than six are credited to my lucky "Fifth" alone."
Detail 6	"Added to the credit side, of course, there is also the fact that today the Americans failed to reach their objective. They were obliged to take their bombs back home with them. The only exception was one of the smaller formations of Fortresses. They unloaded their bombs through a hole in the clouds on the little town of Esens in East Frisia. A school was hit, and 120 children were killed : that was one-third of the entire child population of the place."

---

Luftwaffe' B-17s Official Victories on September 27, 1943.

---

Source : .

Rank / Pilot	Unit	Plane	Place / Schedule
Hptm. Paul Stolte	6./JG3	B-17 HSS	CO 9-3: 9.000m Neuwolda 11.05
Lt. Knoke	5./JG11	B-17	AP 5-8: 6.000m Near Norden before 11.14
Uffz. Peter Reinhardt	5./JG11	B-17	BQ 1-5: 6.000 m Langeoog-Carolinensiel 11.14
Ltn. Franz Ruhl	4./JG3	B-17	CP 1: 6.000m Manslagt NW Emden 11.15
Oblt. Gerhard Sommer	4./JG11	B-17	UP 7: 8.000m. 38 km. NW Nordeney 11.20
Ltn. Dobrick	5./JG11	B-17	BP 6.1: 6.000m Westerholt-Nordeney 11.20
Uffz. Klotz	4./JG11	B-17	UP 7: 8.000m 38 km NW Nordeney 11.20
Ltn. Trockels	5./JG11	B-17	BP 8-7: 7.000m S. Norden 11.22
Ltn. Horst Brock	5./JG3	B-17	BP 3: 7.600m 11.22
Oblt. Eugen Kotiza	4./JG1	B-17 HSS	AO 9: 6.500m 11.30
Fw. Hans-Günther Reinhardt	Stab/JG1	B-17	BO 4: 7.300m 11.30
Fw. Rudolf Blomann	4./JG3	B-17 HSS	UL 5: 9.500m 12.09
Fw. Franz Cech	6./JG3	B-17 HSS	EO-CP: 9.000m 12.40
Uffz. Karl-Heinz Kutzera	Stab II./JG11	B-17 HSS	CH 1: 7500m 70km NW Den Helder 12.45
Hptm. Erwin Clausen	Stab I./JG11	B-17	Ost S /UP-6.1: 6.000m

Thanks to Diego Fernando Zampini for his help

---