Additionally to the 56th kills in their Ms I found this interesting bit about what appears to be the first 262 kill of the war.
Prior to joining the 78th FG in August 1944 to take command of the 82nd FS, Maj Joseph Myers had scored three victories flying P-38s with the 55th FG. Following his shared Me 262 kill with 2Lt Croy on 28 August 1944, Myers claimed his final victory on 7 October 1944, thus finishing the war just a half-kill short of ‘making ace’. Maj Myers was flying P-47D-27 42-27339 when he shot down the 1./ KG 51 Me 262 flown by Oberfeldwebel Hieronymous Lauer on 28 August 1944 (USAAF)
‘Surtax Blue’ Flight was providing top cover while a number of other Thunderbolts went down to the deck. On this mission Maj Myers was flying his assigned P-47D 42-27339, with future jet killer 2Lt Wayne Coleman on his wing. The second element was led by 1Lt Fred Bolgert, with 2Lt Manfred Croy in P-47D 42-75551 on his wing. While flying at 11,000 ft near Brussels, Myers caught a glimpse of what he thought was a B-26 Marauder flying at low level and went down to investigate.
When Myers got down to around 5000 ft he was indicating 450 mph and the unidentified aircraft began evasive action that allowed him to close to within 2000 ft above and astern. Myers later noted in his Encounter Report; ‘At this distance I could readily see the similarity between the aircraft and the recognition plates of the Me 262. With full power on and the advantage of altitude, I gradually started closing on the enemy aircraft and drew up to within 500 yards astern. I was about to open fire when the enemy pilot cut his throttle and crash-landed in a ploughed field.’ Myers may have scored hits on the engines and cockpit, and the rest of his flight strafed the jet as the pilot ran away.
In his Claim Report Myers stated that 2Lt Croy had hit the German pilot, Oberfeldwebel Hieronymous Lauer from 3./ KG 51, as he ran away from the burning jet and claimed shared credit with Croy. Lauer escaped the incident uninjured, however, and returned to his unit that night. Myers and Croy were awarded a half credit each in the destruction of the first Me 262 downed by the Allies. At the end of his Claim Report, Maj Myers described the overall shape and size of the jet, noting what was similar to and different from the published recognition plates that were being used at the time.
He stated the chord of the wing, especially at the root, was wider than what was shown on the drawings and the nose was about the same size as that of a P-38, but not as pointed as on the recognition drawings. Where the drawings were correct were the fuselage, engine nacelles and the tail. Finally, he said the overall size of the Me 262 appeared to be the same as a P-38 and looked similar to the B-26 Marauder when viewed from directly above.
Prior to this engagement, Maj Myers had scored three victories flying P-38s with the 55th FG, and he claimed his final success – a Bf 109 – on 7 October 1944, thus falling just a half-kill short of acedom. This Me 262 was Croy’s first victory, and he would later claim two Bf 109s on 26 November 1944. On 16 April 1945 Capt Croy was shot down and killed while strafing Straubing airfield.
Chapis, Stephen; Thomas, Andrew. Allied Jet Killers of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces) (Kindle-Positionen285-289). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle-Version.
Edited by sevenless
