adj av Dumitru Chera's fight on 23 September 1944

[enedan]

I wanted to know more, if possible, about the dogfight that adj. av. Chera and adj. av. Baciu had against some bf109G from JG52 on 23rd sptember 1944.
The only info I have about it comes from here.
Were the victories confirmed? If so, who piloted the downed 109's?
IIRC, JG52 was the unit of Hartmann, and even if this is not a general indication about the quality of its pilots I still consider JG52 a elite unit.
In these circumstances, I find these victories almost incredible.

Could you please share some more info on this?

Regards,
Dan

[Dénes]

The Luftwaffe fighter unit involved in the air combat over Transylvania in the Autumn of 1944 was II./JG 52. Erich Hartmann was part of another Gruppe of the same Geschwader (III./JG 52), which at that time was fighting in Poland.

There is no loss of II./JG 52 listed or Sept. 23, 1944 (however, the Luftaffe loss lists for 1944 are incomplete). There is only one combat loss listed, but on Sept. 24, 1944 [Ofhr. Gerhard Messner, 5./JG 52 (who was not an 'ace'), shot down "North-East of Klausenburg" (Cluj/Kolozsvár) - Turda/Torda/Thorenburg being at South-East]. However, a one day discrepancy in the loss records was not uncommon, so he could have been the victim of Adj. av. Chera. We have to remember thought that the Soviet Air Force was also active in the same area.

Gen. Dénes

[Victor]

There was also a Fw-190F of I./SG2 lost that day.

[C-2]

I heard from a guy who knew bouth Chera and Baciu,that Chera was a reliable person.Baciu a fantezist...

[Victor]

Although not related to the air battle on 23 September, I am curious to know if the B-24 claimed by adj. av. Dumitru Chera on 4 April 1944 has been identified. In his recollections for that day he mentions meeting the surviving crew of that bomber and shaking hands with the American pilot. It would be interesting to find out who that was.