Mark Roberts wrote: > On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:17:48 -0400, you wrote: > > >>Mark Roberts wrote: >> >>>Wow. I just thought of some other WWII trivia that's been kicking >>>around my brain for who-knows-how-many years: Tomorrow, 4 October, >>>marks the..... 62nd (had to stop and work it out).... anniversary of >>>the first time a jet aircraft was shot down in combat. The jet was, of >>>course, a Messerschmitt 262 and the plane that (somehow) succeeded in >>>shooting it down was a Spitfire Mk XIV. >> >>That's pretty cool. Chuck Yeager shot one down in his P-51D Mustang. >>Most 262s were vulnerable during landing and I -believe- that the only >>ones shot down were in the process of landing. Kinda unsporting, but it >>counts as a "kill" :-) > > > I just did a little digging and found, much to my surprise, that my > mnemory was correct (though some sources say it was 05 October). I > should point out that this was the first jet to be shot down by > another *fighter* plane. I assume this means some got caught in > crossfire while going through bomber formations earlier. > >
Actually, I believe the first losses were to V-1's. Meteors flew anti-V1 missions as early as June 1944 (It entered Squadron service before the ME262, although the 262 saw combat first). Otherwise they were likely from bombers in August of 44. -Adam -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
