piloted by Gefreiter Böhm intent on strafing a C-47 Skytrain transport. Meyer had not retracted his landing gear when he fired at the Fw 190 which cartwheeled and exploded next to the C-47. Despite the attack other P-51s were able to take off and JG 11 soon lost eight pilots. Obergefreiter Karlheinz Sistenich, Feldwebel Harald Scharz, Feldwebel Herbert Kraschinski, Oberleutnant August Engel all died, while Feldwebel Karl Miller was severely burnt after crash landing. There was one casualty among Allied ground crew. The U.S. flak crews held fire for fear of hitting a friendly aircraft and Allied pilots were cautious of firing at low flying 109s to avoid strafing the base. Flak crews hit one chasing P-51 which had to land damaged. By 9:15 AM eight P-47s of 366th FG "Red" and "Yellow" flights were preparing for armed reconnaissance over Ardennes. "Red" flight consisted of Captain Lowell B. Smith with Lieutenants John Kennedy, Melvin R. Paisley and Flight Officer Dave Johnson. "Yellow" flight included Lieutenants John Feeny, Robert V. Brulle, Currie Davis and Joe Lackey. Kennedy noticed flak bursts to the northeast, and Red flight discovered JG 11 strafing the base at Ophoven with 50 JG 11 fighters heading back to their own base. Intent on strafing parked aircraft the German pilots did not notice the P-47s. Lieutenant Paisley hit a Bf 109 using an underwing rocket and downed two more using gunfire. Smith and Brulle both shot one down, Brulle damaging another before running out of ammunition. Feeny and Lackey also shot down JG 11 aircraft. Six 352 FG pilots claimed multiple victories. Captain William T. "Whiz" Whisner and Lieutenant Sanford K. Moats claimed four each, with Captain Henry M. Stewart II and Lieutenant Alden P. Rigby claiming three each. Meyer and Lieutenant Ray Littge claimed two apiece while Whisner's wingman Lieutenant Walker G. Diamond and Meyer's wingman Lieutenant Alex F. Sears claimed one each. The air battle of Asch, later known as the "Legend of Y-29", was a disaster for JG 11. U.S. fighters claimed 30 German fighters while JG 11 lost 28 aircraft (from 65). 25 pilots were killed. 5./JG 11 was the only unit that returned unscathed, though all the aircraft were damaged. III./JG 11 lost six pilots including Major Vowinkel. Some 40 percent of the JG 11 pilots died in the operation. At Asch four P-51s were shot down in the attack but the pilots