Rosenow of 11./JG 11 who failed to return from a mission to Euskirchen. III./JG 11 also lost four pilots near Bonn and Cologne. I./JG 11 ran into more fighters over Eifel, and Unteroffiziere Holzinger and Weismüller were lost. 1945 Operation Baseplate On New Year's Day 1945, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Baseplate, a massed low-level fighter strike targeted at Allied airfields in France, Belgium and the Netherlands in support of the German offensive in the Ardennes. Elements of JG 11 were allocated the USAAF air base coded Y-29 at Asch where the 366th Fighter Group (366th FG, Ninth Air Force) and the 352nd Fighter Group (352 FG, Eighth Air Force) were based. Also targeted was the Spitfire airfield at Ophoven, housing the RAF's No. 41, No. 130, 350 and No. 610 of the 2nd Tactical Wing. At 8:00 AM, the three Gruppen of JG 11 took off from Darmstadt-Griesheim, Gross-Ostheim, and Zellhausen led by Specht. Some 65 Fw 190 and Bf 109s formed over Aschaffenburg at 8:30 AM, with two Junkers Ju 188 pathfinders leading. With the secrecy surrounding the mission very few were aware of their objectives. At a height of 400 feet they passed over Koblenz. Over Aachen, liberated by the U.S. Army in October 1944, flak burst around them, hitting the Fw 190 of Oberleutnant Hans Fielder, adjutant of III./JG 11. He had rejoined his group the previous day from Göttingen, force-landing on 23 December due to engine trouble, and was grounded. He was not expecting to participate in this operation but had to fly with a brand new Fw 190A-8 as the wingman for Oberleutnant Grosser, Staffelkapitän of 11./JG 11. A lone P-47 shot at him and a result of both flak hits and P-47 fire Fielder was wounded in the head and forced to crash-land becoming a POW. Unteroffizier Ernst Noreisch was shot down and killed. Legend of Y-29 At 8:42 AM Captain Eber E. Simpson was leading the 391st squadron on a mission to bomb German tanks near St. Vith. They ran into two Bf 109s south of Malmedy with Lieutenants John F. Bathurst and Donald G. Holt claiming one each. At 9:10 AM Lieutenant Colonel John C. Meyer of 487th Fighter Squadron (352 FG) was preparing for takeoff in "Petie III" P-51 Mustang with 11 others. As he lifted off he noticed flak bursts over Ophoven and one Fw 190 heading straight at him,