Date:	Friday 9 January 1942
Time:	15:35
Type:	Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-1
Owner/operator:	4./JG 26 Luftwaffe
Registration:	076
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, off Le Touquet -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
At 1534 hrs on 9 January 1942 Fw Adolf Glunz of 4./JG 26 and his wingman, Uffz Josef Sicker, scrambled from Le Touquet airfield and gave chase to two Spitfires that had just passed over the field at low altitude.

The two Spitfires were from 71 (Eagle) Sqn RAF and were flying a Rhubard mission. They failed to find their briefed target and were returning to England when they were intercepted by the two Fw 190s. The two American pilots, Plt Off Robert S. Sprague and Plt Off Eugene M. Potter, used a defensive scissors maneuver to gain the initiative. After a brief dogfight at low altitude off Le Touquet, Sprague hit the Fw 190 A-1 WNr 076 in the cockpit and the German pilot snap-rolled and crashed into the Channel. Sicker was killed. Glunz claimed a Spitfire shot down at 1536 hr near Le Touquet as his 9th victory, while Potter claimed a Fw 190 probably shot down, but only Sicker was shot down in this battle.

Born in 1920 in Sudetenland Sicker enlisted in the Luftwaffe in January 1939 and started to learn flying in April 1940. In April 1941 he was sent in emergency to Yugoslavia, probaly as a reinforcement pilot during the operation Marita, while he was training in JFS 5. He then went to Erg.JG 26 and then joined JG 26 in September 1941.

“The JG 26 War Diary, volume 1: 1939-1942”, by Donald L Caldwell. ISBN 1-898697-52-3
RAF Fighter Command activity in 1942 file, by Tony Wood (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
"Les pertes de la chasse de jour allemande en France 1939-1945. Vol 3: 1942", by Pierre Watteeuw (Hors Série Avions n° 21). ISBN 2-914017-42-1
http://web.archive.org/web/20130609122656/http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/?page_id=46
http://www.maplandia.com/france/nord-pas-de-calais/pas-de-calais/montreuil/le-touquet-paris-plage/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jan-2017 13:46	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
27-Feb-2020 05:41	Xindel XL	Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Operator]