Quote:
Report No.102/4 Me109. Crashed on 27.11.40 at 1555 hours on Manston
aerodrome. Markings (Black) 12 + (the 12 outlined in white). Cowling
and rudder yellow, spinner green with one white segment. No crest.
Airframe made by Erla Flugzeugwerke in 1940. Works number 4101. A
plate described the aircraft as being `Me109 Ele E3'. Engine DB601 A-1.
Number 64760 made by Daimler Benz, Genshagen. The new type of
supercharger was fitted. A constant speed airscrew is fitted with a notice
on the dashboard. `Machine has automatic airscrew. Follow the short
instructions for use'. Armament: 2 MG 17s and two 20mm shell guns.
Armour - normal fuselage bulkhead and pilot's head protection and
curved head shield. This aircraft was brought down by fighter action and
the pilot made a very good belly landing, the aircraft being little damaged.
Twelve .303 strikes in fuselage and a few in each wing, all coming from
the port quarter astern. Pilot prisoner. (This bullet damage is still
apparent.)
So certainly in Nov 1940, there were E3s/4s with cannon getting shot down. Is the claim that there were non with cannon flying during BoB, or just that none of the cannon armed aircraft were shot down. I find it somewhat hard to believe either. Given a significant number of losses may have been over water and some of those overland may not have been in a state that could be readily examined with accuracy, or examined with the same level of scrutiny as those that were relatively intact, I would suggest you would also need some solid primary sources from the German side to make that claim. Absence of evidence in RAF records is not evidence of absence.