Russian article on the Luftwaffe's JG 54 vs. VVS fighters -- annotated
Dénes Bernád
translated & annotated by Yevgeniy Chizhikov (Y.C.) on air combat of JG 54
vs. VVS fighters, posted earlier on this forum.
I found the article very interesting, therefore I checked the Soviet claims
against Luftwaffe loss lists, which for 1941 and 1942 are fairly complete. I
inserted all info I found in the text body.
You'll see that although several Soviet claims can be actually confirmed by
Luftwaffe loss lists, other losses were due to flak or accidents, some
German pilot names could not be traced at all, while a few incidents were
apparently invented. Due to lack of time, I could not compile a realistic
statistics on actual JG 54 losses on the Eastern Front in 1941 and 1942.
Hopefully I will be able to do it soon.
I inserted all comments of mine in straight brackets [ ] and added my
initials, D.B; while Y.C.'s original comments were left in round brackets
), alongside his initials.
I invite everyone to add (civilised) comments and additional info.
Dénes Bernád
* * *
"Fun hunting in the Eastern Europe" by V. Dymich
(Part 1.)
Epigraph:
"Art of air combat is clearly a German privilege. Slavs would never be
able to master it". A. Hitler.
On June 22, 1941, in 1:30 AM the captain of 5/JG54 Hubert Muterix had
been drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. He slowly walked to the
BF-109 of this friend Ioham Wandel. "Don't be upset, Dworf", he said to
his friend which had been thinking about something, "Hunting would be
fun". ("Dwarf" was Wandel's nick.- Y.C.)
Thirty minutes after that Muterix already give the final instructions to
pilots of 5th "shraffel". Survival equipment already had been in the
right place inside the German equipment. Bf-109's were ready, they were
fueled and armed. Mechanics were making final checks before the flight.
Exactly in 3:00 AM pilots took their places in the cockpits. Engines
started to work...
In 3:25 AM Luftwaffe penetrated Soviet air space and attack strategic
objects on territory of European Russia, including 68 air fields of
Western, Kiev, and Baltic military distracts as well as air fields of
Northern, Baltic, and Black Sea fleets.
Everything went smooth as it should have by a plan called Blitzkrieg. It
had been tested in Poland and had been well tuned up in France where
more than 1,000 British and French aircraft were destroyed on the
ground. In France it totally paralyzed defense of British and French
aviation.
By the time of the attack on USSR German pilots had rich experience of
air combat. Pilots flew their aircraft as masters. They really well
combined maneuvers and gunnery. They also used the most modern tactics.
At the same time combat training of Soviet Air Force was a weak place.
In first air fights Soviet pilots often made mistakes which only can be
explain by the lack of combat experience. Lack of experience in
commanding of large groups of fighters had effectively reduced
effectiveness of the Soviet pilots. Function of the leader where over as
soon as aircraft entered fight. After that Soviet aircraft fought
individually or in pairs with little cooperation with other pilots.
Lack of radio reduced effectiveness of combat groups even farther.
Soviet pilots were often forced to use hand signs, aircraft controls, or
signal rockets to communicate with other pilots. Of course, it does not
help to create organized fight and often confused pilots.
The main problem with Soviet Air Force was use of groups of three
aircraft, instead of two. This was old tactics in which leader and his
wingman attack enemy while third pilot protects them. This tactics was
used in Soviet Air Force from 1920's when the firepower of one fighter
was not sufficient to bring down enemy bomber, while fight between
fighters was rare event and considered to be secondary job. Use of the
three aircraft formation also looked great on military parades. In
combat this formation proved to be ineffective and during heavy
maneuvering there were constant threat that aircraft would collide. Most
often the wing of three aircraft simply "disintegrated" in combat.
Still, average level of the preparness of Soviet pilots was high.
Despite numerous prohibiting orders which were put into place for the
sake of lowering number of accidents and consumption of fuel, pilot
training was good and majority of pilots could perform all the most
difficult maneuvers of air combat. Soviet pilots were also trained to
fly in most difficult weather conditions and fly very low near the
ground. Soviet pilots also knew capabilities of their aircraft. Even in
first day of war Soviet pilots demonstrated their style of combat.
Soviet pilots preferred very energetic, cruel fight to the end. While
German pilots preferred rational and simple well learned maneuvers,
Soviet pilots liked to pull high G's, head to head, and knife fights on
low altitude.
Elite fighter unit JG54 "Grunherz" - "Greet heart", which entered war on
June 22, 1941, considered by German historians the best Luftwaffe unit
of W.W.II. The "Grunherz" particularly known for its lowest level of
losses among all Luftwaffe fighter units in WWII.(Through as you see
losses were HIGH. - Y.C.). Even so, the month after the war on the
Eastern Front started, "Grunherz" commander Major Trautloft issued
order: "We could tolerate the hobby of many of our friends to dog fight
with "rats" and "ivans". Knights competitions are not for Eastern Front.
We just should win".
This order was written not on empty space. By July 22, exactly a month
after start of the war, 37 out 112 pilots of JG54 were killed or missing
and there were no trend toward lowering of the losses.
Captain of 5/JG54 Hubert Muterix also made the same point as commander.
He said: "Do not corner the "rat", if you do, "rat" would have nothing
else to do but sink its teeth into your throat".
As it happened, majority of JG54 pilots which died in the first month of
war did not had much victories. Telling about them, as well as all
pilots of JG54 makes no sense, as well as talking about all JG54 pilots
which did not come from their missions in 1941-1945. It is impossible to
do in such article anyway.
Very soon qualitative edge of the "Grunherz" began to change. More and
more aces, commanders or different ranks, and other pilots which were
admired and loved in JG54 were lost in combat on the Eastern Front. This
is story about those pilots.
First serious punch to the reputation of JG54 had been delivered on July
30th, 1941. On this day commander of Group III Arnold Ligniz(25
victories) did not return to his home field. He become the victim of his
own curiosity. When city of Leningrad become in range of Bf-109, pilots
of "Grunherz, which saw a lot of other cities from the air, could not
resist and not to visit Leningrad. On this day Ligniz and Lieutenant
Ervin Leikauf took initiative into their own hands. They crossed the
front line and flew to the center of the city. Above the river Neva
German pilots began to turn and at that moment couple of Migs attack
both German fighters from the direction of sun. Lieutenant Leikauf,
which was called "snake" for his style of flying, manage to excape the
hits of Soviet guns. He roll and turn only to discover that plane of his
commanders falling to the ground in flames. Ligniz manage to excape the
cockpit, but he fall on the roof of the house, and then fall down to the
street. Two days later he died in Soviet military hospital. This group
victory over German ace was scored by pilots of 7th IAP, Captain
Polyakov and Lieutenant Shamin.
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-2 9668 LIGNITZ, Hptm. Arnold 25 Stab III. 54 30-Sep-41
Kommandeur. MIA after losing a wing in Luftkampf with I-153. Leningrad 100%
On September 11, 1941, JG54 lost another great pilot from Group 1, funny
and friendly Hubert Muterix(43 victories), which was hunting on the East
only for short period of time. Bf-109 of Muterix had been shot down from
point blank range by the pilot of 191st IAP Lieutenant Novikov. It
happened 5 km south from the lake Ladoga. Fait had been cruel to
Muterix: his most important "rat" of his life he did not even saw. After
Muterix plane was damaged by Soviet pilot, he attempt to turn and run a
way. He lost control of his BF-109 and crush to his death.
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-2 9206 MÜTHERICH, Oblt. Hubert 43 5. 54 09-Sep-41
Staffelkapitän. Killed, hit a tree during Notlandung after Luftkampf with
MiG-1. NW of Krasnoje Selo 100%
(By October of 1941, more than 70% of Luftwaffe aircraft which started
the war on the Eastern Front where lost in combat with Soviets. Through
Soviet losses where higher than German, the German losses where still
enormous. German losses where much higher than losses during Battle of
Britain. - Y.C.)
On December 17, 1941, leader of the Group I, Julius fon Cella(15 kills)
had become a POW in Soviet hands. His BF-109 had been shot down by a
pilot of 154 IAP Captain Petr Pokrushev in the area of Novoi' Ladogi.
During interrogation in the headquarters of the Leningrad Military
district Julius fon Cella acted very honorably. He answered on all
questions of the Soviet General Novikov and at the end asked Soviet
General to give his personal hand gun to the Soviet pilot which shot
down him. This gun is currently displayed in the museum of the Defense
of Leningrad.
[No JG 54 airman was lost on Dec. 17. No pilot called von Cella/Zella found.
No 15-victory ace was called von Cella or similar. D.B.].
(Article don't say what was JG54 losses in 1941. But it seams that they
were around 70 pilots, as JG54 lost about 98 pilots in not full years of
1941 and 1945. - Y.C)
On February 14, 1942, in the area of city Velikie Luki had been shot
down and killed new commander of Group I, Franz Ekkerle(62 victories).
From the four BF-109's of JG54 which were involved in fighting with
Hurricanes of 191 IAP, not a single one return to their home base in
Relbizy.
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-2 9728 ECKERLE, Hptm. Franz 59 Stab I. 54 14-Feb-42 Kommandeur.
MIA after crash. (Woronovo near Welikije Luki) 100%
[That day, only another JG 54 pilot was hit but not lost. D.B.]:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-4 8301 Gricer, Gefr. Kurt 4. 54 14-Feb-42 WIA by enemy fire.
Near Tschudowo 100%
Who shot down those German aircraft is impossible to tell. Soviet pilots
report to shot down only two German aircraft. Individual victory was
credited to the Lieutenant Kuznitsov and group victory was given to
Lutenants Loi'ko and Aravin.
On March 12, 1942, two fighters from staff "shraffel" did not comeback
from the "free hunting". On noon, leader of the pair Heinz Bartling(67
victories) contacted the base and said that he is 10 km South of
Shliselburg over the Ladoga lake.
[Uffz. Günter Bartling, 11 victories, died on Feb. 19, 1942. No trace of
‘Heinz Bartling.’ D.B.]:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-4 7527 Bartling, Uffz. Günther 11 5. 54 19-Feb-42 KIA, crashing
due to by enemy fire. Near Fenew 100%
After that Germans knew nothing about
what happened to those two pilots. They were assumed MIA, but what
happened to them is known to Russians. The commander of the 3 group of 4
GIAP Lieutenant Vasilii Golubev had been known as "fighter of the
fighters". He fought from the start of the war and by 12th of March,
1942, he already scored 8 victories against German BF-109s and 2 against
Finnish Hawks.
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-2 8997 Schwartzkopf, Uffz. Hans 1. 54 12-Mar-42 MIA, cause
unknown. (Schum) 100%
Golubev studied the methods of the German pilots. Starting from
Fenruary, 1942, Golubev always return home well behind the main group of
the Soviet fighters. While falling behind Gulobev turn controls of the
aircraft so it looked like he is damaged Soviet aircraft with wounded
pilots just trying to make it home. On march 12, 1942, his trick worked.
When Golubev was close to his home fields in Vystav, he noticed two dots
just below the cloud cover. Soon he could so German fighters fast
approaching him. "Hunters found his "pray". But the there were no
victorious "Horrido".
When Bf-109's close to the distance of a 1,000 meters, Golubev turn his
I-16 toward German fighters. Situation changed dramatically. The leader
of the German pair, Bartling, did not even noticed when from the
"hunter" he become a "pray".
[Yet another Bartling? See above entry. D.B.]
Gulbev shot down BF-109 in head to head
fight. Bf-109 went into flames and crush on the Gulobev's home base. The
wingman Leishte try to separate from the fight by going vertical, using
energy of his BF-109. But Golubev manage to turn his I-16 and used his
RS-82 rockets to damage German fighter. Lieutenant Leishte was wounded
by rockets. He manage to land his fighter on the Soviet field. Few
minutes after landing he died.
[Leiste was actually downed by flak fire on June 8, 1942. D.B.]:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-4 13131 Leiste, Ltn. Hermann 29 4. 54 08-Jun-42 MIA due to Flak.
Near Krestzy 100%
On April 3, 1942, JG54 lost two Austrian pilots from Group II,
Lieutenant Arnoold Kauer(37 victories) and his twin brother Lieutenant
Eugen Kauer(6 victories). In the fight with Hurricanes from 485th IAP,
both German pilots were shot down. Older brother Arnold had ejected and
was captured by Soviet troops. Younger Eugen was killed. victories were
credited to the Soviet Major Zimin and Captain Lazarev.
[No JG 54 aircraft was lost on April 3, 1942. No trace of ‘twin brothers’
called Kauer or similar found. D.B.]
On may 16, already known to us Lieutenant Golubev from 4th GIAP, had the
toughest fight while leading group of 5 I-16. The fight was over "Road
of Life", the road on the ice of Ladoga Lake by which Soviets
transported food to the starving people of Leningrad. 81 German bombers
and fighters bombed the road while Golubev and 4 other Soviet fighters
try to scare Germans away. Golubev said later: "If we shoot at every
German aircraft which appeared in our sights, we would wasted whole ammo
in less than 3 minutes. Because of that Soviet pilots try to scare
German air planes by imitating raming of the German aircrafts.
Even so, Golubev was credited in his fight with destruction of the
German bomber and fighter. For his bravery and initiative, all five
Soviet pilots received medals, while Golubev received Hero of the Soviet
Union.
The fighter which Golubev destroyed had been again from "Grunherz". To
the "Grunherz" base in Gatchina did not return commander of the Group
III, Lieutenant Hakon fon Bulow(61 victories). It was a shock for JG54,
considering the nobility status of the pilots.
[H. von Bülow had only 6 victories. He died on May 13 in Olomno region. In
Luftwaffe , there was no special importance given to a pilot’s noble roots.
Everyone took his own equal share regardless of one’s distinct heredity.
D.B.]
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-4 13165 Bülow, Oblt. Hokan von 6 9. 54 13-May-42 MIA after
Luftkampf. (Olomno) 100%
On May 17, 1942 in fight with LaGG's of the 3rd IAP in the area of
Kronhtadta JG54 lost two more pilots from staff "shraffel". Those pilots
were Gerhard Lautenshpager(31 victories) and Lieutenant Ossi
Unterlehner(27 victories). While two Soviet fighters of the Lieutenants
Kaberov and Kostylev received serious damage from guns of Bf-109's, the
victory was behind the Soviet pilots.
[G. Lautenschläger was lost on May 16 duew to flak:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109F-2 9685 Lautenschläger, Fw. Gerhard 33 3. 54 16-May-42 MIA due to
Flak. Near Wolchowstroi 100%
[No trace of Lt. Ossi Unterlechner in Luftwaffe loss reports. D.B.]
On May 22, 1942, pilot of Group II, Lieutenant Otto-Bruno Lozert(47
victories), which was Austrian and son one of the best aces of WWI, had
been presumed MIA. No one from the 8 JG54 pilots which were involved in
fight with Soviet Il-2's and LaGG's could not say what happened to their
friend.
But leader of the 4 Soviet LaGG-3 fighters from the 41 IAP, Lieutenant
Sukov had photographed fall of Bf-109 he shot down. German fighter went
into spiral dive, fall in the forest, and exploded.
[No JG 54 aircraft was lost on May 22, 1942. No trace of Lt. Lozert or
similar found. D.B.]
Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal of Aviation Zimin remembers: "At the
start of the summer of 1942 in our area of the front we began to
encounter very skilled German aces flying BF-109F. Those German fighters
started fight with 2 or 4 aircraft, but they were very proficient with
radio and they quickly increased their strength and attack from
different directions very aggressively.
One June 17, 1942, all 12 BF-109G-2 from 5/JG54 took off from their base
in Relbizy in groups of 2 or 4 for "clearing" the air for the attack of
Ju-87's. Commanding of the whole group through radio was given to Ioham
"Dworf" Vandel.
At the same day 7 Hurricanes from the 485 IAP had been patrolling the
area around village Ramushevo and covered Soviet ground forces. Soon
Soviet pilots discovered large group of Ju-87 which was covered by 4
BF-109's and attack them. 5 Ju-87 were destroyed, but Zimin's group was
forced to defend themselves from 16 enemy fighters from the two highest
scoring Groups of Luftwaffe. Even being outnumbered, Soviet pilots put
up a good fight. Lieutenant Maks Hesse(9 victories), Lieutenant Ludwig
Bauer(40 victories) and Welhelm Hubner(? victories) did not return to
JG54 home base at Relbizy. They were all killed. One fighter from JG51
"Melders" was shot down as well. Soviet pilots lost one Hurricane.
Lieutenant Bezverchnii' crushed landed into swamp and was killed.
[No JG 54 aircraft was lost on June 17, 1942.
Ogefr. H. Hesse, no victories recorded, of JG 5, not JG 54, was lost on Mar.
29, 1942, over Finland. There was no Lt. Ludwig Bauer in JG 54. The only
existing Bauer, Fw Gerhard, was killed on Sep. 21, 1941. No trace of Wilhelm
Hubner found. D.B.]
On August 9, 1942, pilots of JG54 received another shock. In the fight
with Soviet fighter had been shot down and killed the best Luftwaffe
pilot on that period, which had been honored by all possible medals of
the Third Reich, Maks-Helmut Ostermann(102 victories). His BF-109
crushed into Ilmen' Lake and sunk.
[Oblt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann, 102 victories – 93 on the Eastern Front (!):
Type WNr. Pilot Name Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 10434 OSTERMANN, Oblt. Max-Hellmuth 09-Aug-42 KIA in Luftkampf.
Pl.Qu. 29523 - Ammosovo (150 km S of Lake Ilmen) 100%
When 4 Soviet LaGG-3 from 41 IAP had been flying toward the front line,
the LaGG-3 of Lieutenant Sukov suffered mechanical problem in the
electric system. The engine of LaGG-3 began to work with stops. The
leader ordered Sukov to turn and fly home. Sukov restart his engine in
the dive and at the same time he saw enemy shells in front of his
aircraft. Sukov remembers: "There is no reason to hide, I was luck in
the first phase of the fight". German pilot missed and German fighter
passed Soviet aircraft and Sukov now had upper hand. "He turn like a
master, but he could not shake me off. After about 3 minutes of turning
I manage to put German plane firmly into my sights. After the it is only
routine technique: armament of LaGG was powerful".
On August 10, 1942, yet another high ranked ace of JG54 was lost. North
of city of Rzhev in the fight with Hurricanes had been destroyed fighter
of commander of Group II, Karl Cattiga(53 victories). German pilot leave
his burning Bf-109, but was captured by Soviet troops. But this fight
was also very heavy for Soviet fighters from 485th IAP. 6 Soviet
Hurricanes had been fighting for 45 minutes with 12 BF-109's which were
much more superior to BF-109. In this fight the best Soviet fighter from
485th IAP Major Kondratiev was killed, but for four more pilots of JG54
this fight was last. It is unknown who exactly shot down ace Karl
Sattiga, but victories were credited to Major Kondratiev, Captain
Gabrinez, Sergant Taranenko, and Colonel Zimin.
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 10383 SATTIG, Hptm. Carl 53 6. 10-Aug-42 Staffelkapitän. MIA,
cause unknown. Rshew 100%
One September 18, 1942, in the fly book of Lieutenant Sukov had been put
those words:
"Combat mission, take off at 1:09 PM, LaGG-3. Leader of the group.
Providing cover form Il-2's from 448th ShAP. Fight with 8 Bf-109 North
or railroad station Tosno. Shot down leader of the German group, which
was honored by a Knight Kross.
On this day 6 pilots from 41st IAP had been fighting with pilots from
II/JG54. First, Germans attempt to attack Il-2's, which attacked Tosno
railroad station. After a while number of German fighters doubled. Even
so, Soviet pilots continue to be effective fighting in pairs in vertical
and horizontal fights and providing support for each other. There were
no losses among Soviet Il-2's and Soviet LaGG's. Pointless attacks cost
"Grunherz" one more pilot. The German box champion in the light weight
Herbert Findeizen(67 victories) jumped from his burning plane and become
POW.
[No losses reported by JG 54 on Sep. 18, 1942. No info was found on the
ultimate fate of Hptm. Herbert Findeisen. D.B.]
On September 18, 1942, Captain Zelenov from the 154th IAP had
intercepted lonely German BF-109 in the area of Novoi Ladogi. After
short fight he damaged German fighter. The pilot from Group I, Peter
Zigler(49 victories) had been wounded. He attempted to reach his home
field but could not. He crushed and was killed.
[No losses reported by JG 54 on Sep. 18, 1942. Lt. Ziegler became POW in
England on Oct. 27, 1940 (!) D.B.]
On October 7, 1942, North of Ilmen Lake in the fight with Yaks from
283rd IAP was killed commander of fifth "shtaffel" Ioham Vandel(75
victories), which was also known as "Dworf" for his short heights and
constant concentration. This skilled German fighter had been exhausted
and killed in the 25 minute fight by Lieutenant Zaizev. It was first out
of 12 Zaizev victory.
[Oblt. J. Wandel was killed in a dogfight over NE of Oschtaschkow after his
75th and last downed a Soviet fighter:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 10353 WANDEL, Oblt. Joachim 75 5. 54 07-Oct-42 Staffelkapitän.
KIA in Luftkampf after downing a LaGG-3. Pl.Qu. 3881, NE of Oschtaschkow
100%
On October 25, 1942, Soviet major Solomatin from 92nd IAP destroyed
BF-109 which was "hunting" near the Budugoschi, in the area of Soviet
air fields. JG54 needlessly waited for return of Bernhard Shulten(59
victories). He was killed by Solomatin.
[Oblt. B. Schulten was killed in an accident on Sep. 25, 1942:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 10454 Schulten, Oblt. Berndt Stab 54 25-Sep-42 Killed, rammed
by a landing 109G-2 WNr.13585. Fl.Pl. Rjelbitzy 100%
On November 11, already known to us, but at that time Captain Sukov had
been testing Yak-7B which just had been repaired. He took a risk and
went to free hunt in the are of Bol'shoi Vishery. Not far a way from the
front line Sukov found pair of German BF-109's which flew on the low
altitude into Soviet rear. Sukov attack from behind at high speed and
totally surprised germans. One BF-109 was immediately shot down. Second
BF-109 turn and run back to the front line. Third holder of the Kight
Cross Lieutenant Hans-Iohim Heier(53 victories) from III.JG54 become the
victim of the Captain Sukov, which had traditional "100 grams of vodka"
after the fight. (It looks like Sukov become the JG54 nemesis, 4 JG54
aces where killed by him, 3 of them were holders of the Knight Cross. -
Y.C.)
[There was only one loss reported by JG 54 on Nov. 11, 1942:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 10327 Diepgen, Ofhr. Hans-Joachim 3. 54 11-Nov-42 KIA in
Luftkampf with enemy fighters. Pl.Qu. 90462 100%
[Lt. H. Heyer was killed in action on Nov. 9, after he collided with a
Soviet fighter in the heat of the battle. Previously, in the same battle, he
downed two other VVS fighters, raising his final score to 53:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-2 13809 HEYER, Ltn. Hans-Joachim 53 8. 54 09-Nov-42 KIA in
collison with Soviet fighter after downing 2 others. (near Gorodok) 100%
On December 6, 1942, over the Baltic Sea, had been lost pilot from staff
"shtaffel" Orbert Pheiffer(37 victories), who was champion of the World
in mountain skiing. His BF-109 was shot down, after a long fight, by a
Captain Sukhov from 3rd GIAP. (Don't confuse with Sukov from 41st IAP.
[On Dec. 6, 1942, only one Bf 109G of JG 54 was damaged in a force landing.
No trace of ‘Orbert Pheiffer’ found. There was only one Pfeiffer, Uffz.
Norbert, no victories, lost by JG 54 on Nov. 3, 1942:
Type WNr. Pilot Name Vic. Staffel or Gruppe JG Date Remarks Locale Bruch %
Bf 109G-6 17013 Pfeiffer, Uffz. Norbert 10. 54 03-Nov-43 MIA after
Luftkampf. Oranienbaum 100%
In 1942 "Grunherz" lost 93 pilots total. (93 from 112 is A LOT. - Y.C.)
(To be continued)
Krztalizer
a time..", but, well...what did you expect?
I would make the suggestion that Yev contact the WASt in Berlin to ask for loss
records on the people he includes; that would show him that about half of the
men he mentions did not serve with JG54 (or even exist for that matter).
Mr. Bernad, you've done a good job of punching holes into the article - well
done. Not that I like to see people's work shredded but I do enjoy seeing
fiction properly ridiculed.
One note to Yevgeniy --
>One June 17, 1942, all 12 BF-109G-2 from 5/JG54 took off from their base< snip
That would be the most seriously understaffed Gruppe in the entire Luftwaffe.
JG54 is a Wing -- 5./JG54 is a Gruppe, Gruppen were made up of four to nine
(ten very rarely) Staffeln (squadrons)
each made up of approximately 12 aircraft. If you are saying that this force of
Me-109G-2s were from the 5th Staffel of some unknown Gruppe of JG54, then of
couse it makes sense but what it suggests is that you don't know the basic
structure of a German fighter wing. That makes it hard to accept your
information on other matters concerning the operations of that fighter wing.
There are several listings available on the internet that give each Knight's
Cross winner's name, rank, and date of award and some of the men Yevgeniy names
are not on that serialized list. Also, there are many sites that list German
Experten in order of their victory totals and there are huge discrepancies
against his posted article there as well. That should be a red flag (no pun
intended) to the quality of the research done by the original writer of the
article. The Greenhearts were very famous and there are several fine books
published about their fight in the East and any one of them would raise
questions concerning a few of the names and victories listed in the article --
in fact, only one of the abschuss lists corresponds to a pilot mentioned in
here. Poorly done...
v/r
Gordon
Yevgeniy Chizhikov
DИnes BernАd wrote:
> This is a follow up on an article written by a Russian historian and
> translated & annotated by Yevgeniy Chizhikov (Y.C.) on air combat of JG 54
> vs. VVS fighters, posted earlier on this forum.
>
> I found the article very interesting, therefore I checked the Soviet claims
> against Luftwaffe loss lists, which for 1941 and 1942 are fairly complete. I
> inserted all info I found in the text body.
>
> You'll see that although several Soviet claims can be actually confirmed by
> Luftwaffe loss lists, other losses were due to flak or accidents, some
> German pilot names could not be traced at all, while a few incidents were
> apparently invented. Due to lack of time, I could not compile a realistic
> statistics on actual JG 54 losses on the Eastern Front in 1941 and 1942.
> Hopefully I will be able to do it soon.
>
> I inserted all comments of mine in straight brackets [ ] and added my
> initials, D.B; while Y.C.'s original comments were left in round brackets
> ), alongside his initials.
>
> I invite everyone to add (civilised) comments and additional info.
Thanks for information. I personally think that it is perfect example of how two
sides actually viewed the war and how they counted losses. There is no doubt
that claims and losses of JG54 and VVS pilots COULD NOT BE both 100% correct. It
is more than possible that some German pilots which were shot down where not
from JG54, even so Russian pilots wanted believe so. While some German pilots
which were MIA, shot down by flak, or crushed may in fact had been killed by
Soviet pilot or crush after being damaged by Soviet fighters. Finally, expecting
total accuracy from any documents is not realistic. For example it known for a
fact that some Soviet pilots actually sold their kills to other Soviet pilots
for money, food, vodka, and so on. I heard that in Luftwaffe it had been a
fairly common thing to give their killed pilot one or two kills as an honor,
with
hope that kills would slip through cracks in the system. At the end there is
good old bias. Say two teams play each other and game is tie at the end. If you
ask both teams, they would say that they kick other's team ass. People do have
amazing ability to see the same even very differently.
Anyway, I personally like the article, even with all the inaccuracies. It does
puts a human face on the war. Usually we often see air combat of pilots we like
vs machines, forgetting that their is pilots in other plane as well.
Yevgeniy Chizhikov.
Rodion Podorozhny
air combat operations in WWII I suggest taking a look at
The author's aim is to give an unbiased comparison of Soviet
and German accounts of WWII air combat.