...the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time,
of which 60 never shot down a single Russian aircraft
/Mike Speake “Luftwaffe Aces”/
The Iron Curtain collapsed with a deafening roar, and a storm of revelations of Soviet myths arose in the media of independent Russia. The theme of the Great Patriotic War became the most popular - inexperienced Soviet people were shocked by the results of German aces - tank crews, submariners and, especially, Luftwaffe pilots.
Actually, the problem is this: 104 German pilots have a record of 100 or more downed aircraft. Among them are Erich Hartmann (352 victories) and Gerhard Barkhorn (301), who showed absolutely phenomenal results. Moreover, Harmann and Barkhorn won all their victories on the Eastern Front. And they were no exception - Gunther Rall (275 victories), Otto Kittel (267), Walter Nowotny (258) - also fought on the Soviet-German front.
At the same time, the 7 best Soviet aces: Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Evstigneev, Vorozheikin, Glinka were able to overcome the bar of 50 enemy aircraft shot down. For example, Three-time Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub destroyed 64 German aircraft in air battles (plus 2 American Mustangs shot down by mistake). Alexander Pokryshkin is a pilot about whom, according to legend, the Germans warned by radio: “Akhtung! Pokryshkin in der luft!”, chalked up “only” 59 aerial victories. The little-known Romanian ace Constantin Contacuzino has approximately the same number of victories (according to various sources, from 60 to 69). Another Romanian, Alexandru Serbanescu, shot down 47 aircraft on the Eastern Front (another 8 victories remained “unconfirmed”).
The situation is much worse for the Anglo-Saxons. The best aces were Marmaduke Pettle (about 50 victories, South Africa) and Richard Bong (40 victories, USA). In total, 19 British and American pilots managed to shoot down more than 30 enemy aircraft, while the British and Americans fought on the best fighters in the world: the inimitable P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning or the legendary Supermarine Spitfire! On the other hand, the best ace of the Royal Air Force did not have the opportunity to fight on such wonderful aircraft - Marmaduke Pettle won all his fifty victories, flying first on the old Gladiator biplane, and then on the clumsy Hurricane.
Against this background, the results of the Finnish fighter aces look completely paradoxical: Ilmari Yutilainen shot down 94 aircraft, and Hans Wind - 75.
What conclusion can be drawn from all these numbers? What is the secret of the incredible performance of Luftwaffe fighters? Maybe the Germans simply didn’t know how to count?
The only thing that can be stated with a high degree of confidence is that the accounts of all aces, without exception, are inflated. Extolling the successes of the best fighters is a standard practice of state propaganda, which by definition cannot be honest.
German Meresyev and his “Stuka”
As an interesting example, I propose to consider the incredible story of bomber pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. This ace is less known than the legendary Erich Hartmann. Rudel practically did not participate in air battles; you will not find his name in the lists of the best fighters.
Rudel is famous for having flown 2,530 combat missions. He piloted the Junkers 87 dive bomber and at the end of the war took the helm of the Focke-Wulf 190. During his combat career, he destroyed 519 tanks, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, 800 trucks and cars, two cruisers, a destroyer, and seriously damaged the battleship Marat. In the air he shot down two Il-2 attack aircraft and seven fighters. He landed on enemy territory six times to rescue the crews of downed Junkers. The Soviet Union placed a reward of 100,000 rubles on the head of Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
Just an example of a fascist
He was shot down 32 times by return fire from the ground. In the end, Rudel's leg was torn off, but the pilot continued to fly on a crutch until the end of the war. In 1948, he fled to Argentina, where he became friends with dictator Peron and organized a mountaineering club. Climbed the highest peak of the Andes - Aconcagua (7 kilometers). In 1953 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, continuing to talk nonsense about the revival of the Third Reich.
Without a doubt, this extraordinary and controversial pilot was a tough ace. But any person accustomed to thoughtfully analyzing events should have one important question: how was it established that Rudel destroyed exactly 519 tanks?
Of course, there were no photographic machine guns or cameras on the Junkers. The maximum that Rudel or his gunner-radio operator could notice: covering a column of armored vehicles, i.e. possible damage to tanks. The dive recovery speed of the Yu-87 is more than 600 km/h, the overload can reach 5g, in such conditions it is impossible to accurately see anything on the ground.
Since 1943, Rudel switched to the Yu-87G anti-tank attack aircraft. The characteristics of this “laptezhnika” are simply disgusting: max. speed in horizontal flight is 370 km/h, rate of climb is about 4 m/s. The main aircraft were two VK37 cannons (caliber 37 mm, rate of fire 160 rounds/min), with only 12 (!) rounds of ammunition per barrel. Powerful guns installed in the wings, when firing, created a large turning moment and rocked the light aircraft so much that firing in bursts was pointless - only single sniper shots.
And here is a funny report on the results of field tests of the VYa-23 aircraft gun: in 6 flights on the Il-2, the pilots of the 245th assault air regiment, with a total consumption of 435 shells, achieved 46 hits in a tank column (10.6%). We must assume that in real combat conditions, under intense anti-aircraft fire, the results will be much worse. What's a German ace with 24 shells on board a Stuka!
Further, hitting a tank does not guarantee its defeat. An armor-piercing projectile (685 grams, 770 m/s), fired from a VK37 cannon, penetrated 25 mm of armor at an angle of 30° from the normal. When using sub-caliber ammunition, armor penetration increased by 1.5 times. Also, due to the aircraft’s own speed, armor penetration in reality was approximately another 5 mm greater. On the other hand, the thickness of the armored hull of Soviet tanks was less than 30-40 mm only in some projections, and it was impossible to even dream of hitting a KV, IS or heavy self-propelled gun in the forehead or side.
In addition, breaking through armor does not always lead to the destruction of a tank. Trains with damaged armored vehicles regularly arrived in Tankograd and Nizhny Tagil, which were quickly restored and sent back to the front. And repairs to damaged rollers and chassis were carried out right on site. At this time, Hans-Ulrich Rudel drew himself another cross for the “destroyed” tank.
Another question for Rudel is related to his 2,530 combat missions. According to some reports, in the German bomber squadrons it was customary to count a difficult mission as an incentive for several combat missions. For example, captured captain Helmut Putz, commander of the 4th detachment of the 2nd group of the 27th bomber squadron, explained the following during interrogation: “... in combat conditions I managed to make 130-140 night sorties, and a number of sorties with a complex combat mission were counted towards me , like others, in 2-3 flights.” (interrogation protocol dated June 17, 1943). Although it is possible that Helmut Putz, having been captured, lied, trying to reduce his contribution to the attacks on Soviet cities.
Hartmann against everyone
There is an opinion that ace pilots filled their accounts without any restrictions and fought “on their own,” being an exception to the rule. And the main work at the front was performed by semi-qualified pilots. This is a deep misconception: in a general sense, there are no “averagely qualified” pilots. There are either aces or their prey.
For example, let’s take the legendary Normandie-Niemen air regiment, which fought on Yak-3 fighters. Of the 98 French pilots, 60 did not win a single victory, but the “selected” 17 pilots shot down 200 German aircraft in air battles (in total, the French regiment drove 273 aircraft with swastikas into the ground).
A similar picture was observed in the US 8th Air Force, where out of 5,000 fighter pilots, 2,900 did not achieve a single victory. Only 318 people recorded 5 or more downed aircraft.
American historian Mike Spike describes the same episode related to the actions of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front: “... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time, of which 60 never shot down a single Russian aircraft.”
So, we found out that ace pilots are the main strength of the Air Force. But the question remains: what is the reason for the huge gap between the performance of the Luftwaffe aces and the pilots of the Anti-Hitler Coalition? Even if we split the incredible German bills in half?
One of the legends about the inconsistency of the large accounts of German aces is associated with an unusual system for counting downed aircraft: by the number of engines. Single-engine fighter - one plane shot down. Four-engine bomber - four aircraft shot down. Indeed, for pilots who fought in the West, a parallel score was introduced, in which for the destruction of a “Flying Fortress” flying in battle formation, the pilot was credited with 4 points, for a damaged bomber that “fell out” of battle formation and became easy prey other fighters, the pilot was given 3 points, because he did the bulk of the work - breaking through the hurricane fire of the “Flying Fortresses” is much more difficult than shooting down a damaged single aircraft. And so on: depending on the degree of participation of the pilot in the destruction of the 4-engine monster, he was awarded 1 or 2 points. What happened next with these reward points? They were probably somehow converted into Reichsmarks. But all this had nothing to do with the list of downed aircraft.
The most prosaic explanation for the Luftwaffe phenomenon: the Germans had no shortage of targets. Germany fought on all fronts with a numerical superiority of the enemy. The Germans had 2 main types of fighters: Messerschmitt 109 (34 thousand were produced from 1934 to 1945) and Focke-Wulf 190 (13 thousand fighter version and 6.5 thousand attack aircraft were produced) - a total of 48 thousand fighters.
At the same time, about 70 thousand Yaks, Lavochkins, I-16s and MiG-3s passed through the Red Army Air Force during the war years (excluding 10 thousand fighters delivered under Lend-Lease).
In the Western European theater of operations, Luftwaffe fighters were opposed by about 20 thousand Spitfires and 13 thousand Hurricanes and Tempests (this is how many vehicles served in the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945). How many more fighters did Britain receive under Lend-Lease?
Since 1943, American fighters appeared over Europe - thousands of Mustangs, P-38s and P-47s plowed the skies of the Reich, accompanying strategic bombers during raids. In 1944, during the Normandy landings, Allied aircraft had a six-fold numerical superiority. “If there are camouflaged planes in the sky, it’s the Royal Air Force, if they’re silver, it’s the US Air Force. If there are no planes in the sky, it’s the Luftwaffe,” German soldiers joked sadly. Where could British and American pilots get large bills under such conditions?
Another example - the most popular combat aircraft in the history of aviation was the Il-2 attack aircraft. During the war years, 36,154 attack aircraft were produced, of which 33,920 Ilovs entered the army. By May 1945, the Red Army Air Force included 3,585 Il-2s and Il-10s, and another 200 Il-2s were in naval aviation.
In a word, the Luftwaffe pilots did not have any superpowers. All their achievements can only be explained by the fact that there were many enemy aircraft in the air. The Allied fighter aces, on the contrary, needed time to detect the enemy - according to statistics, even the best Soviet pilots had an average of 1 air battle per 8 sorties: they simply could not meet the enemy in the sky!
On a cloudless day, from a distance of 5 km, a World War II fighter is visible like a fly on a window pane from the far corner of the room. In the absence of radar on aircraft, air combat was more of an unexpected coincidence than a regular event.
It is more objective to count the number of downed aircraft, taking into account the number of combat sorties of pilots. Viewed from this angle, Erich Hartmann's achievement fades: 1,400 combat missions, 825 air combats and "only" 352 aircraft shot down. Walter Novotny has a much better figure: 442 sorties and 258 victories.
Friends congratulate Alexander Pokryshkin (far right) on receiving the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union
It is very interesting to trace how ace pilots began their careers. The legendary Pokryshkin, in his first combat missions, demonstrated aerobatic skill, audacity, flight intuition and sniper shooting. And the phenomenal ace Gerhard Barkhorn did not score a single victory in his first 119 missions, but he himself was shot down twice! Although there is an opinion that not everything went smoothly for Pokryshkin either: his first plane shot down was the Soviet Su-2.
In any case, Pokryshkin has his own advantage over the best German aces. Hartman was shot down fourteen times. Barkhorn - 9 times. Pokryshkin was never shot down! Another advantage of the Russian miracle hero: he won most of his victories in 1943. In 1944-45 Pokryshkin shot down only 6 German aircraft, focusing on training young personnel and managing the 9th Guards Air Division.
In conclusion, it is worth saying that you should not be so afraid of the high bills of Luftwaffe pilots. This, on the contrary, shows what a formidable enemy the Soviet Union defeated, and why Victory has such high value.
Luftwaffe Aces of World War II
The film tells about the famous German ace pilots: Erich Hartmann (352 enemy aircraft shot down), Johan Steinhoff (176), Werner Mölders (115), Adolf Galland (103) and others. Rare footage of interviews with Hartman and Galland is presented, as well as unique newsreels of air battles.
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"...When it comes to some private issues, doubts remain. The personal account of German aces and pilots of any other countries looks too different. 352 aircraft of Hartmann and 60 aircraft of Kozhedub, the best of the Allied fighter pilots, involuntarily lead to different thoughts.
First of all, I want to point out the typical mistakes of Soviet historiographers. But besides them, we often have to deal with examples of forgery and falsification, alas:
1. “Erich Hartmann flew only 800 combat missions.”
Hartmann flew about 1,400 combat missions during the war. The number 800 is the number of air battles. By the way, it turns out that Hartmann ALONE made 2.5 times more sorties than the ENTIRE Normandie-Niemen SQUADRILE combined. This characterizes the intensity of the actions of German pilots on the Eastern Front; for them, 3–4 sorties per day were the norm. And if Hartmann spent 6 times more air battles than Kozhedub, then why can’t he, accordingly, shoot down 6 times more planes? By the way, another holder of the “Iron Cross with Oak Flatteries, Swords and Diamonds,” Hans-Ulrich Rudel, flew more than 2,500 combat missions during the war years.
2. “The Germans recorded victories using a machine gun.”
Confirmation was required from witnesses - pilots participating in the battle, or ground observers. Sometimes, pilots waited a week or more for confirmation of their victories.
3. “The Germans recorded “hits,” not “victories.”
Here we are faced with another version of an unfair multiple translation of the memoirs of German pilots. German - English - Russian. Even a conscientious translator can get confused here, and there is generally room for forgery. The expression "claim hit" has nothing in common with the expression "claim victory". The first was used in bomber aviation, where it was rarely possible to say more definitely. Fighter pilots didn't use it. They only talked about victories or downed planes.
4. "Hartmann has only 150 confirmed victories, the rest are known only from his words."
This, unfortunately, is an example of direct forgery. Hartmann's first flight book has been preserved, in which the FIRST 150 victories are recorded. The second disappeared during his arrest. You never know that it was seen, and it was filled by the squadron headquarters, and not Hartmann. Well, she’s gone - that’s all! Like the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This means that since December 13, 1943, Erich Hartmann has not shot down a single plane. Interesting conclusion, isn't it?
5. “German aces simply could not shoot down so many planes in one flight.”
They very much could. Read more carefully the description of Hartmann's attacks. First, a strike is made on a group of covering fighters, then on a group of bombers, and if you're lucky, then on a mop-up group. That is, in one run, 6-10 aircraft came into his sights one by one. And he didn’t shoot down everyone.
6. “You can’t destroy our plane with a couple of shots.”
Who said it was a couple? Here is a description of the flight of German aircraft from Crimea. The Germans transport technicians and mechanics in the fuselages of their fighters, but do not remove the wing containers with 30-mm cannons. How long can a Soviet fighter survive under fire from 3 guns? At the same time, this shows to what extent they despised our aircraft. After all, it is clear that with 2 containers under the wings the Me-109 flew a little better than a piece of wood.
7. “The Germans took turns firing at one plane and each chalked it up to his own account.”
Just no comments.
8. “The Germans sent elite fighter units to the Eastern Front to seize air superiority.”
Yes, the Germans did not have elite fighter units, except for the Galland JV-44 jet squadron created at the very end of the war. All other squadrons and groups were the most ordinary front-line formations. No “Aces of Diamonds” or other nonsense there. It’s just that many of the German units, in addition to numbers, also had a proper name. So all these “Richthofens”, “Greifs”, “Condors”, “Immelmanns”, even “Grun Hertz” are ordinary squadrons. Notice how many brilliant aces served in the mediocre, nameless JG-52.
What actually happened? For example, this is a completely paradoxical conclusion that arises after reading Hartmann’s memoirs: Erich Hartmann did not conduct ALMOST A SINGLE air battle. He rejected the aerial carousel, so dear to the hearts of our pilots, on principle. Climb, dive to target, immediately leave. Shot down - shot down, didn't shoot down - it doesn't matter. The fight is over! If there is a new attack, it will only be based on the same principle. Hartmann himself says that at least 80% of the pilots he shot down were not even aware of the danger. And certainly no hovering over the battlefield to “cover your troops.” By the way, Pokryshkin once rebelled against this. “I can’t catch bombs with my plane. We’ll intercept the bombers as they approach the battlefield.” They intercepted it, it worked. And after the fight, Pokryshkin received a hat for his ingenuity. But Hartmann did nothing but hunt. So, it would be more fair to call his 800 battles air clashes or something.
And remember the undisguised irritation that shows in the memoirs of our pilots regarding the tactics of the German aces. Free hunt! And there’s no way you can force a fight on him! Such helplessness is obviously due solely to the fact that the Yak-3 was the best fighter in the world. The authors of the Russian film “Fighters of the Eastern Front” also showed the shortcomings of our best fighters. A. Yakovlev writes about the maximum ceiling of 3–3.5 km for our fighters in all his books, passing it off as a big plus. But only after watching the film did I remember the constantly flashing line of Hartmann’s own memories. “We were approaching the battle area at an altitude of 5.5–6 km.” Here! That is, the Germans, in principle, received the right of first strike. Right on the ground! This was determined by the characteristics of the aircraft and the vicious Soviet tactics. It’s not hard to guess what the price of such an advantage is.
Hartmann made 14 forced landings. This is true. However, read more carefully the descriptions of these cases, for example, the battle with 8 Mustangs. Hartmann ran out of fuel and what did he do? - trying to save the plane? Not at all. He just chooses the moment to safely jump out with a parachute. He doesn’t even have the thought of saving the plane. So, only our pilots returned on the planes that received 150 hits. The rest reasonably believed that life was more valuable than a heap of iron. In general, it seems that the Germans treated the fact of the forced landing quite casually. The car broke down, okay, let’s change it and move on. Remember Johannes Wiese's 5 forced landings in one day. Despite the fact that on the same day he shot down 12 planes!
Throughout the Great Patriotic War, with the exception of its last months, the Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber was one of the main opponents of Soviet fighter pilots, especially during periods of active hostilities. Therefore, in the lists of victories of many of our aces, “laptezhniki” (this is exactly the nickname the German dive-bomber received in our country for its characteristic non-retractable landing gear in massive fairings) occupy a prominent place.
The Ju 87B-2 from III./St.G, which made an emergency landing due to engine damage. 2, autumn 1941,
Chudovo station area, Leningrad region ( http://waralbum.ru)
Since there were a lot of victories over the Yu-87 (as the aircraft was designated in Soviet staff documents) - for every 3,000 ace pilots there are about 4,000 applications for the destruction of enemy dive bombers - their presence in the combat accounts of aces is, in fact, directly dependent on the total number of downed planes, and the top lines of the list are occupied by the most famous Soviet aces.
The first place among the hunters for “laptezhniki” is shared by the most successful fighter pilot of the anti-Hitler coalition, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, and another famous ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Arseny Vasilyevich Vorozheikin. Both of these pilots have 18 Yu-87s shot down. Kozhedub shot down all his Junkers as part of the 240th IAP (the first victory over the Yu-87 was 07/06/1943, the last was on 06/01/1944), flying a La-5 fighter, Vorozheikin - as part of the 728th IAP on the Yak- 7B (the first Laptezhnik shot down was 07/14/1943, the last one was 04/18/1944). In total, during the war, Ivan Kozhedub scored 64 personal aerial victories, and Arseny Vorozheikin - 45 individually and 1 in a pair, and both of our outstanding pilots had the Yu-87 first on the extensive lists of aircraft they shot down.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, the best ace of the anti-Hitler coalition, destroyed the most Yu-87 - on e
counted 18 German dive bombers ( http://waralbum.ru)
Second place in the conditional ranking of “stuka” destroyers is occupied by another pilot of the 240th IAP, who flew the La-5 - twice Hero of the Soviet Union Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev, who during his combat career scored 13 personal victories over the Yu-87, also having another shot down in a group. In total, Evstigneev shot down 52 enemy aircraft personally and 3 in a group.
Third place in the list of personal victories is shared by pilots of the 205th Fighter Aviation Division, Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Pavlovich Mikhalev from the 508th IAP (213th Guards IAP) and twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev (27th IAP/129th Guards IAP), each having 12 destroyed “laptezhniki” (Vasily Mikhalev, in addition, has 7 dive bombers shot down in the group). The first began his combat career on the Yak-7B, “killing” 4 Yu-87s on it, and shot down the rest while in the cockpit of the Lend-Lease P-39 Airacobra fighter; the second - he sent the first 7 "pieces" to the ground, piloting the Yak-1 (and Gulaev shot down two "Junkers" with ram attacks), the rest of the victories were won on the "Air Cobra". Mikhalev’s final combat score was 23+14, and Gulaev’s was 55+5 aerial victories.
The fourth position in the ranking with 11 personal victories over the Yu-87 is occupied by the “magnificent five” fighter pilots of the KA Air Force, headed by Hero of the Soviet Union Fedor Fedorovich Arkhipenko, who also has 6 “laptezhniki” shot down in the group. The pilot won his victories over the Yu-87 in the ranks of two air regiments - the 508th IAP and the 129th Guards IAP, shooting down two bombers personally in the Yak-7B, the rest in the Airacobra. In total, during the war, Arkhipenko shot down 29 enemy aircraft personally and 15 in a group. Further on the list of pilots who shot down 11 Ju-87s each looks like this: Trofim Afanasyevich Litvinenko (fought as part of the 191st IAP on the P-40 Kittyhawk and La-5, final combat score - 18+0, Hero of the Soviet Union) ; Mikhalin Mikhail Fedorovich (191st IAP, “Kittyhawk”, 14+2); Rechkalov Grigory Andreevich (16th Guards IAP, “Airacobra”, 61+4, twice Hero of the Soviet Union); Chepinoga Pavel Iosifovich (27th IAP and 508th IAP, Yak-1 and Airacobra, 25+1, Hero of the Soviet Union).
Five more pilots have 10 personally shot down Yu-87s: Artamonov Nikolai Semenovich (297th IAP and 193rd IAP (177th Guards IAP), La-5, 28+9, Hero of the Soviet Union); Zyuzin Petr Dmitrievich (29th Guards IAP, Yak-9, 16+0, Hero of the Soviet Union); Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich (16th Guards IAP, Directorate of the 9th Guards IAD, “Airacobra”, 46+6, three times Hero of the Soviet Union); Rogozhin Vasily Aleksandrovich (236th IAP (112th Guards IAP), Yak-1, 23+0, Hero of the Soviet Union); Sachkov Mikhail Ivanovich (728th IAP, Yak-7B, 29+0, Hero of the Soviet Union).
In addition, 9 fighter pilots were sent to the ground by 9 diving Junkers, 8 people had 8 downed Yu-87s, 15 pilots had 7 each.
Representatives of the Soviet air force made a huge contribution to the defeat of the Nazi invaders. Many pilots gave their lives for the freedom and independence of our Motherland, many became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Some of them forever entered the elite of the Russian Air Force, the illustrious cohort of Soviet aces - the threat of the Luftwaffe. Today we remember the 10 most successful Soviet fighter pilots, who accounted for the most enemy aircraft shot down in air battles.
On February 4, 1944, the outstanding Soviet fighter pilot Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was awarded the first star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, he was already three times Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war years, only one more Soviet pilot was able to repeat this achievement - it was Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin. But the history of Soviet fighter aviation during the war does not end with these two most famous aces. During the war, another 25 pilots were twice nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, not to mention those who were once awarded this highest military award in the country of those years.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
During the war, Ivan Kozhedub made 330 combat missions, conducted 120 air battles and personally shot down 64 enemy aircraft. He flew on La-5, La-5FN and La-7 aircraft.
Official Soviet historiography listed 62 downed enemy aircraft, but archival research showed that Kozhedub shot down 64 aircraft (for some reason, two air victories were missing - April 11, 1944 - PZL P.24 and June 8, 1944 - Me 109) . Among the trophies of the Soviet ace pilot were 39 fighters (21 Fw-190, 17 Me-109 and 1 PZL P.24), 17 dive bombers (Ju-87), 4 bombers (2 Ju-88 and 2 He-111), 3 attack aircraft (Hs-129) and one Me-262 jet fighter. In addition, in his autobiography, he indicated that in 1945 he shot down two American P-51 Mustang fighters, which attacked him from a long distance, mistaking him for a German plane.
In all likelihood, if Ivan Kozhedub (1920-1991) had started the war in 1941, his count of downed aircraft could have been even higher. However, his debut came only in 1943, and the future ace shot down his first plane in the battle of Kursk. On July 6, during a combat mission, he shot down a German Ju-87 dive bomber. Thus, the pilot’s performance is truly amazing; in just two war years he managed to bring his victories to a record in the Soviet Air Force.
At the same time, Kozhedub was never shot down during the entire war, although he returned to the airfield several times in a heavily damaged fighter. But the last could have been his first air battle, which took place on March 26, 1943. His La-5 was damaged by a burst from a German fighter; the armored back saved the pilot from an incendiary shell. And upon returning home, his plane was fired upon by its own air defense, the car received two hits. Despite this, Kozhedub managed to land the plane, which could no longer be fully restored.
The future best Soviet ace took his first steps in aviation while studying at the Shotkinsky flying club. At the beginning of 1940, he was drafted into the Red Army and in the fall of the same year he graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots, after which he continued to serve in this school as an instructor. With the beginning of the war, the school was evacuated to Kazakhstan. The war itself began for him in November 1942, when Kozhedub was seconded to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 302nd Fighter Aviation Division. The formation of the division was completed only in March 1943, after which it flew to the front. As mentioned above, he won his first victory only on July 6, 1943, but a start had been made.
Already on February 4, 1944, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Kozhedub was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, at that time he managed to fly 146 combat missions and shoot down 20 enemy aircraft in air battles. He received his second star in the same year. He was presented for the award on August 19, 1944 for 256 combat missions and 48 downed enemy aircraft. At that time, as a captain, he served as deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
In air battles, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was distinguished by fearlessness, composure and automatic piloting, which he brought to perfection. Perhaps the fact that before being sent to the front he spent several years as an instructor played a very large role in his future successes in the sky. Kozhedub could easily conduct aimed fire at the enemy at any position of the aircraft in the air, and also easily performed complex aerobatics. Being an excellent sniper, he preferred to conduct air combat at a distance of 200-300 meters.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub won his last victory in the Great Patriotic War on April 17, 1945 in the skies over Berlin, in this battle he shot down two German FW-190 fighters. The future air marshal (title awarded on May 6, 1985), Major Kozhedub, became a three-time Hero of the Soviet Union on August 18, 1945. After the war, he continued to serve in the country's Air Force and went through a very serious career path, bringing many more benefits to the country. The legendary pilot died on August 8, 1991, and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshki fought from the very first day of the war to the last. During this time, he made 650 combat missions, in which he conducted 156 air battles and officially personally shot down 59 enemy aircraft and 6 aircraft in the group. He is the second most successful ace of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition after Ivan Kozhedub. During the war he flew MiG-3, Yak-1 and American P-39 Airacobra aircraft.
The number of aircraft shot down is very arbitrary. Quite often, Alexander Pokryshkin made deep raids behind enemy lines, where he also managed to win victories. However, only those that could be confirmed by ground services were counted, that is, if possible, over their territory. He could have had 8 such unaccounted victories in 1941 alone. Moreover, they accumulated throughout the war. Also, Alexander Pokryshkin often gave the planes he shot down at the expense of his subordinates (mostly wingmen), thus stimulating them. In those years this was quite common.
Already during the first weeks of the war, Pokryshkin was able to understand that the tactics of the Soviet Air Force were outdated. Then he began to write down his notes on this matter in a notebook. He kept a careful record of the air battles in which he and his friends took part, after which he made a detailed analysis of what he had written. Moreover, at that time he had to fight in very difficult conditions of constant retreat of Soviet troops. He later said: “Those who did not fight in 1941-1942 do not know the real war.”
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and massive criticism of everything that was associated with that period, some authors began to “cut down” the number of Pokryshkin’s victories. This was also due to the fact that at the end of 1944, official Soviet propaganda finally made the pilot “a bright image of a hero, the main fighter of the war.” In order not to lose the hero in a random battle, it was ordered to limit the flights of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, who by that time already commanded the regiment. On August 19, 1944, after 550 combat missions and 53 officially won victories, he became a three-time Hero of the Soviet Union, the first in history.
The wave of “revelations” that washed over him after the 1990s also affected him because after the war he managed to take the post of Commander-in-Chief of the country’s air defense forces, that is, he became a “major Soviet official.” If we talk about the low ratio of victories to sorties, it can be noted that for a long time at the beginning of the war, Pokryshkin flew on his MiG-3, and then the Yak-1, to attack enemy ground forces or perform reconnaissance flights. For example, by mid-November 1941, the pilot had already completed 190 combat missions, but the vast majority of them - 144 - were to attack enemy ground forces.
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was not only a cold-blooded, brave and virtuoso Soviet pilot, but also a thinking pilot. He was not afraid to criticize the existing tactics of using fighter aircraft and advocated its replacement. Discussions on this matter with the regiment commander in 1942 led to the fact that the ace pilot was even expelled from the party and the case was sent to the tribunal. The pilot was saved by the intercession of the regiment commissar and higher command. The case against him was dropped and he was reinstated in the party. After the war, Pokryshkin had a long conflict with Vasily Stalin, which had a detrimental effect on his career. Everything changed only in 1953 after the death of Joseph Stalin. Subsequently, he managed to rise to the rank of air marshal, which was awarded to him in 1972. The famous ace pilot died on November 13, 1985 at the age of 72 in Moscow.
Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov
Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov fought from the very first day of the Great Patriotic War. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war he flew more than 450 combat missions, shooting down 56 enemy aircraft personally and 6 in a group in 122 air battles. According to other sources, the number of his personal aerial victories could exceed 60. During the war, he flew I-153 “Chaika”, I-16, Yak-1, P-39 “Airacobra” aircraft.
Probably no other Soviet fighter pilot had such a variety of downed enemy vehicles as Grigory Rechkalov. Among his trophies were Me-110, Me-109, Fw-190 fighters, Ju-88, He-111 bombers, Ju-87 dive bomber, Hs-129 attack aircraft, Fw-189 and Hs-126 reconnaissance aircraft, as well as such a rare car as the Italian Savoy and the Polish PZL-24 fighter, which was used by the Romanian Air Force.
Surprisingly, the day before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Rechkalov was suspended from flying by decision of the medical flight commission; he was diagnosed with color blindness. But upon returning to his unit with this diagnosis, he was still cleared to fly. The beginning of the war forced the authorities to simply turn a blind eye to this diagnosis, simply ignoring it. At the same time, he served in the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment since 1939 together with Pokryshkin.
This brilliant military pilot had a very contradictory and uneven character. Showing an example of determination, courage and discipline in one mission, in another he could be distracted from the main task and just as decisively begin the pursuit of a random enemy, trying to increase the score of his victories. His combat fate in the war was closely intertwined with the fate of Alexander Pokryshkin. He flew with him in the same group, replacing him as squadron commander and regiment commander. Pokryshkin himself considered frankness and directness to be the best qualities of Grigory Rechkalov.
Rechkalov, like Pokryshkin, fought since June 22, 1941, but with a forced break of almost two years. In the first month of fighting, he managed to shoot down three enemy aircraft in his outdated I-153 biplane fighter. He also managed to fly on the I-16 fighter. On July 26, 1941, during a combat mission near Dubossary, he was wounded in the head and leg by fire from the ground, but managed to bring his plane to the airfield. After this injury, he spent 9 months in the hospital, during which time the pilot underwent three operations. And once again the medical commission tried to put an insurmountable obstacle on the path of the future famous ace. Grigory Rechkalov was sent to serve in a reserve regiment, which was equipped with U-2 aircraft. The future twice Hero of the Soviet Union took this direction as a personal insult. At the district Air Force headquarters, he managed to ensure that he was returned to his regiment, which at that time was called the 17th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. But very soon the regiment was recalled from the front to be re-equipped with new American Airacobra fighters, which were sent to the USSR as part of the Lend-Lease program. For these reasons, Rechkalov began to beat the enemy again only in April 1943.
Grigory Rechkalov, being one of the domestic stars of fighter aviation, was perfectly able to interact with other pilots, guessing their intentions and working together as a group. Even during the war years, a conflict arose between him and Pokryshkin, but he never sought to throw out any negativity about this or blame his opponent. On the contrary, in his memoirs he spoke well of Pokryshkin, noting that they managed to unravel the tactics of the German pilots, after which they began to use new techniques: they began to fly in pairs rather than in flights, it was better to use radio for guidance and communication, and echeloned their machines with the so-called “ bookcase."
Grigory Rechkalov won 44 victories in the Airacobra, more than other Soviet pilots. After the end of the war, someone asked the famous pilot what he valued most in the Airacobra fighter, on which so many victories were won: the power of the fire salvo, speed, visibility, reliability of the engine? To this question, the ace pilot replied that all of the above, of course, mattered; these were the obvious advantages of the aircraft. But the main thing, according to him, was the radio. The Airacobra had excellent radio communication, rare in those years. Thanks to this connection, pilots in battle could communicate with each other, as if on the telephone. Someone saw something - immediately all members of the group are aware. Therefore, we did not have any surprises during combat missions.
After the end of the war, Grigory Rechkalov continued his service in the Air Force. True, not as long as other Soviet aces. Already in 1959, he retired to the reserve with the rank of major general. After which he lived and worked in Moscow. He died in Moscow on December 20, 1990 at the age of 70.
Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulaev
Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev found himself on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War in August 1942. In total, during the war years he made 250 sorties, conducted 49 air battles, in which he personally destroyed 55 enemy aircraft and 5 more aircraft in the group. Such statistics make Gulaev the most effective Soviet ace. For every 4 missions he had a plane shot down, or on average more than one plane for every air battle. During the war, he flew I-16, Yak-1, P-39 Airacobra fighters; most of his victories, like Pokryshkin and Rechkalov, he won on Airacobra.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev shot down not much fewer planes than Alexander Pokryshkin. But in terms of effectiveness of fights, he far surpassed both him and Kozhedub. Moreover, he fought for less than two years. At first, in the deep Soviet rear, as part of the air defense forces, he was engaged in the protection of important industrial facilities, protecting them from enemy air raids. And in September 1944, he was almost forcibly sent to study at the Air Force Academy.
The Soviet pilot performed his most effective battle on May 30, 1944. In one air battle over Skuleni, he managed to shoot down 5 enemy aircraft at once: two Me-109, Hs-129, Ju-87 and Ju-88. During the battle, he himself was seriously wounded in his right arm, but concentrating all his strength and will, he was able to bring his fighter to the airfield, bleeding, landed and, having taxied to the parking lot, lost consciousness. The pilot only came to his senses in the hospital after the operation, and here he learned that he had been awarded the second title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The entire time Gulaev was at the front, he fought desperately. During this time, he managed to make two successful rams, after which he managed to land his damaged plane. He was wounded several times during this time, but after being wounded he invariably returned back to duty. At the beginning of September 1944, the ace pilot was forcibly sent to study. At that moment, the outcome of the war was already clear to everyone and they tried to protect the famous Soviet aces by ordering them to the Air Force Academy. Thus, the war ended unexpectedly for our hero.
Nikolai Gulaev was called the brightest representative of the “romantic school” of air combat. Often the pilot dared to commit “irrational actions” that shocked the German pilots, but helped him win victories. Even among other far from ordinary Soviet fighter pilots, the figure of Nikolai Gulaev stood out for its colorfulness. Only such a person, possessing unparalleled courage, would be able to conduct 10 super-effective air battles, recording two of his victories by successfully ramming enemy aircraft. Gulaev's modesty in public and in his self-esteem was dissonant with his exceptionally aggressive and persistent manner of conducting air combat, and he managed to carry openness and honesty with boyish spontaneity throughout his life, retaining some youthful prejudices until the end of his life, which did not prevent him from rising to the rank of rank of Colonel General of Aviation. The famous pilot died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow.
Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev
Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Like Kozhedub, he began his military career relatively late, only in 1943. During the war years, he made 296 combat missions, conducted 120 air battles, personally shooting down 53 enemy aircraft and 3 in the group. He flew La-5 and La-5FN fighters.
The almost two-year “delay” in appearing at the front was due to the fact that the fighter pilot suffered from a stomach ulcer, and with this disease he was not allowed to go to the front. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he worked as an instructor at a flight school, and after that he drove Lend-Lease Airacobras. Working as an instructor gave him a lot, as did another Soviet ace Kozhedub. At the same time, Evstigneev did not stop writing reports to the command with a request to send him to the front, as a result they were nevertheless satisfied. Kirill Evstigneev received his baptism of fire in March 1943. Like Kozhedub, he fought as part of the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment and flew the La-5 fighter. On his first combat mission, on March 28, 1943, he scored two victories.
During the entire war, the enemy never managed to shoot down Kirill Evstigneev. But he got it twice from his own people. The first time the Yak-1 pilot, carried away by air combat, crashed into his plane from above. The Yak-1 pilot immediately jumped out of the plane, which had lost one wing, with a parachute. But Evstigneev’s La-5 suffered less damage, and he managed to reach the positions of his troops, landing the fighter next to the trenches. The second incident, more mysterious and dramatic, occurred over our territory in the absence of enemy aircraft in the air. The fuselage of his plane was pierced by a burst, damaging Evstigneev’s legs, the car caught fire and went into a dive, and the pilot had to jump from the plane with a parachute. At the hospital, doctors were inclined to amputate the pilot’s foot, but he filled them with such fear that they abandoned their idea. And after 9 days, the pilot escaped from the hospital and with crutches traveled 35 kilometers to his home unit.
Kirill Evstigneev constantly increased the number of his aerial victories. Until 1945, the pilot was ahead of Kozhedub. At the same time, the unit doctor periodically sent him to the hospital to treat an ulcer and a wounded leg, which the ace pilot terribly resisted. Kirill Alekseevich was seriously ill since pre-war times; in his life he underwent 13 surgical operations. Very often the famous Soviet pilot flew, overcoming physical pain. Evstigneev, as they say, was obsessed with flying. In his free time, he tried to train young fighter pilots. He was the initiator of training air battles. For the most part, his opponent in them was Kozhedub. At the same time, Evstigneev was completely devoid of any sense of fear, even at the very end of the war he calmly launched a frontal attack on the six-gun Fokkers, winning victories over them. Kozhedub spoke of his comrade in arms like this: “Flint pilot.”
Captain Kirill Evstigneev ended the Guard War as a navigator of the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The pilot spent his last battle in the skies of Hungary on March 26, 1945, on his fifth La-5 fighter of the war. After the war, he continued to serve in the USSR Air Force, retired in 1972 with the rank of major general, and lived in Moscow. He died on August 29, 1996 at the age of 79, and was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery in the capital.
Information sources:
http://svpressa.ru
http://airaces.narod.ru
http://www.warheroes.ru
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ACES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
The question about ASAH - not about the German gods (although... how to say... :-)), but about the highest class fighter pilots - from the Second World War remains open. Over the past twenty to thirty years, so much custom-made nonsense has been written on this topic (usually “from our side”!) that all the rather boring and monotonous Soviet agitprop on this topic, published in 1961-1985, has been drowned in it. Separating the “wheat from the chaff” there is obviously a pointless exercise, because opponents will cover their ears and, on the one hand, will stubbornly repeat about “the Safkov did not know how to fly planes in the fucking schools of the land lizrulyozz!”, and on the other hand, they will constantly mutter about “the Krauts, the cowards, the Japanese, the fanatics, the rest of them, they couldn’t conquer them at once!” Listening to this is boring and embarrassing. I'm ashamed of the people who fought, you know. In front of everyone. Therefore, in the first part of this article (and the second part, in general, does not belong to me), I will simply present a summary table of the “leading three” for all the main warring countries. Only with numbers. Only with CONFIRMED and VERIFIED figures. So...
|
Quantity shot down enemy aircraft |
|
|
"Allies" |
|
|
USSR |
|
| A.L. Pokryshkin | |
| I.N.Kozhedub | |
| G.A. Rechkalov | |
|
British Empire |
|
|
Great Britain |
|
| D.E.Johnson | |
| V. Wale | |
| J.R.D.Braham | |
|
Australia |
|
| K.R. Caldwell | |
| A.P. Holdsmith | |
| John L. Waddy | |
|
Canada |
|
| G.F.Burling | |
| H.W.McLeod | |
| W.K.Woodworth | |
|
New Zealand |
|
| Colin F. Gray | |
| E.D. Mackey | |
| W. W. Crawford-Campton | |
|
South Africa |
|
| Marmaduke Thomas St. John Pattle | |
| A.G. Mallon | |
| Albert G. Lewis | |
|
Belgium |
|
| Rudolf deHemricourt deGrun | |
| Vic Ortmans | |
| Dumonso deBergandal | |
| Richard Gere Bong | |
| Thomas McQuirey | |
| David McCampbell | |
|
France |
|
| Marcel Albert | |
| Jean E.F. deMaze | |
| Pierre Closterman | |
|
Poland |
|
| Stanislav Skalsky | |
| B.M. Gladysh | |
| Vitold Urbanovich | |
|
Greece |
|
| Vassilios Vassiliades | |
| Ioannis Kellas | |
| Anastassios Bardivilias | |
|
Czechoslovakia |
|
| K.M.Kuttelwascher | |
| Josef Frantisek | |
|
Norway |
|
| Svein Höglund | |
| Helner G.E. Grün-Span | |
|
Denmark |
|
| Kai Birkstead | |
|
China |
|
| Lee Kwei-Tan | |
| Liu Tsui-Kan | |
| Lo Chi | |
|
"Axis" |
|
|
Germany |
|
| Gerhardt Barkhorn | |
| Walter Nowotny | |
| Gunther Rahl | |
|
Finland |
|
| Eino Ilmari Juutilainen | |
| Hans Henrik Wind | |
| Antero Eino Luukanen | |
|
Italy |
|
| Teresio Vittorio Martinolli | |
| Franco Lucchini | |
| Leonardo Ferruli | |
|
Hungary |
|
| Dözhi Szentüdörgyi | |
| Győr Debrodi | |
| Laszlo Molnar | |
|
Romania |
|
| Konstantin Cantacuzino | |
| Alexander Serbanescu | |
| Ion Milu | |
|
Bulgaria |
|
| Iliev Stoyan Stoyanov | |
| Angelov Petar Bochev | |
| Nenov Ivan Bonev | |
|
Croatia |
|
| Mato Dukovac | |
| Tsvitan Galic | |
| Dragutin Ivanich | |
|
Slovakia |
|
| Jan Rezniak | |
| Isidor Kovarik | |
| Jan Herzover | |
|
Spain |
|
| Gonzalo Hevia | |
| Mariano Medina Quadra | |
| Fernando Sanchez-Ariona | |
|
Japan |
|
| Hiroyoshi Nishizawa | |
| Shoiki Sugita | |
| Saburo Sakai | |
Conclusion:
So, based on the above, we can come to the conclusion that ramming, as a form of combat, was characteristic not only of Soviet pilots - ramming was carried out by pilots from almost all countries participating in the battles. ... it must be admitted that the Japanese still surpassed us in the sphere of the “purely Soviet form of combat.” If we evaluate only the effectiveness of the "kamikazes" (operating since October 1944), then at the cost of the lives of more than 5,000 Japanese pilots, about 50 were sunk and about 300 enemy warships were damaged, of which 3 sunk and 40 damaged were aircraft carriers with a huge capacity. the number of aircraft on board.
