On June 22nd, 1941, over 60 soviet airfields were attacked by I and II Fliegerkorps aircraft assigned to the ‘Barbarossa’ campaign. By the end of the day, over 1,800 aircraft (1,489 on the ground and 322 in the air) had been destroyed, giving rise to the belief by the Germans that the V-VS (Voenno-Vozduzhnoye Sily) was finished as a fighting entity. The V-VS was still largely composed of obsolete (by German standards) Polikarpov 1-15’s, Kocherigin D1-6’s and IIyushin II-4’s. The Soviets admitted to the loss of at least 1,200 and many of their finest units. By November, the V-VS was down to 620, a loss of 5,000.
German air commitment also fell, from over 2,400 to around 1,700 by December, partly due to the withdrawal of II Fliegcrkorps to the Mediterranean and V Fliegerkorps to Belgium. During the winter months however, IIyushin II-2 Shturmoviks proved their worth, flying in temperatures as low as -35 degrees, visibilities of 500 meters and cloud bases as low as 60 meters.
By July 1942, more modern Yakovlev Yak-1’s, Mig 3’s and Lavochkin LaGG-3’s were tipping the balance against the Messershmitt Bf1O9F-2’s and G-4’s, earning units, such as the 18th, 220th and 268th IAP (Istrebitel’naya Aviatsiya Polk - Fighter Air Regiment) Gvadaya (Guard) status.
German pilots reached well over 100 kills in the campaign, Hauptmann (Flight Lieutenant in the RAF and Captain in the USAAF) Herman Graf of Staffel 9, JG 52 was credited with 200 kills.
After Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943), the Luftwaffe had 370 aircraft in theatre. Air battles in April, May and June 1943, were fierce, with V-VS units copying Luftwaffe ‘Rotte’ and ‘Schwarm’ tactics with ‘Pare’ (Pair) and ‘Zveno’ (Four).
Luftwaffe attacks on V-VS held airfields, such as Gorki, Saratov and Yaroslavi, were countered with attacks by the 1st, 2nd and 15th VA’s (Vozduzhnaya Armiya - Air Armies) on Poltava, Konotop and Kramatorsk. Yakovlev Yak 7B’s, Yak 9’s and Lavochkin La5FN’s directed by Redut’ and ‘Son2a’ radar, intercepted Messerschmitt covered He 111’s and Ju 88’s on June 2nd and shot down 58 out of 137 aircraft.
Guard units began to mimic the Luftwaffe’s ‘Frei Jagd’ (Free Chase) missions and swept well behind German lines.
The 3rd BAK (‘Bombardirovoclmaya Aviatsiya Korpus’ - Bomber Air Corps), 6th ShAK (‘Shturmovaya Aviatsiya Korpus’ - Ground Support Corps), 2nd Gv. IAD (Guard Fighter Air Division) and 299th ShAD (‘Shturmovaya Aviatsiya Divizi -Ground Support Division) of the 16th VA attacked Polyana, Yasnaya, Ozerok and Archangelskoya, claiming 76 for the loss of 98 while the 17th VA got mauled attacking Mlkoyanovka, Sokolniki, Pomerki, Osnava, Rogan and Barvenkovo to the south.
Operation ‘Zitadelle’ began on July 5th. Air combat was intense, between the 5th and 8th, the V-VS lost 566 aircraft compared to 854 German.
VII Fliegerkorps covered the 4th Panzer Army’s advance towards Oboyan, Korocha and Prokhorovka while 1. Fliegerdivision, the 9th Army’s to Olkhovatka and Ponyri. Luftwaffe sorties averaged around 1,000 a day, the majority of which were flown by Junkers Ju 87D Stukas.
The tide had turned and by January 1944, 1,800 Luftwaffe aircraft faced well over 10,000 of their Soviet counterparts. 1,200 aircraft in the 13th VA (215th IAD, 216th BAD and 211th ShAD) and 14th VA (278th and 279th IADs, 280th BAD and 281st ShAD) opposed 320 of Luftflotte I’s Fliegerdivision 3 on the Leningrad Front.
In April, the 4th and 8th VA supported the 4th Ukrainian Front’s strike against the Crimean based 17th German Army around Perekop and Kerch., the Fliegerfuhrer Krim only being able to muster 85 aircraft from Gruppen II and 111 of JG52 as fighter cover.
Overall, Soviet airpower topped 13,420 against 1,710 under Luftflottes I, IV and VI. During May and June, the supply of Soviet aircraft rose to over 3,000 a month with the likes of Tupolev Tu-2’s, Yakovlev Yak-3’s and Lavochkin La-7’s.
The Yak-3 was an all-metal, smaller version of the Yak-1M with a maximum top speed of 404 mph (rising to 447mph when re-engined with the 1,650hp VK-107A), it was armed with one 20mm ShVAK cannon and two 12.1 mm BS MGs. Though 20 mph faster than the latest Messerschmitt Bf109G-10, it was slower over 25,000 ft but that wasn’t a concern for the Soviets.
Nearly 100,000 sorties were flown by the end of August, units like the 46th Gv. NBAP (Gvadaya Noch Bombardirovochnaya Aviatsiya Polk’ - Guards Night Bomber Regiment - an all women unit), 6th Gv. BAD, 1st Gv.ShAD, 74th Gv. ShAP and the French ‘Normandie’ Escadrilya of the 303rd Diviziya performed well.
Boeing B17s from the 8th and 15th US Airforces and P51 Mustangs from the 13th and 45th Fighter Wings arrived at Poltava but were soon targeted by Ju 88’s and He 111H-16s. Two hundred thousand gallons of fuel, 47 B17s and 19 other aircraft went up in flames, ignited by German flares. This attack was Fliegerkorps last, the unit disbanded in September.
Over 1,100 German aircraft were now based in the central sector, 400 in the north and 200 in the south. Soviet forces advanced and by December had reached Lake Balaton and Bucharest. The 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts with around 3,000 aircraft of the 1st and 4th VA attacked Army Group Centre in East Prussia while the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts reached Bromberg, Poznan and Breslau. Altogether, 4,100 Soviet aircraft (of 16th and 2nd VA) faced the 1,000 in the 2 Fliegerdivisions of VIII Fliegerkorps.
By February 1945, Soviet Forces had defeated 31 German Divisions, taken 141,000 PoW’s and destroyed 1,200 tanks and the Allies were ready to cross the Rhine.
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