Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

I found a possible Nachtjagd victim in the book "Les résistants de la dernière chance", by Bohus Chnoupek, a book about the French evadees who joined the Sloval insurrection in 1944:

On 23 October 1944 a Li-2 having brought weapons and ammunitions to a Slovak airfield was flying east with a load of wounded when it was attacked and shot down, crashing between Poprad and Levoca.

There were at least three survivors:
_ the pilot, named Goubine ("à la française", maybe Gubin) bailed out sharing a parachute with the radio! Both survived, being hurt on a rude landing, but they were able to walk 30 km to join a Slovak maquis.
_ a Slovak wounded, "Antoine" Koprda, survived the crash and managed to go out of the mountain where the aircraft crash mainly on his belly, before being found and saved. The story is told from Koprda perspective, that was sleeping abord the aircraft and was awakaned by machine gun fire hitting it.

More were killed:
_ half the Soviet crew (no name)
_ two wounded Slovaks: Lt Hronsky and soldier Siska
_ a Slovak nurse: "Alice" Braunova
_ four wounded French: Lt Jean-Luc Lehmann, soldiers Maurice Lerouge, Jean-Paul Cossard and Célestin Joubier.

My guess is that some of the names have been written on a French way, and so may differ from the original. The casualty list is not comprehensive, except probably for the French casualty.

In the evening of 23 October 1944, Ofw "Karl" Maisch of 2./NJG 100 claimed two Li-2 shot down east of Poprad (same area as above loss) at 2037 and 2107 hrs, his kills 17 and 18 according to John Foreman's Nachtjagd claims book.

An Internet source gives more info:
http://retrovtap.ru/wp-content/uploa...9B%D0%B8-2.pdf

Full name of pilot was Piotr Fedorovich Gubin. Names of all casualties (3 Soviet airmen, a nurse and seven wounded (three Slovaks and four French)) are given and also more details about the loss, but transaction from Russian by Google is a bit chaotic.

Anyway, by checking on the names of the Soviet killed on http://www.obd-memorial.ru, I found they belong to "5 ав. корп. ДД 1 Гв. Ав. П ДД". Again the automatic translation is not clear to me...

If one of our Russian friends can translate the unit and fatalities names, I will appreciate that.

By the way, the Internet source above also lists another Li-2, shot down on 21 December 1944 by Oblt Werner Rapp of 5./NJG 5 at 2015 hrs. 5 KIA, 1 POW. According to http://www.obd-memorial.ru, the unit of the crew was 1 GBAP, 53 BAD. More details about this crew (in Russian) at http://retrovtap.ru/?page_id=977.

Best regards

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Another one: a Li-2 of 53 BAD lost on 18-19 June 1944 during a leaflet flight over Poland:
http://retrovtap.ru/wp-content/uploa...0%BD%D1%82.pdf

And also: http://www.allaces.ru/p/ls.php?div=ap0750003b
Casualty lists of 3 GAPDD showing crews shot down by German fighters on 9 May 1943, 4 August 1943, 11 October 1943
Also possibly on 13-14 August 1943 (no detail on the cause of the loss, but can fit with a NJG 100 claim)

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Gentlemen,

This has been a FANTASTIC thread so far and it has achieved exactly what I wanted to have happen: an exchange of fascinating knowledge about a very under-documented subject.

At this point, here's a question for the gurus:

On 12.6.42, Heyer and Feise of III/JG 54 claimed SBs that have been identified as DB-3s of a certain VVS unit that lost 6 aircraft that night. But it is also worth noting that 44 BAP lost two crews this date: Kapitan Nikolai Vasilyevich Zhdanov and crew all KIA plus Lt. Igor Ivanovich Dostavalov and crew all KIA. (IIRC that info comes from the Russian allaces website)

I have not yet ruled out the possibility that Heyer and Feise correctly identified their victims and that their claims therefore actually pertain to these two losses...

...Can anyone shed any light on the likelihood as I would like to update my database with the best possible information...

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

For Laurent:

You mentioned a loss of 3 GAPDD on 4.8.43. 18 GAP DD also seems to have lost a crew: Kapitan Sergey Ustinovich Balalov, Kapitan Ishmael Shehmamedovich Shahshaev and Fyodor Mikhailovich Marchenko all POW Fyodor Mikhailovich Marchenko evaded

That might account for two of the night's four claims...?

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

1 guards (bomber) air regiment of 5 air Corps of Long-Range (Bomber) Aviation.

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Hello Monaco,

May I ask what the source of the very interesting information on the 102 AP is? I am interested whether this is taken from some new book, so that I might get hold of it!

Regards,

Paul Thompson

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Hi Mars,

In reply to your question if German Nachtjagd losses will be listed too on a night-by-night basis in the NJWD 2nd edition -yes indeed, in great detail, however not in separate lists, but incorporated into the narratives throughout the book.

Cheers, Theo

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Excellent, Theo!

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

Hello Paul,
look at allaces.ru in episodes April 1943. The aircraft were Li-2s not DC-2s!

Greets

Re: Eastern Front nightfighter claims vs Soviet losses
 

"...Combats started early in the morning when a pair of aces of I/JG53 Oblt. Wolfgang Tonne and Ofw. Fritz Gammel caught two Soviet liaison planes north of Stalingrad and claimed both of them at 4.21-4.29. Indeed, two U-2s of the 655 SAP were lost to German fighters in supply operations north of Stalingrad in the morning..."