JG 53 Victories
 

I've never had any victories to add from JG 53 until now. Recently I got to read parts of a report from the Soviet 31 SAD for 1941.

27 Aug 41
7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf Pe-2 (18) 16:24 (I don't believe this is one of the Soviet VVS losses being detailed but was in the time period)

9./JG 53 Lt. Erich Schmidt I-153 (44) 16:25
9./JG 53 Oblt. Franz Goetz DB-3 (23) 16:25
9./JG 53 " " " DB-3 (24) 16:26
7./JG 53 Oblt. Friedrich Below DB-3 (7) 16:26
7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf DB-3 (19) 16:27 W. of Toropets

7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf I-61 (20) 16:34 (Again I don't believe this one was involved as there were no MiG-3 in the escort).

The 37 SBAP had 5 SB under escort of 6 I-16 and 3 I-153 from the 29 IAP to bomb the roads at Nazimovo and Skvortsovo. On their return they said they were attacked by 9 Me-109. The 37 BAP had four of the SB shot down but no deaths among the crews. The I-153 flown by Khitrin (No other information) had 120 holes in his aircraft but doesn't mention if it returned or forced landed. The SB crews claimed to have shot down two Me-109 and damaged another. Also a pilot named Voloshin of the 29 IAP claimed a Me-109. There were no losses to III/JG 53 in air combat

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Usually it's JG 54 involved in the region of Leningrad but in this case they had no involvement. On the 11 Sep 1941 09:01 -10:08 (Moscow) 6 MiG-3 from 283 IAP escorted 9 SB on a bombing raid in the regions of Mga, Sologubovka and Sigalevo (The SBAP unit I have no information on). On their return in the regions of Shapki, Maluka station and Lyudovo they ran into 7 Bf 109. From the 6 MiG-3 were shot down 4. There were a number of "DB-3" shot down by the Germans but I have no data on there losses and if there were more bombers up in that area.
MiG-3 (#4111) 283 IAP Ml. Lt. Yakov Abramovich Levin (MIA but later found and buried 2001)
MiG-3 283 IAP Ml. Lt. Nikolay Kuz'mich Gapeev (MIA)
MiG-3 283 IAP Serzhant Lazarev
MiG-3 283 IAP S-t. Kondratenko

Making claims in this region during that time but giving no location.
Stab II/JG 53 Hptm. Walter Spies I-18 (4) 08:59
Stab II/JG 53 Oblt. Gerhard Michalski I-18 (18) 09:02

4./JG 52 Oblt. Siegfried Simsch I-18 (14) 08:52
5./JG 52 Uffz. Karl Kirschbaum I-18 (5) 08:53
6./JG 52 Oblt. Rudolf Resch I-18 (12) 08:53

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Hi Michael,

For the bomber losses on the 11.9.41, how about the possibility that they were likely 452 BAP SBs? Their losses Included crews of Ml.Lt. Gavriil Nikolaevich Kasatkin, Ml.Lt. Lev Ivanovich Baromenskiy, Lt. Aleksandr Georgievich Smirnov all listed MIA and Ml. Lt. Mikhail Gavrilovich Istorkin KIA plus 3 unknown crews...

...as per our previous investigation into JG 52 victories:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...d=1#post173610

I have tried to keep in mind that III/JG 27 claimed several bombers around that time and that Luftwaffe fighter pilots are now kind of famous for absurd misidentifications...

Nick

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Nick, That's probably them. So this probably takes care of the Soviet fighter escort part of that battle. I've got to many things in separate notebooks to keep up with what I find. I'll probably need to just stick to JG 54 for 1942-43 which I have on a hard drive.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

October 10, 1940.

Oblt. Gerhard Michalski of Stab II/JG 53, Hptm. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke of Stab III/JG 53 and Erich Schmidt of the 9th Staffel all claim Spitfires over the time-period 1130-1140.

I believe this was from No. 421 Flt and represents overclaiming, as there was only one loss: Sgt. Maurice Alexander William Lee forcelanded at Gravesend. Does anyone have the serial number of this Spitfire?

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Nick, I have the 15 Oct 1940 421 Flt. Spitfire IIa (P7444) Sgt. MAW Lee (WIA) Patrol. Damaged in forced landing after attack by Me 109 at 11:00. A/C repaired. I didn't see anything for the 10th for the 421st.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Hi Michael,

Quoting page 502 of Battle of Britain Then and Now Mk V:
October 10
421 Flight, Gravesend
Spitfire II ... Damaged by cannon-fire during combat with Bf109s. Force-landed at base. Sergeant M A Lee unhurt. Aircraft repairable.

For 421 Flight on October 15 it has the following (page 511):
Spitfire II P7444. Damaged in combat with Bf109s. Wrecked in attempted forced-landing at Blackham Farm, Broadoak 1100am. Sergeant M A Lee wounded admitted to hospital. Aircraft damaged but repairable.
Spitfire X4612. Forced-landed due to big-end failure (whatever that is...) Pilot K A Lawrence unhurt. Aircraft damaged but repairable.

...Seems Lee had 2 close shaves in 5 days. My info was quoting the first instance and yours was quoting the second. Can anyone verify...?

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

@ Nick Hector,

I think that a big-end failure has something to do with problems of the oil circulation in an engine and can end up at least in jamming pistons. Possibly another member knows exactly...

Best Regards
Norbert

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

This is from a 103 ShAP report for the 29 Jul 1942. Three Il-2 from the 103 ShAP attacked a German mechanized column at Nikolaevskaya. They had as escorts 5 Yak-1 from 247 IAP and 7 Yak-1 from 16 GIAP. Bf 109 pulled the escorts into a dogfight leaving the Shturmoviks alone. They were intercepted and shot down leaving the target.

Il-2 130 ShAP Lt. Sergey Tikhonovich Aver'yanov (Returned to his regiment after going down)
Il-2 130 ShAP Ml. Lt. Georgiy Petrovich Kovalenko (Same)
Il-2 130 ShAP Serzhant Yakov Il'ich Prokop'ev (KIA)

Appears to be an under claiming on this one.
Obfw. Heinrich Leschert 3./JG 53
(16) Il-2 15:50 PlQu. 44 Ost/1877
(17) Il-2 15:53 PlQu. 44 Ost/1878

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

The connecting rod goes between the piston and the crankshaft. As the piston goes up and down so the connecting rod makes the crankshaft rotate. The connection between the piston and the connecting rod is a circular bearing called the little end. The connection between the connecting rod and the crankshaft is a circular bearing called the big end. So a big end failure could be due to lack of lubrication and would be a disconnect between the connecting rod and the crankshaft, which probably would indeed lead to the piston jamming, or the rod flailing about inside the engine. It could simply be a material failure, rather than a lubrication failure.

Or perhaps I've forgotten more about engines than I thought...

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Another loss for this date was 66 ShAP, Sergei Alekseevich Feoktistov forcelanded in Russian territory and hospitalized. Is there any clue as to how his loss was brought about? I had surmised that maybe it was tied in with Leschert's claims...

Nick

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Sorry Nick but found no mention of the 66 ShAP.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Hi Nokose (and anyone else pursuing this fascinating subject),

try this link:

http://www.allaces.ru/p/people.php?id=00000007925

The write-up makes clear mention of Bf109s, although he may actually have been serving with 568 ShAP at the time (my mistake, sorry)

Nick

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Nick, on the link listed Feoktistov it has he shot down a Bf 109 on the 29 Jul 1942. The only Bf 109 I found in the Stalingrad area with damage in a dogfight was Uffz. Wilhelm Crinus 3./JG 53 Bf 109 G-2 15% at PlQu. 1712. Nikita would probably know who caused that damage.

On looking at that link it has Feoktistov in his victories as shooting down three Ju 52 on the 15 May 42 while in the 66 ShAP (but in the episodes he was serving in the 568 on the 22 Mar 42). Next victories on the 06 June 42 over two Ju 52 while in the 568 ShAP.

Even the story on the 22 Mar 42 is strange. Ml. Lt. Aleksey Yakovlevich Shcherbakov of the 568 ShAP was listed as shot down or hit by a German fighter at the time before being listed KIA. Ml. Lt. Nikolay Nikolaevich Smirnov of the 568 ShAP as MIA after a dogfight and Ml. Lt. Vladimir Trofimovich Kartavitskiy (MIA). If they were in an air battle with the III/JG 3 this might account for some of the Il-2 shot down that day.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Yes, I have noted that alongside the III/JG 3 claims in my listing as they are potential matches for his loss. Until your post, it was pretty much all I knew about IL-2 losses over Stalingrad on that date.

Does anyone know what happened to Nikita's Stalingrad book? I pre-ordered it on Amazon but they eventually baled on me. Will it go ahead after all?

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

25 Jun 1942
U-2 16 RAB St. Lt. Pavel Fedorovich Novikov (KIA - air battle) Buried Cherova (Orel Obl.)

The only Luftwaffe claim for this region and day.
1./JG 53 Uffz Heinz Seig R-5 (1) 07:39 (No location but I./JG 53 was stationed in this region. Seig would claim 12 more before his death.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

27 July 1941
16:30 (Moscow) 7 I-16 from 87 IAP attacked the airfield at Fursy to the west of Belaja-Zerkow (Bia Tserkva, Ukraine). 5 of the I-16 were listed as failure to return from combat mission, 2 of which made emergency landings at Pereyaslav.

Lt. Walter Zellot 1./JG 53 I-16 (9) 15:00 north of Belaja-Zerkow
Lt. Helmut Macher 2./JG 53 I-16 () 15:15

The other I-16 fell to the airfield’s AAA and listed as a witness for the flak unit Lt. Schiess of Stab/JG 53. In Prien’s JFV 6/II there is listed a a Lt. Franz Schiehs of Stab/JG 53, so did Prien’s list misspell Schiess’s name?

The names of the pilots of the 87 IAP are available but who fell to flak and who to fighters is not known.

JG 53 Victories
 

Hi Nokose

I've read that the surname of Hauptmann Franz Schiess or Schieß could also be written as Schiehs ... I've no idea which was used on his birth or death certificates, however.

Horrido!

Leo

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

5 April 1944
IV/JG 51 fighters strafed the airfield at Zubiv, Ukraine, where 728 IAP was stationed. One Yak-9D burned on the ground. Having the misfortune of picking the wrong time to land was a Li-2 bomber of the 12 GAP ADD and was shot down. It crashed to the ground and resulted in 3 crew as killed and 3 wounded.

Unteroffizier Peter Repple (Tony Woods list has the last name as Rogglin) 11./JG 51 claimed a PS-84 (?) at 07:58 at an altitude of 30 meters.

Re: JG 53 Victories
 

Post #19 was meant to be for “JG 51 victories” but got added to JG 53 by mistake.