When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

The great soviet early-war ace Ml.Lt. Mikhail Dimitrievich Baranov (23 victories) was s/d in combat with 5 Bf.109s after becoming separated during winter 1941/42.
On 24.12.41 Baranov of MiG-3-equipped 183 IAP (5 RAG RSVGK, VVS Southern Front) future ace was credited with 1 Ju.88 s/d over Cherkasskoye for personal victory No.7.
The Ju.88A-5 was Wnr.3122 of Wekusta 76 s/d over Cherkasskoye, Mariupol, with 4 crewmembers KIA. Maybe after this claim Baranov himself was s/d and WIA, baling out and evading for two weeks with a broken leg before crossing the frontline to be sent to hospital. There he refused the amputation of his leg as proposed by the doctors regarding the future as a pilot and working after the war. The leg was saved in several operations, but it took a long time of recovery. Baranov´s next claim was only in spring 1942 on 17.02.42 (his 6th claim on 08.11.41). As Baranov´s evasion took two weeks and the recuperation probably at least 4 weeks the conclusion can be drawn, that he was s/d at the end of December 1941 or in very early January 1942.
The only german claims in this period (24.12.41-04.01.42) and area against modern inline-engined fighters were made by the following „Experten“ pilots:
28.12.41
Fw. Leopold Steinbatz (9./JG.52) 1 „I-61“ SW Taganrog at 13.31h (victory No.34)
Lt. Hermann Graf (9./JG.52) 1 „I-26“ 20km SW Taganrog at 13.33h (victory No.42)
Hptm. Herbert Ihlefeld (I./(J)LG.2) 1 MiG-3 (nicht bewiesen - score at this time 54 victories)
03.01.42
Fw. Kurt Ratzlaff (7./JG.52) 1 „I-26“ at 15.25h (victory No.22)
04.01.42
Fw. Edmund Rossmann (7./JG.52) 1 LaGG-3 at 13.03h (victory No.33)
Fw. Kurt Ratzlaff (7./JG.52) 1 „I-26“ at 13.05h (victory No.23)

Does anyone have the exact date, when Baranov was shot down or other information?

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

January 15 1943.
he was killed in a flying accident. not shot down.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Hello Monaco,

I can add that Baranov served in the 183 IAP until September 1942. He then transferred to the 'ace unit', 9 GIAP, in October 1942, flying the Yak-1. He scored his last victories, a total of 5 (4 Bf 109, 1 Ju 87), on the same day, 6 August 1942.

Regards,

Paul

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Wow! 'Ace-in-a-day' (and four of the five claims were Bf 109s)! That's an outstanding achievement, indeed. Did someone counter-check his claims with known Axis losses?

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Thanks fellows,
for those, who are interested in his victories, D. Zampini wrote an article about him (http://rkka.es/Otros_articulos/30_Mi...il_Baranov.htm) and found out, that Baranov was a rather accurate claimer of victories, though sometimes a bit speculative it is an interesting read.
About Baranov s/d I was interested in the action, when he was wounded. The circumstances of his death were known to me.
The incident when he was WIA was in winter 1941-42 and has an interesting aspect as he evaded for two weeks with a broken leg and had even to use his pilot Tokarev TT-33 to shoot a german soldier (probably whilst passing the front-line) - all this shows his stamina and will as he seems to me not being physically exceptional.
Baranov is also an interesting early soviet ace regarding multiple victories, which were is probable prove to his extraordinary marksmanship.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Having looked at the link in Monaco's post here is what Mikhail Bykov listed in his book on Soviet aces from TsAMO.
22 Sep 41 Me-109 (1st) Novo-Avgustinovka
28 Sep 41 Me-109 (2nd) west of Novo-Moskovsk
02 Nov 41 Hs-126 (3rd) Dmitrevka
08 Nov 41 Hs-126 (4th) NE of Kupyshevo
08 Nov 41 Me-109 (5th) SW of Kupyshevo
24 Dec 41 Ju-88 (6th) Cherkasskoe
17 Feb 42 Hs-126 (7th) W. of Kramatorskaya
22 Jul 42 Me-109 (8th) airfield Morozovskiy
24 Jul 42 Me-109 (9th) Plesitovskiy
25 Jul 42 Ju-87 (10th) E. of Ventsy
25 Jul 42 Macci-200 (11) Volodinskiy
27 Jul 42 Me-109 (12) m. Ostrov
27 Jul 42 Me-109 (13) Drobinka
27 Jul 42 Ju-87 (14) sovkh. "10 let Okyabrya"
04 Aug 42 Ju-87 (15) Vodinskiy
05 Aug 42 Me-109 (16) NW of Abganerovo station
05 Aug 42 Me-109 (17) Abganerovo station - Plodovitoe
06 Aug 42 Me-109 (18) N of Kalitinskya
06 Aug 42 Ju-87 (19) Abganerovo station
06 Aug 42 Me-109 (20) Abganerovo station
Me-109 (21) "
Me-109 (22) "

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Thanks Nokose,
you see Zampini also refers to Bykhov, but the claims are more and slightly different in some cases. In some points Zampini is right i.e. the Fi.156 damaged, which was not submitted as an official claim.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Matching Soviet fighter claims to German losses can be "tricky" without knowing who else made a claim in that area. I thought that I had found one for a JG 54 loss until Nikita pointed out there were 10 Soviet pilots making claims in that same area that day for one Bf 109 loss.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

wow! that Bf-109 is hard to shoot down :)

(sorry,couldn't resist)

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Hello Dénes,

I am not in a position to comment on Axis losses, but page 63 of Christer Bergström's Stalingrad - The Air Battle contains the following text:

"on 6 August, one of the best Soviet fighter aces in the area - 183 IAP's St.Lt. Mikhail Baranov, who had been credited with 21 victories - was badly wounded in combat with I./JG 53. However, Baranov was not shot down: after claiming two Bf 109s and a Ju 87, Baranov was locked into an uneven combat with several Bf 109s of I./JG 53. When his Yak-1 ran out of ammunition, Baranov rammed one of the enemy fighters - possibly the one flown by Lt. Hans Roehrig, one of the aces in I./JG 53, who barely survived."

Dénes, I have also sent you a PM on a related topic.

Regards,

Paul

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Gentlemen,

The story does not go that smooth. In total 16 Bf-109s were claimed by 269 IAD plus one more by 929 IAP on August 6, 1942 all but one in Abganerovo-Plodovitoje-Aksaj area south of Stalingrad. German losses were: 1 - 100% combat (Roehrig), 1 - 100% non combat (Bergmann), 1 65% non combat and two Bf-109E-7s of I/Sch.G.1 35% Flak and 45% Motorstorung.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Thank you Nokose and Paul,
Nokose I agree with you 100%, that one has to be very careful when comparing soviet (and german) victory claims with real losses. In these conditions of heavy air combats with a lot of aircraft overclaiming on both sides was common. And I think propaganda also played a big part. On the soviet side to cover up losses and boost morale, on the german side when aces were coming near a particular number (100 victories, 150...), that was connected with a particular awarded. It seems then overclaiming was even higher...
Baranov is especially interesting as he was one of the early aces claiming multiple victories several times.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Hello Nikita,

Thank you for providing additional information, it does appear to indicate that the VVS was over-claiming significantly, doubtless as a consequence of the difficult general situation, reflected in the "not a step back" order issued just 10 days prior to the events under discussion.

Was Baranov actually wounded in this combat? The absence of victories after this date would suggest this, but he seems to have been assigned to frontline units continuously until his death, which is unusual for someone who should have been hospitalised.

I've sent you another question via PM.

Regards,

Paul

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

One of his legs was seriously injured and this prevented him from flying again immediately.
From D.Zampini:
After a long convalescence due to his wounds and several photo sessions and tours to raise morale, he finally was allowed to return to a unit on the front. And he did so being transferred to the elite 9 GIAP (268 IAD, 8 VA Southern Front, since 11.12.42 back in combat operating from Zeta/Zety airfield S of Stalingrad). The new Commander, Lev Lvovich Shestakov, was forming a special regiment with aces and Mikhail Baranov was a logical choice to join the ranks of this guard unit. However Baranov could never show his qualities in combat again: On January 17, 1943, when testing a Yak-1 newcomer from the factory, he had to land due to problems in the aircraft (according to documents with the R-7 judgment of speed regulator). After landing, he asked permission to take off with another plane and began to make figures beginning from high flight in the area. At 3,000 m altitude he made a left turn, then a revolution and quickly put the Yak-1 into horizontal flight. The plane responded well at the controls of the experienced flier. Suddenly his plane again turned upside down and at a growing rate went vertically downward. The fighter crashed violently into the frozen ground and exploded immediately... The cause of the incident is still a mystery. He was first buried in Kotelnikovo, which is far away from any german claims for a single-engined inline fighter...

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Paul,

Yes, he was wounded. In fact this combat is not described in details for the reason that operational documents of 183 IAP and 269 IAD for this period are lost. At least they are not presented in the sites and inventories where they should be. I found only one description in the report of military comissar of 8 VA. There we have four Bf-109s and one Ju-87, one of Bf-109s brought down by air ramming. The participant of this combat Serzhant Savin attacked and killed German pilot descending on the parashute after air ramming.
Time of combat is absent and this is the main obstacle in any identification.

Monaco,

As regards to initial question of the thread, the answer should be in awards nomination documents. Suprisingly, HSU nomination sheet for Mikhail Baranov is absent on the OBD "Podvig Naroda". There is a nomination report on first two Orders of Red Banner just after first two victories in the end of October 1941. There is a brief description there that ufter first victories (October-November 1941) Baranov's plane was set afire by AA and he managed to nursue its burning machine to cross the frontline, where he bailed out.

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Hello Monaco,

Thank you, the facts of Baranov's injuries appear to be reasonably consistent now. A word of caution, Zampini's research is highly suspect, especially when describing the actions of non-Soviet forces. For example, he has claimed that particular American aircraft were shot down in Operation Desert Storm, when in fact they crashed in the continental United States.

Regards,

Paul

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Nikita,

Thank you, some things are now very clear, while others remain very uncertain, as you stated. I assume that there was no German pilot killed in his parachute in this action, as both Roehrig and Bergmann survived.

It might interest some forum members than another ace of 183 IAP, Feodosiy Aleksandrovich Kirilyuk, was mortally wounded on 12 August 1942 and died on 17 August. He had claimed 5 victories in late July and early August. The regiment does not appear to have lost any other ace pilots during its brief period of combat in the Stalingrad sector.

Regards,

Paul

Re: When M.D. Baranov was shot down ?
 

Hello Nikita,
thanks for this info, which is new to me!
There is a brief description there that ufter first victories (October-November 1941) Baranov's plane was set afire by AA and he managed to nursue its burning machine to cross the frontline, where he bailed out.
To Paul thank you likewise, I agree on your opinion about Zampini´s articles. Anyway it´s fascinating puzzling things together after all those years, but not easy if you do not have all sources from all sides (especially the timetables) - many air combats on the Eastern Front will probably never be researched with 100% accuracy and one should refer to expressions like...were involved, there is a probability that...was shot down and so on. However as our russian members show VVS did record their losses in great detail - so hopefully we will learn more about it. On the other hand german records have proven not so trustful as they seem to be especially when one refers to the cause of the losses.