Uffz.Johann Kalb 9/JG52
 

Hello

I have several questions about the events of 16/09/42.
From on of my sources (French),Johann Kalb claimed a Su-2 of 270 BAP ("abschuss"n°32).
Then he was shot down by a P-40 (Petr Selyutin of 731°IAP),himself shot down by Hermann Graff.

From Tony Wood:
a)no claim by Kalb
b)Su-2 claimed by Graff:Quadrat 49271 (zone of Stalingrad)
c)P-40 claimed by Graff:Quadrat 40882

The Quadrat 40882 and 49271 seems distant from each other...right?
According C.Bergstrom,no P-40 and Su-2 were lost in the 8VA and 16VA.

If anyone has answers?
Michel

Re: Uffz.Johann Kalb 9/JG52
 

Hi Michel

The grid references you gave are less than 30km apart, so not so far, a few minutes apart I think we could say. Kalb had only twenty-six confirmed claims, the last being on 15th September 1942 at 0638 hrs, naturally it could be that he did shoot down an aircraft in his last combat, but it wasn't confirmed because nobody completed the paperwork for him. Graf makes two claims on this date an Severskiy at 0735 hrs(5km East of Stalingrad), and a P-40 at 0739 hrs(30km NE of Grebenka/Gorodischtsche).

TOCH investigations into Graf are not complimentary, perhaps he miss-identified Kalb's claim, which he claimed himself ? !!!!! I did look into Graf's claims myself, based on claim patterns and not trying to connect to Russian losses to see if there was a possibility of "you scratch my back e.t.c) and Kalb was foremost in these, doesn't mean they did, perhaps they were just good, anyway after Kalb's death Hermann Wolf takes over that job, and prior to Kalb I would say Leopold Steinbatz, perhaps also Heinrich Füllgrabe and Friedrich Brückmann. What ever the truth it would appear that Kalb was from 13th August 1942 Graf's premier wingmann, but as Graf's claims were easily confirmed for 16th September they could not have been alone, in fact at a guess I would say that Hermann Wolf was with them ! But let's not forget these two claims seem legitimate, perhaps Graf actually got both...….that would be the most likely scenario !

Kind Regards

Johannes