Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Here is what I am working on. On 16 September 1941, German assault forces were moving into the Crimea, supported by aircraft. Capt Vasili Trubachenko, Hero of the Soviet Union and deputy commander of the 182 Fighter Regiment, went up flying a MIG and was hit by a German fighter. He crashed near the town of Krasnoperekopsk on Crimea. He supposedly shot down a German plane.

Capt Trubachenko was badly wounded and made a crash landing. He did not survive. He was buried in Simferopol. I have his military dossier from the Russian archives, but it gives no details about his last combat. The information on Russian google is sparse. He shot down 5 Japanese planes at Khalkin-Gol in 1939 and another 3 in the Great Patriotic War.

It would be great if I can find out the Luftwaffe unit which shot him down. Thank you for any help you can send my way!

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

From Tony Woods claim list https://web.archive.org/web/20130928...s/tonywood.htm

16.09.41 Major Bernhardt Woldenga Stab/JG 27 I-18 �� - 06.50 Film C. 2036/II Nr.87 389
16.09.41 Oblt. Karlfried Nordmann Stab IV./JG 51 I-18 �� - 17.25 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.52
16.09.41 Uffz. Willi Hegner 10./JG 51 DB-3 �� - 10.55 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.65
16.09.41 Ofw. Heinrich Hoffmann 12./JG 51 I-18 �� - 13.28 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.198
16.09.41 Uffz. Helmut Hördt 12./JG 51 SB-2 �� - 13.30 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.199
16.09.41 Ofw. Heinrich Hoffmann 12./JG 51 SB-2 �� - 13.31 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.200
16.09.41 Uffz. Helmut Hördt 12./JG 51 SB-2 �� - 13.32 Film C. 2036/II Anerk: Nr.201
16.09.41 Ofw. Heinrich Hoffmann 12./JG 51 SB-2 �� - 13.33 Film

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Delmenhorst!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just blown away with your instantaneous response and right on!!!
I-18 sure looks like a MIG!!! Now I have to find out where they scored.
At least I know it was probably JG27 or JG51!!! I step closer.
I just can't thank you enough!!! But let me give it a try:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH; DANKE SEHR; БОЛЬШОЕ СПАСИБО!!!!

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Tony Wood claim list is now outdated. Especially in 1941-1942 for Eastern Front claims there are many gaps (due to lack of available data when Mr Wood build his files, years ago).

None of the above units was flying in Crimea area on this day. JG 77 did and Prien Jagdverbande books give the following claims for it that day:
07h15 a Mig-3 by Fw. Wilhelm Baumgartner of 9./JG 77 (10th personnal victory, 341st victory of III./JG 77)
07h42 a Mig-3 by Oblt. Kurt Lasse of 9./JG 77 (26th personnal victory, 342nd victory of III./JG 77)
10h35 a DB-3 by Oblt. Kurt Lasse of 9./JG 77 (27th personnal victory, 343rd victory of III./JG 77)
10h39 a DB-3 by Oblt. Kurt Lasse of 9./JG 77 (28th personnal victory, 344th victory of III./JG 77)
10h40 a DB-3 by Uffz Franz Schmidt of 9./JG 77 (2nd personnal victory, 345th victory of III./JG 77)

So you have two claims for Mig-3, one half hour apart. If you can confirm that Trubachenko was shot down in the morning, he was probably shot down by one of these two pilots.
As for the location of the claims, I am afraid for most cases in 1941 on the Eastern Front it is not available.

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Laurent is correct. Even in the big 4 volume history of JG 77, all it says is, So the details of where over the Perekop area the air combat occurred is probably now lost for all time.

Prien, Jochen. Einsatz des Jagdgeschwaders 77 von 1939 bis 1945: Ein Kriegstagebuch nach Dokumenten, Berichten und Erinnerungen. 4 Teile (volumes). Eutin: Struve-Druck, 1992-93. Teil 2 (Juni 1941 bis November 1942, ISBN: 3-923457-22-7). Page 791.

L.

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Don't worry, Laurent, I won't refer to Tony Wood any more

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

I have to say in defense of using Tony Woods list that the Pl.Qu. is sometimes best used in verifying a German victory location, along with JFV. I have on occasion found some of the ones listed in the JFV series on the Russian front to be off and listed them in the error and correction page for JFV here.

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

WOW!!! You are all FANTASTIC!!!!! Thank you everyone for your input!!!
I will have to dig some more!!! I'm now on the right track!!!

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

Capt Trubatschenko depty CO 182 IAP was shot down on Tuesday 16.9.41 near Krasney Perekop while flying on MIG-3 by
either Fw Baumgartner if he flew after 10:00 am or Olt.Lasse if at 07:42. Interesting that two days before the downing
Trubatschenko scored an HS-126 on the same perimeter , however the details are unknown .

As into Major Bernhardt Woldenga Stab/JG 27 I dont think he was on that perimeter on 16.9.41 but elsewhere , the
perimeter was covered mainly by JG 77 .

Re: Which Luftwaffe unit active in Crimea in 1941?
 

No issue here, what Tony Wood did at the time was fantastic, but as he used incomplete sources, he did not list everything that we knew now.

By the way, by following your link, you have access to two files compiled by Jim Perry, Claims East and Claims West: everything that is in Tony Wood list is these AFAIK, plus all claims added by the Jadgverbande series up to December 1941 (in the East) and end 1942 (in the West... not sure for MTO), and also NJG claims by the book on Nachtjagd claims by Foreman, among others. You also have claims in 1945 from a variety of sources (Mr Wood never provided a 1945 file, probably because there was no microfilm for that year).

Best regards