[Paul Thompson]

Thank you for that explanation, Gabor!

The rather late delivery of the La-7 shows that the southern sector was something of a backwater. I notice you use the designation “La-7FN”, which I have never seen before. Is this how the Soviet documents refer to the standard La-7, or is this the version armed with 3 B-20 cannon?

It’s intriguing to see the difference in escort results achieved by the 179 GvIAP, even though it wasn’t at full strength, as you figures show. Possibly that regiment also had higher quality pilots than the 288 IAD Yak units, since Guards status tended to help in getting better-trained replacements.

On the subject of free-hunt sweeps, it’s interesting to note the official totals, which indicate that 5 and 17 VA did not fly many such sorties. The totals for 1945 are as follows, from the statistical digest:
Missions 5VA 17 VA
Free-hunt 631 923
Intercept 73 78
Escort 9900 7809

On the other hand, 17 VA did fly 8100 reconnaisance sorties, some of which may have been sweeps in disguise.

Here’s some more data picked out of the 2009 book about Balaton:

1. 17 VA strength on 1 January 1945 (serviceable/unserviceable)
La-5 – 79/15
Yak-3, 9 – 202/13
Il-2 – 345/27
B-3 (A-20 Boston) – 98/13
Po-2 – 94/3
Pe-2 reconnaisance – 12/2
Yak-9 reconnaisance – 2/6
Il-2 artillery spotting – 17/4
Yak-9 artillery spotting – 12/0
Total serviceable 861

2. Only the total for the 5 VA is given for 1 January – 642 serviceable aircraft

3. On 4th January 1945 the 18th Tank Corps lost 5 ISU-122 to air attack at Bajna, south of the Danube – this is highlighted as a record loss of such heavy vehicles. In the same area, 15 T-34 were destroyed by artillery fire over the course of two days. The 110th Tank Brigade and 363rd Self-Propelled Regiment had 15 T-34 and 8 ISU-122 remaining on the morning of 5th January, down from 37 T-34 and 19 ISU-122 on the 1st.

Regards,

Paul Thompson