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Re: He 111 from KG 55 shot down
Thank you, Andrey!
It is perhaps significant that the two incidents occurred at such a short interval in June 1943. In that month, the scale of the Luftwaffe’s attacks against targets in the Soviet rear areas was perhaps the biggest during the whole war. These attacks included the big Luftwaffe raid on Kursk railway station on 2 June, but I assume from your information above that relatively little damage was caused.
Your remark that Luftwaffe activity forced changes in the movement of trains can be compared to the effect of German U-boat attacks on Allied sea communications, where the most important consequence was the creation of the convoy system and the consequent reduction in the efficiency of the Allied merchant fleets. There were no convoys for trains, of course, but a reduction in the size of ammunition trains would necessarily render supply less efficient, particularly given the shortage of locomotives in the USSR.
I would suggest that the Eisenbahn-Staffeln did have some influence, since they were the only Luftwaffe units specifically focused on railway attacks, while the rest of the German force was small and often too preoccupied with other tasks. Of course, other units could still be very effective, as your examples show. I wonder which Bf 109 unit conducted the attack on 21 June. Possibly Schl.G 1 or JG 3?
Warm regards,
Paul
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