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Originally Posted by Jim Oxley
On 23 August 1942 the Fourth Air Fleet under the command of General von Richthofen flew approximately 1,600 sorties and dropped 1,000 tons of bombs on the city of Stalingard, effectively destroying it. All for the loss of three (3) aircraft.
[Details from the book Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor].
Where on earth was the V.V.S.and why did it fail to inflict severe losses on the German units?
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Hi,
Ritoric question. VVS was in the air trying to retaliate German formations. According to official statistics Soviet side claimed 120 German planes shot down, including 30 by anti-aircraft defense. I managed to find "only" around 50 Soviet claims by fighters of 8 VA and 102 IAD PVO on this date.
Actual poor results of Soviet defense attemts could be explained by the fact that in reality 6-th Army launched major offensive on Stalingrad in the morning and all the fighters were busy escorting sturmovicks to the advancing German columns. Even PVO units used their guns mostly against German tanks. Thus, when it came to react on the Stalingrad raids on the second half of the day units of 8 VA and 102 IAD were exausted enough to fail in effectively covering the city.
BR