Quote:
Originally Posted by kirche
Hello,
There don't seem to be 10 aerial victories in Kretov's award documents.
There is a quote in the description of the exploits of 01.12.1941 "during the attacks of fighters, he twice emerged victorious without losing the crew and the aircraft" (it can be conditionally interpreted as he shot down these fighters). The award list dated 27.09.1943 says about the same events: "a participant in 5 air battles in the areas of Grubeshow, Shepetovka, Kiev and Kakhovka - did not lose his place in the ranks and repelled fighter attacks. In September 1941, he was attacked by two fighters near Kakhovka - one was shot down by the fire of the shooters, and the second evaded the battle, while Kretov's plane received more than 200 hits, the shooters were wounded and he managed to return on one engine"
10.03.1943 also indicated the destruction of 26 aircraft at the Sarabuz airfield (possibly as part of a group?). 11.03.1943 - two planes at the airfield Mokraya. 17.07.1943 - there are two fires at the Stalino airfield (burnt-out aircraft are marked - is not specified); 01.08.1943 - Kuteynikovo airfield - two explosions and two searchlights.
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Good evening Kirche,
thanks for your interesting post.
Kretov's aerial score might not be reflected in his award documents because it was scored by his gunners and because it's not the main value for assessing the performance of a bomber pilot. I wonder if it's possible to find out where the number of 10 (or 12) aerial kills comes from...
Cheers,
Michael