Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry deZeng
Thanks, Christer. I did e-mail you on 15 June at forlag@vaktelforlag.se . Being available through Amazon will make things much easier for those of us living in North America.
L. |
Hi Larry, I'm sorry; I have been working about 15-18 hours a day to get BCRS4 finished. It is at the graphic designer right now. Chapter by chapter is made. I have fixed the photos and everything to the first chapters, and have seen the first chapters in layout, and I think they look terrific.
Here's a very small excerpt straight from the manuscript, from Chapter 6:
The surrounded Soviet garrison at Belyy was in desperate need of supplies and support from the air, so the single-engine biplanes had to be used to fly in supplies. Kapitan Viktor Grubich of 615 NBAP flew six such nocturnal supply missions to Belyy with an R-5 on December 9 and 10 alone.
The Soviets now responded to the reinforcement of Luftwaffenkommando Ost with a stronger emphasis on airbase raids. On December 10, three of III./JG 51’s Bf 109 F-2s were destroyed on the ground at Dugino Airdrome. Still, it became increasingly difficult for the VVS to fulfill its tasks over the Rzhev salient in daylight. This was due both to the fighter reinforcements on the German side (not least the presence of two entire Jagdgruppen with Fw 190s—an aircraft with no peer in the Soviet air force) and a shortage of aviation fuel on the Soviet side. The available aviation fuel was used mainly to bring as many Shturmoviks into combat as possible. The ratio of Shturmovik sorties to fighter sorties during the first stage of the winter offensive was 2:1. Against fewer than twenty own combat losses, Luftwaffenkommando Ost claimed to have shot down 105 Soviet aircraft between December 1 and 11, and seventy-six of the latter were Il-2s. The situation was often different when the Il-2s were provided with fighter escort. On December 12, when Oberleutnant Hans Beisswenger’s Schwarm of 6./JG 54 attacked a group of six Il-2s with an escort of 21 GIAP La-5s and LaGG-3s in the Demyansk area, the Soviets managed to prevent the Germans from reaching the Il-2s—at a cost to themselves of three fighter planes with their pilots, including the Eskadrilya commander Mayor Viktor Goncharov, and the deputy Eskadrilya commander Kapitan Ivan Bakal. One of these LaGG-3s was filed as Beisswenger’s 112th victory.
On December 14, 169 IAP had the opportunity to pay back I./JG 51 and Hauptmann Heinrich “Gaudi” Krafft when its La-5s pounced on the German pilots in the air near Belyy. Although his identification of the Soviet aircraft leaves much to be desired, the account by I./JG 51’s Unteroffizier Gerhard Schwarz of this combat is quite interesting:
“Suddenly a Kittyhawk emerges from out of a cloud at my altitude and attacks [Leutnant Joachim 'Achim'] Brendel. He is so close that I could almost have spat on his tail. He obviously has eyes only for the dark aircraft in front of him and doesn‘t notice me. Before I can warn Achim, the voice of the Technical Officer shrills through the radio: 'Achim, watch out, Indians behind you!' I call Achim to turn left. That the Stabsrotte [Hauptmann Heinrich Krafft and the Gruppen-T.O.] is already there gives me security. I look back—the sky is empty! Then I slip in behind the Curtiss and give him a burst from a distance of only 40 meters. A sheet of flame immediately breaks out of the fuselage and the Russian disappears with lightning-speed into the clouds.
A MiG-3 attacks me from the left and below. Achim warns me. I kick the rudder pedal, placing my plane on its left wing, pull the stick into my stomach and shove the throttle fully forward. The bird moans and groans, but I'm already in firing position. I take a lead of about 3 aircraft lengths and open fire. The hits are scored in the engine area, the cabin and the left wing. The MiG shakes and shivers under my cannon hits. The canopy flies off, the pilot has collapsed in the cockpit.”
Hauptmann Heinrich Krafft, I./JG 51’s commander, failed to return from that combat. Gerhard Schwarz recounted: “When I look around, behind me there is a cloud of black smoke in the air. The commander's aircraft has been hit and blew up. Later, Hauptmann Krafft is found with a smashed skull, without clothes. Only the Knight's Cross had been left on him.“
With seventy-eight victories on his account, Knight’s Cross holder Krafft was among JG 51’s top scorers. Krafft was shot down by either Leytenant Ivan Berezutskiy or Mladshiy Leytenant Burkin from 169 IAP, or by both in cooperation. He was the only German fighter to get lost on that occasion. On the other hand, 169 IAP lost the La-5 of Serzhant Sergey Levsha, while both Leutnant Brendel and Unteroffizier Schwarz claimed one Soviet fighter each.
With a sudden thaw setting in again on December 14, thick fog kept most of the German aircraft grounded. Although the weather also hampered Soviet aviation, the VVS proved to be better suited to handling these harsh conditions. German Ninth Army complained: “The Russian Air Force has become very active in recent days, despite unfavorable weather conditions, while the German aviation is not able to dispatch more than single aircraft at a time, according to 1. Fliegerdivision. The heavy enemy air activity is increasing the threat against the vital railway Vyazma – Sychyovka – Rzhev from day to day. Interruptions of the line by bombs and artillery hits are the order of the day. It is an extraordinary achievement of the transport services that up to six trains can be passed through to the south and to the north within 24 hours!”
The commander of the Ninth Army, Generaloberst Model, met Ritter von Greim of Luftwaffenkommando Ost on December 15 in order to discuss this situation on behalf of the Army Group. "A personal reproach is not my intention,” said Model, “but I have to concentrate on the fact that our own air force must intervene more if we want to survive this winter battle." He suggested that some units could be shifted forward to airfields located closer to the front-line. Von Greim retorted that due to the constant fog, his own aircraft were unable to take off, “and a relocation of individual Staffeln to other airfields (Dugino, Olenino) is not possible because of a lack of service facilities.”
Owing in great part to the effective air support from the VVS, a Soviet relief offensive toward the troops in the Belyy pocket succeeded in extracting a large proportion of the surrounded troops. However, 200 tanks had to be abandoned. On December 15, the entire Soviet penetration in the area south of Belyy was eliminated. Soviet sources confirm the loss of 120 aircraft over the Rzhev salient (i.e. not including the Velikiye Luki region) from November 24 through December 16, 1942.