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Originally Posted by Jens
IMHO there should be also a look at the damaged planes. The damaged losses at Eastern front were much higher as in the West. Maybe a tribute to the short flight ways. But not every plane was called damaged, was repaired, a part was indeed scrapped or used as reserve for parts so more or less a total loss.
About the soviet claims is to say, roughly 40.000 is the number for dogfight or air to air victories, the rest should be destroyed at the ground or where captured.
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I think that adding in damaged aircraft would complicate and distort the picture. Simultaneously Luftwaffe records are usually quite clear in indicating aircraft wrtten off, if not the exact cause.
The Soviets did in fact claim 50,000 aircraft shot down in the air. The breakdown is as follows: 43,500 claims by the VVS, 3,930 by the PVO and 4,567 by the Av-VMF. The Soviet air forces claimed an additional 16,450 aircraft destroyed on the ground.
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Originally Posted by Boomerang
My comment is that losses from Nov 44 - May 45 were likely to have quite large and could make a significant part of total Luftwaffe losses during the Eastern campaign. The transfer of the bulk of the day fighters to the Eastern front following the great Soviet offensive in January 1945 certainly suggests this.
I noted that Graf and Grislawski a Pair of Aces states that, in only two days of action in the Breslau area in February 1945, forty six Luftwaffe aircraft were lost (page 250).
Thus, I suggest that you will have to take into account aircraft losses from Nov 44 - May 45.
Cheers
Boomerang
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Thank you for your support, but unfortunately I need a lot more data if the project is to get off the ground.
The losses at the end of the war were probably not that great, as most Luftwaffe activity took place in mid-January, amidst a worsening fuel shortage. You are probably referring to the actions of 13-14 February 1945, which involved abnormally high losses, not seen again until the final Soviet offensive in mid-April.
Regards,
Jack Sanders