Fall Blau OoB, late june-july 1942 question.

[Evgeny Velichko]

Hallo gentlemen.

Started finally research battle of Voronezh, Operation Blau, came across lack of important information about Luftwaffe in this operation.

As well as I found, Luftflotte 4 consisted of two(?) Fliegerkorps - 8th and?

Fighters:
Whole JG3
Whole JG52 (I believe in south area, not in FK 8)
I. /JG53
II. /JG77

Stuka:
II./StG1
Whole StG2
Whole StG77 from mid july.

Schlacht and Zerstorer
Whole SchlG1
Whole ZG1
Whole ZG2

But I am very confused about kampf and aufklarung Gruppen.

Also, there were Hungarians (Italians and Romanians were to the south).

I have at the moment Luftwaffe JG claims, losses of SchlG and ZG's and losses of Stukas (not full).

When will finish with LW, there will be even a harder challange with VVS. 🤣

Does somebody have OoB of LF4 during that period?

Cheers.

[Larry deZeng]

Evgeny -

Here is an OB that's as close to the date you want that I could find:

Jul 42
[Luftflotte 4 with: IV. Fliegerkorps, VIII. Fliegerkorps, Fliegerführer Süd. Assigned units on 27 Jul: Stab/FAGr. 4, 3.(F)/10, 2.(F)/11, 2.(F)/22, 4.(F)/122, Stab,1.(F).3.(F)/125, 2.(F)/Ob.d.L., 1.(F)/Nacht, Westa 76, Stab/NAGr. 1 (with 3.(H)/31?, 2.(H)/32?), Stab/NAGr. 3 (with 3.(H)/14, 4.(H)/31), Stab/NAGr. 4 (with 6.(H)/13, 2.(H)/41), Stab/NAGr. 7 (with 1.(H)/10, 4.(H)/10), Stab/NAGr. 8 (with 3.(H)/13), Stab/NAGr. 9 (with 2.(H)/10, 5.(H)/11, 1.(H)/21, 7.(H)/32), Stab/NAGr. 10 (with 2.(H)/31, 5.(H)/32), Stab/NAGr. 12 (with 6.(H)/41 and?), Stab/NAGr. 14 (with 3.(H)/11, 5.(H)/41), Stab/NAGr. 16 (with 3.(H)/12, 5.(H)/12), Stab,I.,II.,III./JG 3, Stab,II.,III./JG 52, 15.(kroat.)/JG 52, I./JG 53, Stab,II.,III./JG 77, III./ZG 1, II./St.G. 1, Stab,I.,II.,III./St.G. 2, Stab,I.,II.,III./St.G. 77, Stab,I.,II./Schl.G. 1, II./KG 26, Stab,I.,II.,III./KG 27, Stab,I.,II.,III./KG 51, Stab,I.,II.,III./KG 55, Stab,I.,II.,III./KG 76, Stab,I./KG 100, III./LG 1, plus numerous liaison, courier and transport units].
Jul: while IV. and VIII. Fliegerkorps were occupied in supporting the advance toward the Don and Volga, Fliegerführer Süd (with III./JG 77, II./KG 26, I./KG 100, III./LG 1, Erg.St./St.G. 77 and two reconnaissance Staffeln on 15 Jul) bombed Black Sea ports from Novorossisk to Poti, various targets in North Caucasia, and flew reconnaissance over the Black Sea. Between 3 and 31 July, Fliegerführer Süd claimed 24 enemy planes shot down in air action and 10 more down by Flak. 5 Jul: VIII. Fliegerkorps flew concentrated Stuka and bomber attacks on Voronezh while IV. Fliegerkorps struck bridges along the Don. Voronezh was taken by 24. Pz.Div. the next day. 8 Jul: VIII. Fliegerkorps hit VVS airfields N and NE of Voronezh claiming 38 Russian planes shot down and 35 more destroyed on the ground. 9 Jul: the second phase of the summer campaign, Operation “Blau II – Clausewitz”, began with Pz.AOK 1 striking across the Donets River, skirting around the north end of the Donets Basin and then heading SE toward North Caucasia via Millerovo, where it linked up with Pz.AOK 4 on 15 July. 11 Jul: the first phase of the campaign successfully concluded with around 70,000 prisoners taken. 14-15 Jul: with the Red Army in full retreat, Heeresgruppe A (Pz.AOK 1, AOK 17 and Romanian forces) began advancing toward Rostov, which was taken on 23 July, and into North Caucasia while Heeresgruppe B (Pz.AOK 4, AOK 2, AOK 6, 2d Hungarian Army and 8th Italian Army) drove forward along the Don toward Stalingrad. This was the main phase of the 1942 campaign, and generally referred to as Operation “Blau”, but the H.Gr. A portion was now officially called Operation “Edelweiss” and the H.Gr. B portion Operation “Fischreiher” (Heron). 21-23 Jul: Luftflotte 4 flew heavy, continuous Stuka and bomber attacks on retreating enemy columns clogging the roads approaching Rostov from Taganrog and Shakhty, and withdrawing through the city itself. 23 Jul: Hitler issued Directive 45 which, among other provisions, called upon the Luftwaffe to destroy the city of Stalingrad. 26 Jul: Luftflotte 4 claimed 113 enemy aircraft in the air and on the ground in a day of particularly intense air action. Most of these, 88 of the total, were destroyed in the AOK 6 sector W and NW of Stalingrad.

Hope this helps! However, you will still need the Hungarian and Italian OB.

Larry deZ.

P.S. You will find another one, just as comprehensive, for 20 August 1942 om page 245 in:

Bergström, Christer, Andrey Dikov and Vlad Antipov. Black Cross/Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front. Volume 3: Everything for Stalingrad. Hamilton/Montana: Eagle Editions Ltd., 2006. ISBN: 0-9761034-4-3. Hb (oversize). Dj. 277p. Heavily illustrated. Color profiles. Maps. Appendices. Source notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

[Evgeny Velichko]

Hi Larry! Thx a lot! As well as I understand, FK's stationed from North to South:
FK 8 - Voronezh direction
FK4 - Voroshilovgrad-Rostov direction
FF Sud - Crimea-Caucassus coast direction.

Problem is, there were serious change of Order of battle around 10.07.42, when german reached Voronezh and turned to south.

I and II. /ZG2 were put out of action completely, and most Gruppe from FK8 were transferred to FK4.

Italian and romanian and hungarian OoB is clear for me.

[Evgeny Velichko]

Btw, is it possible to find some where ktb of 4 Luftflotte on that period?

[Larry deZeng]

Evgeny,

I have serious doubts whether or not the Luftflotte 4 KTB und Anlagen for the summer - fall of 1942 survived the war and still exists. I've never seen a reference to it. For example, the very well researched book below relied on the diary of General Wolfram von Richthofen as a substitute for the lack of Luftflotte 4 documents.

Hayward, Joel S. A. Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler’s Defeat in the East 1942-1943. Lawrence (KS): Univ. Press of Kansas, 1998. ISBN: 0-7006-0876-1. Hb. Dj. 393p. Illus. Maps. Source notes. Bibliography. Index.

L.