Ask for advice: the German bombing of Poltava Perspective

[chinapzw]

Quote:"21 June 1944
145 of 163 B-17s begin shuttle bombing missions between the United Kingdom and bases in the USSR. 72 P-38 Lightnings, 38 P-47 Thunderbolts and 57 P-51 Mustangs escort the B-17s to the target ( synthetic oil plant 51°29′00″N 013°53′36″E  /  51.4833333°N 13.89333°E  / 51.4833333; 13.89333 at Ruhland , Germany ); 123 B-17s bomb the primary target, 21 bomb the marshaling yard 51°27′32″N 013°30′57″E  /  51.45889°N 13.51583°E  / 51.45889; 13.51583 at Elsterwerda and a lone B-17 bombs the marshaling yard 51°18′34″N 013°16′46″E  /  51.30944°N 13.27944°E  / 51.30944; 13.27944 at Riesa , Germany due to a bomb rack malfunction.
20 to 30 Luftwaffe fighters attack the force; in the resulting battle a P-51B (43-6784, 4th FG, 335th FS) and six German fighters are destroyed; an F model B-17 42-3490 , 385th Bombardment Group, 549th Bomb Squadron piloted by Matthew Totter is damaged by flack and loses three engines on the flight and flies to Sweden where it is interned and later converted to SE-BAN , a Swedish airliner."

Who can tell me to attack the forces Luftwaffe designation, more fighting?


Quote:"What was unknown at the time was that after the raid on Ruhland, the attacking B-17s were being shadowed from a distance by a Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111 bomber, which identified the Ukrainian airfields where they landed. [ 7 ] On the night of 21 June the Combat Wing of B-17s which earlier landed at Poltava sustained severe losses as the result of an enemy air attack on the airfield."

May I ask who is driving Pathfinder aircraft? Under which units?

Quote:"At 0030 hours Pathfinder aircraft released flares directly above the airfield and 10 minutes later the first bombs were dropped....Of the 73 B-17s which had landed at Poltava, 47 were destroyed and most of the remainder severely damaged."

Ask: German perspective, the details of air strikes?