Hs129 from 8.(Pz)/SchG1 loss date 5.Apr.43 - typo probably?

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

Hello,

According to GQM returns, Hs129 W.Nr 0377 from 8.(Pz)/SchG1 was downed by land forces fire (Erdabwehr) on 5.Apr.1943 in L.Qu.7526 (near Krymskaya, Kuban, Ostfront), Obgfr Gerhard Sembritzki WIA. It seems the date is erroneous, because:

1. 8.(Pz)/SchG1 was in Pawlograd (far from Kuban) up to the middle of April.
2. Bad weather in the Kuban area on 5.Apr.43. Only rare recce sorties were mentioned by both sides, nothing about air strikes.
3. No Soviet claims about downed German planes (war diary of Nord-Caucasian front has mentioned a damaged aircraft but that claim wasn’t mentioned in the lower echelon units documents and it probably about the case of the previous day).
4. No German land forces reports about the downed German planes (Krymskaya was close to frontline)

In the next line of GQM return (2.Jun.43, page 8, lines 100-101) the next lost Hs129 from 8./SchG1 is placed with date 5.5.43. Maybe the plane in question also was downed on 5.5.43 (not on 5.4.43) or on 15.4.43? (Both alternative dates are probable due to heavy air battles in these days).

In NVM (thanks a lot to Matti Salonen for the extracts!) loss date for Hs129 W.Nr 0377 is 5.Apr.43 as in GQM but anyway the date seems erroneous.

Best regards,
Andrey