659 IAP KOLDUNOV

[HGabor]

Paul,

In our records the 17 VA, 244 BAD had 117 A-20 Bostons on January 1, 1945 which is six more than the figure 98+13= 111 in the statistics in your comment. Different records say different numbers. Our number is based on the 1st quarterly mechanical report of the 244 BAD in 1945, listing every single planes at their command by SERIAL NUMBERS! Since this document lists all planes by S/N, therefore we use this as our primary source of the planes regardless of any other statistics or books.
I firmly believe that no other book or statistics can be more accurate than the division mechanical report, listing their planes by S/N. Only problem is that they did not mention their combat status and their physical condition. But they list the serial numbers, which –according to the official American factory terminology, looked like this:

5 UA-20 trainers (119623, 119627, etc.)
31 A-20B (12724, 12758, etc.)
6 A-20C-10 …….
4 A-20G-1 ……
5 A-20G-10
2 A-20G-15
13 A-20G-20
7 A-20G-25
8 A-20G-30
12 A-20G-35
21 A-20G-40
1 A-20G-45
2 A-20J-20/25

This is 117 Bostons altogether, not 111.

If you do not count the 5 trainer versions (which did not participate in combat), the difference is only one plane, - which is not bad at all!

17 VA flew several 2-8 fighter recce. missions, which usually ended up in strafing event, or dogfight. During these quick ambushes they scored most of their victories.

La-7FN is mentioned in some papers, but not in all. Note, that different units’ field mechanical papers did not necessarily follow the official factory terminology, sometimes they made up their ‘own’ plane-names and terminology, just like ‘Yak-11’ in the Axis reports, which, of course was NOT a real Yak-11, maybe an unusually fast Yak-3 or Yak-9U.

January 4, 1945 was another catastrophic day for the 17 VA indeed, since eg. the 210 ShAP alone lost 8 IL-2s (No.10967, 10987, 304836, 18853106, etc.) in the battles around Bajna!!!!! This was the highest one-day-loss for this unit. Cheers,

Gabor