Aces who scored 25 or more kills in the La-5

[HGabor]

Nikolai Fedorovich Krasnov (last unit: 17 VA, 194 IAD, 530 IAP) was killed after an unsuccessful landing on icy ground at Solt-NE, Hungary on January 29, 1945 in his La-5FN No.14 (S/N: 39211314, engine serial: 829030) After running 350 m, his plane rolled over and he died. Later he was buried in Odessa. Previously he served in 402, 116 and 31 IAP.

[knusel]

Good evening Gabor,

Polak in STALIN'S EAGLES writes that Krasnov died ramming a bomber in an unarmed aircraft.
Is that another hoax of that book ?

Kind regards,

Michael

[HGabor]

Ha-ha-ha. Of course it is a ferry tale. Heroes of the Soviet Union could have only legendary deaths in the literature, not death by mistake :-)

He rolled over at landing and bled to death. Maj. Krasnov was an exceptionally good fighter pilot indeed, but his tragic death could have been avoided by belly landing or jump.

Did you see the attached military document (TsAMO) of the accident?

"10:55 - При взлете на боевое задание шасси не убралось. После прикрытия своих войск, на обратном маршруте в районе Шольт отказал мотор. Сел в поле, после пробега 350 метров самолет скапотировал. Находясь на вынужденной посадке в 3 км от места катастрофы стрелок-радист 260 БАП с-т Солодченко прибыл к самолету через час. Прорубил правую сторону фюзеляжа. Майор Краснов был мертв. (10 км СВВ Шольт, 500 м ЮВ госп дв Чаплар.)"

[HGabor]

On January 29, 1945 La-5s of the soviet 530 IAP flew 20 combat missions in the Dunapentele (now: Dunaújváros)-Adony-Hercegfalva (now: Mezőfalva) triangle over Hungary, protecting the ground forces of the soviet 18 Tank Corp. (110., 170. and 181. T-34 tank brigades, 363 Гв. САП's ISU-122s, ISU-152s, etc.) Their total flight time was 16 hours 40 minutes. They dropped 14 AO-25 frag. bombs and destroyed two enemy vehicles. Their only loss was Maj. Krasnov (HSU) in his La-5 fighter, which again, clearly shows that he flew a regular combat mission in a fighter plane, not an unarmed plane... It's just a hoax, or legend.

Gabor

[knusel]

Good morning Gabor,

thanks for posting of the original documents. But I'm still a very beginner in the Russian language.
I really should remove STALIN'S EAGLES from my aviation bookshelf and place it into the bookshelf of my kids between PETER PAN and SNOW WHITE, shouldn't I ?

Can you tell me if Capt Ivan Ivanovich Tsapov, HSU, 3. GIAP-KBF, 22+6sh kills is a phantom ? I found him only in the Lavochkin Aces Roster provided in George Mellinger's "LaGG & Lavochkin Aces of World War 2", nowhere else.

Have a nice Friday,

Michael

[Nick Hector]

Michael,

With all respect....

Given the mistakes that Mellinger includes in his books, you would do just as well consigning his books to the same fate

[HGabor]

Michael,

Tsapov's unit never fought over Hungary, therefore I never collected materials on them. As of the books: I do not want to judge anyone's work without deeper research (that I have no time for), so it is up to you what you do with them.... But the story of Maj. Krasnov is definitely fake in there.

Gabor

[Nick Hector]

Originally Posted by HGabor

Michael,

Tsapov's unit never fought over Hungary, therefore I never collected materials on them. As of the books: I do not want to judge anyone's work without deeper research (that I have no time for), so it is up to you what you do with them.... But the story of Maj. Krasnov is definitely fake in there.

Gabor

Mellinger claims that one of the Soviet aces shot down and killed Franz-Josef Beerenbrock. Beerenbrock survived as a POW and in any case the date Mellinger gives is incorrect. Few other errors but I can't recall them right now. Suffice it to say, I don't put much stake in Mellinger...

[knusel]

Originally Posted by HGabor

Michael,

Tsapov's unit never fought over Hungary, therefore I never collected materials on them. As of the books: I do not want to judge anyone's work without deeper research (that I have no time for), so it is up to you what you do with them.... But the story of Maj. Krasnov is definitely fake in there.

Gabor

Good evening,

I've found Ivan Tsapov:
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/ch/tsapov.htm
8 La-5 kills only. Thus, no candidate for my list.

I'm still interested in the La-5 score of Ivan Georgievich Romanenko.
Can anybody who's proficient in Russian language please find it out here?:
http://airaces.narod.ru/winter/romanen.htm

Michael

[HGabor]

On January 29, 1945 the soviet 18 Tank Corp. had:

78 T-34 (mainly T-34/85s with a few T-34/76s) tanks
11 ISU-152 self propelled guns (heavy)
16 ISU-122 self propelled guns (heavy)
1 SU-85 self propelled gun
13 SU-76M self propelled guns
.................................................
Their assignment in the main units:

The 110 tank brigade (turret markings: '4xx') had:
18 T-34 tanks
6 SU-76M self propelled guns

The 170 tank brigade (turret markings: '5xx') had:
12 T-34 tanks - they had heavy losses around Perkáta.
7 SU-76M self propelled guns

The 181 tank brigade (turret markings: '6xx') had:
43 T-34 tanks (16 in reserve) - they had losses near Dunapentele (now: Dunaújváros)

(363 Гв. САП had the heavy ISUs, smaller units had the rest.)

So they requested the aerial support in which Maj. Krasnov was lost from 530 IAP (La-5FN, No.39211314). During covering actions two IL-2s of 130 GvShAP had mid-air collision near Adony after being hit by flak. Both IL-2 crashed (No.1872975 - Isaev, No.18793101 - Sorochenko). 951 ShAP lost IL-2 No.1878078 near Adony (ml.lt. Nabokov), 449 BAP lost A-20G Boston No.43-10101 near Kecel (ml.Lt. Philippov) at crashlanding, crew returned.

Gabor