From Barbarossa to Odessa (Luftwaffe Strikes Pt 1)

[Christian Schulz]

Excellent!

[Dénes Bernád]

Here is a short review posted recently on the prestigious web site, Stone & Stone:
http://sonic.net/~bstone/archives/080302.shtml

"Compared to books about RAF and USAAF operations—think about Bomber Command War Diaries and Fighter Command War Diaries and Air War Europa and the USAAF Combat Chronology—far less information has been published about day-to-day aerial ops on the Russian Front. Despite some efforts to more thoroughly document the daily air action (see, for example, Christer Bergstrom's new book, below), the same level of detail simply hasn't been available to historians. It comes as a pleasant surprise, then, to open this book by Bernad, Karlenko, and Roba, especially when it's touted as the first of a series.

The authors open with twelve pages that recap the events leading up to Operation Barbarossa, survey the opposing air forces, and provide OBs for the Luftwaffe, Soviets, Royal Rumanian Air Force, Hungarian Air Force, and Slovak expeditionary air units. These orders of battle (and the ensuing text) don't cover the entire front, just the southern flank of Barbarossa, essentially the frontage of German Army Group South.

Following that introductory material, the book begins day-by-day coverage of action in the air on that part of the front. This runs from 22 June through 31 July. Each daily entry averages a page or more in length, but considerably longer for the opening days of the campaign. The daily material proves in many ways comparable to the depth of coverage Chris Shores has provided in books like Fighters over the Desert and Malta: The Hurricane Years.
Here's an extract from one of the daily entries in From Barbarossa to Odessa:

<<At 0705, four Soviet aircraft bombed the railway station and barracks at Ramnicul-Sarat. An intruder, shot down by anti-aircraft fire, crashed near Vulturul, the crew escaping by parachute. Buzau airfield and railway station also suffered an attack by four bombers, dropping 22 large calibre bombs of which two did not explode, but only little damage was recorded, along with two wounded civilians. At 0735, bombs were dropped by four Soviet bombers near Bivolari, without result. At 0820, nine Soviet bombers attacked Jassy, their bombs falling on a field near Probota, without causing damage. At 0920, while returning from a patrol over the front line, a Schwarm from II./JG 77 met four DB-3s engaged probably in one of the many Soviet intrusions of the day over Rumania. All were reportedly shot down.
Contrary to the previous days, Axis aircraft did not target the airfield of 67 IAP this day. Alongside the bomber crews of 299 BBAP, pilots of 67 IAP strafed a large concentration of enemy vehicles at Oancea. Lt. Butsenko and Ml. Lt. Shlyachov each set on fire a fuel tanker. At 0740, nine SBs of 45 SBAP carried out a bombing attack on the river crossing over the Pruth, 3-4 km south of Tover. One of the SBs was shot down by enemy fighters near Chistelnita, all crewmembers being killed.
At 0750, pilots of 69 IAP on readiness, sitting strapped into their fighters, were alerted by forward ground observers of the PVO that an enemy bomber formation was approaching. They quickly took oft and attacked the bombers, not realising that they were SBs. As a result of 'friendly fire', one of the three SBs was shot down. The engine of Major Shestakov's fighter was also hit eleven times, thus the pilot had to make an emergency landing. Another Soviet bomber was also lost in error, most probably to pilots of 69 IAP. The SB of 317 RAP was shot down by MiG-3s during a reconnaissance flight.
At 0925, eight I-153s and three MiG-3s of 4 IAP flew to the Kuhnesti-Sculeni area, where they were attacked by four [Rumanian] Hurricanes. In the ensuing dogfight, Kpt. Tereshkin claimed to have shot down one Hurricane, but in turn one MiG-3, flown by St. Lt. Gridnev, was lost. No Rumanian fighter is recorded as being lost this day. Later in the day, pilots of 4 IAP attacked Bacau airfield, where they claimed two Blenheims destroyed by Lt. Nosov, Ml. Lt. Baydov and Ml. Lt. Avdeyev. No Rumanian Blenheim, or any other two-engine aircraft, is recorded as being destroyed on ground this day.
Six Ar-2s of 132 SBAP dive-bombed the river crossing near Sculeni. Enemy fighters identified as 'SET-15s' attempted to attack them, but their efforts were unsuccessful. However, one Soviet gunner was killed during combat. Later in the day, seven Ar-2s and 25 SBs of this regiment transferred to Tsebrikovo. At 1005, seven Ar-2s bombed the same river crossing for a second time. Over the target area, the bombers were surprised by a summer downpour. While leaving the storm clouds, the Soviet formation was suddenly attacked by six Bf 109s east of Jassy (lasi). They pursued the retreating Soviets over the border, eventually shooting down two Ar-2s. Only one pilot survived, the rest of the crew being killed.
In the morning, probably during a strafing attack, the Bf 109 E-4, W.Nr. 5365, flown by Fw. Rudolf Schmidt of 5./JG 77 was hit by Flak and had to make an emergency landing. The fighter was destroyed but, after a few hours, the future Ritterkreuztrager returned back unhurt. A few hours later, he is reported to have shot down two DB-3s.>>

The authors round out the book with ample photos and a few color aircraft profiles, but this is a solid, serious, text-heavy approach despite the glossy, oversized format. The volume lacks indication of sources for the material (despite footnotes, which mostly add more to the descriptions) and does not include a bibliography (although that's promised for the second volume).

Bernad and his colleagues have performed admirable work, and their detailed chronological account deserves wide recognition by everyone with an interest in the air war on the Russian Front."