Losses of FK I on 29.5.44

[Jan Gazda]

The air fighting was very intense indeed and the analogy with the Kursk battle fits to some extent. It is interesting, however, to compare the German claims to Soviet losses. Throughout the Kursk battle the German claims were almost at par with total Soviet losses which indicates very moderate overclaiming while troughout the Battle of Iasi the German claims were highly inflated. On 30 and 31 May German fighters reported 156 Soviet aircraft while 5 VA lost only seventy. Also, larger share of the claims was achieved by the top layer of the Jagdflieger than in the Battle of Kursk. For example, 21 out of 25 victories credited to III/JG 52 on 31 May was achieved by just three pilots : Batz, Hartmann and Birkner. So while the Iasi battle was without any doubt a victory for Luftwaffe when just comparing losses and victories it also showed that Jagdwaffe at that time was already a spent force on the Eastern front when compared to the Kursk Battle with ever shrinking number of aces bearing the brunt of the fighting.

Jan