Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Allied and Soviet Air Forces

Allied and Soviet Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the Air Forces of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 23rd January 2005, 03:29
Peter Mikolajski's Avatar
Peter Mikolajski Peter Mikolajski is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Olsztyn, Poland
Posts: 35
Peter Mikolajski
UK/US fighters on Eastern Front - June 1944?

I'm looking for Soviet units (using UK/US built fighters) or USAAF units operating on Eastern Front in Siemiatycze area. I'm trying to find answer for story published in this thread: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=270

Any help greatly appreciated.
__________________
Peter "Mikolaj" Mikolajski

Polish Air Force ORB 1940-1947 - offline
Modelarstwo Plastikowe - Polish modellers portal
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 23rd January 2005, 09:59
Ota Jirovec Ota Jirovec is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Posts: 231
Ota Jirovec
Hello Peter,

perhaps the Allied fighters you were asking about were the P-51s of 4th and 352nd Fighter Groups USAAF that were escorting bombers during the FRANTIC operation to Russia on 21. 6. 1944. There were some encounters with Luftwaffe over Poland and some German aircraft were claimed shot down by the Mustang pilots, among others over Kobryn and Brest-Litevsk (sorry, I do not have the complete list of USAAF claims, perhaps Frank Olynyk could help...).

The RAF fighters seem to be ruled out, because the area mentioned by you is out of their range.

Hope this helps a little,

Ota
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 22nd April 2005, 02:50
Peter Mikolajski's Avatar
Peter Mikolajski Peter Mikolajski is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Olsztyn, Poland
Posts: 35
Peter Mikolajski
Re: UK/US fighters on Eastern Front - June 1944?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ota Jirovec
perhaps the Allied fighters you were asking about were the P-51s of 4th and 352nd Fighter Groups USAAF that were escorting bombers during the FRANTIC operation to Russia on 21. 6. 1944.
Hi Ota!
I've searched available data and "my" He 177 was not shot down by planes during Frantic I or Frantic II. Unfortunately I don't have list of shot downs made during Frantic III. I'm not sure about date because I've got few new info and maybe Greif was shot down week (or few weeks) later.
__________________
Peter "Mikolaj" Mikolajski

Polish Air Force ORB 1940-1947 - offline
Modelarstwo Plastikowe - Polish modellers portal
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 22nd April 2005, 11:56
Ota Jirovec Ota Jirovec is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Posts: 231
Ota Jirovec
Re: UK/US fighters on Eastern Front - June 1944?

Hello Peter,


Yes, there is (at least) one claim for He 177 shot down over Poland during Frantic III: on 25.7.1944 at 13.45 hours by LtCol William A Daniel over Pzeszow A/D, East of Mielec. Unfortunately, I do not have all the claims of 15 USAAF, only those achieved by aces (from Stars and Bars by F. Olynyk), so perhaps there could be more claims....Could this indeed by "your" Heinkel. It was downed in late July....

Hope this helps a little,

Ota

P.S. Daniel flew with 308th FS of 31st FG.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 22nd April 2005, 13:13
Peter Mikolajski's Avatar
Peter Mikolajski Peter Mikolajski is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Olsztyn, Poland
Posts: 35
Peter Mikolajski
Re: UK/US fighters on Eastern Front - June 1944?

Hi Ota, thanks for quick response.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ota Jirovec
Yes, there is (at least) one claim for He 177 shot down over Poland during Frantic III: on 25.7.1944 at 13.45 hours by LtCol William A Daniel over Pzeszow A/D, East of Mielec.
Small correction. I guess that this is not Pzeszow, but Rzeszów - large city about 50km East of Mielec.

It could be "my" Heinkel, but:
1. "My" 177 was shot down over Siemiatycze - small city about 270km North of Rzeszów. I'm not sure did any "Frantic fighters" could fly so far away.
2. "My" 177 was shot down with two escort fighters.
3. Villagers claims that this happen in late May (IMO impossible because AFAIK there was no units equipped He 177 on Eastern Front), on 8th June or on 15th June. They join it with June's Thursday due to catholic holiday. I'm not sure can it be late July.

It seems that in fact it was one of Lend-Lease VVS fighters.
__________________
Peter "Mikolaj" Mikolajski

Polish Air Force ORB 1940-1947 - offline
Modelarstwo Plastikowe - Polish modellers portal
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 22nd April 2005, 13:50
Ota Jirovec Ota Jirovec is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Posts: 231
Ota Jirovec
Re: UK/US fighters on Eastern Front - June 1944?

The possibility that "your" He 177 was shot down by VVS fighters in the area of Siemiatycze so early in June seems to be rather unlikely to me - the front line was simply too far away (and your area not in the range of Russian fighters). In mid-June 1944 the Germans still held Belorussia including towns like Vitebsk, Orsha and Mogilev. Couldn´t the Heinkel have been shot down later?

Ota
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 23rd January 2005, 13:39
Peter Mikolajski's Avatar
Peter Mikolajski Peter Mikolajski is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Olsztyn, Poland
Posts: 35
Peter Mikolajski
Thanks Ota, I'll try to ask Frank about these claims.

Original He 177 was shot down on June 8th, 1944 - of course date is taken from claims of villagers living nearby. I'm not sure if they could make such mistake - on June 8th was Corpus Christi holiday.
__________________
Peter "Mikolaj" Mikolajski

Polish Air Force ORB 1940-1947 - offline
Modelarstwo Plastikowe - Polish modellers portal
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Me 109 loss on June 21 1944 near Brunswick and Bernoske Roger Gaemperle Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 7 6th March 2007 14:11
14 October 1944 on eastern front Laurent Rizzotti Allied and Soviet Air Forces 8 16th October 2005 17:57
Luftwaffe Aces KIA in Normandy in 1944 Christer Bergström Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 35 13th August 2005 22:10
Franek Grabowski´s article about 133 Wing on 7 June 1944 Ota Jirovec Books and Magazines 2 14th April 2005 17:36
Eastern vs Western Front (was: La-7 vs ???) Christer Bergström Allied and Soviet Air Forces 66 1st March 2005 20:44


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 16:23.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net