JG 53 Victories

[Nokose]

I've never had any victories to add from JG 53 until now. Recently I got to read parts of a report from the Soviet 31 SAD for 1941.

27 Aug 41
7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf Pe-2 (18) 16:24 (I don't believe this is one of the Soviet VVS losses being detailed but was in the time period)

9./JG 53 Lt. Erich Schmidt I-153 (44) 16:25
9./JG 53 Oblt. Franz Goetz DB-3 (23) 16:25
9./JG 53 " " " DB-3 (24) 16:26
7./JG 53 Oblt. Friedrich Below DB-3 (7) 16:26
7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf DB-3 (19) 16:27 W. of Toropets

7./JG 53 Oblt. Heinz Altendorf I-61 (20) 16:34 (Again I don't believe this one was involved as there were no MiG-3 in the escort).

The 37 SBAP had 5 SB under escort of 6 I-16 and 3 I-153 from the 29 IAP to bomb the roads at Nazimovo and Skvortsovo. On their return they said they were attacked by 9 Me-109. The 37 BAP had four of the SB shot down but no deaths among the crews. The I-153 flown by Khitrin (No other information) had 120 holes in his aircraft but doesn't mention if it returned or forced landed. The SB crews claimed to have shot down two Me-109 and damaged another. Also a pilot named Voloshin of the 29 IAP claimed a Me-109. There were no losses to III/JG 53 in air combat

[Nokose]

Usually it's JG 54 involved in the region of Leningrad but in this case they had no involvement. On the 11 Sep 1941 09:01 -10:08 (Moscow) 6 MiG-3 from 283 IAP escorted 9 SB on a bombing raid in the regions of Mga, Sologubovka and Sigalevo (The SBAP unit I have no information on). On their return in the regions of Shapki, Maluka station and Lyudovo they ran into 7 Bf 109. From the 6 MiG-3 were shot down 4. There were a number of "DB-3" shot down by the Germans but I have no data on there losses and if there were more bombers up in that area.
MiG-3 (#4111) 283 IAP Ml. Lt. Yakov Abramovich Levin (MIA but later found and buried 2001)
MiG-3 283 IAP Ml. Lt. Nikolay Kuz'mich Gapeev (MIA)
MiG-3 283 IAP Serzhant Lazarev
MiG-3 283 IAP S-t. Kondratenko

Making claims in this region during that time but giving no location.
Stab II/JG 53 Hptm. Walter Spies I-18 (4) 08:59
Stab II/JG 53 Oblt. Gerhard Michalski I-18 (18) 09:02

4./JG 52 Oblt. Siegfried Simsch I-18 (14) 08:52
5./JG 52 Uffz. Karl Kirschbaum I-18 (5) 08:53
6./JG 52 Oblt. Rudolf Resch I-18 (12) 08:53

[Nick Hector]

Hi Michael,

For the bomber losses on the 11.9.41, how about the possibility that they were likely 452 BAP SBs? Their losses Included crews of Ml.Lt. Gavriil Nikolaevich Kasatkin, Ml.Lt. Lev Ivanovich Baromenskiy, Lt. Aleksandr Georgievich Smirnov all listed MIA and Ml. Lt. Mikhail Gavrilovich Istorkin KIA plus 3 unknown crews...

...as per our previous investigation into JG 52 victories:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...d=1#post173610

I have tried to keep in mind that III/JG 27 claimed several bombers around that time and that Luftwaffe fighter pilots are now kind of famous for absurd misidentifications...

Nick

[Nokose]

Nick, That's probably them. So this probably takes care of the Soviet fighter escort part of that battle. I've got to many things in separate notebooks to keep up with what I find. I'll probably need to just stick to JG 54 for 1942-43 which I have on a hard drive.

[Nick Hector]

October 10, 1940.

Oblt. Gerhard Michalski of Stab II/JG 53, Hptm. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke of Stab III/JG 53 and Erich Schmidt of the 9th Staffel all claim Spitfires over the time-period 1130-1140.

I believe this was from No. 421 Flt and represents overclaiming, as there was only one loss: Sgt. Maurice Alexander William Lee forcelanded at Gravesend. Does anyone have the serial number of this Spitfire?

[Nokose]

Nick, I have the 15 Oct 1940 421 Flt. Spitfire IIa (P7444) Sgt. MAW Lee (WIA) Patrol. Damaged in forced landing after attack by Me 109 at 11:00. A/C repaired. I didn't see anything for the 10th for the 421st.

[Nick Hector]

Hi Michael,

Quoting page 502 of Battle of Britain Then and Now Mk V:
October 10
421 Flight, Gravesend
Spitfire II ... Damaged by cannon-fire during combat with Bf109s. Force-landed at base. Sergeant M A Lee unhurt. Aircraft repairable.

For 421 Flight on October 15 it has the following (page 511):
Spitfire II P7444. Damaged in combat with Bf109s. Wrecked in attempted forced-landing at Blackham Farm, Broadoak 1100am. Sergeant M A Lee wounded admitted to hospital. Aircraft damaged but repairable.
Spitfire X4612. Forced-landed due to big-end failure (whatever that is...) Pilot K A Lawrence unhurt. Aircraft damaged but repairable.

...Seems Lee had 2 close shaves in 5 days. My info was quoting the first instance and yours was quoting the second. Can anyone verify...?

[Nordpol54]

@ Nick Hector,

I think that a big-end failure has something to do with problems of the oil circulation in an engine and can end up at least in jamming pistons. Possibly another member knows exactly...

Best Regards
Norbert

[Nokose]

This is from a 103 ShAP report for the 29 Jul 1942. Three Il-2 from the 103 ShAP attacked a German mechanized column at Nikolaevskaya. They had as escorts 5 Yak-1 from 247 IAP and 7 Yak-1 from 16 GIAP. Bf 109 pulled the escorts into a dogfight leaving the Shturmoviks alone. They were intercepted and shot down leaving the target.

Il-2 130 ShAP Lt. Sergey Tikhonovich Aver'yanov (Returned to his regiment after going down)
Il-2 130 ShAP Ml. Lt. Georgiy Petrovich Kovalenko (Same)
Il-2 130 ShAP Serzhant Yakov Il'ich Prokop'ev (KIA)

Appears to be an under claiming on this one.
Obfw. Heinrich Leschert 3./JG 53
(16) Il-2 15:50 PlQu. 44 Ost/1877
(17) Il-2 15:53 PlQu. 44 Ost/1878

[Graham Boak]

The connecting rod goes between the piston and the crankshaft. As the piston goes up and down so the connecting rod makes the crankshaft rotate. The connection between the piston and the connecting rod is a circular bearing called the little end. The connection between the connecting rod and the crankshaft is a circular bearing called the big end. So a big end failure could be due to lack of lubrication and would be a disconnect between the connecting rod and the crankshaft, which probably would indeed lead to the piston jamming, or the rod flailing about inside the engine. It could simply be a material failure, rather than a lubrication failure.

Or perhaps I've forgotten more about engines than I thought...