Red Air Force DB 3 losses 24-25 April 1945 in Landsberg an der Warthe/Gorzów Wielkopolski area?

[Theo Boiten]

Dear all,

Can anyone enlighten me if the Red Air Force suffered two DB 3 losses on the night of 24-25 April 1945 in the Landsberg an der Warthe/Gorzów Wielkopolski area? Reason for asking is that I have recently found two new German night fighter claims at 01.05 and 01.08 hrs on this night in this particular area, and I would like to know if there are any matching Soviet losses to these two Abschüsse.

Cheers and thanks for any info, Theo

[Theo Boiten]

Edit: the correct night was 25-26 April 1945, not the night of 24-25 April 1945.

Cheers, Theo

[kirche]

Hello Theo,
it looks more like it, as in the period of April 21-25 there was bad weather over the airfields in Poland and over the targets in Germany. Most long-range aviation regiments did not fly at all to bombard objects.
Best regards,
Kirill

[robert]

Hi Theo,

I sent you an e-mail. I will not publish this stuff here because it`s in German.
And I don`t have time to translate it.

Regards

Robert

[kirche]

https://pamyat-naroda.ru/heroes/memo...senie57353134/
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/heroes/kld-...officer570051/
Gw. st. L-t Kalinin Vasily Petrovich from 28 gw. ap DD - the plane was shot down by a night fighter at 01.30 Moscow time. The pilot jumped out already at low altitude and the parachute did not open.

[kirche]

there were messages from the 16th Guards airdivisions of the same 1st Guards aircorps:
"at 02.32 in the Kustrin area, by anti-aircraft artillery shot down a plane that caught fire and fell" and
"at 02.37-02.38, a burning plane fell 10 km east of the target (Berlin) and exploded, presumably shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, since artillery was actively firing on the territory of our troops at lighting bombs and at our aircraft. At the same time, four parachutes were seen in the same area."

[Monaco]

Also Rapp and Schoenert claimed a total of 5 Il-4s in the Berlin area....certainly at this stage of war none was confirmed.
Is the first name of Schuster known?
Also 26 GAP (with A-20/B-25) lost personnel:
ID 37536611
ФамилияЧернец
Имя Иван
Отчество Гаврилович
Дата рождения/Возраст__.__.1920
Последнее место службы 19 гв. ап дд; 112 ндбап; 26 гв. ап дд; 26 гв. бап
Воинское званиелейтенант
Причина выбытия Пропал без вести
Дата выбытия 26.04.1945
Название источника донесения ЦАМО
Номер фонда источника информации Учетно-послужная картотека
Номер описи источника информации 680
Номер дела источника информации 43

[kirche]

https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=131987671
page 28
losses of the 3rd Gv. BAK two aircraft:
B-25 from 26 Gv. ap dd - pilot Feoktistov, navigator Chernets
Li-2 # 15209 from 220 Gv. ap dd - shot down by anti-aircraft guns - the crew of Vasiliev-Kozlov-Yarkin-Bessoltsev-Venglinsky-Gnilakishka. We jumped with parachutes.

[Theo Boiten]

Dear all,

Many thanks for your most helpful replies, much appreciated! Re. the loss of Gw. st. Lt Petrovich from the 28 gw. ap DD; which type of aircraft did he fly?

And am I correct in stating that a total of four Sovied bombers were lost from the Berlin area raids on the night of 25-26 April 1945?

Cheers, Theo

[kirche]

Hello Theo,
I see three planes:
- St. Lieutenant Kalinin (Petrovich is his patronymic) is an Il-4 from the 1st Guards BAK.
- And the B-25 and Li-2 are the losses of the 3rd Guards. BAK.
Each air corps dispatched about 200 aircraft that night to a target in Berlin.
BR,
Kirill