Biplane losses on 16Jul43 at Kursk

[Nokose]

Soviet fighters claimed 6 biplanes shot down in the area of the II. SS Panzer Korps on the 16Jul43. The Luftwaffe had Hs 123's (7./SchG1) there for the battle of Kursk but their last losses were 5 and 6 July. The Russians reported the type as "Fiat". So did the Hungarian or Rumanians loss any biplanes?

[Pawel Burchard]

Originally Posted by Nokose

Soviet fighters claimed 6 biplanes shot down in the area of the II. SS Panzer Korps on the 16Jul43. The Luftwaffe had Hs 123's (7./SchG1) there for the battle of Kursk but their last losses were 5 and 6 July. The Russians reported the type as "Fiat". So did the Hungarian or Rumanians loss any biplanes?

there were no romanian units in the area in question, and no hungarian biplanes

[Nokose]

Thanks Pawel. Then it probably was Hs 123's but with a complete overclaiming by the Soviet fighters that day.

[thenelm]

There are no Hs 123 losses listed for this day - but given the random 'holes' in the loss reports that doesn't necessarily mean any thing....

[RT]

I doubt that so much goes thru this hole, further if casualties

Rémi

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hi Nokose,

Did Soviet pilots claim "Fiat biplanes" or just "Fiat" ?

[Nokose]

It just said it was biplanes of the Fiat type. It didn't mention which unit made the claims.

[Nokose]

I found for the 16th at least 5 of 6 Soviet pilots involved. Four were ace or soon to be aces of the 32 IAP and one from the 270 IAP(152 GIAP). I found two aces of the 91 IAP claiming Hs 123 on the 15th. One from the 297 IAP on 12th. Three from the 814 IAP on the 18th.So if there is no losses (at least reported) I assume that the Hs 123 was still nimble for it's age.