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Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the German Luftwaffe and the Air Forces of its Allies. |
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#1
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Definition of combat sorties
In August 1942 the USSR Peoples Commissariat of Defense issued an order which severely limited the definition of "combat sortie" for fighter pilots. This was important because in 1941 a series of awards for pilots had been established. For example, a fighter pilot was awarded 1,000 rubles for an aerial kill and made a Hero of the Soviet Union for 10 aerial kills. The August 1942 order defined combat sortie for fighters as follows:
1. A sortie in which the fighter pilot engages in aerial combat. 2. A sortie in which, while escorting shturmoviks or bombers on a combat mission, the escorted planes do not suffer any losses from enemy fighters. If this definition is much more restrictive than other nations' definition, it could really screw up comparisons of sortie rates between countries. Can someone say if the Germans, Americans, or Brits had a similarly restrictive definition? |
#2
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
I think another important question is if this ruling held out for the duration of the war, or was limited to a certain period. Also if this ruling was in general, or linked to an award system. If the latter, than like the RVT point system, it might confuse the picture.
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Ruy Horta 12 O'Clock High! And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine; A being breathing thoughtful breath, A traveller between life and death; |
#3
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
Yes it is. In German losses a sortie was described as either a Feindflug ('F') or Heimatflug ('H'). The Heimatflug description was generally assigned to flights consisting of moving from one base to another, test flights, training flights or flights of aircraft generally not considered frontline combat types. This last is somewhat blurred based on what the end-result of the flight may have been. There are likely other types of flights as well. A Feindflug pretty much includes everything else - standing patrols and whatever. Not particularly definitive, but certainly different to the Soviet description.
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#4
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
My first post should have also said that monetary awards were given just for flying certain kinds of combat missions. For example, a fighter pilot received 2,000 rubles for completing 15 ground attack missions, 3,000 rubles for 25 ground attack missions, and so on.
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#5
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
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A summer 42 was really hard for soviet goverment and Stalin personally, therefore many such rigid orders were issued, some kind of panic reaction. The Luftwaffe definition is also complicate. It was different kind of sortie as Feindflug, doppelte Feindflug, Einsatzflug, Frontflug etc. I would say, the german bureaucracy is the best Best regards
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Igor |
#6
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
does anyone know the daily number of sorties flown by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of britain? The B of B web site gives figures but it is not clear if these are sorties or planes. There is also no source given. Can anyone help\
Robin prior |
#7
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
Robin, I suggest you look at Battle of Britain, Then and Now and The Blitz Then and Now, both published by After The Battle in Britain.
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#8
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
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#9
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
I remember reading that at least in some cases, German pilots scrambled to intercept Allied raids and failing to so were denied to add a sortie to their count.
It seems to me that any flight over enemy land or meeting enemy aircraft was a sortie for German fighters. But as had been said above, I guess it will vary depending of the time and unit involved. |
#10
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Re: Definition of combat sorties
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Muddying the waters yet more, Nachtschlacht pilots in the East did not include anti-partisan operations as Feindflüge either, I guess because they stayed behind German lines. |
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