Aces who scored 25 or more kills in the La-5

[knusel]

Good afternoon Gentlemen,

in the Lavochkin La-5 more aces scored 25 or more kills than in any other Allied airplane (including WW1 types).
I tried to compile them all:

ACE La-5 kills
1. Kirill Yevstigneyev (Евстигнеев Кирилл Алексеевич) 52,83
2. Ivan Kozhedub (Кожедуб Иван Никитович) 46
3. Vladimir Serov (Серов Владимир Георгиевич) 37,77
4. Nikolai Krasnov (Краснов Николай Фёдорович) 37
5. Vitalii Popkov (Попков Виталий Иванович) 37
6. Nikolai Skomorokhov (Скоморохов Николай Михайлович) 31,5
7. Aleksandr Dyachkov (Дьячков Александр Алексеевич) 30,33
8. Sergei Glinkin (Глинкин Сергей Григорьевич) 29,5-30,5 + 1 balloon
9. Nikolai Artamonov (Артамонов Николай Семёнович) 29,33
10. Viktor Kirilyuk (Кирилюк Виктор Васильевич) 29,25
11. Konstantin Novikov (Новиков Константин Афанасьевич) 28
12. Mikhail Mudrov (Мудров Михаил Иванович) 26,67
13. Pavel Dolgarev (Долгарёв Павел Михайлович) 26
14. Boris Rogov (Рогов Борис Пантелеевич) 26
15. Ivan Sklyarov (Скляров Иван Григорьевич) 26
16. Ivan Sytov (Сытов Иван Никитович) 25,25

I do not know if Sergei Glinkin's last kill on 18Apr45 was scored in a La-5 or in a La-7.
I also cannot exclude two guys from this list that I found in George Mellinger's "LaGG & Lavochkin Aces of World War 2": Ivan Georgievich Romanenko (13. IAP-KBF) and Ivan Ivanovich Tsapov (3. GIAP-KBF).

Can anybody give me a hint ?

Michael

[HGabor]

Nikolai Fedorovich Krasnov (last unit: 17 VA, 194 IAD, 530 IAP) was killed after an unsuccessful landing on icy ground at Solt-NE, Hungary on January 29, 1945 in his La-5FN No.14 (S/N: 39211314, engine serial: 829030) After running 350 m, his plane rolled over and he died. Later he was buried in Odessa. Previously he served in 402, 116 and 31 IAP.

[knusel]

Good evening Gabor,

Polak in STALIN'S EAGLES writes that Krasnov died ramming a bomber in an unarmed aircraft.
Is that another hoax of that book ?

Kind regards,

Michael

[HGabor]

Ha-ha-ha. Of course it is a ferry tale. Heroes of the Soviet Union could have only legendary deaths in the literature, not death by mistake :-)

He rolled over at landing and bled to death. Maj. Krasnov was an exceptionally good fighter pilot indeed, but his tragic death could have been avoided by belly landing or jump.

Did you see the attached military document (TsAMO) of the accident?

"10:55 - При взлете на боевое задание шасси не убралось. После прикрытия своих войск, на обратном маршруте в районе Шольт отказал мотор. Сел в поле, после пробега 350 метров самолет скапотировал. Находясь на вынужденной посадке в 3 км от места катастрофы стрелок-радист 260 БАП с-т Солодченко прибыл к самолету через час. Прорубил правую сторону фюзеляжа. Майор Краснов был мертв. (10 км СВВ Шольт, 500 м ЮВ госп дв Чаплар.)"

[HGabor]

On January 29, 1945 La-5s of the soviet 530 IAP flew 20 combat missions in the Dunapentele (now: Dunaújváros)-Adony-Hercegfalva (now: Mezőfalva) triangle over Hungary, protecting the ground forces of the soviet 18 Tank Corp. (110., 170. and 181. T-34 tank brigades, 363 Гв. САП's ISU-122s, ISU-152s, etc.) Their total flight time was 16 hours 40 minutes. They dropped 14 AO-25 frag. bombs and destroyed two enemy vehicles. Their only loss was Maj. Krasnov (HSU) in his La-5 fighter, which again, clearly shows that he flew a regular combat mission in a fighter plane, not an unarmed plane... It's just a hoax, or legend.

Gabor

[knusel]

Good morning Gabor,

thanks for posting of the original documents. But I'm still a very beginner in the Russian language.
I really should remove STALIN'S EAGLES from my aviation bookshelf and place it into the bookshelf of my kids between PETER PAN and SNOW WHITE, shouldn't I ?

Can you tell me if Capt Ivan Ivanovich Tsapov, HSU, 3. GIAP-KBF, 22+6sh kills is a phantom ? I found him only in the Lavochkin Aces Roster provided in George Mellinger's "LaGG & Lavochkin Aces of World War 2", nowhere else.

Have a nice Friday,

Michael

[HGabor]

On January 29, 1945 the soviet 18 Tank Corp. had:

78 T-34 (mainly T-34/85s with a few T-34/76s) tanks
11 ISU-152 self propelled guns (heavy)
16 ISU-122 self propelled guns (heavy)
1 SU-85 self propelled gun
13 SU-76M self propelled guns
.................................................
Their assignment in the main units:

The 110 tank brigade (turret markings: '4xx') had:
18 T-34 tanks
6 SU-76M self propelled guns

The 170 tank brigade (turret markings: '5xx') had:
12 T-34 tanks - they had heavy losses around Perkáta.
7 SU-76M self propelled guns

The 181 tank brigade (turret markings: '6xx') had:
43 T-34 tanks (16 in reserve) - they had losses near Dunapentele (now: Dunaújváros)

(363 Гв. САП had the heavy ISUs, smaller units had the rest.)

So they requested the aerial support in which Maj. Krasnov was lost from 530 IAP (La-5FN, No.39211314). During covering actions two IL-2s of 130 GvShAP had mid-air collision near Adony after being hit by flak. Both IL-2 crashed (No.1872975 - Isaev, No.18793101 - Sorochenko). 951 ShAP lost IL-2 No.1878078 near Adony (ml.lt. Nabokov), 449 BAP lost A-20G Boston No.43-10101 near Kecel (ml.Lt. Philippov) at crashlanding, crew returned.

Gabor

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by HGabor

"10:55 - При взлете на боевое задание шасси не убралось. После прикрытия своих войск, на обратном маршруте в районе Шольт отказал мотор. Сел в поле, после пробега 350 метров самолет скапотировал. Находясь на вынужденной посадке в 3 км от места катастрофы стрелок-радист 260 БАП с-т Солодченко прибыл к самолету через час. Прорубил правую сторону фюзеляжа. Майор Краснов был мертв. (10 км СВВ Шольт, 500 м ЮВ госп дв Чаплар.)"

Hello Gabor,

From this report, a gunner of 260 BAP was the first to reach the overturned La-5. Was he a survivor of another lost Soviet aircraft ?

[HGabor]

Correct. Ml.Sgt. Boris Antonovich Solodchenko was the gunner on Maj. Constantin Fedorovich Makeev's (Commander of 3rd Sq.) 260 BAP A-20B Boston, S/N: 41-3648, that was lost on December 8, 1944 which crashlanded where Maj. Krasnov had the fatal accident on January 29, 1945. See attached entry of their loss. (crew of Boston No.41-3648 returned safe on foot.)
Solodchenko was the first guy who discovered the overturned La-5 and tried to free Krasnov, who -by the time- was already dead. Solodchenko cut a hole in the fuselage of the La-5 to access Krasnov, but it was too late. It is very interesting what he could do in the area weeks after their crashlanding? Perhaps he visited their old wreck to remove some more useful parts or belongings or taking photos? I dunno. Anyway, their Boston was one of the downed three (41-3189, 41-3648 and 42-86671) Soviet bombers, destroyed by SG 10 Fw 190s (as per Tony Wood's list) on December 8, 1944 in the Lake-Velencei area. (I already detailed everything about these events - including Maj. Krasnov's accident and the Boston crewman - in my 2013 book: "Bostons in the Hungarian sky and soil 1944-45")

Cheers,
Gabor

[HGabor]

La-5 ace, Capt. Nikolai Skomorokhov (17 VA, 31 IAP) flew La-5FN with factory marking '56' in early 1945 in Hungary. See attached pic.

In January, 1945 the three fighter-regiments of 17 VA, 295 IAD (31, 116, 164 IAP) had only 2 known La-5s with xxxxxx56 serials:

39211156
39212056

Since on January 30, 1945 ml.Lt. Derevnev (31 IAP) was killed in 39211156 (engine: 8211268) in a dogfight, Capt. Skomorokhov's plane had to be 39212056.

(Later the 31 IAP received another '56' La-5FN: 39211556, which crashlanded on March 28, 1945 (pilot: ml.lt. Danov, engine: 82111423), but still was not listed in early 1945. Previously the 31 IAP had a trainer version La-5U as well, 39212156 (engine: 829192), which crashlanded on December 21, 1944 with ml.Lt. Chirkin, so looks like the only option for Skomorokhov's plane is 39212056.)