A.V. Dobrodetskiy, 297 IAP

[Nokose]

Does anyone have the full name of A.V. Dobrodetskiy (297 IAP) and Hero of the Soviet Union. He died on the 10Aug43 ramming a Bf 109 off his group leader. Assuming the Bf 109 was from JG 52 did they have a loss by ramming? The 297 IAP claimed 9 Bf 109, 7 Ju-88 and one He-111. The He-111 was from the 1./KG100.

[Nikita Egorov]

His full name was Anatoliy Vasil'evich.

[Jan Gazda]

Hi,

his full name was Anatoliy Vasiljevich Dobrodetskiy(Анатолий Васильевич Добродецкий).

Jan

[Nokose]

Thanks Nikita and Jan. Still looking for the time of day he was lost and if JG52 lost a Bf109 in the Kharkov area.

[Nikita Egorov]

Around 13.40. (Moscow time). There were no losses for I and II/JG52.

[Nokose]

Nikita,
Was the ramming actually witnessed to be awarded the HSU or could his plane just have exploded from being hit in this incident and assumed to have rammed?

[Nikita Egorov]

Officially reported as air ramming.

[Jan Gazda]

Interestingly this was his second "taran" (air ramming) in less than a month, the previous taking place on 15 July 1943

Jan

[Nokose]

Same type incident and where? How many victories did he have since he didn't make it to 5.

[DiegoZampini]

Nokose:

Originally Posted by Nokose

Same type incident and where? How many victories did he have since he didn't make it to 5.

So far the available sources says that he performed 27 combat sorties and took place in 11 aerial battles, being credited with 11 victories - 3 personal kills and 8 shared (groupal) ones. Two out of his 3 personal kills were by "taran" (air-to-air ramming) in 15 July and 10 August 1943 respectively. The circumstances of both "tarans" are described there (in Russian): http://www.airwar.ru/history/aces/ac...brodeckiy.html
The original text and the translation into English (please, I ask the Russian members of this forum correct any mistake):

"15 июля 1943 года под Курском в составе группы Ла-5 под командованием Ф.Березовского обнаружил группу немецких истребителей. Противник, не вступая в бой, попытался уйти. Наши бросились вдогонку. Прикрывая своего командира, Добродецкий заметил, как из облаков выскочила пара истребителей Me-109 и бросилась в атаку. Он рванул наперерез и открыл огонь. Немец увернулся от очереди и попытался проскочить, чтобы ударить по ведущему. Чтобы помешать этому, Добродецкий решил таранить. Когда вражеский самолёт оказался рядом, он довернул влево и нанёс удар крылом. Немецкий истребитель свалился в штопор и рухнул на землю. Добродецкий выровнял свой повреждённый самолёт и благополучно привёл его на свой аэродром. "
(On 15 July 1943 over Kursk, as part of a group of La-5s led by F. Berezovskiy he found a group of German fighters. The enemy, not trying to engage, tried to run away. Ours threw themselves in their pursuit. Covering his leader, Dobrovetsky spotted how from a cloud appeared a pair of fighters Me-109 and went into attack. He sharply broke to cut them off and opened fire. The German leader dodged the burst and tried to pass anyway, to hit [Dobrodetskiy's] leader. To avoid this, Dobrodetskiy decided to ram the German. When the enemy aircraft was side to side, he made a barrel-roll to the left and hit it with the wing. The German aircraft entered into a uncontrolable corckscrew and crashed into the ground. Dobrodetskiy leveled his damaged aircraft and safely brought it to his own aerodrome.)10 августа 1943 в 11.00 вылетел ведомым у младшего лейтенанта Борисенко в составе группы из 10 истребителей на прикрытие наземных войск в районе Харькова. У линии фронта наши лётчики обнаружили 18 бомбардировщиков противника Ju-88, сопровождаемых истребителями Me-109. Группа сопровождения связала боем истребителей. Добродецкий в составе ударной группы атаковал бомбардировщиков. Вместе со своим ведущим он сбил одного "юнкерса", затем второго. В это время появилось ещё 8 Me-109. Завязался ожесточённый воздушный бой. Прикрывая своего ведущего, Добродецкий отбивал одну атаку за другой. Через 40 минут боя у наших истребителей были на исходе боеприпасы и горючее. Когда очередная пара "мессершмиттов" пошла в атаку, Добродецкий развернул свой Ла-5 им навстречу. Расстояние между самолётами быстро сокращалось. В пооследний момент немец отвернул. В этот момент Добродецкий открыл огонь и сбил врага. В это время другой Me-109 атаковал самолёт старшего лейтенанта Кучеренко. Предупредив его об этом по радио, Добродецкий бросился на помощь. Поймав противника в прицел, он открыл огонь, но патронов хватило только на короткую очередь. Тогда Добродецкий пошёл на таран. Дав полный газ, он всей массой своего Ла-5 ударил по "мессершмитту". Оба самолёта взорвались в воздухе. В этом бою наши лётчики записали на свой счёт 22 сбитых самолёта.
(On 10 August 1943 at 11:00 hs flew as wingman of Mladshiy Leitenant (2nd Lt.) Brosenko as part of a group of 10 fighters covering ground forces in the area of Kharkov. Over the lines of front our pilots found 18 enemy bombers Ju-88, escorted by fighters Me-109. The escort group engaged [our] fighters. Dobrodetskiy, as part of the striking group, jumped the bombers. Together with his leader, he shot down a Junkers, and later a second one. At that moment 8 more Me-109s joined the fray. A bitter air combat raged. Covering his leader, went from reject one attack to another. During 40 minutes of combat our pilots had to manage their resurces of ammo and fuel. When one of the pair of Messerchemitts went into attack, Dobrodetskiy went at their encounter head-on. The distance between them rapidly closed. In the last moment the German pilot broke. In that moment Dobrodetskiy opened fire and shot down the enemy. At that time other Me-109 jumped the airplane of Starshiy Leitenant Kucherenko. Having warned [Kucherenko] by radio, Dobrodetskiy ran to help. Puting the enemy in his sights, he opened fire, but the ammo he had only was enough for a short burst. Then Dobrodetskiy ran into a "taran". He gave full throttle, and the whole mass of his La-5 hit the Messerchmitt. Both aircraft blew up in mid-air. In this combat our açilots were credited with shooting down 22 enemy airplanes)

I check other places, and in all the description of this battle is almost the same.
If I recall correctly, in spite of normally operate in the Baltic area, the JG 54 "Grunherz" several times deployed some of its Gruppen in the area to assist the JG 52 y 53, even to act as "firemen" to help contain the subsequent Soviet offensives. There is a chance that Dobrodetskiy's victims were aircraft of that unit.
If my presumption is correct, on 15 July 1943 the 6.Staffel of II.Gruppe JG 54 lost the Fw.190A-5 WkNr (150)1324 of Unteroffizer Fritz Dressler, by a "LaGG-3". Is this possibly a missidentification for a La-5? Dobrodetskiy's in this case?. The question also is if Dobrodetskiy and his regimental pals could have mistaken Fw.190s with Bf.109s.
There are two losses in 10 August 1943, the Fw.190A-5 of Unteroffizer Horst Eckert (5.Staffel, II.Gruppe) apparently by "pilot's mistake" and the Bf.109G-6 (7.Staffel, III.Gruppen) of Norbert Pfeiffer because of "motor problems".
I hope all this information helps you.
Kind regards,
Diego