15./JG 51 on 14 July 1943

[Nokose]

The 15./JG 51 was escorting He 111 of KG 4 in the Zhizdra region on the 14 Jul 1943. In the air battle that ensued the Spanish pilots on their first tour of duty lost two of their own. They claimed two Soviet fighters. The Soviet pilots claimed one He 111 that they shared after breaking up the escort. Did KG 4 lose a He 111?

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Two losses and one damaged aircraft for KG 4 this day according to http://www.yogysoft.de/pawel/_kursk/units/kg4.htm:

14/7/43 He 111H-6 W.Nr. 7055 5J+CP, 6./K.G. 4
Jägerbeschuss, Uljanowo 100% F
Besatzung vermißt:
Ofw. Becker, Willy (JP says Bäcker)
Ogefr. Fischbach, Kurt
Uffz. Jungmann, Kurt
Uffz. Elsner, Karl
Gefr. Köhler, Ernst
14/7/43 He 111H-6 W.Nr. 7162, 7./K.G. 4
Jägerbeschuss Stariza 80% F
14/7/43 He 111H-16 W.Nr. 160297, 7./K.G. 4
Jägerbeschuss, Stariza 30% F

The five crew are also listed as MIA by http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2009/vl_kg_4_II_wk2.htm

[Nokose]

Laurent, were both of these losses late in the afternoon at the same time as 15./JG 51? If so this is a very under claiming by the Soviet pilots involved.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

No idea of the loss time of these aircraft. It was usual for Luftwaffe units involved in such battles as Kursk to fly several sorties each day, so without a KTB there is no way to know when these losses took place. Maybe Matti can find an hour in the NVM of the missing crew ?

[Matti Salonen]

There were also:
1943-07-14, 6./KG 4, He 111H-6, 7560, 5J+HP, Uljanowo 2, Jägerbeschuß. Bruch ? %.
Bordfunker Fw Kirchner, Bernhard, verletzt
Bordschütze Uffz Köhler, Kurt, verletzt
1943-07-14, 7./KG 4, He 111H, Unbekannt. Bruch ? %.
Flugzeugführer Olt Weinzinger, Peter-Erich, verletzt
Beobachter Lt Panzert, Georg, verletzt
Bordfunker Uffz Lughofer, Josef, verletzt
Uffz Klosterer, Rudolf, verletzt
Ogfr Pöhler, Paul, verletzt

Unfortunately no time information can be found.

Matti

[Nokose]

On checking through Prien's JFV 12/II for the 14 Jul 43 for 15/JG 51 there was listed Maj. Mariano Caudra Medina LaGG-3 (1st) at 17:30 and Oblt. Manuael Sanchez-Tabernero de Prada LaGG-3 (1st) 17:35. Both these claims have no loss in the 49 IAP. The 15./JG 51 lost Lt. Eduardo Garcia Amigo Fw 190 A-2 and Lt. Manuel Sanchez-Tabernero de Prada Fw A-3, both MIA. In this same battle after the Fw 190 losses the 49 IAP claimed one He 111 from the KG 4 with a split of 1/3 each.

Three La-5 of the 49 IAP left their escort duty after crossing the line and attacked the escort first then the bombers. Kapt Nikolay Kuz'mich Spiridenko got one of Fw 190 which he shot off his wingman's tail and Kapt Ivan Mikhaylovich Astakov got the other Fw 190 both in the area of Shchigry. Spirdenko's score in Mikhail Bykov's book shows the 1/3 for a He 111 but Astakov's 1/3 isn't listed. Not sure who the third pilot could be.

[Nokose]

After looking at the He 111 in the link provide by Laurent and the data from Matti it looks like maybe the 7./KG 4 He 111's with 80% and 30% damage ran a foul of the 49 IAP.
But there was also a large formation of He 111's attacked in the Ulyanovo area by four 2 GIAP pilots. St. Lt. Nikolay Petrovich Pushkin He 111 (his 3rd victory), St. Lt. Fedor Mikhaylovich Lebedev He 111 (his 1st), Ml. Lt. Mikhail Evseevich Ryabtsev He 111 (his 1st) and Ml. Lt. Trofim Grigorevich Kalinin (Unk. if he made a claim but he went MIA 07 Feb 44). The first three all received the HSU during the war.