German and Russian Air Action

The Messerschmitt 109: Symbol of German WW II Airpower

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The Messerschmitt 109 symbolizes German airpower in World War II for most Americans. This aircraft, designed by Willy Messerschmitt, was referred to, in German documents, as the Bf 109 after the company which built it: the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke or Bavarian Aircraft Factory.

The aircraft was first flown in September 1935 with a Rolls Royce Kestrel engine (the same engine that powered the Supermarine Spitfire prototype) because the proposed power plant, the Junkers Jumo 210 was not ready.

The Bf 109, powered by the Junkers Jumo 210, was first used in combat by the Condor Legion in Spain in 1938. Armament in the B model was three 7.9 mm machine guns mounted on the engine, one of them firing through the propeller boss. The C model carried two additional 7.9 mm machine guns, one in each wing.

The Daimler Benz engine was the definitive power plant for the Bf 109. The first aircraft to fly with the Daimler Benz engine in the nose was the Bf 109D. Daimler Benz was in the process of changing production from the unreliable DB 600 to the DB 601 so the engine change caused a change in designation to Bf 109E. Like any long lived aircraft the engine and the armament of the Bf 109 changed progressively. In most cases the changes improved the aircraft’s combat capability.

The Bf 109 performed well in every venue in which it was used from Norway to North Africa and from Great Britain to Russia. Its performance matched or exceeded any aircraft it met and, in the hands of the ‘experten’, the aces, it seldom disappointed. This was not an aircraft for the novice. At high speeds the control forces were so heavy both hands were needed on the stick, and the narrow undercarriage made it tricky to land. The forward positioning of the main wheels allowed for fast taxiing and aggressive braking.

The most famous ace to fly the Bf 109 was Erich Hartmann, veteran of 825 combat missions on the Eastern Front. Flying with Jagdgeschwader 52 he scored 352 victories.  As the Soviets drove the Luftwaffe back into the Balkans he included a number of Mustangs in this total. No other fighter pilot has ever matched this score.

The Bf 109G was the definitive example of this fighter, with more produced than any other variant. A total of nearly 35,000 Bf 109s of all variants were produced over 21 years. After the war they were flown by the Israelis in the 1948 war where they served alongside Spitfires. The final examples were Hispano and Merlin powered aircraft. The last were built in Spain in late 1956. The Spanish Air Force flew their Rolls Royce Merlin powered Hispano Ha1112s until they retired them in 1967.

Sources: Warplanes of the Third Reich, William Green, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, NY 1970. Augsburg Eagle, William Green, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, NY 1971. Combat Aircraft of World War II, Bill Gunston, Salamander Books, LTD., London, UK, 1978. The Messerschmitt Bf 109G, j. R. Smith and J. Primmer, Profile Publications, Surrey, England, No Date. The Blond Knight of Germany, Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor J. Constable, Ballantine Books, New York, 1970.

Air Action over Prokhorovka

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According to the official Soviet Air Force history bad weather over the battlefield on 12 July, 1943, forced the Soviets to operate in small groups. At approximately 0840 hours the Second Air Army began their preparatory operations with 200 aircraft.

Single engine Il-2 attack bombers approached the front at 1000 to 1500 meters altitude. Dropping down to altitudes of five to ten meters above ground level they directed nearly horizontal 20 mm cannon fire against their targets and fired RS82 rockets or dropped their 400 kilogram bomb loads. Executing a port turn after passing over their targets, they returned to their targets singly, forming what was called a circle of death. In such a manner they kept the Germans under constant attack for fifteen minutes to half an hour. Twin engine Pe-2 fast attack bombers carried a 7.62 mm machinegun and a 12.7 mm machinegun in the nose and 600 kilograms of bombs.

Fighter cover for the bombers included Yak-1, Yak-7, and Yak-9 fighters. These aircraft were able to out-climb as well as out-turn their opponents. Fully one quarter of all Soviet fighters engaged in this battle were La-5 and La-5F fighters. These machines conducted rocket and hollow charge bomb attacks on German armor before climbing to higher altitude to fly cover for their comrades. Under 4000 meters the La-5 fighters were not inferior to their opponents, using turns to get above the enemy. The Germans considered them the most dangerous threat on the Eastern Front. Ivan Kozhedub, the leading allied ace of the Second World War with 62 victories, flew an La-5 in this battle.

German fighter pilots excelled at high altitude combat so Soviet pilots made sure they lured the Germans down to a more suitable altitude.

The Battle for the Kursk Salient ended the career of the Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. Large numbers of these aircraft were lost to fighters and anti-aircraft fire, but they were already being replaced by the Focke Wulf 190 single seat fighter-bomber. Organized in fast attack groups they made an impact on the combat by forcing the 29th Tank Corps to change the axis of their attack.

The storms of the afternoon called a temporary halt to battlefield action on 12 July, however, when the storms let up, the fighting resumed. At 2000 hours massive air support helped Totenkopf take Polezhaev.

Although this was the last major offensive operation conducted by the German army on the Eastern Front, for the Luftwaffe fighter pilots on the Eastern Front this was one of their brightest military accomplishments.

Sources: The Soviet Air Force in World War II, Edited by Ray Wagner, Translated by Leland Fetzer, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1973

Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War Volumes One and Two, Yefim Gordon and Dmitri Khazanov, Midland Publishing Ltd., Leicester, England, 1998

Jagdgeschwader 54 Gruenherz: Aces of the Eastern Front, Jerry Scutts, Airlife Publishing Ltd., Shrewsbury, England, 1992

Kursk: The Air Action Part 2

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The Soviet changes to the conduct of the air battle were already being implemented on 6 July. Commanders of air units sent personnel forward into the combat zone to act as on-the-ground controllers tasked with directing fighters to areas where they were needed.

In the north 16th Air Army provided 140 aircraft for attacks against German forces located near Podolyan, Saborovka, and Butirki with good effect. Soviet fighters were able to intercept German bomber units before they reached their targets. This forced the Germans to reinforce their air units supporting the drive on Ponyri. By 7 July Soviet bomber units operated in groups of 30 to 40 aircraft which were easier to defend. By 9 July German air units in the northern sector were weakened to the point where the Soviet air force took control of the air.

The same techniques were being used in the southern sector. By 8 July senior Soviet commanders believed that the change in tactics was correct. The air army of the Voronezh Front was used against the German attack against Oboyan while the Southwest Front’s attached air army was used against German forces east of Belgorod.

As noted in previous blogs, the Luftwaffe successfully assisted Grossdeutschland’s entry into Syrtzewo on 8 July and, later in the day, Hs 129 anti-tank aircraft were instrumental in assisting II SS Panzer Corps’ repulsion of Vatutin’s attack down the Prokhorovka Road. On 9 July all available German air power in the southern sector supported the attack up the road to Oboyan and on 10 July a heavy Luftwaffe presence assisted Grossdeutschland’s attack on Werchopenye.

The fierceness of the struggle for control of the air is reflected in the records of the 2nd Air Army. From 5 July to 10 July the 2nd Air Army engaged in 205 air battles claiming 303 enemy aircraft shot down for a loss of 153 machines. It was not unusual for 200 to 300 interceptors to be over the battlefield.

During the night of 10/11 July, in an attempt to isolate the German drive on Prokhorovka, the long range AFLRO and night bomber units launched a series of raids against trains and troop columns on main and secondary roads.

In spite of these efforts the Luftwaffe gained tenuous control of the air over the drive up the road to Prokhorovka on 11 July. At 0630 on 12 July Luftwaffe fighters cleared the air of Soviet aircraft over the battlefield near Prokhorovka and, at 0700 German bombers began their attacks on the Soviet defenses.

Sources: The Soviet Air Force in World War II: The Official History, Edited by Ray Wagner and Translated by Leland Fetzer, Doubleday and Co., Garden City, NY, 1973

The Battle of Kursk, David M. Glantz & Jonathan M. House, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1999

Author: Jack Kruse writes military historical fiction set in World War II. He is currently completing a novel, tentatively titled Cauldron, about the aerial battle of the Kursk Salient, a key confrontation on the Russian front in which German and Soviet fighters and bombers engaged in an intensive series of engagements over the steppes of the Ukraine.

Kursk: The Air Action Part 1

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World War II, Eastern Front, Russian and German Battle for the Kursk Salient.

Activity in the air continued throughout the months prior to the German offensive in July 1943. As military and civilian personnel worked to build the defenses to block German operations on the ground, they also built or renovated 154 airfields for use by the Soviet Air Force. Soviet bombers and fighters hammered German held airfields, transportation networks, communications lines, staff headquarters, and warehouses while the Germans continued their activity against the rail lines near Kursk.

The Soviet 16th Air Army was assigned to the Central Front, the 2nd Air Army to the Voronezh Front, and the 17th Air Army to the Southwestern Front. The 2nd Air Army assisted both the 16th and the 17th Air Armies on both the north pincer and the south pincer as needed. More than 2900 aircraft were available. The Soviets had twice as many fighters as the Germans, but the Germans had 2.4 times the number of day bombers.

The Germans concentrated about half of their first line strength on the Eastern Front for the summer 1943 attack against the Kursk bulge. Their combat aircraft numbered approximately 2,500. The 6th Air Fleet was positioned to attack from Orel. This air fleet included six fighter groups equipped with Fw 190As, two night fighter groups equipped with Bf 110Fs, three bomber groups equipped with Ju 88As, four with He 111Hs, three dive bomber groups with Ju 87Ds, and one squadron each of Hs 129Bs, Ju 87Gs, and Bf 110Gs, all anti-tank aircraft.

The 4th Air Fleet, based at Kharkov and Belgorod, included six groups of Bf 109G fighters, two groups of Ju 88A, and six groups of He 111H bombers. Additionally there were six Ju 87D dive bomber groups,  and four Hs 129B and one Ju 87D anti-tank squadrons. The 4th Air Fleet was assisted by the Hungarian Air Division which included one group each of Bf 109s and Ju 87s, and two squadrons of Ju 88s.

As the German offensive got underway on the north side of the Kursk bulge, driving on Olkovatka, Luftwaffe support missions included 100 to 150 bombers escorted by 60 fighters. Soviet missions flew in groups of six to eight aircraft. Soviet fighters engaged in 76 mass air battles in protection of units on the ground.

In the south the Soviets attempted a pre-emptive attack on German airfields using 132 attack aircraft escorted by 285 fighters. Most of the German aircraft were already in the air. This limited the effect of the Soviet mission. By 0900 hours the Soviet aircraft had landed, rearmed, refueled and were back in the air working over the German ground forces in the Oboyan area. Initially, as in the north, their forces consisted of 6 to 8 aircraft.

That evening the Soviet command reviewed their tactics and a number of suggestions implemented in the days that followed changed the complexion of the air action.

Prokhorovka Pt. 2

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World War II, Eastern Front, Russian and German Battle for the Kursk Salient.

General Vatutin’s attacks began all along the front at 0900 hours as scheduled. General Rotmistrov’s 9th Airborne Division, with Second Guards Tank Corps on its left, struck south in the direction of Komsomolets State Farm against SS das Reich. Against SS Leibstandarte and SS Totenkopf, Rotmistrov threw the 18th and 29th Tank Corps. Rotmistrov believed II SS Panzer Corps possessed scores of Tiger tanks so he ordered his T-34s to attack at full speed, firing on the run, and ramming enemy tanks as necessary. In fact Leibstandarte had only four Tigers and das Reich had one. Totenkopf, on the north side of the Psel River, had ten.

The 18th and 29th Tank Corps raced down a five kilometer wide corridor between the Psel River and the ten meter high railroad embankment to the southeast. Armored vehicles from both sides intermingled firing at one another at point-blank range. Smoke, flames, dirt, and debris filled the air. Under heavy air attack the 29th Tank Corps withdrew briefly, then turned south to take Leibstandarte in the flank, threatening their rear. This threat caused Leibstandarte to withdraw in their turn toward Oktiabr’skii.

Simultaneously, the Soviet 181st Tank Brigade moved along the south bank of the Psel River against Totenkopf’s lines of communication driving Totenkopf’s panzer grenadiers before them.

By noon the German command realized they had failed to reach Prokhorovka. They directed Totenkopf to move along the north bank of the Psel River. A shock group of 100 tanks, supported by close air support, penetrated 52nd Guards Rifle Division’s defenses by 1300 hours.

Heavy rain showers moved into the area in mid-afternoon and the exhausted and emotionally drained units of both armies accepted a brief pause in the fighting.

To the south III Panzer Corps’ 19th Panzer Division, advancing along the south bank of the Northern Donets River, seized Krivitsevo in the late afternoon.

In the west, south of Oboyan, Soviet forces pushed the 3rd Panzer Division out of Werchopenje  and Berezovka into the eastern suburbs by 1700 hours. By this time 3rd Panzer Division possessed fewer than 40 tanks.

Meanwhile, in the center, the 95th Guards Rifle Division halted Totenkopf’s shock group at 1800 hours. Two hours later, under massive air support, Polezhaev was taken.

Sunset at 51 degrees north latitude takes place at 2011 hours on 12 July. By this time II SS Panzer Corps’ SS Leibstandarte captured hill 252.2 less than three kilometers from Prokhorovka. III Panzer Corps, unable to take Alexandrovka, remained 15 kilometers from Prokhorovka, failing to close the gap.

Thunderstorms ended all fighting after dark.

Sources: David M. Glantz & Jonathan M. House, The Battle of Kursk, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS, 1999

Ludwig Heinrich Dyck, “Showdown at Prokhorovka and Oboian”, WW II History, September 2006

George M. Nipe, Jr., “Ribbintrop at Prokhorovka”, WW II History, July 2009