War Over the Steppes: The Air Campaigns on the Eastern Front 1941-45

325 Pages·2016·23.703 MB·English

by  E. R. Hooton, Tony Holmes(Editor)

CONTENTS
Foreword
Glossary
CHAPTER 1 – FROM FRIENDS TO FOES
Russian and German Air Power 1924 to 1941
CHAPTER 2 – INVASION AND RETREAT
June 1941 to April 1942
CHAPTER 3 – THE TIDE TURNS
May 1942 to February 1943
CHAPTER 4 – THE RUSSIANS ADVANCE
March 1943 to April 1944
CHAPTER 5 – RED STAR TRIUMPHANT
May 1944 to May 1945
END NOTES
APPENDIX
Russian, German and British aircraft production 1942 to 1944
List of Illustrations
Bibliography
FOREWORD
The Eastern Front was the decisive theatre of the European element of World
War II. In a conflict known to the Russians as the Great Patriotic War (Velikoi
Otechestvennoi Voine), the Soviet Union steadily eroded the foundation of Nazi
Germany’s power, its ground forces, and eased the way for its Western allies in
Western and Southern Europe.
In the post-Stalinist era the inside study of this struggle gradually became
apparent through the efforts of Russian historians whose efforts reached a wider
Western audience through the work of historians such as John Erickson, Albert
Seaton and David M. Glantz. The work was expanded by both Russian and
Western historians in the post-Cold War world to provide a detailed picture of
the ground war in this titanic struggle.
The history of the air war, however, remains clouded. In part this is because
few Western historians appear to have researched the subject, possibly on the
grounds that it was merely an extension of the ground war. There is also the
problem that the various archives are scattered across the former Soviet Union.
For a long time, therefore, the subject has seen accounts of German and of
Russian operations considered largely in isolation.
To use a cooking analogy, it is like preparing a feast with fresh ingredients and
pre-cooked food. Historians of the German side not only possess a wealth of
published material in the shape of formation accounts and aircraft histories, but
they also have access to the material in the Bundesarchiv, some of which is
duplicated in the US and UK National Archives, including post-war studies
conducted by the USAF and RAF. However, they unconsciously tend to reflect
Josef Goebbels’ propaganda about heroes of civilisation fighting the barbaric
hordes with little knowledge of the ‘other side of the hill’. Also some published
accounts do not always accurately reflect sources, notably Hermann Plocher’s
account of Zitadelle, which should be compared with Stephen H. Newton’s
volume, Kursk – The German View.
In Russian there is a huge quantity of published material in memoirs, service
studies on matters such as air defence and long range bombing, as well as
formation and unit histories. The drawback with these sources is that it is often
difficult to analyse operations because the writers reflect the Soviet tendency to
‘shock and awe’ readers with impressive-looking statistics. There is also a
distinct reluctance to consider enemy documentation, which leads to frequent,
grandiose claims for enemy strength and for damage inflicted.
Yet a mass of material is now available online, including Russian websites
with detailed information on Soviet air formations, numerous books and even
German casualties in the East from 1941 to 1943 taken from 6 Abteilung records.
The new generation of Russian historians, such as Dmitri Khazanov and Vitali
Gorbach, are willing to combine Soviet and German archive material to produce
excellent works on air operations in 1941, over Stalingrad and over Kursk, some
of which have been translated into English. Yet few Western aviation historians
have studied the Eastern Front air war in depth, with the notable exception of
Swedish aviation historian Christer Bergström.
It is by combining a wide range of material published in the West with
Western archive and Russian online material that I have tried to produce the first
detailed account in English of German and Russian air force operations. I have
focused upon what I describe as ‘the main front’, which lay between the Baltic
and the Black Sea and then the Danube valley, for operations in northern Finland
and northern Norway were very much a sideshow. I have attempted a
comprehensive picture, but space constraints mean I have had to paint in very
broad strokes and largely ignore acts of bravery.
At first sight what emerges does not contradict the long-established view that
the air forces were largely committed to the direct and indirect support of the
armies, with little interest in strategic bombing. Yet it is also clear that the
subject had greater depth than previously realised – for example, the Luftwaffe’s
gradual rejection of Operational Level missions, which had helped spearhead the
rise of Nazi Germany, in favour of Tactical Level missions; or, to put it another
way, it went back to the future in a form of air warfare that by 1942 had been
discredited.
By contrast, the Russians, while predominantly a Tactical Level force,
retained and strengthened their Operational Level capability, with considerable
Western aid, although Soviet air operations also grew more sophisticated as the
war progressed. I hope this account will, for the first time in English, also
explain the factors that inhibited Soviet air power even when its numerical
superiority became overwhelming – notably limitations in production and
training. What I did find surprising were the parallels between the problems and
solutions of the Long Range Aviation (Aviatsiya Dahl’nevo Deystiviya, ADD)
and RAF Bomber Command, and also the response of the Home Air Defence
(Protivovozdushnaya Oborona, PVO) to the perceived threat from the V1.
I also hope I have described the growth of light night bombing that increased
in importance on both sides. For the Russians it was initially a cheap form of
offensive power that was then harnessed to expand the (Army) Air Force
(Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily, VVS), while for the Germans it became an arm that
grew ever more important.
I have tried to introduce readers to the leading architects and exponents of
each side’s air power, but they will have to follow up other sources if more
detailed personal information is required. I also make no excuse for the
profusion of statistics designed less to ‘shock and awe’ the reader and more to
indicate the scale of activity. I have also tried to introduce the reader to the
personal lives of the airmen and airwomen on both sides, which I hope readers
will find interesting.
In writing of operations I have had to examine numerous sources, many of
which are contradictory. Any errors are mine and mine alone, but I hope that
other writers will not follow my mistakes when producing further works on this
subject.
While the author’s name is on the title, no book is their work alone. I would
first of all like to thank Osprey’s Publisher, Marcus Cowper, and its Managing
Director, Richard Sullivan, but especially the ultra-efficient Samantha Downes
for her liaison work. I have also received a tremendous amount of assistance
from a number of people who provided valuable help in key areas. They are Ulf
Balke, Nik Cornish, Nigel Eastaway, Dr Jennifer Hooton, Jörg Huthmann,
Robert Forsyth, Eddie Nielinger, Martin Streetly and Paul Thompson. I would
also like to pay tribute to two ‘Old Eagles’ who are no longer with us but were of
the greatest help to me, Alex Vanags-Baginskis and Hans-Eberhard Kruger.
E. R. Hooton
March 2016
GLOSSARY
A-Tag D-Day (Angriffstag)
AD/AK/AP Aviation Division/ Corps/Regiment (Aviatsionnaya
Diviziya/Aviatsionnyy Korpus/Polk)
ADD Long Range Aviation (Aviatsiya Dahl’nevo Deystiviya)
AON Armies for Special Employment (Armiya Osobogo Naznachiya)
AP Aviation Regiment (Aviatsionnyy Polk)
AufKlGr Reconnaissance Group (Aufklärungsgruppe)
BAA Bomber Army (Bombardirovochnaya Aviatsionnaya Armiya)
BAP/BAD/BAK Bomber Regiment/ Division/Corps (Bombardirovochnaya
Aviatsionnaya Polk/Diviziya/Korpus)
DB Long Range Bomber (Dalniy Bombardirovschik). Also known as DB-3 and
later renamed Il-4.
DBA Long Range Bomber Aviation (Dahl’niy Bombardirovochnaya Aviatsiya)
DBAP Long Range Bomber Regiment (Dahl’niy Bombardirovochnyy
Aviatsionnyy Polk)
DD Long Range (Dahl’nevo Deystiviya)
FAGr Long Range Reconnaissance Group (Fernaufklärungsgruppe)
FARR Royal Romanian Air Force (Forţele Aeriene Regale ale Romaniei)
FEBA Forward Edge of the Battle Area
Flak Anti-aircraft Gun (Fliegerabwehrkanone)
Flivo Air Force Liaison Officer (Fliegerverbindungsoffizier)
GAL Romanian Combat Air Group (Gruparea Aerianã de Luptã)
GCI Ground-Controlled Interception
GKO State Defence Committee (Gosudarstvennyi Komitet Oborony)
GRU Red Army Intelligence (Glavnoe Razvedyvatelynie Upravlenie)
Gv Prefix for Guards (Gvardeyskii)
GVF Civil Air Fleet (Grazhdanskiy Vozdushnyy Flot)
IAA Fighter Army (Istrebitelyenaya Aviatsionnaya Armii)
IAP/IAD/IAK Fighter Regiment/ Division/Corps (Istrebitelyenaya
Aviatsionnaya Polk/Diviziya/Istrebitel’nyy Aviatsionnyy Korpus)
IFF Identification Friend or Foe
Jabo Fighter-bomber (Jagdbomber)
Jafü Fighter Commander (Jagdfliegerführer)
JG Fighter Wing (Jagdgeschwader)
KG Bomber Wing (Kampfgeschwader)
KG zbV Transport Wing (Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen Verwendung)
Koluft Army–Air Force Coordination Officer (Kommandeur der Luftwaffe)
LTF Air Transport Commander (Lufttransportführer)
MTAP Mine-Torpedo Regiment (Minno-Torpednyy Aviatsionnyy Polk)
NAGr Short Range Reconnaissance Group (Nahaufklärungsgruppe)
NBAD/NBAP Night Bomber Aviation Division/ Regiment (Nochnoy
Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionnaya Diviziya/Nochnoy Bombardirovochnyy
Aviatsionnyy Polk)
NII-VVS Air Force Scientific Test Institute (Naucho-issledovatelskii Institut-
VVS)
NJG Nightfighter Wing (Nachtjagdgeschwader)
NKAP People’s Commissariat for the Aircraft Industry (Narodnoi Komissariat
Aviatsionny Promyshlennosti)
NKVD People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Narodny Komissariat
Venutrennikh Del)
NSFK National Socialist Flieger Korps
NSGr Night Attack Group (Nachtschlachtgruppe)
OAG Special Air Group (Osobaya Aviagruppa)
OAP Independent Air Regiment (Otedel’naya Aviapolk)
OAP GVF Independent Civil Air Fleet Regiment (Otedel’naya Aviatsionnyy
Polk GV Flot)
ObdL Air Force Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe)
OKH Army Supreme Command (Oberkommando des Heeres)
OKL Air Force Supreme Command (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe)
OKW Armed Forces Supreme Command (Oberkommando des Wehrmacht)
Osoaviakhim Society of Friends of Defence and the Aviation-Chemical
Construction Industry of the USSR (Obshchestvo druzhei oborony i aviatsionno-
khimicheskogo stroitelstva SSSR)
PoW Prisoner-of-War
PVO Home Air Defence (Protivovozdushnaya Oborona)
RAF Royal Air Force
RAG Reserve Air Group (Rezervnaya Aviatsionnaya Gruppa)
RLM German Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium)
RUS Radio Aircraft Detector (Radio Ulavlivatel Samoletov)
SAD/ SAK/SAP Mixed Air Division/ Corps/Regiment (Smeshannaya
Aviatsionnaya Diviziya/Smeshannyy Aviatsionnyy Korpus/ Polk)
SAGr Naval Reconnaissance Group (see Aufklärungsgruppe, AufKlGr)
SB High Speed Bomber (Skorostnoy Bombardirovochnyy)
SBAP High Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment (Skorostnoy Bombardirovochnyy
Aviatsionnaya Polk)
SchG/SG Attack Wing pre-October 1943/post-October 1943
(Schlachtgeschgwader)
ShAD/ShAK/ShAP Assault Division/ Corps/Regiment (Shturmovaya
Aviatsionnaya Diviziya/Shturmovaya Aviatsionnyy Korpus/ Polk)
Smersh NKVD counter-intelligence organisation, literally ‘Death to Spies’
(Smert Shpionam)
SON Gun-Laying Station or anti-aircraft gun fire control radar (Stancyia
Orudiynoi Navodki)
SPB Combined Dive-Bomber (Sostavnoi Pikiruyuschii Bombardirovschik)
Stavka Supreme General Staff and High Command (Shtab Verkhovnogo
Glavnovokommandovaniya)
StG Dive-Bomber Wing (Stukageschwader)
Stuka Dive-Bomber (Sturzkampfflugzeug)
TAD/ TAP Transport Aviation Division/ Regiment (Trahnsportnyy
Aviatsionnaya Diviziya/Polk)
TB Heavy Bomber (Tyazholy Bombardirovschi)
TBAP Heavy Bomber Regiment (Tyazhyoly Bombardirovchnyy Aviatsionnyy
Polk)
TFF Transport Air Commander (Transportfliegerführer)
TrAD Transport Division (Trahnsportnyy Aviatsionnaya Diviziya)
TsAGI Aviation Industry Research Institute (Tsentralnyy Aero-
gidrodinamicheskiy Institut)
UAG Shock Air Group (Udarnaya Aviatsionnaya Gruppa)
USAAF United States Army Air Force
VA Air Army (Vozdushnaya Armiya)
VMF Navy (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot)
VVS (Army) Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sili)
VVS-FA Frontal Aviation Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sili-Frontovaya
Aviatsiaya)
VVS-KBF/VVS-ChF Baltic, Black Sea Air Forces (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily
Baltiyskogo Flota/Chernomorskogo Flota)
VVS-RKKA Red Army of Workers and Peasants Air Force (Voyenno-
Vozdushnye Sili-Raboche-krest’yanski Krasnoi Armiyy)
VVS-VMF Naval Fleet Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sili- Voyenno-Morskoy
Flot)
ZG Twin-engined Fighter Wing (Zerstörergeschwader)