The huge flow of information that has literally befallen all of us lately sometimes plays an extremely negative role in the development of the thinking of the guys who are going to replace us. And it cannot be said that this information is deliberately false. But in its “naked” form, without a reasonable explanation, it sometimes carries a monstrous and inherently simply destructive character.
How can this be?
Let me give you one example. More than one generation of boys in our country has grown up with the firm conviction that our famous pilots Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin are the best aces of the past war. And no one has ever argued with this. Neither here nor abroad.
But once I bought in a store a children's book "Aviation and Aeronautics" from the encyclopedic series "I Know the World" of a very famous publishing house. The book, published with a circulation of thirty thousand copies, turned out to be really very "informative" ...
Here, for example, in the section "Gloomy arithmetic" there are quite eloquent figures concerning air battles during the Great Patriotic War. I quote literally: “Three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, fighter pilots A.I. Pokryshkin and I.N. Kozhedub shot down 59 and 62 enemy aircraft, respectively. But the German ace E. Hartman shot down 352 aircraft during the war years! And he was not alone. In addition to him, the Luftwaffe had such aerial combat masters as G. Barkhorn (301 shot down aircraft), G. Rall (275), O. Kittel (267) ... Only 104 pilots of the German Air Force had more than a hundred downed aircraft each, and the top ten have destroyed a total of 2,588 enemy aircraft! "
Soviet ace, fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Baranov. Stalingrad, 1942 Mikhail Baranov - one of the best fighter pilots of the Second World War, the most productive Soviet ace, fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Baranov. Stalingrad, 1942 Mikhail Baranov - one of the best fighter pilots of the Second World War, the most productive at the time of his death, and many of his victories were won in the initial, most difficult period of the war. If not for his accidental death, he would have been the same glorified pilot as Pokryshkin or Kozhedub - aces of the Second World War.
It is clear that any child who sees such numbers of aerial victories will immediately think that not ours, but German pilots were the best aces in the world, and our "Ivans" were oh so far away from them (by the way, the authors For some reason, the aforementioned publications did not provide data on the achievements of the best aces pilots in other countries: American Richard Bong, British James Johnson and French Pierre Klosterman with their 40, 38 and 33 aerial victories, respectively). The next thought that flashes in the minds of the guys, naturally, will be that the Germans flew on much more advanced aircraft. (It must be said that not even schoolchildren, but students of one of the Moscow universities reacted to the presented figures of aerial victories in a similar way during the survey).
But how should one generally relate to such, at first glance, blasphemous numbers?
It is clear that any schoolchild, if he is interested in this topic, will go to the Internet. What will he find there? It's easy to check ... Let's type in the search engine the phrase "The best ace of the Second World War."
The result appears quite expected: a portrait of a blond Erich Hartman, hung with iron crosses, is displayed on the monitor screen, and the entire page is replete with phrases like: "The best aces of the Second World War are German pilots, especially those who fought on the Eastern Front ..."
Here are the ones on! Not only did the Germans turn out to be the best aces in the world, but most of all they killed not just some Englishmen, Americans or Frenchmen with Poles, but our guys.
So, really, the true truth was laid out in an informative book and on the covers of notebooks that carry the knowledge of an uncle and aunt to children? Is that just what they wanted to say with that? That we had such careless pilots? Probably not. But why the authors of many printed publications and information hanging on the pages of the Internet, citing a mass of seemingly interesting facts, did not bother to explain to readers (especially young ones): where did such numbers come from and what they mean.
Perhaps some of the readers will find the further story uninteresting. After all, this topic has already been discussed more than once on the pages of serious aviation publications. And with this everything is clear. Is it worth repeating? But this information never reached ordinary boys of our country (given the circulation of specialized technical magazines). And it won't. Why are there boys. Show the above numbers to your school history teacher and ask him what he thinks about it and what will he say to the children about it? But the boys, having seen the results of the aerial victories of Hartman and Pokryshkin on the back of the student's notebook, will probably ask him about it. I am afraid that the result will shake you to the core ... That is why the material below is not even an article, but rather a request to you, dear readers, to help your children (and maybe even their teachers) deal with some "stunning" numbers ... Moreover, on the eve of May 9, we will all again remember that distant war.
Where did these numbers come from?
But really, where did such a figure as 352 victories of Hartman in aerial battles come from? Who can confirm it?
It turns out no one. Moreover, the entire aviation community has long known that historians took this figure from Erich Hartmann's letters to his bride. So the first thing that arises is the question: did the young man embellish his military achievements? There are also known statements by some German pilots that at the final stage of the war, air victories were simply attributed to Hartman for propaganda purposes, because the collapsing Hitlerite regime needed a superhero along with a mythical miracle weapon. Interestingly, many of Hartman's claimed victories are not confirmed by losses on our side that day.
The study of archival documents from the Second World War period has convincingly proved that absolutely all branches of the armed forces in all countries of the world sinned with subscripts. It is no coincidence that shortly after the outbreak of the war, our army introduced the principle of the strictest record of downed enemy aircraft. The plane was considered shot down only after ground forces discovered its wreckage and thereby confirmed the air victory.
The Germans, as well as the Americans, did not need confirmation of the ground forces. The pilot could fly in and report: "I shot down the plane." The main thing is that the cine gun should record at least bullets and shells hitting the target. Sometimes this allowed to gain a lot of "points". It is known that during the "Battle of England" the Germans reported 3050 British aircraft shot down, while the British actually lost only 910.
Hence, the first conclusion should be drawn: our pilots were credited with actually shot down planes. The Germans - aerial victories, sometimes not even leading to the destruction of an enemy aircraft. And often these victories were mythical.
Why did our aces not have 300 or more aerial victories?
All that we mentioned just above does not in any way apply to the skill of the aces pilots. Let's consider this question: could the German pilots even shoot down the declared number of aircraft? And if so, why?
A.I. Pokryshkin, G.K. Zhukov and I.N. Kozhedub
Oddly enough, Hartmann, Barkhorn, and other German pilots, in principle, could have over 300 air victories. And I must say that many of them were doomed to become aces, since they were the real hostages of the Hitlerite command, which threw them into the war. And they fought, as a rule, from the first to the last day.
The aces pilots of England, the USA and the Soviet Union were cherished and appreciated by the command. The leadership of the listed air forces considered this: since a pilot shot down 40-50 enemy aircraft, it means that he is a very experienced pilot who can teach flying skills to a dozen talented young guys. And let each of them shoot down at least ten enemy planes. Then the total number of destroyed planes will turn out to be much more than if they were shot down by a professional who remained at the front.
Recall that our best fighter pilot, Alexander Pokryshkin, already in 1944, the Air Force command banned him from participating in air battles altogether, entrusting him with the command of an aviation division. And it turned out to be correct. By the end of the war, many pilots from his unit had more than 50 confirmed air victories in their combat accounts. So, Nikolai Gulaev shot down 57 German aircraft. Grigory Rechkalov - 56. Dmitry Glinka chalked up fifty enemy aircraft.
The command of the American Air Force did the same, recalling from the front its best ace, Richard Bong.
I must say that many Soviet pilots could not become aces only for the reason that there was often no enemy in front of them. Each pilot was assigned to his unit, and therefore to a specific section of the front.
For the Germans, everything was different. Experienced pilots were constantly transferred from one sector of the front to another. Each time they found themselves in the hottest spot, in the very thick of things. For example, Ivan Kozhedub during the entire war only took to the skies 330 times and conducted 120 air battles, while Hartman made 1425 sorties and participated in 825 air battles. Yes, our pilot, with all his desire, could not even see in the sky as many German planes as Hartman caught sight of!
By the way, having become famous aces, Luftwaffe pilots did not receive indulgence from death. Literally every day they had to participate in air battles. So it turned out that they fought until their death. And only captivity or the end of the war could save them from death. Few of the Luftwaffe aces survived. Hartman and Barkhorn were just lucky. They became famous only because they miraculously survived. But the fourth most productive ace of Germany, Otto Kittel, died during an air battle with Soviet fighters in February 1945.
A little earlier, the most famous ace of Germany, Walter Novotny, met his death (in 1944 he was the first of the Luftwaffe pilots to bring his combat score to 250 air victories). The Hitlerite command, having awarded the pilot with all the highest orders of the Third Reich, instructed him to lead the formation of the first (still "raw" and undelivered) Me-262 jet fighters and threw the famous ace into the most dangerous area of the air war - to repel raids on Germany by American heavy bombers. The pilot's fate was a foregone conclusion.
By the way, Hitler also wanted to put Erich Hartman on a jet fighter, but the smart guy got out of this dangerous situation, having managed to prove to his superiors that there would be more sense from him if he was put back on the old reliable Bf 109. This decision allowed Hartman to save his life from inevitable death and become, in the end, the best ace in Germany.
The most important proof that our pilots were in no way inferior in the skill of conducting air battles to the German aces, eloquently speak of some figures, which abroad are not very fond of recalling, and some of our journalists from the "free" press who undertake to write about aviation, they just do not know.
For example, aviation historians know that the most effective fighter squadron of the Luftwaffe that fought on the Eastern Front was the elite 54th Green Heart Air Group, which gathered the best aces of Germany on the eve of the war. So, of the 112 pilots of the 54th squadron who invaded the airspace of our Motherland on June 22, 1941, only four survived until the end of the war! A total of 2,135 fighters from this squadron were left lying in the form of scrap metal in the vast area from Ladoga to Lviv. But it was the 54th squadron that stood out among the other fighter squadrons of the Luftwaffe in that during the war years it had the lowest level of losses in air battles.
It is interesting to note another little-known fact, which few people pay attention to, but which characterizes both our and German pilots very well: already at the end of March 1943, when the air supremacy still belonged to the Germans, bright "green hearts" proudly shining on the sides of the "Messerschmitts" and "Focke-Wulfs" of the 54th squadron, the Germans painted over with matte gray-green paint, so as not to lead into the temptation of Soviet pilots, who considered it a matter of honor to "fill up" some vaunted ace.
Which plane is better?
Everyone who, to one degree or another, was interested in the history of aviation, probably had to hear or read the statements of "specialists" that the German aces had more victories not only because of their skill, but also because they flew the best aircraft.
No one argues that a pilot flying a more advanced aircraft will have a certain advantage in combat.
Hauptmann Erich Hartmann (04/19/1922 - 09/20/1993) with his commander, Major Gerhard Barkhorn (05/20/1919 - 01/08/1983) studying the map. II./JG52 (2nd group of the 52nd fighter squadron). E. Hartmann and G. Barkhorn are the most effective pilots of the Second World War, who had 352 and 301 air victories, respectively. In the lower left corner of the picture - E. Hartmann's autograph.
In any case, the pilot of a faster aircraft will always be able to catch up with the enemy, and, if necessary, get out of the battle ...
But here's what is interesting: the entire world experience in air warfare suggests that in an air battle, it is usually not the aircraft that is better that wins, but the one in which the best pilot sits. Naturally, all this applies to aircraft of the same generation.
Although in a number of technical indicators the German Messerschmitts (especially at the beginning of the war) were superior to our MiGs, Yaks and LaGGs, it turned out that in the real conditions of the total war that was fought on the Eastern Front, their technical superiority was not so obvious.
The German aces gained their main victories at the beginning of the war on the Eastern Front thanks to the experience gained during previous military campaigns in the skies over Poland, France, and England. At the same time, the bulk of Soviet pilots (with a small exception of those who managed to fight in Spain and on Khalkhin Gol) had no combat experience at all.
But a well-trained pilot, who knows the merits of both his aircraft and the enemy's aircraft, could always impose his air combat tactics on the enemy.
On the eve of the war, our pilots had just begun to master the latest fighters such as Yak-1, MiG-3 and LaGG-3. Not having the necessary tactical experience, solid skills in aircraft control, not being able to shoot properly, they still went into battle. Therefore, they suffered heavy losses. Neither their courage nor their heroism could help. You just had to gain experience. And that took time. But there was no time for this in 1941.
But those of the pilots who survived the fierce air battles of the initial period of the war later became famous aces. They not only beat the Nazis themselves, but also taught young pilots to fight. Now you can often hear statements that during the war years, poorly trained youth came to the fighter regiments from flight schools, which became easy prey for the German aces.
But at the same time, for some reason, such authors forget to mention that already in the fighter regiments, senior comrades continued to train young pilots, sparing neither effort nor time. They tried to make them experienced air fighters. Here is a typical example: from the middle of autumn 1943 to the end of winter 1944, about 600 sorties were carried out in the 2nd Guards Aviation Regiment just for training young pilots!
For the Germans, at the end of the war, the situation turned out to be worse than ever. In the fighter squadrons, which were armed with the most modern fighters, untreated, hastily prepared boys were sent, who were immediately sent to their death. The "horseless" pilots from the defeated bomber air groups also got into fighter squadrons. The latter had vast experience in aerial navigation and knew how to fly at night. But they could not conduct maneuverable air battles on equal terms with our fighter pilots. Those few experienced "hunters" who still remained in the ranks could in no way change the situation. No, even the most perfect, technique could save the Germans.
Whom and how were they shot down?
People far from aviation have no idea that the Soviet and German pilots were placed in completely different conditions. German fighter pilots, and Hartmann among them, very often engaged in the so-called "free hunt". Their main task was to destroy enemy aircraft. They could fly when they saw fit, and wherever they saw fit.
If they saw a single plane, they rushed at it like wolves at a defenseless sheep. And if they faced a strong enemy, they immediately left the battlefield. No, it was not cowardice, but an accurate calculation. Why run into trouble if in half an hour you can again find and calmly "fill up" another defenseless "sheep". This is how the German aces earned their awards.
It is interesting to note the fact that after the war, Hartman mentioned that more than once he hastily left for his territory after he was informed by radio that a group of Alexander Pokryshkin appeared in the air. He obviously did not want to compete with the famous Soviet ace and run into trouble.
And what happened with us? For the command of the Red Army, the main goal was to deliver powerful bombing strikes against the enemy and cover the ground forces from the air. Bomb strikes on the Germans were carried out by attack aircraft and bombers - relatively slow-moving aircraft and representing a tidbit for German fighters. Soviet fighters constantly had to accompany bombers and attack aircraft in their flight to the target and back. And this meant that in such a situation it fell out to them to conduct not an offensive, but a defensive air battle. Naturally, all the advantages in such a battle were on the side of the enemy.
Covering ground forces from German air raids, our pilots were also placed in very difficult conditions. The infantry constantly wanted to see red star fighters overhead. So our pilots were forced to "hum" over the front line, flying back and forth at low speed and at low altitude. And at this time, the German "hunters" from a great height only chose their next "victim" and, having developed a tremendous dive speed, instantly shot down our planes, whose pilots, even seeing the attacker, simply did not have time to turn around or pick up speed.
Compared to the Germans, our fighter pilots were allowed to fly free hunting less often. Therefore, the results were more modest. Unfortunately, free hunting for our fighter aircraft was an unaffordable luxury ...
The fact that free hunting made it possible to gain a significant number of "points" is evidenced by the example of French pilots from the Normandie-Niemen regiment. Our command took care of the "allies" and tried not to send them to cover the troops or in deadly raids to escort attack aircraft and bombers. The French were given the opportunity to engage in free hunting.
And the results speak for themselves. So, in just ten days in October 1944, French pilots shot down 119 enemy aircraft.
In Soviet aviation, not only at the beginning of the war, but also at its final stage, there were a lot of bombers and attack aircraft. But in the composition of the Luftwaffe during the course of the war, there were serious changes. To repel the raids of enemy bombers, they constantly needed more and more fighters. And the moment came that the German aviation industry was simply not able to produce both bombers and fighters at the same time. Therefore, at the end of 1944, the production of bombers in Germany almost completely stopped, and only fighters began to leave the shops of aircraft factories.
This means that the Soviet aces, unlike the Germans, no longer met large slow-moving targets in the air so often. They had to fight exclusively with high-speed Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and the newest Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bombers, which were much more difficult to shoot down in air combat than a hulking bomb carrier.
Walter Novotny, who at one time was the No. 1 ace in Germany, had just been removed from this Messerschmitt, which was overturned at the landing and damaged in battle. But his flying career (as well as life itself) could well have ended on this episode…
Moreover, at the end of the war, the skies over Germany were literally teeming with Spitfires, Tempest, Thunderbolts, Mustangs, Silts, Pawns, Yaks, and Shopkeepers. And if each flight of the German ace (if he managed to take off at all) ended with the accrual of points (which then no one really considered), then the pilots of the Allied aviation still had to look for the air target. Many Soviet pilots recalled that already from the end of 1944, their personal score of air victories had ceased to grow. In the sky, German aircraft were no longer encountered so often, and combat sorties of fighter aviation regiments were mainly carried out for the purpose of reconnaissance and ground attack of enemy ground forces.
What is a fighter for?
At first glance, this question seems very simple. Anyone who is not even familiar with aviation will answer without hesitation: a fighter is needed in order to shoot down enemy planes. But is it that simple? As you know, fighter aircraft are part of the air force. The Air Force is a constituent part of the army.
The task of any army is to defeat the enemy. It is clear that all the forces and means of the army must be united and directed towards the defeat of the enemy. The army is led by its command. And the result of hostilities depends on how the command is able to organize the management of the army.
The approach of the Soviet and German command turned out to be different. The Wehrmacht command instructed its fighter aircraft to gain air supremacy. In other words, the German fighter aircraft had to stupidly shoot down all enemy aircraft seen in the air. The hero was the one who shot down more enemy aircraft.
I must say that this approach was very impressed by the German pilots. They gladly joined this "competition", considering themselves to be real hunters.
And everything would be fine, but only the German pilots did not fulfill the assigned task. They shot down a lot of planes, but what's the point? Every month there were more and more Soviet planes, as well as Allied planes in the air. The Germans still could not cover their ground forces from the air. And the loss of bomber aircraft only further complicated their lives. This alone suggests that the Germans in the strategic plan completely lost the air war.
The command of the Red Army saw the task of fighter aviation in something completely different. Soviet fighter pilots were primarily supposed to cover the ground forces from attacks by German bombers. They also had to defend ground attack and bomber aircraft during their raids on the positions of the German army. In other words, fighter aircraft did not act on their own, like the Germans, but exclusively in the interests of the ground forces.
It was hard, thankless work, during which our pilots usually received not glory, but death.
Unsurprisingly, the losses of Soviet fighters were enormous. However, this does not mean at all that our planes were much worse, and the pilots were weaker than the German ones. In this case, the outcome of the battle was determined not by the quality of the equipment and the skill of the pilot, but by the tactical necessity, the strict order of the command.
Here, probably, any child will ask: "And what is this such stupid tactic of battle, what are the idiotic orders, because of which both planes and pilots were killed in vain?"
This is where the most important thing begins. And you need to understand that in fact, this tactic is not stupid. After all, the main striking force of any army is its ground forces. A bomb attack on tanks and infantry, on warehouses with weapons and fuel, on bridges and crossings can greatly weaken the combat capabilities of the ground forces. One successful air strike can fundamentally change the course of an offensive or defensive operation.
If a dozen fighters are lost in an air battle while protecting ground targets, but at the same time not a single enemy bomb gets into, for example, an ammunition depot, this means that the combat mission has been completed by the fighter pilots. Even at the cost of their lives. Otherwise, an entire division, left without shells, may be crushed by the advancing enemy forces.
The same can be said about flights to escort strike aircraft. If they destroyed an ammunition depot, bombed a railway station full of echelons with military equipment, destroyed a stronghold of defense, then this means that they made a significant contribution to the victory. And if, at the same time, fighter pilots provided bombers and attack aircraft with the opportunity to break through to the target through the enemy's air screens, even if they lost their comrades in arms, then they also won.
And this is really a real aerial victory. The main thing is to fulfill the task set by the command. A task that can radically change the entire course of hostilities in a given sector of the front. From all this, the conclusion suggests itself: German fighters are hunters, fighters of the Red Army Air Force are defenders.
With the thought of death ...
Whoever says anything, there are no fearless pilots (as, incidentally, tankers, infantrymen or sailors) who are not afraid of death. In war, there are enough cowards and traitors. But for the most part, our pilots, even in the most difficult moments of air combat, adhered to the unwritten rule: "die yourself, but help your comrade." Sometimes, no longer having ammunition, they continued to fight, covering their comrades, went to ram, wanting to inflict maximum damage on the enemy. And all because they defended their land, their home, their relatives and friends. They defended their homeland.
The fascists who attacked our country in 1941 consoled themselves with the thought of world domination. At that time, German pilots could not even think about the fact that they would have to sacrifice their lives for the sake of someone or for the sake of something. Only in their patriotic speeches were they ready to give their lives for the Fuhrer. Each of them, like any other invader, dreamed of receiving a good reward after the successful completion of the war. And to get a tidbit, you had to live until the end of the war. In this state of affairs, it was not heroism and self-sacrifice for the sake of achieving a great goal that came to the fore, but cold calculation.
Do not forget that the boys of the Soviet country, many of whom later became military pilots, were brought up somewhat differently than their peers in Germany. They took an example from such disinterested defenders of their people as, for example, the epic hero Ilya Muromets, Prince Alexander Nevsky. Then, in the memory of the people, the military exploits of the legendary heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, the heroes of the Civil War were still fresh. And in general, Soviet schoolchildren were brought up mainly on books, the heroes of which were true patriots of the Motherland.
The end of the war. Young German pilots receive a combat mission. Doom is in their eyes. Erich Hartmann said about them: “These young men come to us, and they are almost immediately shot down. They come and go like the waves of the surf. This is a crime ... I think our propaganda is to blame. "
Their peers from Germany also knew what friendship, love, what patriotism and native land are. But do not forget that in Germany, with its centuries-old history of chivalry, the latter concept was especially close to all boys. Knightly laws, knightly honor, knightly glory, fearlessness were put at the forefront. It is no coincidence that even the main award of the Reich was the knight's cross.
It is clear that any boy in his heart dreamed of becoming a famous knight.
However, one should not forget that the entire history of the Middle Ages testifies to the fact that the main task of a knight was to serve his master. Not to the Motherland, not to the people, but to the king, duke, baron. Even the legendary independent errant knights were, at their core, the most common mercenaries, making money with the ability to kill. And all these crusades celebrated by chroniclers? Robbery of clean water.
It is no coincidence that the words knight, profit and wealth are inseparable from each other. It is also well known that knights rarely died on the battlefield. In a desperate situation, they, as a rule, surrendered. Subsequent ransom from captivity was quite common for them. Ordinary commerce.
And is it any wonder that the chivalrous spirit, including in its negative manifestations, directly affected the moral qualities of future Luftwaffe pilots.
The command was well aware of this, because they themselves considered themselves modern chivalry. With all its desire, it could not force its pilots to fight the way Soviet fighter pilots fought - sparing neither strength nor life itself. It may seem strange to us, but it turns out that even in the charter of the German fighter aviation it was written that the pilot himself determines his actions in air combat and no one can forbid him to leave the battle if he deems it necessary.
The faces of these pilots show that we are facing victorious warriors. The picture shows the most productive fighter pilots of the 1st Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the Baltic Fleet: Senior Lieutenant Selyutin (19 victories), Captain Kostylev (41 victories), Captain Tatarenko (29 victories), Lieutenant Colonel Golubev (39 victories) and Major Baturin (10 victories)
That is why the German aces never covered their troops over the battlefield, and why they did not defend their bombers as selflessly as our fighters did. As a rule, German fighters only cleared the way for their bomb carriers, tried to hinder the actions of our interceptors.
The history of the past world war is replete with facts of how the German aces, sent to escort the bombers, abandoned their charges when the air situation was not in their favor. The hunter's prudence and self-sacrifice turned out to be incompatible concepts for them.
As a result, it was aerial hunting that became the only acceptable solution that suited everyone. The leadership of the Luftwaffe proudly reported on their successes in the fight against enemy aircraft, Goebbels propaganda enthusiastically told the German people about the military merits of the invincible aces, and those, working out the chance they were given to stay alive, scored points with all their might.
Perhaps something changed in the heads of the German pilots only when the war came to the territory of Germany itself, when the Anglo-American bomber aircraft began to literally wipe entire cities off the face of the earth. Tens of thousands of women and children were killed by Allied bombs. The terror paralyzed the civilian population. Only then, gripped by fear for the lives of their children, wives, mothers, the German air defense pilots selflessly began to rush into deadly air battles with an outnumbered enemy, and sometimes even rammed the “flying fortresses”.
But it was already too late. By that time, there were almost no experienced pilots left in Germany, nor a sufficient number of aircraft. Individual aces pilots and hastily trained boys, even with their desperate actions, could no longer save the situation.
The pilots who fought on the Eastern Front at that time, one might say, were still lucky. Practically deprived of fuel, they almost did not rise into the air, and therefore at least survived until the end of the war and remained alive. As for the famous fighter squadron "Green Heart" mentioned at the beginning of the article, its last aces acted quite chivalrously: on the remaining aircraft they flew to surrender to the "friends-knights" who understood them - the British and Americans.
I think, after reading all of the above, you can probably answer the question of your children about whether the German pilots were the best in the world? Were they really superior to our pilots in their skills?
Sad note
Not so long ago, I saw in a bookstore a new edition of the same children's book on aviation, with which I just started the article. In the hope that the second edition will differ from the first one not only with a new cover, but will also give the children some intelligible explanation of such a fantastic performance of the German aces, I opened the book on the page of interest to me. Unfortunately, everything remained unchanged: 62 aircraft shot down by Kozhedub looked ridiculous against the background of Hartman's 352 air victories. Such is the gloomy arithmetic ...
Actually, the problem is this: 104 German pilots have shot down 100 or more aircraft. Among them are Erich Hartmann (352 wins) and Gerhard Barkhorn (301), who showed absolutely phenomenal results. Moreover, Harmann and Barkhorn won all of their victories on the Eastern Front. And they were no exception - Gunther Rall (275 victories), Otto Kittel (267), Walter Novotny (258) - they also fought on the Soviet-German front.
At the same time, 7 of the best Soviet aces: Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Evstigneev, Vorozheikin, Glinka were able to overcome the bar of 50 downed enemy aircraft. For example, Ivan Kozhedub, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, destroyed 64 German aircraft in air battles (plus 2 American Mustangs shot down by mistake). Alexander Pokryshkin - the pilot about whom, according to legend, the Germans warned by radio: "Akhtung! Pokryshkin in der lyuft!", Wrote down "only" 59 air victories. The little-known Romanian ace Konstantin Kontakuzino has about the same number of victories (according to various sources, from 60 to 69). Another Romanian, Alexandru Serbanescu, shot down 47 aircraft on the Eastern Front (8 more victories remained "unconfirmed").
The situation with the Anglo-Saxons is much worse. The best aces were Marmaduke Pettle (about 50 wins, South Africa) and Richard Bong (40 wins, USA). Only 19 British and American pilots managed to shoot down more than 30 enemy aircraft, while the British and Americans fought in the world's best fighters: the inimitable P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning or the legendary Supermarine Spitfire! On the other hand, the best ace of the Royal Air Force did not have a chance to fight on such wonderful aircraft - Marmaduke Pettle won all his fifty victories, flying first on the old Gladiator biplane, and then on the clumsy Hurricane.
Against this background, the results of the Finnish fighter aces look completely paradoxical: Ilmari Utilainen shot down 94 aircraft, and Hans Wind - 75.
What conclusion can be drawn from all these figures? What is the secret to the incredible performance of the Luftwaffe fighters? Maybe the Germans simply did not know how to count?
The only thing that can be said with a high degree of certainty is that the scores of all aces, without exception, are overestimated. Praising the successes of the best fighters is a standard state propaganda practice that, by definition, cannot be honest.
German Meresiev and his "Stuck"
As an interesting example, I propose to consider the incredible story of bomber pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. This ace is less known than the legendary Erich Hartmann. Rudel practically did not participate in air battles, you will not find his name in the lists of the best fighters.
Rudel is famous for having flown 2,530 sorties. He was piloted by the Junkers-87 dive bomber, at the end of the war he moved to the controls of the Focke-Wolf 190. During his combat career, he destroyed 519 tanks, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, 800 trucks and cars, two cruisers, a destroyer and heavily damaged the battleship Marat. He shot down two Il-2 attack aircraft and seven fighters in the air. He landed six times in enemy territory to rescue the crews of the downed Junkers. The Soviet Union has appointed a reward of 100,000 rubles for the head of Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
Just the standard of a fascist
He was shot down 32 times by return fire from the ground. In the end, Rudel's leg was blown off, but the pilot continued to fly on a crutch until the end of the war. In 1948 he fled to Argentina, where he became friends with the dictator Peron and organized a mountaineering circle. Climbed the highest peak of the Andes - Aconcagua (7 kilometers). In 1953 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, continuing to talk nonsense about the revival of the Third Reich.
Without a doubt, this extraordinary and controversial pilot was a tough ace. But any person accustomed to thoughtfully analyzing events should have one important question: how was it established that Rudel destroyed exactly 519 tanks?
Of course, there were no photo-machine guns or cameras on Junkers. The maximum that Rudel or his gunner-radio operator could notice: covering the column of armored vehicles, i.e. possible damage to tanks. The speed of exit from the dive of the Ju-87 is more than 600 km / h, while the overloads can reach 5g, in such conditions it is unrealistic to see anything accurately on the ground.
Since 1943, Rudel switched to the Ju-87G anti-tank attack aircraft. The characteristics of this "bastard" are simply disgusting: max. speed in level flight - 370 km / h, rate of climb - about 4 m / s. The main weapon of the aircraft was two VK37 cannons (caliber 37 mm, rate of fire 160 rds / min), with only 12 (!) Shells per barrel. Powerful guns installed in the wings created a large turning moment when firing and rocked the light aircraft so that firing in bursts was meaningless - only single sniper shots.
And here is a funny report on the results of field tests of the VYa-23 aircraft gun: in 6 sorties to the Il-2, the pilots of the 245th assault aviation regiment, with a total consumption of 435 shells, achieved 46 hits in the tank column (10.6%). It must be assumed that in real combat conditions, under intense anti-aircraft fire, the results will be much worse. How can there be a German ace with 24 shells on board the "Stuka"!
Further, hitting a tank does not guarantee its defeat. An armor-piercing projectile (685 grams, 770 m / s) fired from a VK37 cannon penetrated 25 mm of armor at an angle of 30 ° from the normal. When using sub-caliber ammunition, armor penetration increased by 1.5 times. Also, due to the aircraft's own speed, the armor penetration in reality was more by about 5 mm. On the other hand, the thickness of the armored hull of Soviet tanks only in some projections was less than 30-40 mm, and there was nothing to dream of about hitting a KV, IS or a heavy self-propelled gun head-on or side.
In addition, breaking through armor does not always lead to the destruction of the tank. Echelons with damaged armored vehicles regularly arrived in Tankograd and Nizhny Tagil, which were restored in a short time and sent back to the front. And the repair of damaged rollers and chassis was carried out right on the spot. At this time, Hans-Ulrich Rudel drew himself another cross for the "destroyed" tank.
Another question for Rudel is related to his 2530 sorties. According to some reports, in German bomber squadrons, it was accepted as an incentive to count a difficult sortie for several sorties. For example, the captured Captain Helmut Putz, the commander of the 4th detachment of the 2nd group of the 27th bomber squadron, explained the following during interrogation: was credited to me, as well as to others, for 2-3 departures. " (interrogation protocol of 06/17/1943). Although it is possible Helmut Putz, being captured, lied, trying to reduce his contribution to the attacks on Soviet cities.
Hartmann against all
There is an opinion that the aces pilots filled their accounts unrestrainedly and fought "on their own", being an exception to the rule. And the main work at the front was carried out by intermediate-skilled pilots. This is a deep misconception: in a general sense, there are no "average" pilots. There are either Aesir or their prey.
For example, let's take the legendary Normandie-Niemen air regiment, which fought on Yak-3 fighters. Of the 98 French pilots, 60 did not win a single victory, but the "chosen" 17 pilots shot down 200 German aircraft in air battles (the French regiment drove 273 aircraft with a swastika into the ground).
A similar picture was observed in the 8th US Air Force, where out of 5,000 fighter pilots, 2,900 did not win a single victory. Only 318 people chalked up 5 or more downed aircraft.
American historian Mike Spike describes the same episode associated with the actions of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front: "... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time, of which 60 never shot down a single Russian plane."
So, we found out that the aces pilots are the main force of the Air Force. But the question remains: what is the reason for the huge gap between the performance of the Luftwaffe aces and the pilots of the Anti-Hitler coalition? Even if you split the incredible bills of the Germans in half?
One of the legends about the insolvency of the large accounts of the German aces is associated with an unusual system of counting downed aircraft: by the number of engines. Single-engine fighter - one aircraft shot down. Four-engined bomber - four shot down planes. Indeed, for pilots who fought in the West, a parallel offset was introduced, in which for the destruction of the "Flying Fortress" flying in battle formation, the pilot was credited with 4 points, for a damaged bomber that "fell out" of the battle formation and became easy prey other fighters, the pilot was scored 3 points. He did the bulk of the work - breaking through the hurricane fire of the Flying Fortresses is much more difficult than shooting a damaged single plane. And so on: depending on the degree of participation of the pilot in the destruction of the 4-engine monster, he was awarded 1 or 2 points. What happened then with these prize points? Probably they were somehow converted into Reichsmarks. But all this had nothing to do with the list of downed planes.
The most prosaic explanation for the Luftwaffe phenomenon is that the Germans had no shortage of goals. Germany fought on all fronts with the numerical superiority of the enemy. The Germans had 2 main types of fighters: Messerschmitt-109 (34 thousand were produced from 1934 to 1945) and Focke-Wolf 190 (13 thousand were produced in the fighter version and 6.5 thousand in the attack aircraft version) - a total of 48 thousand fighters.
At the same time, about 70 thousand Yakov, Lavochkin, I-16 and MiG-3 passed through the composition of the Red Army Air Force during the war years (excluding 10 thousand fighters supplied under Lend-Lease).
In the Western European theater of operations, Luftwaffe fighters were opposed by about 20 thousand Spitfires and 13 thousand Hurricanes and Tempests (this is how many machines were in the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945). How many more fighters did Britain receive under the Lend-Lease?
Since 1943, American fighters have appeared over Europe - thousands of Mustangs, P-38s and P-47s plowed the skies of the Reich, escorting strategic bombers on raids. In 1944, during the Normandy landings, the Allied aircraft had a sixfold numerical superiority. "If there are camouflage planes in the sky, this is the Royal Air Force, if the silver ones are the US Air Force. If there are no planes in the sky, this is the Luftwaffe," the German soldiers joked sadly. Where could the large accounts of British and American pilots come from under such conditions?
Another example - the Il-2 attack aircraft became the most massive combat aircraft in the history of aviation. During the war years, 36,154 attack aircraft were fired, of which 33,920 Ilov entered the army. By May 1945, 3585 Il-2 and Il-10 were registered in the Air Force of the Red Army, another 200 Il-2 were part of the naval aviation.
In short, the Luftwaffe pilots did not have any superpowers. All their achievements are explained only by the fact that there were many enemy aircraft in the air. Allied aces fighters, on the contrary, took time to detect the enemy - according to statistics, even the best Soviet pilots had on average 1 air battle per 8 combat missions: they simply could not meet the enemy in the sky!
On a cloudless day, from a distance of 5 km, a WWII fighter is visible like a fly on a window pane from the far corner of the room. In the absence of radars on airplanes, air combat was more an unexpected coincidence than a regular event.
It is more objective to calculate the number of downed aircraft, taking into account the number of sorties of the pilots. Viewed from this angle, Erich Hartmann's achievement dims: 1,400 sorties, 825 air battles and "only" 352 aircraft shot down. This indicator is much better for Walter Novotny: 442 sorties and 258 victories.
Friends congratulate Alexander Pokryshkin (far right) on receiving the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union
It is very interesting to trace how the aces pilots started their careers. The legendary Pokryshkin demonstrated his aerobatic skills, audacity, flying intuition and sniper shooting in the very first combat missions. And the phenomenal ace Gerhard Barkhorn did not win a single victory in the first 119 sorties, but he himself was shot down twice! Although there is an opinion that not everything went smoothly for Pokryshkin either: the Soviet Su-2 was his first downed plane.
In any case, Pokryshkin has his own advantage over the best German aces. Hartman was shot down fourteen times. Barkhorn - 9 times. Pokryshkin was never shot down! Another advantage of the Russian miracle hero: he won most of his victories in 1943. In 1944-45. Pokryshkin shot down only 6 German aircraft, focusing on training young personnel and managing the 9th Guards Air Division.
In conclusion, it should be said that you should not be so afraid of the high scores of the Luftwaffe pilots. On the contrary, it shows what a formidable enemy the Soviet Union defeated, and why Victory is of such a high value.
Most of the names from the list of aces of the Great Patriotic War are well known to everyone. However, in addition to Pokryshkin and Kozhedub, among the Soviet aces, another master of air combat is undeservedly forgotten, whose courage and courage even the most titled and effective pilots can envy.
Better Kozhedub, cooler than Hartman ...
The names of the Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War, Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin, are known to everyone who is at least superficially familiar with Russian history. Kozhedub and Pokryshkin are the most productive Soviet fighter pilots. On the account of the first 64 enemy aircraft, shot down personally, on the account of the second - 59 personal victories, and he shot down 6 more aircraft in the group.
The name of the third most efficient Soviet pilot is known only to aviation enthusiasts. Nikolai Gulaev destroyed 57 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group during the war.
An interesting detail - Kozhedub took 330 sorties and 120 air battles to achieve his result, Pokryshkin - 650 sorties and 156 air battles. Gulaev, on the other hand, achieved his result, having carried out 290 sorties and carried out 69 air battles.
Moreover, according to the award documents, in his first 42 air battles, he destroyed 42 enemy aircraft, that is, on average, each battle ended for Gulaev with a destroyed enemy vehicle.
Fans of military statistics calculated that the coefficient of efficiency, that is, the ratio of air battles and victories, for Nikolai Gulaev was 0.82. For comparison, for Ivan Kozhedub it was 0.51, and for Hitler's ace Erich Hartman, who officially shot down the most aircraft during the Second World War, it was 0.4.
At the same time, people who knew Gulaev and who fought with him claimed that he generously recorded many of his victories on the wingmen, helping them receive orders and money - Soviet pilots were paid for each downed enemy plane. Some believe that the total number of aircraft shot down by Gulaev could have reached 90, which, however, cannot be confirmed or refuted today.
The guy from Don.
Many books have been written and many films have been made about Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub, three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, aviation marshals.
Nikolai Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was close to the third Golden Star, but he never received it and did not become a marshal, remaining a colonel general. And in general, if in the post-war years Pokryshkin and Kozhedub were always in sight, engaged in the patriotic education of young people, then Gulaev, who was practically in no way inferior to his colleagues, remained in the shadows all the time.
Perhaps the fact is that both the military and post-war biography of the Soviet ace was rich in episodes that do not fit into the image of an ideal hero.
Nikolai Gulaev was born on February 26, 1918 in the village of Aksayskaya, which has now become the city of Aksai in the Rostov region. Don freemen was in the blood and character of Nicholas from the first days to the end of his life. After graduating from a seven-year school and a vocational school, he worked as a mechanic at one of the Rostov factories.
Like many of the youth of the 1930s, Nikolai became interested in aviation, was engaged in the flying club. This hobby helped in 1938, when Gulaev was drafted into the army. The amateur pilot was sent to the Stalingrad Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1940. Gulaev was assigned to the air defense aviation, and in the first months of the war he provided cover for one of the industrial centers in the rear.
A reprimand, complete with an award.
At the front, Gulaev appeared in August 1942 and immediately demonstrated both the talent of a combat pilot and the wayward character of a native of the Don steppes.
Gulaev did not have permission for night flights, and when on August 3, 1942, Hitler's planes appeared in the regiment's area of responsibility, where the young pilot served, experienced pilots went into the sky. But then the mechanic instigated Nikolai:
- What are you waiting for? The plane is ready, fly!
Gulaev, deciding to prove that he is no worse than the "old men", jumped into the cockpit and took off. And in the very first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, he destroyed a German bomber. When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the general who had arrived uttered: "For the fact that I took off unauthorized, I am reprimanded, and for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I am raising the rank and presenting it for a reward."
Nugget.
His star shone especially brightly during the battles at the Kursk Bulge. On May 14, 1943, repelling a raid on the Grushka airfield, he single-handedly entered into battle with three Yu-87 bombers, covered by four Me-109s. Shooting down two Junkers, Gulaev tried to attack the third, but he ran out of cartridges. Without hesitating for a second, the pilot went to the ram, shooting down another bomber. The uncontrollable Yak of Gulaev went into a tailspin. The pilot managed to level the plane and land it at the forward edge, but on his own territory. Arriving at the regiment, Gulaev took off again on another plane on a combat mission.
In early July 1943, Gulaev, as part of a four of Soviet fighters, using the surprise factor, attacked a German armada of 100 aircraft. Having upset the battle formation, shooting down 4 bombers and 2 fighters, all four returned safely to the airfield. On this day, Gulaev's link made several sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft.
July 1943 was generally extremely productive for Nikolai Gulaev. Here is what is recorded in his flight book: "July 5 - 6 sorties, 4 victories, July 6 - Focke-Wulf 190 was shot down, on July 7 - three enemy aircraft were shot down in the group, on July 8 - Me-109 was shot down. , July 12 - two U-87s were shot down.
Hero of the Soviet Union Fyodor Archipenko, who happened to command the squadron where Gulaev served, wrote about him: “He was a nugget pilot who was one of the top ten aces in the country. He never shuddered, quickly assessed the situation, his sudden and effective attack created panic and destroyed the enemy's battle formation, which disrupted the aimed bombing of our troops. He was very courageous and decisive, often came to the rescue, at times one could feel the real passion of a hunter in him ”.
Flying Stenka Razin.
On September 28, 1943, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, Deputy Squadron Commander of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (205th Fighter Aviation Division, 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Force, Voronezh Front), was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In early 1944, Gulaev was appointed squadron commander. His not too rapid career growth is explained by the fact that the ace's methods of educating subordinates were not entirely ordinary. So, one of the pilots of his squadron, who was afraid to get close to the Nazis at close range, he cured of fear of the enemy, giving a burst of airborne weapons next to the wingman's cockpit. The fear of the subordinate vanished as if by hand ...
The same Fyodor Archipenko, in his memoirs, described another characteristic episode associated with Gulaev: “Approaching the airfield, I immediately saw from the air that the parking lot of Gulaev's plane was empty ... After landing, I was informed that all Gulaev's six had been shot down! Nikolai himself sat down wounded at the airfield to the attack aircraft, and nothing is known about the other pilots. After some time, the front line reported: two jumped out of the planes and landed at the location of our troops, the fate of three more is unknown ... And today, many years later, I see Gulaev's main mistake, made then, in what he took with him in battle. the departure of three young, not fired at all pilots at once, who were shot down in their very first battle. True, Gulaev himself won 4 aerial victories that day at once, shooting down 2 Me-109, Ju-87 and Henschel.
He was not afraid to risk himself, but with the same ease he risked his subordinates, which at times looked completely unjustified. Pilot Gulaev did not look like "air Kutuzov", but rather like dashing Stenka Razin, who had mastered a combat fighter.
But at the same time, he achieved amazing results. In one of the battles over the Prut River, at the head of six P-39 Airacobra fighters, Nikolai Gulaev attacked 27 enemy bombers escorted by 8 fighters. In 4 minutes, 11 enemy vehicles were destroyed, of which 5 were personally by Gulaev.
In March 1944, the pilot received a short-term home leave. From this trip to the Don, he came withdrawn, taciturn, bitter. He was torn into battle furiously, with a kind of transcendental fury. During a trip home, Nikolai learned that during the occupation of his father, the Nazis were executed ...
The Soviet ace was almost killed by a pig ...
On July 1, 1944, Guard Captain Nikolai Gulaev was awarded the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for 125 sorties, 42 air battles, in which he shot down 42 enemy aircraft personally and 3 in a group.
And then another episode takes place, about which Gulaev frankly told his friends after the war, an episode that perfectly shows his violent nature from the Don. The pilot learned that he had become twice Hero of the Soviet Union after another flight. At the airfield, fellow soldiers have already gathered, who said: the award must be "washed", there is alcohol, but there is a problem with the snack.
Gulaev recalled that when he returned to the airfield, he saw grazing pigs. With the words "there will be a snack," the ace again sits on the plane and a few minutes later puts him near the sheds, to the amazement of the mistress of the pigs.
As already mentioned, the pilots were paid for the downed planes, so Nikolai had no problems with cash. The hostess willingly agreed to sell the boar, which was hardly loaded into a fighting vehicle. By some miracle, the pilot took off from a very small platform along with a boar, distraught with horror. The combat aircraft is not designed for a plump pig to dance inside it. Gulaev barely kept the plane in the air ...
If a catastrophe happened that day, it would probably be the most ridiculous case of the death of a twice Hero of the Soviet Union in history. Thank God, Gulaev made it to the airfield, and the regiment cheerfully celebrated the hero's award.
Another anecdotal case is related to the appearance of a Soviet ace. Once in battle, he managed to shoot down a reconnaissance aircraft piloted by a Hitlerite colonel, holder of four Iron Crosses. The German pilot wanted to meet with those who managed to interrupt his brilliant career. Apparently, the German expected to see a stately handsome man, a "Russian bear", who was not ashamed to lose ... And instead came a young, short, plump captain Gulaev, who, by the way, had a not heroic nickname "Kolobok" in the regiment. There was no limit to the German's disappointment ...
A fight with political overtones.
In the summer of 1944, the Soviet command decides to recall the best Soviet pilots from the front. The war is coming to a victorious end, and the leadership of the USSR begins to think about the future. Those who showed themselves in the Great Patriotic War must graduate from the Air Force Academy in order to then take leading positions in the Air Force and Air Defense.
Among those who were summoned to Moscow was Gulaev. He himself was not eager to enter the academy, asked to remain in the army, but was refused. On August 12, 1944, Nikolai Gulaev shot down his last Focke-Wulf 190.
And then a story happened, which, most likely, became the main reason why Nikolai Gulaev did not become as famous as Kozhedub and Pokryshkin. There are at least three versions of what happened, which combine two words - "brawl" and "foreigners". Let's dwell on the one that occurs most often.
According to her, Nikolai Gulaev, by that time already a major, was summoned to Moscow not only to study at the academy, but also to receive the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Considering the pilot's combat achievements, such a version does not look implausible. Gulaev's company also included other honored aces who were awaiting an award.
The day before the ceremony in the Kremlin, Gulaev went to the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel, where his friends, the pilots, were resting. However, the restaurant was overcrowded, and the administrator said: "Comrade, there is no room for you!" Saying something like that to Gulaev with his explosive character was not worth it at all, but here, unfortunately, he also came across the Romanian military, who at that moment were also relaxing in a restaurant. Shortly before this, Romania, which had been an ally of Germany since the beginning of the war, had gone over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The enraged Gulaev said loudly: "Is it that there is no place for a Hero of the Soviet Union, but there are enemies?"
The words of the pilot were heard by the Romanians, and one of them issued an offensive phrase in Russian to Gulaev. A second later, the Soviet ace was near the Romanian and savagely hit him in the face.
In less than a minute, a fight broke out in the restaurant between Romanians and Soviet pilots.
When the fighters were separated, it turned out that the pilots had beaten the members of the official military delegation of Romania. The scandal reached Stalin himself, who decided: to cancel the awarding of the third star of the Hero.
If it were not about the Romanians, but about the British or the Americans, most likely, the case for Gulaev would have ended completely deplorable. But the leader of all nations did not begin to ruin the life of his ace because of yesterday's opponents. Gulaev was simply sent to the unit, away from the front, the Romanians and, in general, any attention. But how true this version is is unknown.
A general who was friends with Vysotsky.
Despite everything, in 1950 Nikolai Gulaev graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, and five years later - from the General Staff Academy. He commanded the 133rd Air Fighter Division located in Yaroslavl, the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Rzhev, and the 10th Air Defense Army in Arkhangelsk, which covered the northern borders of the Soviet Union.
Nikolai Dmitrievich had a wonderful family, he adored his granddaughter Irochka, was a passionate fisherman, loved to treat guests personally to salted watermelons ...
He also attended pioneer camps, participated in various veteran events, but still there was a feeling that an order was given above, in modern terms, not to promote his person too much.
Actually, the reasons for this were also at a time when Gulaev was already wearing general's shoulder straps. For example, he could, with his power, invite Vladimir Vysotsky to speak at the Officers' House in Arkhangelsk, ignoring the timid protests of the local party leadership. By the way, there is a version that some of Vysotsky's songs about pilots were born after his meetings with Nikolai Gulaev.
Norwegian complaint.
Colonel-General Gulaev resigned in 1979. And there is a version that one of the reasons for this was a new conflict with foreigners, but this time not with Romanians, but with Norwegians. General Gulaev allegedly set up a hunt for polar bears using helicopters near the border with Norway. The Norwegian border guards appealed to the Soviet authorities with a complaint about the actions of the general. After that, the general was transferred to a headquarters position away from Norway, and then sent to a well-deserved retirement.
It cannot be said with certainty that this hunt took place, although such a plot fits very well into the vivid biography of Nikolai Gulaev. Be that as it may, the resignation had a bad effect on the health of the old pilot, who could not imagine himself without the service to which his whole life was devoted.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow, at the age of 67. His final resting place was the Kuntsevo cemetery of the capital.
Our aces pilots during the Great Patriotic War terrified the Germans. The exclamation "Akhtung! Akhtung! Pokryshkin is in the sky!" Became widely known. But Alexander Pokryshkin was not the only Soviet ace. We remembered the most productive.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
Ivan Kozhedub was born in 1920 in the Chernigov province. He is considered the most effective Russian fighter pilot in personal combat, having shot down 64 aircraft on his account. The beginning of the career of the renowned pilot was unsuccessful, in the first battle his plane was seriously damaged by the enemy Messerschmitt, and upon returning to the base he was still fired upon by Russian anti-aircraft gunners by mistake, and only by a miracle he managed to land. The plane could not be restored, and they even wanted to re-profile the unlucky newcomer, but the regiment commander stood up for him. It was only during his 40th sortie at the Kursk Bulge that Kozhedub, having already become a "baty" - deputy squadron commander, shot down his first "laptese", as ours called the German "Junkers". After that, the score went to tens.
The last battle in the Great Patriotic War, in which he shot down 2 FW-190s, Kozhedub spent in the skies over Berlin. In addition, Kozhedub also credited two American Mustang aircraft shot down in 1945, which attacked him, mistaking his fighter for a German aircraft. The Soviet ace acted according to the principle that he professed even when working with cadets - "any unknown aircraft is an enemy." Throughout the war, Kozhedub was never shot down, although his plane often received very serious damage.
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin
Pokryshkin is one of the most famous aces of Russian aviation. Was born in 1913 in Novosibirsk. He won his first victory on the second day of the war, shooting down the German Messerschmitt. In total, he has 59 personally shot down planes and 6 in the group. However, this is only official statistics, since, being the commander of an air regiment, and then an air division, Pokryshkin sometimes gave down planes to young pilots in order to encourage them in this way.
His notebook, entitled "Fighter Tactics in Combat", became a real manual for air warfare. They say that the Germans warned about the appearance of a Russian ace with the phrase: “Akhtung! Ahtung! Pokryshkin in the air. " The one who knocked down Pokryshkin was promised a big reward, but the Russian pilot was too tough for the Germans. Pokryshkin is considered the inventor of the "Kuban whatnot" - a tactical technique of air combat, the Germans nicknamed him "the Kuban escalator", since the planes located in pairs resembled a giant staircase. In battle, German aircraft leaving the first stage fell under the blow of the second, and then the third stage. Other of his favorite techniques were "falconry" and "speed swing". It is worth noting that Pokryshkin won most of his victories in the early years of the war, when the Germans had a significant advantage in the air.
Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulaev
Born in 1918 in the village of Aksayskaya not far from Rostov. His first fight is reminiscent of the feat of Grasshopper from the movie "Only Old Men Go to Battle": without an order, for the first time in his life, taking off at night under the howl of an air raid on his Yak, he managed to shoot down the German Heinkel night fighter. For such self-righteousness, he was punished, while presenting him for a reward.
In the future, Gulaev usually did not limit himself to one shot down plane during the flight, he won four victories a day three times, destroyed three aircraft twice, and made a double in seven battles. In total, he shot down 57 planes personally and 3 in the group. One enemy plane Gulaev, when he ran out of ammunition, took a ram, after which he himself got into a tailspin and barely had time to eject. His risky fighting style has become a symbol of the romantic direction in the art of aerial combat.
Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov
Was born in 1920 in the Perm province. On the eve of the war, a mild degree of color blindness was found on the medical-flight commission, but the regiment commander did not even look at the medical report - the pilots were very much needed. He won his first victory on an outdated I-153 biplane at number 13, which was unhappy for the Germans, as he joked. Then he got into Pokryshkin's group and underwent training on the "Airacobra" - an American fighter that became famous for its cool temper - it very easily went into a tailspin at the slightest pilot error, the Americans themselves were reluctant to fly on such. In total, he shot down 56 planes personally and 6 in the group. Perhaps none of our other ace on a personal account has such a variety of types of downed aircraft as Rechkalov, these are bombers, and ground attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft, and fighters, and transport aircraft, and relatively rare trophies - "Savoy" and PZL -24.
Georgy Dmitrievich Kostylev
Born in Oranienbaum, present-day Lomonosov, in 1914. He began his flight practice in Moscow at the legendary Tushino airfield, where the Spartak stadium is now being built. The legendary Baltic ace, who covered the skies over Leningrad, who won the largest number of victories in naval aviation, personally shot down at least 20 enemy aircraft and 34 in a group.
He shot down his first Messerschmitt on July 15, 1941. He fought on the British "Hurricane" received under the lend-lease, on the left side of which there was a large inscription "For Russia!" In February 1943, he ended up in a penal battalion for having organized a rout in the house of a major of the quartermaster service. Kostylev was amazed at the abundance of food with which he treated his guests, and could not restrain himself, because he knew firsthand what was happening in the besieged city. He was stripped of his awards, demoted to the Red Army and sent to the Oranienbaum bridgehead, to the places where he spent his childhood. The penalties saved the hero, and in April he again raises his fighter into the air and defeats the enemy. Later he was reinstated in rank, the awards were returned, but he never received the second Star of the Hero.
Maresyev Alexey Petrovich
A man-legend, who became the prototype of the hero of Boris Polevoy's story "The Story of a Real Man", a symbol of the courage and resilience of the Russian warrior. Born in 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Saratov province. In a battle with the Germans, his plane was shot down, the pilot wounded in the legs managed to land on the territory occupied by the Germans. After that, for 18 days he crawled out to his own, in the hospital both legs were amputated. But Maresyev managed to return to duty, he learned to walk on prostheses and again ascended into the sky. At first they did not trust him, anything can happen in battle, but Maresyev proved that he can fight no worse than others. As a result, 7 more German planes were added to the 4 German planes shot down before being wounded. The story of Polevoy about Maresyev was allowed to be published only after the war, so that the Germans, God forbid, would not think that there was no one to fight in the Soviet army, they had to send disabled people.
Popkov Vitaly Ivanovich
This pilot should also be mentioned, because it was he who became one of the most famous incarnations of the ace pilot in cinema - the prototype of the famous Maestro from the film "Only Old Men Go to Battle". The "Singing Squadron" really existed in the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, where Popkov served, it had its own choir, and two planes were presented to it by Leonid Utesov himself.
Popkov was born in Moscow in 1922. He won his first victory in June 1942 over the town of Holm. He took part in battles on the Kalinin Front, on the Don and the Kursk Bulge. In total, he flew 475 combat missions, conducted 117 air battles, personally shot down 41 enemy aircraft plus 1 in the group. On the last day of the war, Popkov shot down the legendary German Hartman, the most productive ace of World War II, in the skies over Brno, but he managed to land and stay alive, however, this still did not save him from captivity. Popkov's popularity was so great that a monument was erected to him during his lifetime in Moscow.
Aces of the Luftwaffe
At the suggestion of some Western authors, carefully accepted by domestic compilers, German aces are considered the most effective fighter pilots of the Second World War, and, accordingly, in history, who achieved fabulous successes in air battles. Only the aces of Nazi Germany and their Japanese allies are charged with victory accounts containing more than a hundred aircraft. But if the Japanese have only one such pilot - they fought with the Americans, then the Germans already had 102 pilots "won" more than 100 victories in the air. Most German pilots, with the exception of fourteen: Heinrich Baer, Hans-Joachim Marseil, Joachim Münchenberg, Walter Oesau, Werner Melders, Werner Schroer, Kurt Bühligen, Hans Hahn, Adolf Galland, Egon Mayer, Josef Wurmchelchik and Letchik Jösäller Priest and Letters Hans-Wolfgang Schnaufer and Helmut Lent, most of their "victories" were achieved, of course, on the Eastern Front, and two of them - Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn - were recorded over 300 victories.
The total number of victories in the air, won by more than 30 thousand German fighter pilots and their allies, is mathematically described by the law of large numbers, more precisely, the "Gauss curve". If we construct this curve only on the basis of the results of the first hundred of the best German fighters (Germany's allies will no longer enter there) with a known total number of pilots, then the number of victories declared by them will exceed 300-350 thousand, which is four to five times more than the number of victories declared by the Germans themselves - 70 thousand shot down, and catastrophically (to the loss of all objectivity) exceeds the assessment of sober, politically unbiased historians - 51 thousand shot down in air battles, 32 thousand of them on the Eastern Front. Thus, the coefficient of reliability of the victories of the German aces is in the range of 0.15-0.2.
The order for victories for the German aces was dictated by the political leadership of Nazi Germany, intensified as the Wehrmacht collapsed, did not formally require confirmation and did not tolerate revisions adopted by the Red Army. All the "accuracy" and "objectivity" of German applications for victories, so persistently mentioned in the works of some "researchers", oddly enough, grown and actively published on the territory of Russia, is actually reduced to filling out a graph of lengthy and tastefully laid out standard questionnaires, and writing , even a calligraphic one, even a Gothic font, has nothing to do with aerial victories.
Aces of the Luftwaffe, who recorded more than 100 victories
Erich HARTMAN (Erich Alfred Bubi Hartmann) - the first ace of the Luftwaffe in World War II, 352 victories, colonel, Germany.
Erich Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in Weissach in Württemberg. His father is Alfred Erich Hartmann, his mother is Elizabeth Wilhelmina Machtholf. He spent his childhood with his younger brother in China, where his father, under the patronage of his cousin, the German consul in Shanghai, worked as a doctor. In 1929, frightened by the revolutionary events in China, the Hartmans returned to their homeland.
Since 1936, E. Hartman flew gliders in the air club under the guidance of his mother, an athlete-pilot. At the age of 14 he received his diploma as a glider pilot. From the age of 16 he piloted airplanes. Since 1940, he was trained in the 10th Luftwaffe training regiment in Neukurn near Konigsberg, then in the 2nd flight school in the Berlin suburb of Ghats.
After successfully graduating from aviation school, Hartman was sent to Zerbst - the 2nd Fighter Aviation School. In November 1941, Hartman took off for the first time in the 109th Messerschmitt, the fighter with which he made his distinguished flying career.
E. Hartman began his combat work in August 1942 as part of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which fought in the Caucasus.
Hartman was lucky. 52nd was the best German squadron on the Eastern Front. It included the best German pilots - Hrabak and von Bonin, Graf and Krupinski, Barkhorn and Rall ...
Erich Hartmann was a man of medium height, with rich light hair and bright blue eyes. His character - cheerful and unseeking, with a good sense of humor, obvious flying skills, the highest art of aerial shooting, perseverance, personal courage and nobility - impressed his new comrades.
On October 14, 1942, Hartman went on his first sortie to the Grozny area. During this sortie, Hartman made almost all the mistakes that a young combat pilot can make: he broke away from his wingman and could not carry out his order, opened fire on his planes, got into the fire zone himself, lost his bearings and landed “on his belly” 30 km away from his airfield.
The 20-year-old Hartman won his first victory on November 5, 1942, by shooting down a single-seat Il-2. During the attack of the Soviet attack aircraft and Hartman's fighter was seriously damaged, but the pilot again managed to land the damaged aircraft on its "belly" in the steppe. The aircraft was not subject to restoration and was written off. Hartman himself immediately "fell ill with a fever" and was admitted to the hospital.
Hartman's next victory was recorded only on January 27, 1943. The victory was recorded over the MiG-1. It was hardly the MiG-1, which was produced and delivered to the troops even before the war in a small series of 77 machines, but there are plenty of such "overexposures" in German documents. Hartman flies wingman with Dammers, Grislavsky, Zwernemann. From each of these strong pilots, he takes something new, replenishing his tactical and flying potential. At the request of Feldwebel Rossmann, Hartman became the wingman of V. Krupinski, an outstanding ace of the Luftwaffe (197 "victories", 15th best), who, as it seemed to many, was distinguished by his intemperance and stubbornness.
It was Krupinski who nicknamed Hartman Booby, in English "Baby" - baby, a nickname that remained with him forever.
Hartman completed 1,425 Einsatz and participated in 800 Rabarbars during his career. His 352 victories included multiple sorties with several downed enemy aircraft in one day, with the best accomplishment in one sortie being six Soviet aircraft shot down on 24 August 1944. This included three Pe-2s, two Yaks, and one Airacobra. The same day turned out to be his best day with 11 victories in two combat missions, during the second sortie he became the first person in history to shoot down 300 aircraft in aerial combat.
Hartman fought in the sky not only against Soviet aircraft. In the skies of Romania, at the helm of his Bf 109, he also met with American pilots. On account of Hartman several days, when he reported at once about several victories: on July 7 - about 7 shot down (2 Il-2 and 5 La-5), on August 1, 4 and 5 - about 5, and on August 7 - again at once about 7 (2 Pe-2, 2 La-5, 3 Yak-1). January 30, 1944 - about 6 shot down; February 1 - about 5; March 2 - just about 10; May 5 about 6; May 7 about 6; June 1 about 6; June 4 - about 7 Yak-9; June 5 about 6; June 6 - about 5; June 24 - about 5 Mustangs; August 28 "shot down" 11 "Aircobras" per day (Hartman's daily record); October 27 - 5; November 22 - 6; November 23 - 5; April 4, 1945 - 5 victories again.
After a dozen "victories", "won" on March 2, 1944, E. Hartman, and with him Lieutenant V. Krupinski, Hauptmann J. Wiese and G. Barkhorn were summoned to the Berghof to the Führer for the presentation of awards. Lieutenant E. Hartman, who by that time chalked up 202 "downed" Soviet aircraft, was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.
Hartman himself was shot down more than 10 times. Basically, he "faced the wreckage of Soviet aircraft shot down by him" (a favorite interpretation of his own losses in the Luftwaffe). On August 20, “flying over the burning Il-2”, he was again shot down and made another forced landing in the Donets River area and fell into the hands of the “Asians” - Soviet soldiers. Skillfully feigning injury and lulling the vigilance of the careless soldiers, Hartman fled, jumping out of the back of the "lorry" that was carrying him, and on the same day returned to his own.
As a symbol of the forced separation from his beloved Ursula, Petsch Hartman drew on his plane a bleeding heart pierced by an arrow and inscribed under the cockpit an "Indian" cry: "Karaya".
Readers of German newspapers knew him as the "Black Devil of Ukraine" (the nickname was invented by the Germans themselves) and with pleasure or irritation (against the background of the retreat of the German army) they read about the new exploits of this "promoted" pilot.
In total, 1404 sorties, 825 air battles were recorded for Hartman, 352 victories were counted, of which 345 were Soviet aircraft: 280 were fighters, 15 Il-2, 10 twin-engine bombers, the rest were U-2 and R-5.
Hartman was also lightly wounded three times. As the commander of the 1st Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which was based at a small airfield near Stracovnitsa in Czechoslovakia, at the end of the war Hartman knew (he saw advancing Soviet units ascending into the sky) that the Red Army was about to capture this airfield. He ordered the destruction of the remaining aircraft and with all his personnel headed west to surrender to the US Army. But by that time, an agreement was in force between the Allies, according to which all Germans leaving the Russians should be handed back at the first opportunity.
In May 1945, Major Hartman was handed over to the Soviet occupation authorities. At the trial, Hartman insisted on his 352 victories, with emphasized respect, with defiance he recalled his comrades in arms and the Fuhrer. The progress of this trial was reported to Stalin, who spoke of the German pilot with satirical contempt. Hartman's self-confident position, of course, irritated the Soviet judges (it was 1945), and he was sentenced to 25 years in the camps. The sentence under the laws of Soviet justice was softened, and Hartman was sentenced to ten and a half years in prisoner of war camps. He was released in 1955.
Returning to his wife in West Germany, he immediately returned to aviation. He successfully and quickly completed a course on jet aircraft, and this time the Americans became his teachers. Hartman flew the F-86 Sabers and the F-104 Starfighter. The last machine, during active operation in Germany, turned out to be extremely unsuccessful and brought death in peacetime to 115 German pilots! Hartmann criticized and harshly spoke of this jet fighter (which was quite right), obstructed its adoption by Germany and upset his relations with both the command of the Bundes-Luftwaffe and the high American military. He was transferred to the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1970.
After his transfer to the reserve, he worked as an instructor pilot in Hangelar, near Bonn, and performed in the aerobatic team of Adolf Galland "Dolfo". In 1980 he fell seriously ill and had to part with aviation.
It is interesting that the commander-in-chief of the Soviet and then the Russian Air Force, General of the Army P. S. Deinekin, taking advantage of the thaw in international relations in the late 80s - early 90s, several times insistently expressed the desire to meet with Hartman, but did not find mutual understanding among the German military officials.
Colonel Hartmann was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold.
Gerhard Gerd Barkhorn, second ace of the Luftwaffe (Germany) - 301 air victories.
Gerhard Barkhorn was born in Königsberg, East Prussia on March 20, 1919. In 1937, Barkhorn was admitted to the Luftwaffe as a Fanen Junker (officer candidate rank) and began his flight training in March 1938. After completing flight training, he was selected as a lieutenant and at the beginning of 1940 he was admitted to the 2nd Fighter Squadron "Richthofen", known for the old combat traditions that were formed in the battles of the First World War.
Gerhard Barkhorn's combat debut in the Battle of England was unsuccessful. He did not shoot down a single enemy aircraft, but he himself twice left the burning car with a parachute, and once directly over the English Channel. Only during the 120th sortie (!), Which took place on July 2, 1941, did Barkhorn manage to open an account for his victories. But after that his successes gained enviable stability. The hundredth victory came to him on December 19, 1942. On the same day, Barkhorn shot down 6 planes, and on July 20, 1942 - 5. He also shot down 5 planes before that, on June 22, 1942. Then the pilot's performance decreased slightly - and he reached the two hundredth mark only on November 30, 1943.
Here is how Barkhorn comments on the enemy's actions:
“Some Russian pilots did not even look around and rarely looked back.
I shot down a lot of those who were not even aware of my presence. Only a few of them matched the European pilots, the rest did not have the necessary flexibility in aerial combat. "
Although this is not clearly expressed, but from what you read it can be inferred that Barkhorn was a master of surprise attacks. He preferred dive attacks from the side of the sun or went from below from behind into the tail of an enemy aircraft. At the same time, he did not avoid classic cornering combat, especially when he piloted his beloved Me-109F, even the version that was equipped with only one 15-mm cannon. But not all Russians succumbed to the German ace so easily: “Once, in 1943, I withstood a forty-minute battle with a stubborn Russian pilot and could not achieve any results. I was so wet with sweat, as if I had just come out of the shower. I wonder if it was as difficult for him as it was for me. The Russian flew in LaGG-3, and both of us wrote out all conceivable and inconceivable aerobatics in the air. I could not get him, and he - me. This pilot belonged to one of the Guards Aviation Regiments, in which the best Soviet aces were gathered. "
It should be noted that a one-on-one air battle lasting forty minutes was almost a record. Usually there were other fighters nearby, ready to intervene in the battle, or in those rare cases when two enemy aircraft actually converged in the sky, one of them, as a rule, already had an advantage in position. In the battle described above, both pilots fought, avoiding disadvantages for themselves. Barkhorn was wary of the enemy's actions (perhaps the experience of battles with RAF fighters had a strong effect here), and the reasons for this were the following: first, he achieved his numerous victories by flying more sorties than many other experts; secondly, for 1104 sorties, with a flying time of 2000 hours, his plane was shot down nine times.
On May 31, 1944, with 273 victories on his account, Barkhorn returned to his airfield after completing a combat mission. In this sortie, he came under the blow of the Soviet "Airacobra", was shot down and wounded in the right leg. Apparently, the pilot who shot down Barkhorn was the outstanding Soviet ace Captain F.F. Barkhorn, who made the 6th sortie in a day, managed to escape, but for four long months he was out of action. After returning to service with JG 52, he brought his personal victory score to 301, and then was transferred to the Western Front and appointed commander of JG 6 Horst Wessel. Since then, he no longer had success in air battles. Enlisted soon after in Galland's strike group JV 44, Barkhorn was trained to fly the Me-262 jet. But already in the second sortie, the plane was shot down, lost traction, and Barkhorn was seriously injured during an emergency landing.
In total, during the Second World War, Major G. Barkhorn made 1104 sorties.
Some researchers note that Barkhorn was 5 cm taller than Hartman (about 177 cm tall) and 7-10 kg heavier.
He called his favorite machine the Me-109 G-1 with the lightest armament: two MG-17 (7.92 mm) and one MG-151 (15 mm), preferring the lightness, and therefore the maneuverability of his car, the power of its weapons.
After the war, German ace No. 2 returned to flying with the new West German Air Force. In the mid-60s, during tests of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, he "dropped" and crashed his "Kestrel". When the wounded Barkhorn was slowly and with difficulty pulled out of the wrecked car, despite the severe injuries, he did not lose his sense of humor and muttered through force: "Three hundred and second ..."
In 1975 G. Barkhorn retired with the rank of Major General.
In winter, in a blizzard, near Cologne on January 6, 1983, together with his wife, Gerhard Barkhorn had a serious car accident. His wife died immediately, and he himself died in the hospital two days later - on January 8, 1983.
Buried at the Durnbach War Cemetery in Tegernsee, Upper Bavaria.
Major of the Luftwaffe G. Barkhorn was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold.
Gunter Rall is the third ace of the Luftwaffe, 275 wins.
The third ace of the Luftwaffe in terms of the number of victories is considered Gunther Rall - 275 shot down enemy aircraft.
Rall fought against France and England in 1939-1940, then in Romania, Greece and Crete in 1941. From 1941 to 1944, he fought on the Eastern Front. In 1944, he returned to the skies of Germany and fought against the aircraft of the Western Allies. All his rich combat experience was gained as a result of more than 800 "rabarbars" (air battles) carried out on the Me-109 of various modifications - from Bf 109 B-2 to Bf 109 G -14. Rall was badly wounded three times and shot down eight times. On November 28, 1941, in an intense air battle, his plane was so badly damaged that during an emergency landing "on the belly" the car simply collapsed, and Rall broke his spine in three places. There was no hope of returning to duty. But after ten months of treatment in the hospital, where he met his future wife, he was still restored to health and recognized as fit for flight work. At the end of July 1942, Rall again took his plane into the air, and on August 15 over the Kuban he won his 50th victory. On September 22, 1942, he chalked up his 100th victory. Subsequently, Rall fought over the Kuban, over the Kursk Bulge, over the Dnieper and Zaporozhye. In March 1944, he exceeded the achievement of V. Novotny, having chalked up 255 aerial victories and, until August 20, 1944, topped the list of Luftwaffe aces. On April 16, 1944, Rall won his last, 273rd, victory on the Eastern Front.
As the best German ace of the time, he was appointed commander II by Goering. / JG 11, which was part of the air defense of the Reich and armed with "109" new modification - G-5. Defending Berlin in 1944 from British and American raids, Rall repeatedly clashed with US Air Force aircraft. Once "Thunderbolts" firmly clamped his plane over the capital of the Third Reich, damaging his controls, and one of the bursts given in the cockpit cut off the thumb on his right hand. Rall was shell-shocked, but returned to duty a few weeks later. In December 1944, he headed the Luftwaffe fighter commander's training school. In January 1945, Major G. Rall was appointed commander of the 300th Fighter Air Group (JG 300), armed with the FV-190D, but he did not win any more victories. It was difficult to imagine a victory over the Reich - downed planes fell over German territory and only then received confirmation. Not at all like in the Don or Kuban steppes, where a victory report, confirmation of the follower and a statement on several printed forms were enough.
During his combat career, Major Rall flew 621 sorties, chalked up 275 "shot down" aircraft, of which only three were shot down over the Reich.
After the war, when the new German army, the Bundeswehr, was created, G. Rall, who thought of himself only as a military pilot, joined the Bundes-Luftwaffe. Here he immediately returned to flight work and mastered the F-84 "Thunderjet" and several modifications of the F-86 "Saber". The skill of Major, and then Oberst Lieutenant Rall, was highly appreciated by American military experts. In the late 50s, he was appointed to the Bundes-Luftwaffe Art. Inspector supervising the retraining of German pilots for the new supersonic fighter F-104 "Starfighter". The retraining was successful. In September 1966, G. Rall was awarded the rank of brigadier general, and a year later - major general. At the time, Rall was in charge of the Bundes-Luftwaffe fighter division. In the late 1980s, Lieutenant General Rall was dismissed from the Bundes-Luftwaffe as inspector general.
G. Rall came to Russia several times, talked with Soviet aces. The Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation GA Baevsky, who knew German well and communicated with Rall at the aircraft show in Kubinka, this communication made a positive impression. Georgy Arturovich found Rall's personal position quite modest, including regarding his three-digit score, and as an interlocutor - an interesting person who deeply understands the concerns and needs of pilots and aviation.
Gunter Rall died on October 4, 2009. Lieutenant General G. Rall was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold; Large Federal Cross of the Worthy with a Star (cross of the VI degree from the VIII degrees); Order of the Legion of the Worthy (USA).
Adolf GALLAND - an outstanding organizer of the Luftwaffe, who recorded 104 victories on the Western Front, Lieutenant General.
Mildly bourgeois in his refined habits and deeds, he was a versatile and courageous man, an exceptionally gifted pilot and tactician, enjoyed the favor of political leaders and the highest authority among German pilots, and they left their bright mark on the history of world wars of the 20th century.
Adolf Galland was born in the family of a manager in the town of Westerholt (now within the boundaries of Duisburg) on March 19, 1912. Galland, like Marseille, had French roots: his Huguenot ancestors fled France in the 18th century and settled on the estate of Count von Westerholt. Galland was the second oldest of his four brothers. The upbringing in the family was based on strict religious principles, while the strictness of the father significantly softened the mother. From an early age, Adolf became a hunter, having obtained his first trophy - a hare - at the age of 6 years. Early passion for hunting and hunting successes are also characteristic of some other outstanding fighter pilots, in particular for A.V. Vorozheikin and E.G. Pepelyaev, who found not only entertainment in hunting, but also a significant help for their meager diet. Of course, the acquired hunting skills - the ability to hide, shoot accurately, follow the trail - had a beneficial effect on the formation of the character and tactics of future aces.
In addition to hunting, the energetic young Galland was actively interested in technology. This interest led him to the Gelsenkirchen gliding school in 1927. The graduation from the gliding school, the acquired ability to soar, search for and select air flows was very useful for the future pilot. In 1932, after graduating from high school, Adolf Galland entered the German School of Air Services in Braunschweig, which he graduated in 1933. Soon after leaving school, Galland received an invitation to short-term courses for military pilots, secret in Germany at that time. After completing the courses, Galland was sent to Italy for an internship. Since the fall of 1934, Galland flew as co-pilot in the Junkers G-24 passenger aircraft. In February 1934, Galland was drafted into the army, in October he was promoted to lieutenant and sent to instructor service in Schleichseim. When the Luftwaffe was announced on March 1, 1935, Galland was transferred to Group 2 of the 1st Fighter Squadron. Possessing an excellent vestibular apparatus and impeccable vasomotor, he quickly became an excellent aerobatic pilot. In those years, he suffered several accidents that almost cost him his life. Only exceptional perseverance, and sometimes cunning, allowed Galland to remain in the aviation.
In 1937, he achieved directions to Spain, where he flew 187 combat sorties to attack on the He-51B biplane. He had no air victories. For fighting in Spain he was awarded the German Spanish Cross in gold with Swords and Diamonds.
In November 1938, upon his return from Spain, Galland became a squadron commander JG433, rearmed on a Me-109, but before the outbreak of hostilities in Poland he was sent to another group, armed with XSH-123 biplanes. In Poland, Galland flew 87 sorties and was promoted to captain.
On May 12, 1940, Captain Galland won his first victories, shooting down three English Hurricanes in the Me-109 at once. By June 6, 1940, when he was appointed commander of the 3rd Group of the 26th Fighter Squadron (III. / JG 26), Galland had 12 victories. On May 22, he shot down the first Spitfire. On August 17, 1940, at a meeting at Goering's Karinhalle estate, Major Galland was appointed commander of the 26th squadron. On September 7, 1940, he took part in a massive Luftwaffe raid on London with 648 fighters covering 625 bombers. For the Me-109 it was a flight almost to the maximum range, more than two dozen Messerschmitts on the way back, over Calais, ran out of fuel, and their planes fell into the water. Galland also had problems with fuel, but his car was saved by the skill of the glider driver sitting in it, who reached the French coast.
On September 25, 1940, Galland was summoned to Berlin, where Hitler presented him with the third in history "Oak Leaves" to the Knight's Cross. Galland, he said, asked the Fuehrer not to "belittle the dignity of the British pilots." Hitler unexpectedly immediately agreed with him, saying that he regretted that England and Germany did not act together as allies. Galland fell into the hands of German journalists and quickly became one of the most "promoted" figures in Germany.
Adolph Galland was a heavy cigar smoker, consuming up to twenty cigars daily. Even Mickey Mouse, who invariably adorned the sides of all his combat vehicles, was invariably depicted with a cigar in his mouth. In the cockpit of his fighter jet were a lighter and a cigar holder.
On the evening of October 30, announcing the destruction of two Spitfires, Galland chalked up his 50th victory. On November 17, having shot down three Hurricanes over Calais, Galland with 56 victories came out on top among the Luftwaffe aces. After the 50th declared victory, Galland was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel. A creative man, he proposed several tactical innovations that were subsequently adopted by the majority of the armies of the world. So, the most successful option for escorting bombers, despite the protests of the "bombers", he considered a free "hunt" along the route of their flight. Another innovation was the use of a headquarters air link, staffed by the commander and the most experienced pilots.
After May 19, 1941, when Hess flew to England, the raids on the island practically stopped.
On June 21, 1941, the day before the attack on the Soviet Union, Galland's Messerschmitt, staring at the Spitfire he had shot down, was shot down in a head-on attack from above by another Spitfire. Galland was wounded in the side and arm. With difficulty, he managed to open the jammed lantern, unhook the parachute from the antenna pole and land relatively safely. It is interesting that on the same day at about 12.40 Me-109 Galland had already been hit by the British, and he accidentally landed it "on his belly" in the Calais region.
When in the evening of the same day Galland was taken to the hospital, a telegram came from Hitler, which said that Lieutenant Colonel Galland was the first in the Wehrmacht to be awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross, and an order containing a ban on Galland's participation in combat missions. Galland did everything possible and impossible to get around this order. On August 7, 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Galland won his 75th victory. On November 18, he announced his next, already 96th, victory. On November 28, 1941, after the death of Melders, Goering appointed Galland to the post of inspector of fighter aviation for the Luftwaffe, he was awarded the rank of colonel.
On January 28, 1942, Hitler presented Galland with Diamonds for his Knight's Cross with Swords. He became the second recipient of this highest award from Nazi Germany. On December 19, 1942, he was awarded the rank of Major General.
On May 22, 1943, Galland flew the Me-262 for the first time and was amazed at the opening capabilities of a turbojet machine. He insisted on the early combat use of this aircraft, assuring that one Me-262 squadron is equal in strength to 10 conventional ones.
With the inclusion of US aviation in the air war and the defeat in the Battle of Kursk, Germany's position became desperate. On June 15, 1943, Galland, despite active objections, was appointed commander of the fighter aircraft of the Sicily group. With the energy and talent of Galland, they tried to save the situation in southern Italy. But on July 16, about a hundred American bombers attacked the Vibo Valentia airfield and destroyed the Luftwaffe fighter aircraft. Galland, surrendering command, returned to Berlin.
The fate of Germany was a foregone conclusion, and neither the dedication of the best German pilots, nor the talent of outstanding designers could save it.
Galland was one of the most talented and sane generals in the Luftwaffe. He tried not to expose his subordinates to unjustified risks, soberly assessed the emerging situation. Thanks to the accumulated experience, Galland managed to avoid major losses in the squadron entrusted to him. An outstanding pilot and military leader, Galland had a rare talent for analyzing all the strategic and tactical features of the situation.
Under the command of Galland, the Luftwaffe carried out one of the most brilliant air cover operations for ships, codenamed Thunderbolt. A fighter squadron under the direct command of Galland covered from the air the exit from the encirclement of the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen. Having successfully carried out the operation, the Luftwaffe and the Navy destroyed 30 British aircraft, losing 7 aircraft. Galland called this operation the "finest hour" of his career.
In the fall of 1943 - in the spring of 1944, Galland secretly flew more than 10 combat missions in the FV-190 A-6, chalked up two American bombers. On December 1, 1944, Galland was promoted to lieutenant general.
After the failure of Operation Bodenplatte, when about 300 Luftwaffe fighters were lost, at the cost of 144 British and 84 American aircraft, Goering removed Galland from his post of fighter aircraft inspector on January 12, 1945. This caused the so-called fighter mutiny. As a result, several German aces were demoted, and Galland was placed under house arrest. But soon a bell rang in Galland's house: Hitler's aide-de-camp von Belof informed him: "The Fuhrer still loves you, General Galland."
In the face of a disintegrating defense, Lieutenant General Galland was instructed to form a new fighter group of the best aces in Germany and to fight enemy bombers on the Me-262. The group received the semi-mystical name JV44 (44 as half of the number 88, which denoted the number of the group that successfully fought in Spain) and entered the battle in early April 1945. As part of JV44, Galland won 6 victories, was hit (landed across the strip) and wounded on April 25, 1945.
In total, Lieutenant General Galland flew 425 sorties, chalked up 104 victories.
On May 1, 1945, Galland, along with his pilots, surrendered to the Americans. In 1946-1947, Galland was recruited by the Americans to work in the history department of the American Air Force in Europe. Later, in the 60s, Galland lectured in the United States on the actions of German aviation. In the spring of 1947, Galland was released from captivity. Galland spent this difficult time for many Germans on the estate of his old admirer, the widowed Baroness von Donner. He divided it between household chores, wine, cigars and illegal hunting at that time.
During the Nuremberg Trials, when Goering's defenders drew up a lengthy document and, trying to sign it with the largest Luftwaffe figures, brought it to Galland, he carefully read the paper, and then decisively tore it from top to bottom.
“I personally welcome this trial, because only in this way can we find out who is responsible for all this,” Galland allegedly said at the time.
In 1948, he met with his old acquaintance - the German aircraft designer Kurt Tank, who created the Focke-Wulf fighters and, possibly, the best piston fighter in history - the Ta-152. The tank was about to sail to Argentina, where a big contract awaited him, and invited Galland to go with him. He agreed and, having received an invitation from President Juan Peron himself, soon set sail. Argentina, like the United States, emerged from the war incredibly rich. Galland received a three-year contract for the reorganization of the Argentine Air Force, led by the Argentine Commander-in-Chief Juan Fabri. Flexible Galland managed to find full contact with the Argentines and gladly passed on knowledge to pilots and their commanders who had no combat experience. In Argentina, Galland flew almost every day in all types of aircraft he saw there, maintaining flight shape. Soon Baroness von Donner came to Galland with her children. It was in Argentina that Galland began working on a book of memoirs, later called The First and Last. A few years later, the Baroness left Galland and Argentina when he became friends with Sylvinia von Donhoff. In February 1954, Adolf and Sylvinia got married. For Galland, and he was already 42 years old at that time, this is the first marriage. In 1955, Galland left Argentina and took part in aviation competitions in Italy, where he took an honorable second place. In Germany, the Minister of Defense offered Galland to take up the post of inspector again - commander of the fighter aircraft of the BundesLuftwaffe. Galland asked for some time to think. At this time, the government changed in the FRG, the pro-American-minded Franz-Josef Strauss became the minister of defense, who appointed General Kummhuber, an old opponent of Galland, to the post of inspector.
Galland moved to Bonn and went into business. He divorced Sylvia von Donhoff and married his young secretary, Hanneliese Ludwijn. Soon Galland had children - a son, and three years later a daughter.
All his life, up to the age of 75, Galland actively flew. When there was no more military aviation for him, he found himself in light-engine and sports aviation. With age, Galland devoted more and more time to meetings with his old associates, with veterans. His authority among German pilots of all times was exceptional: he was the honorary leader of several aviation societies, the president of the Association of German Fighter Pilots, a member of dozens of flying clubs. In 1969, Galland saw and "attacked" the spectacular pilot Heidi Horn, at the same time the former head of a successful firm, and started a "fight" by all the rules. Soon he divorced his wife, and Heidi, who could not stand the "dizzying attacks of the old ace", agreed to marry 72-year-old Galland.
Adolph Galland, one of seven German fighter pilots to be awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, as well as all statutory subordinate awards.
Otto Bruno Kittel - Luftwaffe ace # 4, 267 wins, Germany.
This outstanding fighter pilot was nothing like, say, the arrogant and spectacular Hans Philip, that is, he did not at all correspond to the image of an ace pilot created by the German Reich Ministry of Propaganda. A short, quiet and modest, slightly stuttering person.
He was born in Kronsdorf (now Korunov in Bohemia) in the Sudetenland, then in Austria-Hungary, on February 21, 1917. Note that on February 17, 1917, the outstanding Soviet ace K. A. Evstigneev was born.
In 1939, Kittel was admitted to the Luftwaffe and was soon enlisted in the 54th squadron (JG 54).
Kitel announced his first victories on June 22, 1941, but in comparison with other Luftwaffe experts, his start was modest. By the end of 1941, he had chalked up only 17 victories. At first, Kittel showed little ability in aerial shooting. Then senior comrades took up his training: Hannes Trauloft, Hans Philipp, Walter Novotny and other pilots of the Green Heart air group. They didn't give up until their patience was rewarded. By 1943, Kittel had gotten his eye on it, and with enviable consistency began to record for himself victories over Soviet planes one after another. His 39th victory, won on February 19, 1943, was the 4000th victory declared by the pilots of the 54th squadron during the war.
As German troops began to retreat west under crushing blows from the Red Army, German journalists found inspiration in the humble but exceptionally gifted pilot, Lieutenant Otto Kittel. Until mid-February 1945, his name did not leave the pages of German periodicals, regularly appears in the frames of the military chronicle.
On March 15, 1943, after the 47th victory, Kittel was shot down and landed 60 km from the front line. In three days, without food and fire, he covered this distance (at night he crossed Lake Ilmen) and returned to the unit. Kittel was awarded the German Cross in Gold and the title of Oberfeldwebel. On October 6, 1943, Oberfeldwebel Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross, received officer's buttonholes, shoulder straps and the entire 2nd squadron of the 54th fighter group under his command. Later he was promoted to chief lieutenant and awarded the Oak Leaves, and then the Swords to the Knight's Cross, which, as in most other cases, was given to him by the Fuehrer. From November 1943 to January 1944, he was an instructor at the Luftwaffe flight school in Biarritz, France. In March 1944 he returned to his squadron on the Russian front. Success did not turn Kittel's head: until the end of his life he remained a modest, hardworking and unassuming person.
Since the fall of 1944 Kittel's squadron fought in the Courland "cauldron" in Western Latvia. On February 14, 1945, during the 583rd sortie, he attacked the Il-2 group, but was shot down, probably from cannons. On that day, victories over the FV-190 were recorded by the pilots who piloted the Il-2 - the deputy squadron commander of the 806th assault aviation regiment, Lieutenant V. Karaman and Lieutenant of the 502nd Guards Aviation Regiment V. Komendat.
By the time of his death, Otto Kittel had 267 victories (of which 94 were Il-2), and he was the fourth in the list of the most productive air aces in Germany and the most productive pilot who fought on the FV-190 fighter.
Captain Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class, and the German Cross in gold.
Walter Nowi Novotny - Luftwaffe ace # 5, 258 wins.
Although Major Walter Novotny is considered the fifth Luftwaffe ace in terms of the number of downed cars, during the war he was the most famous ace of the Second World War. Novotny occupied an honorable place along with Galland, Melders and Graf in popularity abroad, his name was one of the few that became known behind the front lines during the war and was discussed by the Allied public, just as it was with Belke, Udet and Richthofen during during the First World War.
Novotny enjoyed fame and respect among German pilots, like no other pilot. For all his courage and obsession in the air, he was a charming and friendly person on earth.
Walter Novotny was born in the north of Austria in the town of Gmünd on December 7, 1920. Father was a railroad worker, two brothers were officers of the Wehrmacht. One of them was killed at Stalingrad.
Walter Novotny grew up exceptionally gifted in sports terms: he won in running, javelin throwing, sports competitions. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1939 at the age of 18 and attended the Fighter Pilot School in Schwechat near Vienna. Like Otto Kittel, he was sent to JG54 and flew dozens of combat missions before he managed to overcome the disturbing feverish excitement and acquire the "fighter signature".
On July 19, 1941, he won the first victories in the skies over the Ezel Island in the Gulf of Riga, having chalked up three "shot down" Soviet I-153 fighters. At the same time, Novotny learned the other side of the medal, when a skillful and decisive Russian pilot shot him down and sent him “to drink water”. It was already night when Novotny raked up on a rubber raft to the shore.
On August 4, 1942, after re-equipping the Gustav (Me-109G-2), Novotny chalked up 4 Soviet aircraft at once and a month later was awarded the Knight's Cross. October 25, 1942 V. Novotny was appointed commander of the 1st detachment of the 1st group of the 54th fighter squadron. Gradually, the group was re-equipped with relatively new vehicles - FV-190A and A-2. On June 24, 1943, he chalked up the 120th "shot down", which was the basis for awarding the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. On September 1, 1943, Novotny chalked up 10 "downed" Soviet planes at once. This is far from the limit for the Luftwaffe pilots.
Emil Lang filled out forms for as many as 18 Soviet planes shot down in one day (at the end of October 1943 in the Kiev region - a rather expected response of an irritated German ace to the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Dnieper, and the Luftwaffe over the Dnieper), and Erich Rudorfer "shot down"
13 Soviet aircraft for November 13, 1943. Note that for the Soviet aces and 4 enemy planes shot down per day were an extremely rare, exceptional victory. This speaks only of one thing - about the reliability of victories on the one hand and on the other: the calculated reliability of victories by Soviet pilots is 4-6 times higher than the reliability of "victories" recorded by the Luftwaffe aces.
In September 1943, with 207 "victories", Chief Lieutenant V. Novotny became the most productive pilot of the Luftwaffe. On October 10, 1943, he chalked up his 250th victory. In the German press of that time, a real hysteria arose about this. On November 15, 1943, Novotny recorded his last, 255th, victory on the Eastern Front.
He continued combat work almost a year later, already on the Western Front, on the Me-262 jet. On November 8, 1944, taking off at the head of the troika to intercept American bombers, he shot down the Liberator and the Mustang fighter, which became his last, 257th, victory. Me-262 Novotny was damaged and, on the way to its own airfield, was shot down either by a Mustang or by fire from its own anti-aircraft artillery. Major V. Novotny died.
Novi, as his comrades called him, became a legend in the Luftwaffe during his lifetime. He was the first to chalk up 250 aerial victories.
Novotny became the eighth German officer to receive the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He was also awarded the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold; Order of the Cross of Freedom (Finland), medals.
Wilhelm "Willi" Batz is the sixth ace of the Luftwaffe, 237 victories.
Butz was born on May 21, 1916 in Bamberg. After recruiting training and a meticulous medical examination, on November 1, 1935, he was sent to the Luftwaffe.
After completing his initial fighter pilot training, Butz was transferred as an instructor to a flight school in Bad Eilbing. Distinguished by tirelessness and a real passion for flying. In total, during training and instructor service, he flew 5240 hours!
From the end of 1942 he served in the spare part JG52 2. / ErgGr "Ost". From February 1, 1943, he served as adjutant in II. / JG52. The first shot down plane - LaGG-3 - was recorded on March 11, 1943. In May 1943 he was appointed commander of 5./JG52. Butz achieved significant success only during the Battle of the Kursk Bulge. Until September 9, 1943, 20 victories were recorded for him, and by the end of November 1943 - 50 more.
Then Batz's career went as well as the career of a famous fighter pilot on the Eastern Front often developed. In March 1944, Butz shot down his 101st aircraft. At the end of May 1944, during seven sorties, he shot down as many as 15 aircraft. On March 26, 1944, Butz received the Knight's Cross, and on July 20, 1944, the Oak Leaves to it.
In July 1944 he fought over Romania, where he shot down a B-24 Liberator bomber and two P-51B Mustang fighters. By the end of 1944, Batz had already numbered 224 air victories. In 1945 he became Commander II. / JG52. On April 21, 1945 he was awarded.
In total, during the war years, Butz made 445 (according to other sources - 451) sorties and shot down 237 aircraft: 232 on the Eastern Front and, modestly, 5 on the Western, among the latter two four-engine bombers. He flew on Me-109G and Me-109K planes. In battles, Butz was wounded three times and shot down four times.
He died at the Mauschendorf Clinic on September 11, 1988. Cavalier of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (No. 145, 21.04.1945), the German Cross in Gold, the Iron Cross of the 1st and 2nd class.
Hermann Graf - 212 officially recognized victories, ninth Luftwaffe ace, colonel.
Hermann Graf was born in Engen, near Lake Baden, on October 24, 1912. The son of a simple blacksmith, he, due to his origin and poor education, could not make a quick and successful military career. After graduating from college and working for some time in the castle workshop, he went to the civil service in the municipal office. At the same time, the primary role was played by the fact that Herman was an excellent football player, and the first rays of fame gilded him as a forward of the local football team. Herman began his journey into the sky as a glider pilot in 1932, and in 1935 he was admitted to the Luftwaffe. In 1936 he was admitted to the flight school in Karlsruhe and graduated on September 25, 1936. In May 1938, he improved his qualifications as a pilot and, avoiding the direction of retraining on multi-engine machines, in the non-commissioned officer rank, insisted on being assigned to the second squadron JG51, armed with Me-109 E-1 fighters.
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