Email this article 
Combat Actions of the 1st and 3rd Air Armies in the First Rzhev-Sychev Operation: Losses and Their Replacement
- Authors: Mizerov I.I.1
-
Affiliations:
- RUDN University
- Issue: Vol 20, No 1 (2021): History of relations with the center and national regions of Russia
- Pages: 145-159
- Section: ARTICLES
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history/article/view/25762
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2021-20-1-145-159
Cite item
Full text / tables, figures
Abstract
The article discusses the combat work of the Red Army air force (the 1st and the 3rd air armies of the Western and Kalinin fronts, respectively) during the Rzhev-Sychev operation, focusing on the role of field aircraft repair for the replacement of losses suffered in the battle, and for maintaining the overall combat capability of the air forces in the offensive zone. The author suggests considering the battle of Rzhev as one of the largest and longest aviation battles of the Great Patriotic War. The paper offers a comparative analysis of the number of forces involved in the Rzhev-Sychevsky operation with other large-scale air operations. Drawing on hitherto unstudied sources from the collections of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and on statistical data, the author explains the tactical application of aviation in the Central part of the Soviet-German front in the summer and autumn of 1942, as well as the patterns and main causes of losses during the military operation. The author emphasizes the critical importance of field repair for an accelerated recovery of air force strike capabilities; this gave the Soviet units significant advantages over the German Luftwaffe in the region. As the paper shows, the command of the 1st and 3rd air armies were fully aware of the importance of field repair and gave it thoughtful consideration; already during the intense fighting, measures were taken to share the gained experience with other units.
Full text / tables, figures
Table 1
Available Aircrafts in the 1st Air Army and Army Aviation of the Western Front in July 1942
Aircraft type | 1st Air Army | Army Aviation | |
Fighters | MiG-3 | 11 (1)* | 0 |
Hurricane | 5 (0) | 0 | |
Yak-1 | 87 (18) | 8 (3) | |
LagG-3 | 37 (6) | 33 (12) | |
I-16 | 0 | 6 (2) | |
I-153 | 0 | 5 (0) | |
Total | 140 (25) | 52 (1) | |
Scout planes | Pe-2 | 3 (4) | 0 |
Pe-3 | 2 (1) | 0 | |
Total | 5 (5) | 0 | |
Attack planes | Il-2 | 219 (36) | 0 |
Total | 219 (36) | 0 | |
Bomber aircrafts | Pe-2 | 59 (1) | 0 |
SB, Ap-2 | 10 (0) | 0 | |
R-5 | 29 (0) | 0 | |
U-2 | 58 (0) | 0 | |
Total | 156 (1) | 0 | |
Spotter planes | Su-2 | 0 | 8 (1) |
Total | 0 | 8 (1) | |
TOTAL | 580 (85) – actually 530 of them could immediately perform combat missions | ||
Note. * Hereinafter, in brackets, the number of faulty combat vehicles (not to be confused with completely non-combat vehicles).
Sources: TSAMO. F. 1-y vozdushnoy armii [1st Air Army]. Op. 3284. D. 53. L. 2–3.
Table 2
Available Aircrafts in the 3rd Air Army and Army Aviation of the Kalinin Front in July 1942
| Airfield | Aircraft type | Number |
209th Fighter Division | Ignatievo | LagG-3 | 45 (15) |
210th Fighter Division | Gorozhino | Yak-1/Yak-7 | 31 (12) |
211th Bombardment Aviation Division | Budovo
| Pe-2
| 35 (15) |
212th Strike Fighter Division | Pravaya Kamenka
| Il-2
| 46 (3) |
253rd Fighter Division | Dulovo | I-16/ Hurricane | 8 (5) / 15 (5) |
264th Strike Fighter Division | Krapivnya
| Il-2
| 95 (12) |
11th Separate Rocket Artillery Regiment | Esipovichi
| Pe-2
| 2 |
Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, transport, air regiment, communications units | At forward airfields and pop-up platforms
| U-2
| 103 (13) |
TOTAL
| 53 bomber aircrafts, 166 attack planes, 137 fighters, 2 scout planes, 116 night bombers, etc. Total – 474 aircrafts | ||
Sources: TsAMO. F. 3-y vozdushnoy armii [3rd Air Army]. Op. 4495. D. 104–105. L. 3–4.
Table 3
Activity of Enemy Air Force by Type of Aircraft and by the Number of Flights over the Armies of the Western Front in August 1942
Army | Number of flights | Aircraft type | Number of flights |
31-я | 2923 | Ме-109 / Me-109 | 2035 |
20-я | 2338 | Хе-113 / He-113 | 109 |
5-я | 867 | Ме-110 / Me-110 | 428 |
33-я | 995 | Ю-88 / Yu-88 | 6068 |
43-я | 438 | Ю-87 / Yu-87 | 1629 |
49-я | 270 | Хе-111 / He-111 | 2279 |
50-я | 196 | Хш-126 / Hs -126 | 555 |
10-я | 650 | Тип не установлен / | 1810 |
16-я | 1557 | – | – |
61-я | 4679 | – | – |
TOTAL | 14913 | ||
Source: TsAMO. F. Kalininskogo fronta [Kalinin Front.]. Op. 2002. D. 834–510. Shot 41 (mikrofilm).
Table 4
Losses of the 1st Air Army Units in August 1942
Aircraft type | MiG-3 | LagG-3 | Yak-1 | Il-2 | Pe-2 | SB | U-2 | USB | Ap-2 | TOTAL |
Shot down by fighter aircrafts | 24 | 26 | 64 | 54 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 165 |
Shot down by antiaircraft artillery and antiaircraft guns | 0 | 9 | 3 | 74 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 112 |
Destroyed at airfields | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Failed to return from the mission | 1 | 8 | 50 | 70 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 65 |
Total battle losses | 25 | 43 | 128 | 198 | 56 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 443 |
Number of catastrophies | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Number of accidents | 0 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 43 |
Total non-battle losses | 0 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 54 |
Sources: TsAMO. F. 1-y vozdushnoy armii [1st Air Army]. Op. 3284. D. 54–55. L. 25–26.
Table 5
Losses of the 1st Air Army Units in September 1942
Aircraft type | Yak-1 | Yak-7 | Lag-G-3 | La-5 | Aircobra | Hurricane | Il-2 | Pe-2 | SB | R-5 | U-2 | TOTAL |
Shot down by fighter aircrafts | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 |
Shot down by anti- | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 |
Destroyed at airfields | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Failed to return from the mission | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 51 |
Total battle losses | 8 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 56 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 131 |
Number of catas- | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
Number of accidents | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 22 |
Total non-battle losses | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 29 |
Source: TsAMO. F. 1-y vozdushnoy armii [1st Air Army]. Op. 3284. D. 56. L. 23–24.
Table 6
Losses of the 3rd Air Army Units during the Rzhev-Sychyovka operation (30 July – 1 October 1942)
Aircraft type | LaG-3 | Yak-1/Yak-7 | Pe-2 | Il-2 | I-16 | Hurricane | U-2 | TOTAL |
Shot down by fighter aircrafts | 33 | 15 | 35 | 37 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 125 |
Shot down by antiaircraft artillery and antiaircraft guns | 3 | 7 | 8 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 68 |
Destroyed at airfields | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Failed to return from the mission | 11 | 11 | 10 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 75 |
Total battle losses | 47 | 33 | 53 | 117 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 259 |
Number of catastrophies | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Number of accidents | 3 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 40 |
Total non-battle losses | 3 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 47 |
Source: TsAMO. F. 3-y vozdushnoy armii [3rd Air Army]. Op. 4495. D. 104–105. L. 25.
About the authors
Ivan I. Mizerov
RUDN University
Author for correspondence.
Email: mizerchuk@mail.ru
Postgraduate student of the Department of Russian History
6, Miklukho-Maklaya St., Moscow, 117198, RussiaReferences
- Baklan, A.Ya. Nebo, proshitoye trassami. Leningrad: Leninizdat Publ., 1987 (in Russian).
- Bivor, E. Vtoraya mirovaya voyna. Moscow: Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2014 (in Russian).
- Bogdanov, S., and Makshinskiy, I. Eto bylo v Rzheve. Kalinin: Knizhnoye izdatel'stvo Publ., 1960 (in Russian).
- Gerasimova, S.A. “Ne pora li pereosmyslit' rol' i znacheniye boyev pod Rzhevom.” Voprosy istorii, no. 5 (1998): 173–174 (in Russian).
- Gerasimova, S.A. Rzhevskaya boynya. Poteryannaya pobeda Zhukova. Moscow: Eksmo Publ., 2009 (in Russian).
- Glants, D. Krupneysheye porazheniye Zhukova. Katastrofa Krasnoy Armii v operatsii «Mars» 1942 goda. Moscow: Astrel' Publ., 2006 (in Russian).
- Glants, D. Bitva titanov. Kak Krasnaya armiya ostanovila Gitlera. Moscow: AST Publ.; Astrel' Publ., 2007 (in Russian).
- Golovanov A.Ye. Dal'nyaya bombardirovochnaya… Vospominaniya Glavnogo marshala aviatsii 1941–1945. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf Publ., 2007 (in Russian).
- Grossman, Kh. Rzhev – krayeugol'nyy kamen' Vostochnogo fronta. Rzhev: Rzhevskaya Pravda Publ., 1996 (in Russian).
- Grossman, H. Rzhew: Eckpfeiler der Ostfront. Friedberg: Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, 1962.
- Isayev, A.V. “Stalingrad. Difficult start.” Rodina, no. 1 (2013): 5–6 (in Russian).
- Karl-Heinz, Frieser. Germany and the Second World War: Volume VIII: The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Krasnoshtanov, I.D. “114-ya otdel'naya strelkovaya brigada v boyakh po likvidatsii platsdarma severo-zapadneye Rzheva (sent. 1942 g.).” Voyenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal, no. 2 (1979): 38–42 (in Russian).
- Kobrin, N.I., and Fesenko, V.I. “Na Orel, Bryansk, Rzhev, Smolensk.” In Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna: Voyennno-istoricheskiye ocherki. 1941–1945, 350–410. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1998 (in Russian).
- Panarin, M.I. V boyakh pod Rzhevom. M.: Voyenizdat, 1961. 128 s. Sandalov L.M. Pogorelo-Gorodi-shchenskaya operatsiya: Nastupatel'naya operatsiya 20-y armii Zapadnogo fronta v avguste 1942 g. Moscow: Voyenizdat Publ., 1960 (in Russian).
- Soshnev, V.G. S veroy v pobedu: O 220-y strelkovoy divizii. Moscow: Voyenizdat Publ., 1982 (in Russian).
- Talanov, M.M. “Zapadneye Rzheva.” In M.M. Talanov. Kulaginskaya Krasnoznamonnaya: O boyevom puti 178-y strelkovoy divizii, 70–80. Barnaul: Altayskoye knizhnoye izdatel'stvo Publ., 1987 (in Russian).
- Vorozheykin, A.V. Soldaty neba: Rasskazy o letchikakh-istrebitelyakh. Moscow: Voyenizdat Publ., 1986 (in Russian).
