Kick 'wooden shoe' by Russian historian by Mikhail Timin 20th December 2017

As you know, on the first day of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army's air force lost, for various reasons, about 1,200 airplanes, of which about 800 were destroyed at 66 airfields attacked by Luftwaffe crews. One of the most effective raids that was made by the crews of the twin-engine �Tstershteors� from Group II of the ZG 26 squadron was a morning strike on the border airfields in the vicinity of Grodno.

Formed in 1939, the second group of the ZG 26 squadron at the time of the invasion of the Soviet Union was one of the best parts of the heavy Luftwaffe fighters. Her crews went through a French campaign, fought in the battle for England and in the spring campaign of 1941 in Greece and the Balkans.

On the left is Commander II./ZG 26, Hauptmann Ralph von R�ttberg in the Messerschmitt booth, on the right is Squadron Commander 5./ZG 26, Lieutenant Theodore RosSival, one of the most successful instructors. He won the first two victories during the Spanish Civil War, and by June 22, 1941, he had already 13 confirmed applications. On the Eastern Front, until August 6, Rosival declared another 7 victories, after which he was awarded the Knight's Cross

On the left is Commander II./ZG 26, Hauptmann Ralph von R�ttberg in the Messerschmitt booth, on the right is Squadron Commander 5./ZG 26, Lieutenant Theodore RosSival, one of the most successful instructors. He won the first two victories during the Spanish Civil War, and by June 22, 1941, he had already 13 confirmed applications. On the Eastern Front, until August 6, Rosival declared another 7 victories, after which he was awarded the Knight's Cross

The group was commanded by a 30-year-old Hauptman Ralph von Rettberg (Hptm. Ralph von Rettberg), who was awarded the Knight's Cross for recent successes only on 14 June. Squadron 4./ZG 26 was headed by Chief Lieutenant Reinhold Heubel (Oblt. Reinhold Heubel), 5./ZG 26 - Chief Lieutenant Theodore Rossival (Oblt. Theodor Rossiwall), and 6./ZG 26 - Haupt Johannes von Rihtgofen (Hauptmann Johannes von Rihtgofen) Johannes von Richthofen. On the morning of June 22, the group consisted of 36 Bf 110C / E fighters, of which 30 were operational.

Crews of the group were prepared both to act as fighters and attack aircraft, and in both cases they were extremely dangerous adversaries - it was not for nothing that in the battle with the Messerschmitts from II./ZG 26 over Greece, the best ace of the British Commonwealth Marmaduke Pettle was shot down and killed.

Bf 110 with the onboard code 3U + CM, which allegedly belonged to the commander 4./ZG 26, Lieutenant Reinhold Hejbel, one of the most successful pilots II./ZG 26. The marks of nine air victories

The actions on ground targets, including on airfields, were well-developed by the Germans, both during training sessions and during numerous attack flights of French, English, Yugoslav and Greek airfields. In addition to the standard powerful offensive weapons of the Bf 110, consisting of two 20 mm MG-FF cannons and four 7.92 mm MG-17 machine guns, under the fuselage on the ETS-500 pylon it was possible to hang two bombs of 250 or 500 kg, and aircraft modification Bf 110E-2 had wing assemblies for four 50-kg bombs, or 96 two-kilogram fragmentation mine bombs SD-2, especially effective when attacking unarmored vehicles or aircraft at parking.

On the crest of the second wave

The first flight on the Eastern Front, the group's aircraft made in the early morning to attack the Soviet airfields in Lithuania. Parts of the Luftwaffe Air Corps VIII operated at the junction of the Soviet Western and Northwestern Fronts and worked against the Soviet Air Force in both the Baltic States and Belarus.

By 09: 30-10: 00 (hereinafter Moscow time), incessant strikes were knocked out from the leading airfields and all four fighter regiments of the 9th GARDEN and 122nd IAP of the 11th GARDEN suffered heavy losses. After that, the remnants of the 41st, 124th, 126th and 129th IAP were transferred to the airfields around Bialystok, and the 122nd IAP - to Lida and Lesishche. The Luftwaffe suffered blows to airfields in the depths of Soviet territory, along the line Lida - Belostok - Pinsk.

Reconstruction of Bf 110 �3U + CM� from 4./ZG 26 from the previous photo (by artist Igor Zlobin)

Approximately at 09:30 the cars II./ZG 26 were prepared for the next flight. The objectives for the Messerschmitt with the wooden shoe emblem on the fuselage were to be the airfields of the 127th IAP and the 16th SBAP of the 11th SAD in Skidel and Cherlen, as well as the 13th SBAP of the 9th SAD in Borisovshchyzna (everything 40 km southeast of Grodno). At 09:35, all the combat aircraft of the group started at the Suwalki airfield - about 30 Bf 110. Further events from the German side are described in the diary of Chief Lieutenant Kiel: �Soviet aircraft were on the airfield in line, as on a parade, ready to fly. We dived and, dropping bombs, began to shoot them from onboard weapons. The attack was stopped only after the fire was raging everywhere. From 40 to 50 aircraft were destroyed on the airfield, their cover was destroyed, and the runway was littered with craters. After that, we flew to a different airfield, and, since all the bombs had been spent, the attack was made from an onboard weapon, descending on a shaver. At the third airport was the same: the planes were in line - after a few minutes, black clouds rose up ... "

According to Soviet data, at about 10:00 am, the airfield of Borisovshchina attacked 34 Bf 110. As a result of the bombing attack and attack ground, 33 SB and Ar-2 bomber were seriously damaged. Part of the personnel, including navigators Lieutenant Ya.V. Laptev and lieutenant V.M. Yartsev, as well as radio operators junior sergeants A.A. Kondakov, I.P. Ryabchenko, O.I. Pryadkin tried to fire back from turret machine guns, but they died from the bullets and shells of the enemy. During the raid, one Ar-2 and two SBs were able to take to the air and fly to the rear airfields. The 13th SBAP after this raid lost its combat capability and did not conduct hostilities.

Aircraft Ar-2 and SB 13th SBAP, destroyed June 22 at the airport Borisovshchizna

Further, the German crews ironed out the nearby Cherlen and Skidel airfields. In Cherlen were finished off the aircraft of the 16th SBAP, which had previously been raided. The attack of the airfield with 37 aircraft identified as Ju 88, around 10:00 am, is also confirmed by Soviet documents. The total losses of the 16th SBAP on the ground are estimated at 11 Pe-2 and 20 SB, some of which were probably finished off by ground attack II./ZG 26. Skidel airfield was the base airfield of the 127th IAP, but the regiment was still in early June he relocated to the field airfield Lesishche, and in Skidel there were mostly defective airplanes and part of the training machines. The photographs of the airfield, made by German soldiers, you can count at least 10 destroyed and damaged I-153.

The troops of the 3rd Army of the Western Front stationed in the Grodno region and the surrounding airfields were attacked by German aircraft from 04:00, so information about the actions of II./ZG 26 aircraft was immediately transferred to Lesishche airfield, which was 12-15 km east of the attacked airfields . According to the combat logbook of the 127th IAP, as early as 10:00 am, the interception of German aircraft, identified as Do 215 and Bf 110, began to take off all the combat-ready Chaika.

Pe-2 and SB airplanes of the 16th SBAP, destroyed June 22 at Cherlena airfield

The first to start were nine I-153s of the 2nd Squadron of the 127th IAP, which were led by the Deputy Commissar Lieutenant G.A. Kupcha. At 10:10, the Soviet group engaged in battle with 30 German aircraft and lost three fighters in a 20-minute battle. Lieutenant N.N. perished. Mikhailov and Junior Lieutenant I.G. Markin, and Lieutenant R.I. Varaksin made a forced landing with a severe wound. Soviet pilots did not claim victories.

Five minutes later, the I-153 3rd Squadron entered the battle, led by Lieutenant S.Ya. Zhukovsky. According to the results of the 15-minute battle, personal victories over Bf 110 were counted as group leader and junior lieutenant B.A. Fokin. At 10:20, two triples from the 4th squadron (leading senior politruk, AA Artyomov, and senior lieutenant, PA Kuzmin) approached, at the expense of which they brought one group victory.

I-153 aircraft of the 127th IAP, destroyed on June 22 at the Skidel airfield

At about the same time, eight I-153s from the 1st Squadron, led by the Deputy Commissar Junior Lieutenant S.S. Deryugin. After patrolling over Grodno, they returned to the airfield and stumbled upon a fight by chance. Deryugin claimed victory over Do 215, but the senior political officer, AS, did not return to the airfield. Danilov. This group participated in the battle for a very short time, because at the time of the battle it was in the air for more than an hour, and at 10:25 the 1st Squadron fighters had already landed on their airfield.

The last in the battle with II./ZG 26 were three �Seagulls� from the 1st squadron, led by junior lieutenant A.I. Druzhkov, who changed the eight of Deryugin over Grodno. Apparently, the Germans had already run out of ammunition, so the link, having patched another 20 minutes, landed at Leshche at 11:00 without a loss.

Event reconstruction

Unfortunately, no serious descriptions of the battle were compiled by the Soviet side. Perhaps the only thing mentioned in the documents on enemy tactics is that their planes formed a defensive circle, which the Soviet fighters managed to break.

The squadron commander ZG 26 Oberst Johann Schalk discusses the details of the departure with Chief Lieutenant Theodore Rossival

Some details of the battle are described in the article �The Six Air Attacks of Stalin's Falcons� on the actions of the 127th IAP in the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda of August 28, 1941: �The squadron of Lieutenant Kupch flew first in alarm. The meeting with the enemy occurred near the city itself. A hot air fight ensued. On the side of the enemy there was a double numerical superiority, but this confused our fighters a little. They boldly went to the frontal attacks, went to the fascist vultures in the tail, fell upon them from above. Due to downed enemy aircraft opened Junior Lieutenant Derugin. It happened like this. Three Messerschmitt began to press against the squadron commander's car. Lieutenant Kupcha was in a closed circle. But then Deryugin arrived. He attacked one of the "Messerschmitts" at the time of his entry into the tail of the command vehicle. The Messerschmitt began to smoke and fall down. The remaining two hurriedly left the battle ... "

On the German side, combat can only be judged by the records of Chief Lieutenant Kiel: �The radio operator shouted again:� Attention! Enemy airplanes on the left! �So, the enemy aircraft were already here. But that didn't matter. At the bottom everything was on fire, explosions and clouds of fire were visible, billowing higher and higher. As in a dream, we saw one of our cars with a train of smoke. He was struck by the enemy and was pulling home, but he was losing altitude, and finally he crashed. At this point, the overall responsibility lay with the group commander, who was supposed to maintain composure and leadership, returning the crews to the base. On the way back we examined our cars more carefully. Most of the aircraft had hits, but the engines, oil and temperature were in order. The results of the attack were impressive: 48 planes were destroyed on the ground, three in the air, and only one of our aircraft was lost ... "

Judging by the reports drawn up in hot pursuit, the Soviet pilots decided that they were attacking a group of German bombers. This circumstance, as well as the fact that the �Seagulls� engaged in small groups, did not allow the pilots of the 127th IAP to win the battle, although it would seem that the pilots of the maneuverable I-153 had every chance in a classic �dog dump� In defense of Soviet pilots, it can be recalled that for most of them this battle was the first in their lives.

In addition, each plane carried the emblem of its staffel: 4./ZG 26 - ladybird, 5./ZG 26 - ace of spades, 6./ZG 26 - ace of diamonds (artist Igor Zlobin)

Nine �Gulls� of the 2nd Squadron, attacking 30 Bf 110, had little chance of success, and, judging by the article in �Red Star�, Soviet fighters could attack head-on and immediately lose three planes in this unfavorable direction of attack . Further, with the approach of reinforcements of the 3rd and 4th squadrons, the Germans closed the defensive circle and began to drag themselves in a westerly direction. Before the battle, they stormed the airfields for at least 10 minutes, and, probably, their ammunition was coming to an end.

We must pay tribute to the Soviet pilots - they apparently managed to break through the German order of battle and, perhaps, even break the circle, but this did not lead to a rout. On the contrary, the Germans knocked out another I-153 and left in the direction of their airfield Suwalki. Ober-Lieutenant Kiel writes about the fact that Soviet pilots managed to shoot down one German aircraft, but this is not confirmed by German documents.

Fighters I-153 127th IAP. The regiment airplanes had the tactical numbers color system, presumably: 1st squadron - red, 2nd squadron - blue, 3rd squadron - black, 4th squadron - white - Strike "wooden shoe"

Fighters I-153 127th IAP. The regiment airplanes had the tactical numbers color system, presumably: 1st squadron - red, 2nd squadron - blue, 3rd squadron - black, 4th squadron - white Having flown over Grodno, the Germans were subjected to an inconclusive attack by a patrolling junior lieutenant Druzhkov, who was very lucky: the Germans flying past did not have projectiles and cartridges, otherwise the I-153 troop attack could not end well for the latter.

The crews of II./ZG 26 on this flight were highly professional. During one sortie, about 50 aircraft were destroyed on the ground, including the completely destroyed 13th SBAP. In addition, experienced German crews withstood a heavy 20-minute maneuverable battle and not only repelled all the attacks of the Soviet pilots, but also shot down two and also damaged two more �Seagulls�, managing to escape without loss. It was these highly effective actions that allowed the Luftwaffe air corps to join the 9th, 10th, and 11th SAD units by the middle of the first day of the war and gain complete air supremacy for a long time.

Web Reference: https://warspot.ru/10786-udar-derevyannogo-bashmaka