The Kuban Air Battles

A. I. Pokryshkin, left.

"Achtung! Achtung! Pokryshkin is in the air!" these words made German pilots feel panic. Nobody wanted to meet him in one-to-one fighting.

A. I. Pokryshkin became famous during the battles in Kuban, in spring 1943. Air battles in Kuban air were the most severe in the history of the World War II. Battles were going the whole days and as sky was black from such number of planes. German historians admitted that Kuban battles marked the beginning of crash of fascists aviation.

A. I. Pokryshkin worked out new tactics of air battle, they were sent to all other air armies and adopted by pilots. There, in Kuban, his famous formula was born: " Height, speed, maneuver, fire!" A. I. Pokryshkin also introduced a new system of teaching of young pilots that was more successful than the older one.

According to the last archive investigations, A. I. Pokryshkin destroyed 116 German planes. He was the first person to get the status of the Hero of the Soviet Union 3 times! A. I. Pokryshkin is considered as one of the best pilots of the World War II. After the war he became the marshall of aviation. A. I. Pokryshkin is the author of 4 books about aviation and the war.

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The German-held Kuban bridgehead, situated along the Taman peninsula, was an area of extreme importance to both sides. The Germans saw the region as essential to protecting the eastern approaches to the Crimea , whereas the Soviets viewed the bridgehead as a launch-point for another possible German offensive into the northern Caucasus . Unlike Stalingrad, Kursk or even Operation Bagration, the campaign is almost unknown in the West, probably due to the fact that there were no real breakthroughs on the ground, no encirclements, no capitulation of German armies. At best, it was a set of limited ground offensives during the boggy months of spring.

However, the air battles over the Kuban sector were pivotal to the growth of the VVS as the offensive long-arm of the Red Army, sending a clear message to the Luftwaffe: the VVS was about to return what it had received. In fact, Soviet historians hold this two-month air campaign in early 1943 to be as important to the war effort as the Americans do the battle of Midway. It was a battle fought with such intensity that General K. V. Vershinin, the main Soviet air commander of the sector, claimed on some days he could see an aircraft fall every ten minutes, and it was not unusual for as many as 100 air battles to take place in a day.

The German Fourth Luftflotte (Air Fleet), which included Fourth the elite Udet, Molders and Green Hearts JGs (Jagdgeschwader, equivalents of Groups), was responsible for this area, while its Soviet counterparts were primarily the and Fifth Air Armies, along with three air corps from STAVKA reserves. Both air forces were roughly equal in size at about 1000 combat aircraft each. The Luftwaffe fighter units were mainly equipped with Bf 109 G 2/-4's and Fw 190 A's, while the VVS possessed a mixture of the latest Yakovlev and Lavochkin fighters, along with large numbers of 11-2 Sturmoviks and Pe-2 bombers. In addition, there was a steady flow of lend-lease aircraft: P-39's, A-20's, P-40's and even Spitfire V's. Though Soviet pilots found the Spitfire a disappointment (it looked too much like a Bf 109 and was very vulnerable to groundfire), they flew the P-39 with great elan during the battle. In fact, two pilots of 16 GvIAP (Gvardeiskii Istrebitelnii Aviatsionnii Polk, or Guards Fighter Air Regiment), A. I. Pokryshkin and his squadron mate G. A.Rechkalov, were very successful flying the P-39-the former claiming 20 kills during the battle.

Phase 1: Myskhako

The battle began April 17, 1943 when the German Seventeenth Army launched Operation Neptune, focused upon the Soviet beachhead at Myskhako. German Ju 87's tried to dislodge the Soviets and initially the divebombers were unopposed, but within three days VVS fighters arrived to stop the attacks. Though Soviet fighter pilots claimed 182 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed in the following week, the losses were considerable for both sides. In the end, Soviet resistance was so stiff the Wehrmacht was forced to abandon its attack.

Phase 2: Krymskaya

The second phase of the battle began when the Soviet 56th Army launched a major ground offensive on April 29. The objective was to establish a breakthrough corridor to Anapa, a coastal town deep in the German rear on the Black Sea. The offensive began around the village of Krymskaya , which had great strategic value due to its position north of Novorossisk and close to a key railroad junction. By this time the VVS had considerable numerical superiority, so much so that the Luftwaffe lost an average of 17 fighters a day up to May 10th; in total some 368 German aircraft were claimed by the VVS. However, once again the Soviet air force was also paying a heavy price in aircraft losses, and by May 9 / 10 the Luftwaffe had actually regained air superiority over Krymskaya. After the Soviet 56th Army made only limited gains, a two-week lull ensued.

Phase 3: Blue Line

On May 26th, the Soviet offensive was renewed along the fortified German "Blue Line" with a powerful armored infantry thrust. Within hours of the Soviet assault, the Germans launched a determined counterattack that soon stalled the Soviet drive. As a result, more than 100 Soviet tanks were lost on the first day. In the air, the response from both sides was immediate and uncompromising. The VVS had launched a preparatory raid of 338 aircraft. The Germans responded with up to 1,500 sorties on the same day. German sources state that the VVS lost 350 combat aircraft on May 26th alone, but overall air losses to the Luftwaffe were so severe that they discontinued active air engagements in the area on June 7th. During this third phase of the campaign many reputations were made: the Glinka brothers, Dmitrii and Boris, scored 21 and 10 victories respectively in the Kuban , A. L. Prukozchikov-20, V. I. Fadeyev-15, N. E. Lavitsky-15, D. I. Koval-13, V. I. Fedorenko-13 and P. M. Berestnev-12.

On July 5, 1943 German operation Zitadelle began, only to be called off by Hitler twelve days later after German forces suffered substantial losses in their advance. The Soviets quickly seized the initiative, beginning their counteroffensive just as the German offensive was stalling. This turn of events did not bode well for the Germans deployed in the Kuban Bridgehead, especially after the Soviets occupied all land routes to the Crimea by October 13, 1943. That same month, the Kuban Bridgehead was evacuated by German forces.

Major air campaign that marked the shift from German to Soviet air superiority on the Eastern Front during World War II. During April and May 1943, as the Germans struggled for their last North Caucasus foothold, Luftflotte 4 (Fourth Air Force) clashed with the Soviet 4 and 5 Air Armies, the Black Sea Fleet Aviation, and Long Range Aviation. Air activity was intense, often seeing as many as 100 air combats a day.

German forces began with about 900 aircraft, including the latest models of the Bf 109G and the Hs 129, and featured some of their top units, including Jagdgeschwader 52 with Erich Hartmann. The Soviets began with about 600 aircraft, swelling to 1,150 in May. The Soviets also committed their newest aircraft, including the first use in the south of the Douglas A-20, as well as the Bell P-39D, flown by Aleksandr Pokryshkin’s air division.

The Soviets showed a new aggressiveness in flying offensive fighter sweeps, and they introduced new tactics, including German-style four-plane formations and Pokryshkin’s Kuban Ladder, a stacked formation. Also playing a distinguished role was the Soviet women’s night-bomber regiment. The campaign ended suddenly on 7 June, at which point the Soviets had claimed 1,100 German aircraft destroyed; the Germans claimed 2,280 victories, but the tide of the air war had turned against them.

References Hardesty, Von. Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power, 1941–1945. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982.