Furious Gulaev. The history of the most effective pilot of the Second World War

The Air Force plays one of the key roles during any war. Sometimes a well-timed sortie of aircraft can change the outcome of a battle. However, the air "machines" themselves will not do anything without competent pilots. Among these pilots there are also those who deserve the title of "ace pilot", for a large number of destroyed enemy aircraft. Such pilots were in the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich.

1. Erich Hartmann

The most successful Nazi fighter pilot was Erich Hartmann. He was also recognized as the most productive pilot of all time. world history aviation. Taking part in the battles on the side of Germany, he made 1404 sorties, as a result of which he scored 352 victories over the enemy, most of them - 347 - were shot down Soviet planes. Eric won these victories, taking part in 802 battles with the enemy. Hartman shot down the last enemy aircraft on May 8, 1945.

Eric came from a middle class family with two sons. The younger brother was also a Luftwaffe pilot. Eric's mother was also fond of aviation, and was among the first women to sit at the helm of an airplane. The family even had a light aircraft, but it had to be sold due to lack of money in the family. Soon his mother arranged a flight school, where Eric was trained. Soon he becomes an instructor in the Hitler Youth.

In 1939, he entered the gymnasium in Korntal, where his sniper abilities were revealed, and at the end of his studies he was an excellent fighter pilot. In the autumn of 1942, after completing his studies, he was sent to North Caucasus. Because of the youth appearance received the nickname "Kid" among the pilots. Eric shot down the first enemy aircraft already in November 1942, but the most productive for him was Battle of Kursk, in September 1943, he accounted for about ninety downed aircraft.

His victories were often questioned by the Luftwaffe and were rechecked three or four times, and during the flight he was followed by an observer aircraft. For his numerous victories, Hartmann was awarded the highest orders and medals in Germany. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. After the war, he ended up in a Soviet camp, where he had to stay for ten years, after returning he served in the German aviation, and died in 1993.

2. Gerhard Barkhorn

The second place in the number of downed enemy aircraft belongs to Gerhard Barkhorn. During his combat career, he made more than 1100 sorties, and destroyed 301 enemy aircraft, he made all his productive sorties during the battles with the Soviet Union. Gerhard's flying career began after he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937.

He made his first flight as a fighter pilot in May 1940 during the fighting in France. Barkhorn made his first successful flight in the Eastern direction in July 1941. From that moment on, he becomes a real “master of the sky.” And at the end of 1942, he already had 100 downed aircraft on his account. After the downing of the 250th aircraft, Gerhard is awarded the Knight's Cross, later oak leaves and Swords are added to this award. However, he never received the highest award for downed three hundred aircraft - Diamonds to the Knight's Cross - since he was transferred to the Western Front in the winter of 1945, which happened a couple of days after the downed three hundredth aircraft.

On the Western front he led JG 6, but did not make a single successful sortie. In April, Barkhorn was transferred to a jet plane, he was soon wounded, captured by the Allied forces, but in 1946 he was released. Soon he entered the military service in Germany, where he remained until 1976. Gerhard Berkhorn died in 1983 as a result of a car accident.

3. Gunther Rall

As part of the 52nd fighter squadron, where Hartman and Barkhorn served, the third-ranked ace pilot Günter Rall also served. He flew a Misserschmitt, with personal number 13. Having made 621 sorties, Gunther was able to destroy 275 enemy aircraft, most in the Soviet direction and only three on the Western Front. His plane was shot down eight times, and the pilot himself was wounded three times.

On the military service Rall entered in 1936, and initially he joined an infantry regiment, but soon transferred to the Luftwaffe. He took part in the war from the beginning of the French campaign, and already in May 1940 he shot down the first Curtis -36 fighter, after a couple of days he already had two aircraft. At the beginning of the summer of 1941, he was transferred to the Eastern Front, and in November 1941, having already scored 35 sorties in his account, he was seriously wounded. It took nine months to recover from the wound, leaving the hospital, Rall received a knight's cross for 65 downed aircraft, and two months later, Oak Leaves from the Fuhrer's hands were added to it, for 100 victories.

A year later, in the summer of 1943, Gunther became the commander of the third group, and at the end of the summer he received the Swords to his Knight's Cross for 200 destroyed aircraft. In the spring, Gunther already had 273 downed aircraft on his account. In April, he was appointed commander of the second group in the air defense of the Third Reich, being in this position, Gunther shot down two more aircraft, and in mid-May 1944, during the reflection of the first massive American fighter raid on the Reich oil complex, Rall shot down his last plane. During this battle, the ace pilot is seriously injured, as a result of which he was forbidden to fly, so he moves to the position of head of the school of fighter pilots.

After the surrender of Germany, Gunther had to work in industry for some time, and later he entered the service in the German aviation. While serving in the Air Force, he took part in the development of the F-104 fighter. Military career Günther Rall graduated in 1975 as a member of the NATO military committee. Rall is the only German pilot ace to survive the 20th century and died in 2009.

4. Otto Kittel

German fighter pilot Otto Kittel is the fourth-ranked aces of the Luftwaffe. He has five hundred and eighty-three sorties with a score of 267 victories. He entered the history of the Luftwaffe as the fighter that destroyed the largest number of IL-2s, only ninety-four aircraft. Kittel was born in the town of Kronsdorf, and in 1939 he entered the Luftwaffe, where he soon received the rank of non-commissioned officer. For the first time at the helm of a fighter aircraft, he took part in a battle in April 1941 in Yugoslavia, but Otto was plagued by failures, it was not possible to shoot down enemy aircraft, and at the end of May, during a takeoff, the engine failed, Otto ejected.

From the first days of the opening of the Eastern Front, he was transferred by the leadership there. And two days later he shot down his first two SB-2 aircraft. A couple of days later, two more Il-2s were shot down. For his achievements, downing 12 aircraft, at the end of 1941 he was presented to the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class. In 1942, he was already flying as a wingman, and at the end of the year he had more than twenty successful attacks. In February 1943, he received the Golden German Cross for forty downed aircraft. In March 1943, during an air battle, his aircraft engine failed, and he landed it on the territory of the USSR near Lake Ilmen. Whatever to be captured, Kittel walked more than sixty kilometers in the cold and forded the river, but still got to his troops.

In the autumn of 1943, he was sent as an instructor to France, he already had 130 downed aircraft on his account, but in 1944 he was returned to the Soviet direction. After the score of his victories in the autumn reached 200, he was sent on leave already in the rank of lieutenant. For all the time of his service, his plane was twice shot down by the enemy. At the beginning, 1945 in the Baltic States, he was shot down for the third time, the plane fell into a swamp, Kittel did not have time to eject, as he died while still in the air. For his victories he was awarded the German Gold Cross, and the Knight's Cross with Swords and Oak Leaves.

5. Walter Nowotny

Closes the top five German pilots - aces Walter Novotny. His personal record is 258 downed aircraft, for this he needed 442 sorties, 255 aircraft were shot down on the Eastern Front. His flying career began on a twin-engine bomber, later he took control of a four-engine one, and shot down the last three aircraft on Me.262 jet fighters. He is the first pilot in the history of aviation to shoot down 250 enemy aircraft. In his personal piggy bank is the Knight's Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds.

Walter came from a family of an employee, in 1939 he volunteered for the Luftwaffe, initially he wanted to be a simple pilot, but he was recommended for training as a fighter. During 1939 -1941 he rose to the rank of major and served as commander of one of the fighter aviation units. Walter's first sorties were unsuccessful, for which he even received the playful nickname "Quax", but he opened a personal account with three planes at once, but he himself was shot down, this happened in July 1941.

However, a year later, he had fifty downed aircraft on his account, and in the middle of 1943 their number exceeded one hundred. Nowotny produced his last hundred downed aircraft in just over seventy days, and by October 1944 he had set a record of 250 aircraft destroyed. Novatna's last flight took place in November 1944. On that day, he received orders to intercept two United States bombers. It is not completely clear what happened in the sky, so he shot down two enemy planes and reported that his plane was also on fire, the connection was cut off, and the plane crashed near the city of Bramsche.

Although in itself a rough count of the number of downed enemy aircraft cannot serve as a measure of the pilot's skill. Without questioning the number of downed aircraft, in this article we are talking specifically about the best aces of the Luftwaffe of Germany.

Of course, there will be articles about our Russian pilots, who, without such impressive scores, were undoubtedly the best aces of the Second World War.
The contribution of our grandfathers to the victory is much more significant than the Western allies.
45 0000 Enemy AIRCRAFT WERE DESTROYED EXACTLY BY OUR PILOT, against 25 000 shot down by our Western allies. And so that these numbers are not just numbers, a small digression.
The most effective fought on the eastern front, equipped the best aces of the German Luftwaffe was the air group JG54.
At the beginning of the war on June 22, 1941, this elite unit "Green Heart" had 112 pilots of the highest flight qualification. By the end of the war, of these aces pilots, only four remained alive.
For reference, the table of victories and losses of the Luftwaffe.

There were about 2,500 aces - pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft. And the most successful Allied pilot, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, shot down 62 German aircraft, while the personal account of eight German pilots exceeded 100 aircraft. This partly explains the fact that Luftwaffe pilots fought continuously for years, unlike opponents, who, as usual, were shot down after 30-40 sorties.

Walter Novotny, 1920-1944, Günther Rall, Heinrich zu Sein-Wittgenstein

Walter Nowotny became the first fighter pilot to score 250 downed aircraft in 442 sorties. In February 1944, he was transferred from the Eastern Front to lead a flight school. He was then given command of the world's first jet aircraft unit. On November 8, 1944, he flew out on his Me-262 against a group of bombers. The jet plane was shot down in battle, Novotny's parachute did not fully open.

Erich - "Bubi" Hartman,
1922-1993 on the left, and commander Gerhard Barkhorn

The best ace of the Luftwaffe , the most successful fighter pilot in history, scored 352 victories in 1,425 sorties. Notably, he won most of his victories in the last two years of the war.
His plane was hit 16 times, he was parachuted twice, but he was never wounded himself.
After receiving ten years of strict regime, after his release, he returns to the Air Force and becomes the commander of the first wing of jet aircraft in Germany.

Hans Schnaufer, 1922-1950 With 126 victories, Schnaufer became the highest scoring night fighter ace in the world. Known as the "Night Ghost", he flew the Me-110, and his squadron shot down about 700 Allied bombers. His fighter with victory marks was put on display in Hyde Park after the war.
Schnaufer died in car accident near Biaritz.

Joachim Marseille, 1920-1942

The most talented ace, seven of his 158 victories were in North Africa. He was awarded with diamonds to the Knight's Cross after the destruction of 17 (!) British aircraft in one day. On September 30, 1942, the engine of his Bf-109G-2 caught fire. Marseille directed the aircraft away from its territory. Then he left the car. Having hit the tail of the plane, in an unconscious state, he never opened his parachute.

Adolf Galland, 1911-1994

Galland honed his skills in Spain, flying 280 sorties with the Condor Legion. He switched from attack aircraft to fighter and became an ace in the Battle of Britain, achieving 57 victories. Appointed inspector general of fighter aircraft after the death of Werner Moldepca in 1941 he had 96 victories and continued to personally fly on fighter operations against orders.He was known for his penchant for fine brandy, expensive cigars, and women who were attracted to his fame.After dismissed by Hitler as a "scapegoat" for German air defense failures , he commanded a squadron of jet fighters. Their belated success proved that Galland was right in defending their production in his time.

Werner Mölders, 1913-1941

Upon entering, Mölders became an ace with 14 victories in the Condor Legion. He is also the first fighter pilot to achieve 100 victories during World War II. An outstanding leader and super pilot, Mölders created a new fighter combat tactic that Luftwaffe a clear advantage over the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain He became the first person to be awarded the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross and the Oak Leaves and Swords in 1941. Appointed Fighter Air Inspector in 1941, died in a plane crash en route to the funeral of General Ernst Udet .

Most of the names from the list of pilot-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 productive pilots can envy.

Better than 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 national history. Kozhedub and Pokryshkin are the most productive Soviet fighter pilots. On account of the first 64 enemy aircraft shot down personally, on account of the second - 59 personal victories, and he shot down 6 more aircraft in the group.
The name of the third most successful Soviet pilot is known only to aviation lovers. Nikolai Gulaev during the war years destroyed 57 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in the group.
An interesting detail - Kozhedub needed 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 by carrying out 290 sorties and conducting 69 air battles.
Moreover, according to 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 machine.
Fans of military statistics have calculated that the efficiency ratio, that is, the ratio of air battles and victories, Nikolai Gulaev was 0.82. For comparison, it was 0.51 for Ivan Kozhedub, and for Hitler's ace Erich Hartman, who officially shot down the most aircraft during the Second world war, - 0,4.
At the same time, people who knew Gulaev and fought with him claimed that he generously recorded many of his victories on the followers, helping them receive orders and money - Soviet pilots were paid for each downed enemy aircraft. Some believe that total number aircraft shot down by Gulaev could reach 90, which, however, today cannot be confirmed or denied.

Don guy.
About Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub, three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, air marshals, many books have been written, many films have been shot.
Nikolai Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was close to the third "Gold Star", but he never received it and did not go to the marshals, 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 background 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 too well 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 Aksay, 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 and studied at the flying club. This passion 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.

Reprimand complete with award.
Gulaev ended up at the front 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 a permit for night flights, and when on August 3, 1942, Nazi planes appeared in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bresponsibility of the regiment where the young pilot served, experienced pilots went into the sky. But then the mechanic urged Nikolai:
- What are you waiting for? The plane is ready, fly!
Gulaev, determined to prove that he was no worse than the "old men", jumped into the cockpit and took off. And in the first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, he destroyed a German bomber. When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the general who arrived said: “For the fact that I flew out without permission, I announce a reprimand, but for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I increase my rank and present for a reward.”

Nugget.
His star shone especially brightly during the battles on 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. Having shot down two "Junkers", Gulaev tried to attack the third, but the cartridges ran out. Without hesitating for a second, the pilot went to ram, shooting down another bomber. Gulaev's uncontrolled "Yak" went into a tailspin. The pilot managed to level the plane and land it at the front edge, but on its own territory. Arriving at the regiment, Gulaev again flew on a combat mission on another plane.
In early July 1943, Gulaev, as part of four Soviet fighters, using the element of surprise, attacked the 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, July 7 - three enemy aircraft were shot down as part of the group, July 8 - Me-109 was shot down" , July 12 - two Yu-87s were shot down.
Hero of the Soviet Union Fyodor Arkhipenko, who happened to command the squadron where Gulaev served, wrote about him: “He was a nugget pilot, one of the top ten aces of the country. He never hesitated, he quickly assessed the situation, his sudden and effective attack created panic and destroyed the enemy’s battle formation, which disrupted his targeted bombing of our troops. He was very brave and decisive, often came to the rescue, sometimes he felt the real excitement of a hunter.

Flying Stenka Razin.
On September 28, 1943, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev 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 quite 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 cockpit of the wingman. The fear of the subordinate was taken away as if by hand ...
The same Fyodor Arkhipenko in his memoirs described another characteristic episode related to Gulaev: “Flying up to the airfield, I immediately saw from the air that Gulaev’s plane was empty ... After landing, I was informed that all six of Gulaev were shot down! Nikolai himself, wounded, sat down at the airfield with attack aircraft, and nothing is known about the rest of the pilots. Some time later, they reported from the front line: two jumped out of planes and landed at the location of our troops, the fate of three more is unknown ... And today, after many years, I see the main mistake of Gulaev, made then, in what he took with him in combat the flight of three young, not at all shelled pilots at once, who were shot down in their first battle. True, Gulaev himself scored 4 air victories that day at once, shooting down 2 Me-109, Yu-87 and Henschel.
He was not afraid to risk himself, but he risked his subordinates with the same ease, which at times looked completely unjustified. The pilot Gulaev did not look like the “air Kutuzov”, but rather like the dashing Stenka Razin, who mastered the 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 Aircobra fighters, Nikolai Gulaev attacked 27 enemy bombers, accompanied by 8 fighters. In 4 minutes, 11 enemy vehicles were destroyed, 5 of them personally by Gulaev.
In March 1944, the pilot received a short leave home. From this trip to the Don, he returned closed, taciturn, bitter. He rushed into battle furiously, with some transcendent fury. During a trip home, Nikolai learned that during the occupation, his father was executed by the Nazis ...

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 occurs, about which Gulaev frankly told his friends after the war, an episode that perfectly shows his violent nature, a native of the Don. The fact that he became twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the pilot learned after the next flight. Brother-soldiers have already gathered at the airfield, who said: the award should be “washed”, there is alcohol, but there are problems with the snack.
Gulaev remembered that when he returned to the airfield, he saw grazing pigs. With the words "there will be a snack," the ace boards the plane again and, after a few minutes, puts it near the barns, to the amazement of the owner of the pigs.
As already mentioned, the pilots were paid for downed planes, so Nikolai had no problems with cash. The owner willingly agreed to sell the boar, which was loaded with difficulty into the fighting vehicle. By some miracle, the pilot took off from a very small platform along with a boar distraught with horror. A combat aircraft is not designed for the fact that a plump pig will dance inside it. Gulaev had difficulty keeping the plane in the air...
If a catastrophe had happened that day, it would probably have been 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 the 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 the one who managed to interrupt his brilliant career. Apparently, the German expected to see a stately handsome man, a “Russian bear”, who is not shameful to lose ... But instead, a young, short, overweight captain Gulaev came, who, by the way, in the regiment did not have the heroic nickname “Kolobok” at all. The disappointment of the Germans knew no bounds...

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 proved themselves in the Great Patriotic War must graduate from the Air Force Academy in order to then take leadership positions in the Air Force and Air Defense.
Gulaev was among those who were called to Moscow. He himself did not rush to the academy, he asked to be left in the army, but was refused. On August 12, 1944, Nikolai Gulaev shot down his last Focke-Wulf 190.
And then there was a story that, most likely, became 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 focus on the one that occurs most often.
According to her, Nikolai Gulaev, by that time already a major, was called to Moscow not only to study at the academy, but also to receive the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Given the combat achievements of the pilot, this version does not look implausible. In the company of Gulaev, there were other honored aces who were waiting for the award.
The day before the ceremony in the Kremlin, Gulaev went to the restaurant of the Moskva Hotel, where his fellow pilots were relaxing. However, the restaurant was full, and the administrator said: "Comrade, there is no place for you!". It was not worth talking like that to Gulaev with his explosive character, but then, unfortunately, he also came across the Romanian military, who at that moment were also relaxing in the restaurant. Shortly before this, Romania, which had been an ally of Germany since the beginning of the war, went over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The enraged Gulaev said loudly: “Is it that there is no place for the Hero of the Soviet Union, but are there enemies?”
The words of the pilot were heard by the Romanians, and one of them issued an insulting phrase in Russian to Gulaev. A second later, the Soviet ace was near the Romanian and relish hit him in the face.
Less than a minute later, 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 Romanian military delegation. 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 Americans, most likely, the case for Gulaev would have ended quite badly. But the leader of all peoples did not break the life of his ace because of yesterday's opponents. Gulaev was simply sent to a unit, away from the front, the Romanians and, in general, any attention. But how true this version is is unknown.

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 Academy of the General Staff. He commanded the 133rd Aviation Fighter Division, located in Yaroslavl, the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Rzhev, 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 Ira, was a passionate fisherman, loved to treat guests with personally salted watermelons...
He also visited pioneer camps, participated in various veteran events, but still there was a feeling that an order had been given from above, saying modern language, do not promote his persona too much.
Actually, there were reasons for this even at a time when Gulaev was already wearing the general's shoulder straps. For example, he could use his power to invite Vladimir Vysotsky to a speech at the House of Officers 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 retired 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 the Romanians, but with the Norwegians. Allegedly, General Gulaev organized a hunt for polar bears using helicopters near the border with Norway. Norwegian border guards appealed to 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 rest.
It is impossible to say 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 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. The place of his last resting place was the Kuntsevo cemetery of the capital.

... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time,
of which 60 never shot down a single Russian aircraft
/Mike Speke "Aces of the Luftwaffe"/

Crashed with a deafening roar Iron curtain”, and a storm of revelations of Soviet myths arose in the media of independent Russia. The most popular theme was the Great Patriotic War - inexperienced soviet man was shocked by the results of the German aces - tankers, submariners and, especially, Luftwaffe pilots.
Actually, the problem is this: 104 German pilots have an account of 100 or more downed aircraft. Among them are Erich Hartmann (352 wins) and Gerhard Barkhorn (301), who showed absolutely phenomenal results. Moreover, Harmann and Barkhorn won all their victories on the Eastern Front. And they were no exception - Gunther Rall (275 victories), Otto Kittel (267), Walter Novotny (258) - also fought on the Soviet-German front.

At the same time, the 7 best Soviet aces: Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Evstigneev, Vorozheikin, Glinka were able to overcome the bar of 50 downed enemy aircraft. For example, Three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub destroyed 64 German aircraft in air battles (plus 2 American Mustangs shot down by mistake). Alexander Pokryshkin is a pilot about whom, according to legend, the Germans warned by radio: “Akhtung! Pokryshkin in der Luft!”, chalked up “only” 59 air victories. The little-known Romanian ace Constantin Contacuzino 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 (another 8 victories remained “unconfirmed”).

The situation is much worse for the Anglo-Saxons. The best aces were Marmaduke Pettle (about 50 wins, South Africa) and Richard Bong (40 wins, USA). In total, 19 British and American pilots managed to shoot down more than 30 enemy aircraft, while the British and Americans fought on the best fighters in the world: the inimitable P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning or the legendary Supermarine Spitfire! On the other side, best ace 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 Yutilainen shot down 94 aircraft, and Hans Wind - 75.

What conclusion can be drawn from all these figures? What is the secret of the incredible performance of the Luftwaffe fighters? Maybe the Germans just didn't know how to count?
The only thing that can be asserted with a high degree of certainty is that the accounts of all aces without exception are overstated. To extol the successes of the best fighters is a standard practice of state propaganda, which, by definition, cannot be honest.

German Meresyev and his "Thing"

As 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 made 2530 sorties. He piloted the Junkers-87 dive bomber, at the end of the war he moved to the helm of the Focke-Wulf 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. In the air he shot down two Il-2 attack aircraft and seven fighters. He landed six times on enemy territory to save the crews of wrecked Junkers. Soviet Union appointed a reward of 100,000 rubles for the head of Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Just the epitome of a fascist

Of course, there were no camera guns or cameras on the Junkers. The maximum that Rudel or his gunner-radio operator could notice was the covering of a column of armored vehicles, i.e. possible damage to tanks. The exit speed of the Yu-87 from a dive is more than 600 km / h, while overloads can reach 5g, in such conditions it is unrealistic to see anything accurately on the ground.
Since 1943, Rudel moved to the Yu-87G anti-tank attack aircraft. The characteristics of this "lappet" are simply disgusting: max. speed in level flight - 370 km / h, rate of climb - about 4 m / s. Two VK37 cannons (caliber 37 mm, rate of fire 160 rds / min) became the main aircraft, with only 12 (!) shells per gun. Powerful guns mounted in the wings, when firing, created a large turning moment and rocked the light aircraft so that firing in bursts was pointless - 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 on 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. Where is the German ace with 24 shells on board the Stukka!

Further, hitting a tank does not guarantee its defeat. An armor-piercing projectile (685 grams, 770 m/s) fired from the VK37 cannon pierced 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, armor penetration in reality was about 5 mm more. On the other hand, the thickness of the armored hull of Soviet tanks was less than 30-40 mm only in some projections, and there was nothing to dream of hitting a KV, IS or heavy self-propelled gun in the forehead or side.
In addition, breaking through the 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 the German bomber squadrons it was accepted as an encouragement to count a difficult sortie for several sorties. For example, the captured captain Helmut Putz, commander of the 4th detachment of the 2nd group of the 27th bomber squadron, explained the following during interrogation: “... in combat conditions, I managed to make 130-140 night sorties, and a number of sorties with a complex combat mission were credited to me , like others, for 2-3 departures. (protocol of interrogation dated 06/17/1943). Although it is possible that Helmut Putz, having been captured, lied, trying to reduce his contribution to attacks on Soviet cities.

Hartmann vs everyone

There is an opinion that aces-pilots filled their bills uncontrollably and fought "on their own", being an exception to the rule. And the main work at the front was carried out by pilots of medium qualification. This is a profound misunderstanding: general sense, pilots of "medium qualification" do not exist. There are either aces or their prey.
For example, let's take the legendary Normandy-Neman air regiment, which fought on Yak-3 fighters. Of the 98 French pilots, 60 did not win a single victory, but the “selected” 17 pilots shot down 200 German aircraft in air battles (in total, the French regiment drove 273 aircraft with a swastika into the ground).
A similar pattern 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.
The American historian Mike Spike describes the same episode related to the actions of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front: "... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time, of which 60 did not shoot down a single Russian aircraft."
So, we found out that aces pilots are the main force of the Air Force. But the question remains: what is the reason for that huge gap between the performance of the aces of the Luftwaffe and the pilots of the Anti-Hitler coalition? Even if you divide the incredible accounts of the Germans in half?

One of the legends about the failure of large accounts of German aces is associated with an unusual system for counting downed aircraft: by the number of engines. Single-engine fighter - one downed aircraft. Four-engine bomber - four downed aircraft. Indeed, for the 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 the damaged bomber, which “fell out” of the battle formation and became easy prey other fighters, the pilot was recorded 3 points, because. he did most 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 reward points? They must have been converted into Reichsmarks somehow. But all this had nothing to do with the list of downed aircraft.

The most prosaic explanation for the Luftwaffe phenomenon is that the Germans had no shortage of targets. 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-Wulf 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 Yaks, Lavochkins, I-16s and MiG-3s passed through 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 aircraft visited the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945). And how many more fighters did Britain get under 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 during raids. In 1944, during the landings in Normandy, the Allied aviation had a sixfold numerical superiority. “If there are camouflage planes in the sky, this is the Royal Air Force, if there are silver ones, the US Air Force. If there are no planes in the sky, it is the Luftwaffe,” the German soldiers joked sadly. How could British and American pilots have big bills 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, 36154 attack aircraft were produced, of which 33920 Ils entered the army. By May 1945, the Red Army Air Force included 3585 Il-2 and Il-10, another 200 Il-2 were part of naval aviation.

In a word, 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 fighter aces, on the contrary, needed time to detect the enemy - according to statistics, even the best Soviet pilots on average, there was 1 air battle for 8 sorties: 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 aircraft, air combat was more of an unexpected coincidence than a regular event.
It is more objective to count the number of downed aircraft, taking into account the number of pilot sorties. Viewed from this angle, Erich Hartmann's achievement pales in comparison: 1,400 sorties, 825 dogfights, and "only" 352 aircraft shot down. This figure 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

In conclusion, it should be said that one should not be so afraid of the high scores of the Luftwaffe pilots. This, on the contrary, shows what a formidable enemy the Soviet Union defeated, and why the Victory is of such high value.

Aces Luftwaffe World War II

The film tells about the famous German aces pilots: Erich Hartmann (352 downed enemy aircraft), Johan Steinhoff (176), Werner Mölders (115), Adolf Galland (103) and others. Rare shots of interviews with Hartman and Galland are presented, as well as unique newsreel of air battles.

ctrl Enter

Noticed osh s bku Highlight text and click Ctrl+Enter

"...When we are talking about some particular issues, doubts remain. The personal account of German aces and pilots of any other countries looks too different. 352 aircraft of Hartmann and 60 aircraft of Kozhedub, the best of the Allied fighter pilots, involuntarily suggest different thoughts.

First of all, I want to point out the typical mistakes of Soviet historiographers. But besides them, one often comes across examples of forgeries and falsifications, alas:

1. "Erich Hartmann made only 800 sorties."

Hartmann made about 1,400 sorties during the war years. The number 800 is the number of air battles. By the way, it turns out that Hartmann ONE made 2.5 times more sorties than the ENTIRE Normandie-Niemen Squadron put together. This characterizes the intensity of the actions of German pilots on the Eastern Front, for them 3-4 sorties per day were the norm. And if Hartmann conducted 6 times more air battles than Kozhedub, then why can't he, respectively, shoot down 6 times more aircraft? By the way, another holder of the "Iron Cross with Oak Plates, Swords and Diamonds", Hans-Ulrich Rudel, made more than 2,500 sorties during the war years.

2. "The Germans recorded victories with a photo machine gun."

Witness confirmation was required - pilots who participated in the battle, or ground observers. Sometimes, the pilots waited a week or more for confirmation of their victories.

3. "The Germans recorded" hits ", not" victories ".

Here we are faced with another version of the unscrupulous multiple translation of the memoirs of German pilots. German - English - Russian. A conscientious translator can get confused here, but there is room for forgery in general. The "claim hit" expression has nothing to do with the "claim victory" expression. The former was used in bomber aircraft, where it was rarely possible to be more specific. Fighter pilots did not use it. They only talked about victories or downed planes.

4. "Hartmann has only 150 confirmed victories, the rest are known only from his words."

This, unfortunately, is an example of a direct forgery. Hartmann's first flight book has been preserved, in which the FIRST 150 victories are recorded. The second disappeared during his arrest. You never know that they saw her, and filled her squadron headquarters, and not Hartmann. Well, she's not there - that's all! Like the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This means that since December 13, 1943, Erich Hartmann has not shot down a single aircraft. Interesting conclusion, isn't it?

5. "German aces simply could not shoot down so many planes in one sortie."

They could very well. Read carefully the description of Hartmann's attacks. First, a blow is struck on a group of cover fighters, then on a group of bombers, and if you're lucky, then on a mopping up group. That is, in one run, 6-10 aircraft alternately fell on his sight. And he didn't kill everyone.

6. "You can't destroy our plane with a couple of shots."

Who said they were a couple? Here is a description of the flight of German aircraft from the Crimea. The Germans are taking out technicians and mechanics in the fuselages of their fighters, but at the same time they do not remove wing containers with 30-mm guns. How long will a Soviet fighter survive under fire from 3 cannons? At the same time, this shows to what extent they despised our aircraft. After all, it is clear that with 2 containers under the wings, the Me-109 flew a little better than a log.

7. "The Germans fired on one aircraft in turn and each wrote it down on his own account."

Just no comment.

8. "The Germans sent elite fighter units to the Eastern Front in order to seize air supremacy."

Yes, the Germans did not have elite fighter units, except for the Galland JV-44 jet squadron created at the very end of the war. All other squadrons and groups were the most common front-line formations. There are no "Aces of Diamonds" and other nonsense. It’s just that among the Germans, many connections, in addition to the number, also had a proper name. So all these "Richthofens", "Greifs", "Condors", "Immelmanns", even "Grun Herz" are ordinary squadrons. Pay attention to how many brilliant aces served in the ordinary unnamed JG-52.

And what was it really? For example, such a completely paradoxical conclusion that arises after reading Hartmann's memoirs: Erich Hartmann did not conduct ALMOST A SINGLE air battle. So dear to the heart of our pilots, he denied the air carousel on principle. Climbing, diving on the target, immediate departure. Shot down - shot down, not shot down - it doesn't matter. The fight is over! If there is a new attack, then only on the same principle. Hartmann himself says that at least 80% of the pilots he shot down were not even aware of the danger. And even more so, no winding over the battlefield in order to "cover your troops." By the way, once Pokryshkin also rebelled against this. "I can't catch bombs with my plane. We will intercept the bombers on the way to the battlefield." Got it, got it. And after the battle, Pokryshkin received a hat for his ingenuity. But Hartmann only engaged in hunting. So, it would be more fair to call his 800 fights air clashes, or something.

And also remember that undisguised irritation that shows through in the memoirs of our pilots about the tactics of the German aces. Free hunting! And you can't force a fight on him! Such helplessness, obviously, is solely due to the fact that the Yak-3 was the best fighter in the world. The shortcomings of our best fighters were also shown by the authors of the Russian film Fighters of the Eastern Front. A. Yakovlev writes about the maximum ceiling of 3–3.5 km for our fighters in all his books, passing it off as a big plus. But it was only after watching the film that I remembered the constantly flashing line of Hartmann's own memories. "We approached the battle area at an altitude of 5.5-6 km." Here! That is, the Germans, in principle, received the right of the first strike. Right on the ground! This was determined by the characteristics of the aircraft and vicious Soviet tactics. What is the price of such an advantage, it is not difficult to guess.

Hartmann made 14 forced landings. This is true. However, read the descriptions of these cases more closely, for example, a battle with 8 Mustangs. Hartmann ran out of fuel, and what is he? - trying to save the plane? Not at all. He only chooses the moment to safely jump out with a parachute. He does not even have the thought of saving the plane. So only our pilots returned on the planes that received 150 hits. The rest reasonably believed that life was more precious than a pile of iron. In general, it seems that the Germans treated the fact of a forced landing quite casually. The car broke down, and okay, we'll change it, we'll move on. Remember 5 forced landings in one day by Johannes Wiese. Despite the fact that on the same day he shot down 12 planes!