Eastern Europe

Poland

World War II began with the German attack on Poland. Contrary to popular belief, the Polish Air Force was not destroyed on the ground, but it did fight at a sizable technological and organizational disadvantages. There is a very detailed site dedicated to the air campaign over Poland (from the Polish side). The Poles defended themselves using their entire Air Force. Germany used only part of the Luftwaffe, with a lot of aircraft stationed in the west against French or English counter attack:

Luftwaffe TO&E

Mission Types

Scenarios

• First shots (two scenarios, first air-to-air kills of the war for each side happened within minutes of each other)
• Mission: Visit to Warsaw
• Mission: Visit to Berlin

Mission Encounter Tables

More Information

For more detailed information about the Polish Air Force and the 1939 Campaign, try Robert Postowcz's Polish Aviation History Pages.

Winter War

In late November, 1939, flush from its "victory" in Poland, The Soviet Union tried to bring Finland back into the fold. The Finns objected, and fought back with bold nimbleness against the Russian Bear, who was rather clumsy on the ground and in the air. This was kind of a prequel to the Italo-Greek War a year later. "Brave Little Finland" stood off the Russian Bear as best it could for a few months, handing the Soviet Union a number of black eyes on the ground and in the air.

The Finns used their air force for two purposes:

• Army support
• Air defense

This generally meant that the recon and bomber units helped the army on the ground where they could, and the fighter units reacted to soviet air strikes. Neither the Finns nor the Soviets had any kind of early warning system; the Finns received warnings from forward military units when Soviet bombers appeared over the troops. Deeper raids were sometimes intercepted, but more often were jumped while they were exiting.

The Russians started fighting in very large formations - say 50 bombers in a gaggle - escorted by one third to one half that number of fighters. The quality of their flying and discipline was poor, while the Finns was excellent.

The Finns learned to charge large Russian formations, and then chase down the smaller pieces. The Russian fighter escorts weren't sure who to follow. Some of the bombers would simply turn back.

Forces

The Finns defended themselves with their entire air force, the Ilmavoimat.

The Soviets deployed some 900 aircraft for their initial assault:

• 4 bomber air brigades (SB-2s, TB-3s, DB-3Bs, R-5s, R-Zs)
• 2 fighter air brigades: Mostly I-15s and I-15bis, with a few I-153s and I-16s added.

At such odds (6:1), the Russians expected little resistence. In the face of their high losses, the Soviets added 500 hundred more aircraft in January, 1940, and again in February, 1940.

Timeline

Scenarios

Setting the Record - Lt. Jorma Sarvanto sets a world record by shooting down 6 medium bombers in 4 minutes.

Pilot Quality:

• Ilmavoimat: Excellent
• Soviets: Average

Losses

Over the course of the campaign:

* Reported as losses, rather than claimed.
** Damaged enough to be unflyable.

See also: The Winter War (excerpt) by Robert Shaw

Yugoslavia

In April, 1941, Yugoslavia was sitting on the fence trying to avoid committing itself to the Axis, but was unable to get firm support from the British (who had little power projection to spare). As the Italian situation in Greece worsened, Germany began to look into means of adding support. The easiest way was through Yugoslavia - who balked at outright cooperation. Hitler put into action a plan to overrun Yugoslavia in order to allow for a two-pronged assault on Greece - also allowing for much closer control over Germany's Balkan allies Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria.

On April 6, 1941, Hitler invaded Yugoslavia, leading with the Luftwaffe. The first raids were large, and targetted at the Yugoslav Air Force. About 1/3 of the Yugoslav Air Force (JKRV) was destroyed on the ground. Those few that got into the air had some success, but were out numbered from the start.

Within a few days, the country was over-run by Wehrmacht units, since the Yugoslav ground forces did not perform even as well as their air units. Among the few things that escaped were the national gold reserves, skipping out in a pair of Do17Ks to Egypt and a few two-engine maritime patrol craft.

Forces

Pilot Quality:

• Luftwaffe: Good
• Regia Aeronautica: Average
• Yugoslavia: Limited

Scenarios

Messerschmitt vs. Messerchmitt: 6-Apr-41

More Information

Dogfighting Over Belgrade

The Ploesti Raids

These are the raids by B-24s based in Benghazi and Italy against the Rumanian oil fields and refineries at Ploesti.

The first raid (Operation Tidal Wave) was executed on 1-Aug-43 by 5 bomber groups (178 bombers at take off) flying from Benghazi, across the Med to Yugoslavia. They flew low to avoid detection, although it was hard not to notice 178 bombers flying over an otherwise peaceful area, and planned to attack at tree-top level to maximize their accuracy of their bombs and to surprise the Luftwaffe and minimize the effective ness of the defenses, and to allow the attack to be unaffected by medium level cloud-cover.

There had been a squadron-strength raid of B-24Ds more than a year earlier (June, 1942), that caused no damage, but did alert Germany to the potential danger of heavy, long range bomber attacks form the Middle East. In the intervening year, they had built up the defenses in the Ploesti region to some 237 flak guns, including two "flak trains," hundreds of machine guns (whcih came into play due to the low level attack), and some 50 Bf109G-6 fighters added to the regional defenses.

The raiding force had some serious problems before it finished crossing the Med, in that its mission navigator and deputy navigator were forced to either abort or ditch due to engine problems (9 others also aborted). This caused the groups to spread out a bit, and divide in clouds over Yugoslavia.

In the target area, two groups (98th and 389th) turned off early, realized their error, and turned back toward the target area, arriving from the wrong direction and flying over some of the heaviest flak concentrations; one flew over the flak train. Interceptors had already been in place, but were not expecting a tree-top level raid; they struck at groups as they exited the area.

The view at attack level was a lot of confusion - explosions from bombs and AAA, smoke form burning targets, B-24s moving every which way from unexpected directions.

Some attacks were perfect; one major refinery was closed down for the duration. Others missed their target completely. On the whole, some 40% of Ploesti's capacity was knocked out. However, Ploesti was only operating at 60% - the actual effect on its output was negligible.

After the attack, due to the damage, the attack force lost cohesion. Damaged aircraft looked for closer non-hostile fields to land at. These included Turkey, Cyprus, Sicily, as well as the base in Benghazi. 54 aircraft of the 168 over the target failed to return. Some 523 aircrew were taken prisoner or interned in Turkey.

Follow Up:
There were additional raids in order to keep oil production down. Simply put, no oil means no fuel means no aircraft, tanks, or transport, not to mention problems with war production. The US 15th Air Force kept up attacks on the Ploesti oil fields and refineries until Soviet forces took the area and forced Romania to change side in late August, 1944.

Forces

All bombers (on the first raid) were loaded with 4,000 lbs of bombs (48x 1000 lbr) and 18,000 lbs of fuel.

Mission

Unescorted bomber raid vs. Interceptors

OMT Setup

OMT boxes 2 through 12 are over water. On the return trip, the bomber force split up, and ran into additional interceptors based in Greece, Italy, and .

Scenarios

• Fighting Withdrawal from Ploesti (by Joe Ferrara)
• Liberators and Nachtjaegers (by Joe Ferrara)
• Ionian Sea Ambush (by Joe Ferrara)

More Information

A Rumanian view of Operation Tidal Wave

Barbarossa - Germany Attacks Russia

I have set the initial Barbarossa invasion (June-Dec 1941) separate from the rest of the war on the Eastern Front because I believe the tenor of the war was quite different. Up to the defense of Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe had (almost) enough strength to respond to their Wehrmacht support commitments. They certainly had the morale advantage and the initiative in the air.

Not that the Soviets were lying down on the job; they committed air units in great numbers. But these units had technological, quantitative, and tactical disadvantages that were not overcome for more than a year.

The Soviets started with a large numerical advantage - some 4000 aircraft to the Luftwaffe's 1900. The Luftwaffe started by giving a knock-out blow in the first hours of the operation.

The Soviets had built a number of large bases on new territory seized by Russia since 1939, including bases in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bessarabia. The forward bases were well within range of the Luftwaffe's bombers - from their forward bases in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Rumania. The Soviets parked their aircraft close together in the open (rather like the US would five months later at Pearl Harbor).

At 0320 hrs on 22-Jun-41, 10 vics of German bombers, hand-picked from the kampf geschwaders (bomber wings) of Luftflotte 2 and 4, flew to 10 of these large airfields and swept them with 2-kg incendiary bomblets. Their surprise was total; there were few enough of them that they did not alert the Soviet defenses. An hour later, the full strength of the Luftwaffe was turned against these same fields and those that were missed,

The Eastern Front 43-45

After Stalingrad, Germany is now in decline; a long slow decline where they fought back and gave ground grudgingly.

The Northern Front

Finland became a German ally not out of love for Hitler, but for the promise of reversing the outcome of the Winter War. In addition to German aid and some German units, most of this war was fought by the Finns using their own resources - including their Brewster F2A-1 Buffalos, Hawk 75s from France and Norway, MS-406s, Fiat G.50s, Blenheim IV and other less-than-spectacular aircraft. However, the Finns used them to great advantage. Their expanded Ilmavoimat was stronger than in 1939.

At the extreme northern tip of Europe, elements of Luftflotte 5 stationed in Norway were used against the Russian ports of the Kola penninsula.

The Kola was a secondary front for the Soviets and Red Air Force units were slowly equipped with upgraded equipment or reinforcements. The Soviets, Germans, and Finns fought an isolated war in some of the harshest weather conditions of the war. The Luftwaffe units in northern Norway were also charged with protecting the Kreigsmarine anchorages at Narvik and Altenfjord, and with attacking Allied convoys.

Later in the war (42-43), the Ilmavoimat was partially re-armed with German equipment, including Bf109G fighters, Do17Z, and Ju88A bombers. In September, 1944, Finland signed armistices with the Soviet Union, and turned itrs aircraft against German units still in Finland.

Luftflotte 4

Luftflotte 4 (Southern Russia) was interesting in that it included Italian, Hungarian, and Rumanian units, sometimes flying their "native" aircraft.

Hypothetical: Germany vs. Czechoslovakia (1938)

The Sudetenland crisis of 1938 ended with Neville Chamberlain's famous "peace in our time" statement, generally written off as proof of failure of the policy of appeasement. Actually, neither Britain nor France was prepared to fight a war at the time. Czechoslovakia could have put up a fight - if her Little Entente partners (Yugoslavia, Rumania) had been willing to stand with her or if the major powers were. (in point of fact, they were not).

Czechoslovakia in 1938 had the 7th largest economy in the world (Germany had the 5th), and had a decent air force (for 1938). Germany's Luftwaffe had not reached its maturity yet in equipment, numbers, or proficiency. Czechoslovakia would have lost on the ground, but the size of the bloody nose she gave Germany first is in question…

Of the available aircraft, some were detailed off to other fronts, including some 200 fighters to face France and Britain. The aircraft to be used against Czechoslovakia were mainly:

This does not include 9 sqdns (fighter, bomber, recon) still in Spain, or Ju52 transports.

Czechoslovakia would resist with all her available aircraft.

See also John Long's Air Power During Munich for more discussion of the subject.

Missions

Pilot Quality:

• Luftwaffe: Average (Many Green units with more seasoned pilots in Spain)
• Czechoslovakia: Average

Hypothetical: Target - Sweden

The Swedes have always been big believers in armed neutrality. Up to the beginning of WWII, they had bought an air force. During the war, Sweden developed its own military air industrial capacity. The question is, who would dare to try to take Sweden? Two nations had the opportunity of physical access:

Germany Tries Sweden

Germans tries to ensure its supplies of Swedish iron ore as well as to increase its tall, blond military recruiting population base. It strikes from Denmark and Norway in 1941/42.

Hypothetical: Russia Tries Sweden

Well, gee. Since it took everything else while sweeping west...

Russia traies Sweden from the Kola penninsula and from across the Baltic in 1944-45.

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