To all you Mustang drivers - a gift from a Soviet-type ;)

[leonid]

Mustang site with link to combat diary

Apparently, this guy wrote this up while in high school.  His grandfather was a Mustang driver in WWII.

Enjoy  


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129 IAP

[Westy]

Thanks!!!! I love reading this type of material no mater what country.

--Westy

[funked]

Leonid are you familiar with the reports of USAAF and VVS fighters engaging each other near Berlin in the final days of the war?  I've read several stories by Luftwaffe pilots where they claim that they managed to sneak away from a fight when Mustangs bounced their Soviet pursuers, or when Yaks attacked Mustangs, etc.

[leonid]

Funked,

Hmm.  Never heard of that one, but it could be true.  In Yugoslavia VVS Yaks were erroneously attacked by USAAF P-38s, and a Soviet vehicle column was strafed, again erroneously.  The result was a dead Soviet army general, and several planes shot down on either side.  The P-38s vulched the Yak field just as they were taking off.  Finally, the two commanders of each unit recognized the mistake and called their respective units off.  The Yaks were taking off in response to the strafing of the Soviet armored column.

It was a big mess.  USAAF commanding flight officer was, I believe, relieved of command.


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129 IAP

[Mike B.]

funked and leonid,

Here's what happened in that specific engagement.

The P-38s were flying ground support missions to assist Soviet ground forces.

However, the Soviets were really kicking butt on the ground. Overnight, the front lines changed by a very large distance. The P-38 drivers were unaware of this - the Soviets informed the U.S.A.F. liason...but that individual squadron was not informed.

So the P-38s went to the same general area that they were operating in on the previous day, saw some soft vehicles and radio equipment and attacked it. They later said they thought the equipment and personnel were German...I believe this - to someone coming from the Western Front everything German and Russian probably looked the same on the ground (i.e. these guys probably didn't have too much formal training in T-34 recognition to avoid friendly fire incidents).

The Yak's were already airborne. They saw the P-38s attack the Russian HQ and attacked the P-38s. This is understandable - the Germans *did* use captured aircraft, and after about 1943 it was something that was well known by Russian troops in applicable professions. In addition, I doubt if any of those VVS pilots had ever seen a P-38 in action before. None were lend leased to Russia were they?

1 P-38 was lost and 3 or 4 Yaks were lost. In all honesty, this is probably because the U.S. pilots in this particular squadron were very experienced. The Yaks were not part of a 'Guards' formation. The VVS tended to put all their best pilots in the same unit(s). This was not one of those units.

The Russians executed the surviving Yak pilots involved (lame). They then demanded that the U.S.A.F. do the same. The U.S.A.F. transferred all personnel responsible.

[Mike B.]

Oh - for the whole story, it's from a really old aviaton/art book called 'WW2 Aircraft In Combat'. The portrait for the Yak shows this engagement, and alongside the portrait is the whole story.

Good luck finding that book though - my Uncle got it for me when I was 8 (over 20 years ago). Funked, if you are ever in Southern California drop me an email and I'll show it to you.

[leonid]

Mike B.,

I have the a copy of the actual declassified report from the US Dept. of Defense concerning the event between the 38s and the Yaks.  I don't think anyone was executed, on either side.


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129 IAP

[DICK!]

There's a fairly detailed account of this event in a current publication entitled "Red Beauty, 2 (Yak-1 and Yak-7 combat Operations) by Harold E. Stockton Jr.
The book is paper back and is part of a series entitled "Great Patriotic War Series" published by Snow Leopard Productions P.O. box 531, Round Rock, TX 78681.

This book supposedly has more detailed information than prior publications. It gives pilot names, coordinates, and very intimate details of the event. Interesting reading.

DICK!

[Mike B.]

leonid,

That's a better source than I have. 8)

Glad to hear those Yak guys didn't get the firing squad.

Mike B.

[avin]

From:
 http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/kozedub/kozedub.htm

 

Apart from these 62 victories, Ivan Kozhedub also was forced to shoot down two U.S. P-51 Mustangs that mistakenly attacked his La-7 on one occasion. Both these P-51 losses have been verified by USAAF sources.

Anybody know more about this one?

avin