7 July 1941
Like every day of the campaign thus far, the morning brief started precisely at 0415 when the Staffel Operations Leutnant cleared his throat. Immediately, the tent filled with the noise of every flieger clearing their throats in comradely imitation. It had become their morning ritual, accompanied by smiles over steaming mugs. Grinning back, the Leutnant inclined his head and started:
“Mein Herr and meine Herren,
Weather will be clear this morning with increasing cloud at 5000 and 10000 feet, with likely storms later this morning when a front will start to impact our sector. Weather will then improve from noon.
Our first target is a Soviet airfield NE of Polotsk – approaching the limit of our effective range. Intelligence reports the VVS operating MiG-3s and I-16s that redeployed from the East. We need to render the base inoperable to retain air superiority in our area. Staffel munitions will be SC1000s and standard mix of 500 and 50kg fragmentation bombs.
On return the Staffel is ordered to rearm and launch again immediately to strike a suspected artillery position much closer to their currenet operating base. Same mixed ordnance loadouts.
Fighter cover for both sorties will again be provided, but from on will be Me 109s. Our friends from ZG26 have now been assigned to ground-attack missions until further notice, to make up for losses in the bomber force.
Afternoon strike window is on call targets for the Panzers, who are scheduled to recommence offensive operations from 1200. Supply columns had had a hard time keeping up and they are paused this morning awaiting refuelling. Fivos will be available with lead formations.
Maintenance reports two crates remain down: the wing repairs for White 9 are expected to be complete by lunchtime and ready for a test flight, but the carburettor rebuild on White 6 is awaiting parts.
Daily recognition signals and frequency allocations are available for radiomen to collect from the communications desk, as usual”
The Leutnant lowered his papers and stepped back, deferring to Andreas who stood to address them.
“Guten Morgen Kammeraden – welcome to another lovely day in Russia!
We know what we’re about so lets get to it. We need to take out that airfield or the rest of the day will be harder than it needs to be. We hit it- and hit it hard! And then we can get onto our core business of hitting Russians from above. Lets be about it!”
75 minutes later Andreas levelled off his Berta at 10,000 feet, 5 other Stukas sliding quickly into formation around him. The dawn air was crisp and clear and he could clearly make out the promised Luftwaffe fighter cover 5,000 feet above him to the NW.
It was a good start to what he knew would be another long day. Just like France and Greece, his Staffel was flying multiple combat missions every day, interrupted only by the need to leap frog to new operating airfields to keep up with the Panzers. The Gruppe’s ground crews struggled to make these moves over the poor Russian roads and only the British trucks and they had captured in Greece enabled them to keep up.
The sky remained clear of the enemy but the promised storm was developing well ahead of schedule. Dark clouds advanced, a thick cloud base developed blow them and visibility grew dim. Voss cursed, knowing this would impact their strike on an important target. By the time the neared the target, the rain had begun to fall.
The Red Air Force had set out improvised strips next to a permanent base that had already been punished from the air. Concrete runways remained cratered and torn, but some infrastructure remained intact to service the adjacent grass strips. Voss signalled his formation - they winged over in close succession to began their diving attacks.
Voss was determined that his 1000kg bomb would go where it would have the most effect and lined up with what looked like a collection of refuelling trucks. Russian AA fire zipped past the cockpit and Milo reported it was all bursting behind them.
As Voss pulled out of his dive a bright blast blossomed behind them, followed by huge plume of dark smoke reaching for the sky.
“That was a good one Andrei!” Mile whooped. “Ivan will feel that for awhile!”
The radio crackled: “White 7 hit by AA fire. Wing damaged, and I missed the target. Aircraft remains flyable – just – and able to maintain formation”
“Copy Stimpl, lets get you back home. Stay close” Voss replied.
It was easier said than done. A difficult headwind slowed their progress and Leutnant Rohr in White 2 reported his engine was running roughly, likely the result of ground fire during the attack. Then the Messerschmidt flight leader also reported he was moving to intercept a Russian closing in from behind them, but neither Voss nor any of his pilots saw the enemy fighter. Again Voss counted his blessing for the Luftwaffe’s ability to provide him dedicated escort protection.
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| Soviet MiG-3 destroyed on the ground, 1941 |
Back on the ground, a frenzy of fuel hoses and bomb carts quickly began turning the Stukas around for their next mission. An NCO yelled out and a dozen men quickly pushed White 6 to the side of the airfield, her wing damage evident and taking her out of the fight for now. Within 30 minutes, Voss was taking off once again, looking for the Russian artillery.
Targets like this were frustrating. Without accurate targeting support from the ground, the relatively mobile artillery positions were hard to find. The position had been estimated from a combination of counter artillery plotting, intelligence assessments and a large slice of guesswork. Voss didn’t like leading men into danger reliant on guesswork, informed though it may be.
The summer storm front had passed but the dark clouds and showers behind it continued to make looking for a concealed cannons like looking for needles in a haystack. Then to Voss’s surprise they started firing, revealing their position at the edge of a wood! Probably 122mm guns, he thought. They might be poorly led or have no fuel to relocate but whatever the case, Andreas had a target to attack and quickly led his men in.
The lack of AA defence was also surprising. A single MG reached up toward them but it was sporadic and wild, fired by a desperate gunner. Still, the artillery positions themselves were hard to make out along the tree line in the dim visibility.
One by one the Stukas dropped their mix of 500kg and 50kg bombs amongst the positions but Voss only saw one gun destroyed and few secondary explosions. At least it would stop them from firing on the German army for awhile.
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Landing to again refuel and rearm, a Feldwebel from Operations was waiting next to Andreas’s aircraft as soon as he shut down, beckoning him to follow as he handed over a mess tin of kaffe. Milo gave him a surly look when he saw that he Feldwebel had only one cup. Andreas tossed back half of the lukewarm but welcome fluid and handed the rest to rest to Milo as he ducked into the Operations tent. Inside, the Leutnant was to the point.
“Reconnaissance Storch visited the airfield you hit the morning. There were some good hits but Ivan is cleaning up and its estimated to have 50% remaining capability. We have to go back and finish the job. Me 109 fighter escort will be available from 1230hrs”
Voss nodded quietly, looking at the tactical map on the wall. Not much had changed. With some adjustments to their ingress routes this mission could be turned around quickly.
Voss accepted some additional updates while chewing on a sandwich that had appeared from nowhere. He looked at the flying roster, and gave some directions to collect the necessary pilots for a brief. He would bring the Rookie crew in White 10 this afternoon, it was time get them some more experience.
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Formed up once again, Voss turned his Staffel North East toward the target. Conditions were clearing after the storm passing through that morning. Voss hoped the improved visibility would continue to help their reattack on the airfield. He was looking up through a break in the clouds when he saw a telltale glint off a canopy. Was that their fighter escort taking up position? And was did it appear to be a single rather than the usual Schwarm? No - it was a Soviet fighter diving down on them!
Voss alerted his staffel to commence evasive manoeuvre while he tried to radio the fighter flight leader. The Luftwaffe fighters had been delayed with a collapsed wheel during take off – they were red lining their engines to be there in 2 mins. It would be a long two minutes.
Voss could now clearly identify the outline of the MiG as it swooped in from the starboard side – right into White 10. Voss was pleased to see that the green pilot Jenster wasn’t panicking, didn’t turn into his wingmates and risk collision, and didn't scream out over the radio. The MiG opened fire at long range, tracer stitching along White 10's wing as it dived away and returned fire with its own rear gun.
Then the MiG was diving away as a pair of 109s thundered after it.
"How are you Jenster? Everything still where it should be" Voss asked, able to keep the concern mostly from his voice. If Jenster could play it cooly, it was the least he could do to return it.
"Jahowl Mein Herr! Starboard wing is a bit bent up but Ludwig and me are OK. Proceeding on mission"
"Sehr Gut Kurt!" Voss replied, smiling under his mask.
Voss reported the contact to his fighter escorts, who tucked in tight like protective mothers, embarrassed to have let the MiG slip through. Voss knew it wouldn't happen again.
Voss recognised the airfield immediately when it came into view. It looked like additional fuel bowsers had been brought in amongst the burnt out aircraft and service vehicles. Visibility was better but residual fires still put smoke into the air, but Voss and his team kew this target and went directly into the attack. Their dives were good and their hits accurate, none more than White 10. Despite their inexperience, and the wing damage and stress from the MiG encounter earlier, Jenster was showing he wasnt a pilot to be written off easily.
"Great job everyone - and well done Jenster! If your Kettenfuhrer doesnt buy you a drink tonight for that one I certainly will! Lets go home"
The trip home was quiet, anti-climatic. A curious I-16 tried to close them from the south and was chased down angrily by the Me 109s. Voss smiled, then sighed, knowing that another mission awaited them after they landed. He hoped there would be time for lunch before the next sortie.
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Game notes
Tried something a bit different with this write up, collecting multiple games and linking them together to try and show a high tempo of flight operations. It made the entry longer though, so thanks for persevering.
It also allowed me to link in a series of poor weather conditions into a single event – seems funny to have so many storm in Summer but there you are. Because Storm of Steel uses event cards to generate weather, the chance of storms is the same in Summer as it is in Winter.
