Lower Roy W. Luftwaffe tactical operations at Stalingrad 19 November 1942-02 February 1943

Student Report. Air Command and Staff College Air University, 1987. — 73 p.This project examines the pivotal role played by Luftwaffe tactical operations in support of the German Sixth Army during its encirclement at Stalingrad, 19 November 1942-02 February 1943. These operations are separate and distinct from the aerial resupply missions flown by VIII Fliegerkorps and represent close air support, air interdiction, and air superiority. Their failure was just one element of the German combined arms failure at Stalingrad.
Whenever historians congregate and discuss World War II, inevitably someone broaches the topic of most decisive battles. For Americans names like Midway, Guadalcanal, and Normandy merit special mention. However, the first name cited by Russians and Germans is often Stalingrad. It was here, from 19 November 1942 until 2 February 1943, that the tide of battle irrevocably shifted in Russia's favor. This shift took place not only on the ground but in the air. During those wintry days Germany fought and lost its second great aerial battle of the war. Unlike the "Battle of Britain" which resulted in a strategic draw, the aerial loss at Stalingrad signaled a change in momentum from which Germany never recovered. As a result, much of the world we have today can be traced to the fateful decisions made on the Volga 45 years ago. For this reason, historians and professionals have analyzed and reanalyzed this critical battle. Unfor tunately, most of their studies centered on the aerial resupply effort of VIII Fliegerkorps and virtually ignored the role of German tactical airpower. The purpose of this paper is to fill this void. Hopefully, this examination of tactical airpower will yield more than sterile lessons and be of more than passing interest to future Air Force leaders. Students of the Stalingrad campaign will immediately recogn ize that I have excluded Germany's allies from my discussion.
%hile it is true that Croatian, Slovakian, Hungarian, Rumanian and Italian air forces assisted the Germans, their contributions at this stage of the war remained mediocre. At one time during the campaign, the Croatian staffel, 15/JO 52, had no serviceable aircraft (Appendix B). The Italian contingent of 90 aircraft flew only 6000 sorties during their &tire 17 months in Russia (42:112). To put this figure in perspective, Luftflotte IV flew nearly 24,000 sorties during June 1942 alone (8:242). The Rumanian contribution might have been greater had not most of their aircraft and airfields been overrun during the initial Soviet counterattacks on 19 November. Lastly, the Hungarians had only one fighter squadron, 1/1 Fighter Squadron, attached to Luftflotte IV. Equipped with semi-obsolete Re-2000 "Hejas," 1/1 suffered much the same fate as her Rumanian ally. After abandoning almost all their aircraft to the advancing Russians, the Hungarians withdrew to Stary Oskol where they began conversion
to Bf-109 F and Bf-109 G fi.ghters. They did serve briefly in the Stalingrad area flying their newly acquired Bf-109 F-4s, but their contributions were negligible.