Category World War II

So did Kozhedub shoot down 62, 64 or 66 planes?

Ivan Kozhedub was the highest scoring allied ace of World War II, having been credited with 62 or 64 victories. Hard to nail down the exact number. Most sources say 62, including Wikipedia. Many sources also credit him with also shooting down two U.S. P-51s. The Wikipedia article then lists his victories based upon the book Stalin’s Falcons by Mikhail Bykov. That listing records 64 planes, but no P-52s. The Wikipedia article also has a section of the “Alleged shooting down of two USAAF P-51 fighters.” That write up does not appear to accept the story.

A number of other sources also credit him with 64 claimed kills, or 64 claimed kills and two P-51s. Sort of mystified why this is an issue. I assume there are records of his claims somewhere.

So….what do we have out there:

……………………….Claimed Kills

Source…………….62…….62+2……..64……..64+2………63…….and 29 group kills
Wikipedia………….Y……….?…………..Y………..?
Seidl…………………………..Y
Polak……………….Y
Bykov……………………………………….Y………..?
Hardesty……………………………………Y

Red Falcons……….Y…………………….Y……….Y…………Y………..Y

 

Seidl is Stalin’s Eagles by Hans D. Seidl’s, Polak is Stalin’s Falcons by Tomas Polak with Christopher Shores, Bykov is Soviet Aces 1941-1945: The Victories of Stalin’s Falcons by Mikhail Bykov, Hardesty is Red Phoenix Rising by Von Hardesty and Ilya Grinberg, and Red Falcons is the Red Falcons website here: http://airaces.narod.ru/all1/kojedub.htm. Maybe the title of this post should have been “bird droppings.”

It is, of course, a different issue than the validity of those 62+ claims, which can be justifiably challenged. I will post about that later.

The Prokhorovka book is still discounted

Even though The Battle of Prokhorovka book has been released, it is still available through Amazon.com for $28.43: Buy from Amazon. The list price on the hardcover is $44.95. I have no idea for how long Amazon.com will continue to sell it at this price.

The chapters for the book are listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/07/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-16-chapters/

What else is in the book (besides words) is listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/08/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-what-does-the-book-consist-of/

The reason why I wrote this book is discussed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/09/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-book-why/

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

Dupuy on D-Day

A LCVP from the U.S. Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One) at the Fox Green section of Omaha Beach on the morning of 6 June 1944. American soldiers encountered the newly formed German 352nd Division. During the initial landing, two-thirds of Company E became casualties.

Today is the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy by U.S., British, Canadian and other allied forces. The American who announced the D-Day invasion on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 was the journalist, soldier and historian, R. Ernest Dupuy (1887-1975) of New York. The announcement from SHAEF can be heard here (Dupuy’s announcements starts at 2:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9xk9GaV0NE

Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.

He was the father of Trevor N. Dupuy, the founder of The Dupuy Institute.

R. Ernest Dupuy’s obituary is here: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/26/archives/col-r-ernest-dupuy-88-dead-publicist-and-military-historian.html

 

P.S. https://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2011/05/r-ernest-dupuy-1887-1975.html

 

The Probable Characteristics of the Next War

Lt. Col. George S. Patton, Jr.: I Tank Battalion, Renault tank, summer 1918

Noted the following paper “The Probable Characteristics of the Next War and the Organizations, Tactics, and Equipment Necessary to Meet Them.” It was dated February 29, 1932 and done at the U.S. Army War College. The author was Major G. S. Patton, Jr. Cavalry: Patton Paper, 1932

A relevant article from The Strategy Bridge: Reviewing 21st Century Patton: Strategic Insights for the Modern Era

One Last Reminder (Today is the last day !!!)

One last reminder, if you pre-order The Battle of Prokhorovka through Amazon.com it is selling for $28.43: Buy from Amazon. The list price on the hardcover is $44.95. I do not know what price it will be listed at on Saturday, 1 June 2019 (nor do I have any involvement or say in these matters).

The chapters for the book are listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/07/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-16-chapters/

What else is in the book (besides words) is listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/08/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-what-does-the-book-consist-of/

The reason why I wrote this book is discussed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/09/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-book-why/

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

One More Reminder

One more reminder, if you pre-order The Battle of Prokhorovka through Amazon.com it is selling for $28.43: Buy from Amazon. The list price on the hardcover is $44.95. I do not know what price it will be listed at on 1 June 2019 (nor do I have any involvement or say in these matters).

The chapters for the book are listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/07/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-16-chapters/

What else is in the book (besides words) is listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/08/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-what-does-the-book-consist-of/

The reason why I wrote this book is discussed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/09/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-book-why/

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

Just a Reminder

Just a reminder, if you pre-order The Battle of Prokhorovka through Amazon.com it is selling for $28.43: Buy from Amazon. The list price on the hardcover is $44.95. I do not know what price it will be listed at on 1 June 2019 (nor do I have any involvement or say in these matters).

The chapters for the book are listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/07/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-16-chapters/

What else is in the book (besides words) is listed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/08/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-what-does-the-book-consist-of/

The reason why I wrote this book is discussed in this post:

https://dupuyinstitute.org/2019/05/09/the-battle-of-prokhorovka-book-why/

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

You might want to pre-order the book

By the way, if you pre-order The Battle of Prokhorovka through amazon.com it is selling for $28.43: Buy from Amazon The list price on the hardcover is  $44.95. I do not know what price it will be listed at on 1 June 2019 (nor do I have any involvement or say in these matters).

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

The Battle of Prokhorovka book — why?

My original contract back in 1999 to prepare the Kursk book was for a single book of 450 pages. During the writing process….the book grew. This is discussed in this article: http://www.aberdeenbookstore.com/the-largest-history-book-ever

When I realized how large the book was, I contacted the publisher and discussed the issue with him. I suggested that we go ahead and complete the large book I was writing and then go back and do an abridged version. He graciously agreed, but unfortunately I was unable to complete the original book in 2003/2004 (although it was mostly done) due to my work at The Dupuy Institute, magnified by a war or two going on.

So, when I was finally able to get back to this book (thanks to government budget cuts and sequestration), I was left with an original book of 1,662 pages. Clearly there was a need for a smaller book.

This is not that book. This book is the updated chapters of the original book that focus on the fighting by the SS Panzer Corps, III Panzer Corps, parts of the Sixth Guards Army, Sixty-Ninth Army, Fifth Guards Army, Fifth Guard Tank Army and parts of the Seventh Guards Army from 9 to 17 July 1943. As such, it is 40% of the original book sectioned off as a separate stand alone book.

I could do four such books from my original book. This is the first of these books. I am currently finishing up a second such book (Aces at Kursk: The Belgorod Offensive Air War). I could do two more books along that line (Battle of Tolstoye Woods and The Belgorod Offensive), although I am not sure that I ever will. It depends on demand, sales, the publisher’s interest, my time, and my mood.

I may also get around to writing a single 300-page book summarizing the offensive in the south. We shall see. There are a lot of other projects I am also considering.

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon

The Battle of Prokhorovka — what does the book consist of

The book consists of:

  1. 638 numbered pages (and 14 pages of front matter)
  2. 75 Listed illustrations and maps
  3. Four photo sections
    1. 15 terrain photos
    2. 12 recon photos
    3. 64 battlefield photos
    4. 70 commander photos
  4. One map section with 17 maps
  5. 18 numbered tables
  6. 21 graphs
  7. 44 sidebars
  8. 76 engagement sheets

Just for the record, my original mega-book consisted of 192 engagement sheets. So one could make the argument that this book covers 40% of the Belgorod offensive (at least compared to the original book).

The book was edited by the same editor of the original book, Ariane Smith of Capital A: http://www.capitala.net/. Therefore, it is of a very similar format and style.

The book can obtained from Stackpole at: Stackpole Books

Or from Amazon.com at: Buy from Amazon