Impact of the Luftwaffe transfers to the West

[Marcelo Jenisch]

Hello,

I would like to have your views about the impact that the Luftwaffe transfers of aircraft and pilots to the Western theaters, specially from mid-1943 onwards, had in the German operations on the Eastern Front. Did those transfers significantly altered the war in the East, both the air war and ground operations related to it or they were not so significant in that regard?

[randwick]

.
they certainly did ,by mid 1944 ,the Eastern front Luftflottes were a shadow of their former selves ,
it's not just the transfers but the decrease in replacements below attrition and the severe shortage of fuel
the VVS was getting better , their pilot training was abysmal and the mortality rate was staggering
once the pressure eased those pilots had time to learn and get better ,
For the Germans , the lesser number of fighters made losses all the more hurtful , leading to avoiding combat if the odds were too daunting
it was not fear it just that they had to pick their engagements much more carefully
the worst case was july 1944 during operation Bagration when the Soviet air force achieved supremacy over the battlefield
bombers could strafe the retreating columns on the Minsk highway with impunity while recon and artillery spotters planes went unmolested

[steverodgers801]

its called big week and it was the death knell of the fighter forces of the Luftwaffe. On orders from Eisenhower the transportation plan was implemented to degrade as much as possible of the French transportation system, mostly bridges and rail. With the introduction of the P51 the allies were able to give the bombers great coverage and force the Luftwaffe into an attrition battle that they could not win, losing apx one fifth of its pilot force. SInce the Germans did not rotate their pilots into training the lost many of their most experience pilots and the result was a death spiral of unexperienced pilots being killed faster and faster. To replace the losses the Germans were forced to bring in fighter from the east from. At the time of Bagration, there were maybe a hundred available fighters on the whole east front.