Eagles of Reich and Soviet Hawks over Madrid 13.11.1936

[durb]

Here is a summary of this famous air combat, based mainly on the German accounts:

In the afternoon on 13 November 1936, nine He 51s from the German Legion Condor took off from Ávila to provide escort for five Ju 52/3ms and three He 46s, which were to attack the Republican positions on the west bank of the Manzanares.

At 15:00, twelve I-16 type 5 “Moscas” and twelve I-15s intercepted them over Madrid. The I-16s were led by the Russian squadron leader Kapitan Sergey Tarkhov (’Antonio’) (he was the commander of the first and newly created escuadrilla of I-16s) in their first combat while the I-15s (Escuadrilla Palancar) were again led by Starshiy Leytenant Pavel Rychagov. All Republican pilots taking part in this combat were Soviets.
The Republican fighters dove on the Henrici Kette. Unteroffizier Ernst Mratzek was able to claim an I-16 as it dove past. Oberleutnant Oskar Henrici shot down a enemy fighter in the same way as the He 51s dove into the clouds. A bitter dogfight raged over Madrid at 1,500 meters. The Knüppel Kette dove into a cloud, reversed course in a steep turn and re-emerged below the Republican aircraft. Oberleutnant Herwig Knüppel and Unteroffizier Erwin Sawallisch claimed two I-15s; Sawallisch made his way home with some difficulty with shot-up tail surfaces. The Eberhardt Kette (3 planes) had remained above the bombers as top cover. Eberhardt collided with an enemy fighter he had shot down and was killed; the Soviet pilot was able to bail out. Oberleutnant Henrici took a bullet through the lung, but was able to land his aircraft in friendly territory. As he left his aircraft, however, he collapsed and died. The German Staffel became completely scattered, each pilot seeking cover in cloud and making his own way back to Avila. Leutnant Henning Strümpell and Leutnant Dietrich von Bothmer reported the destruction of two further I-15s.

Henrici was wounded mortally probably by Sergey Chernykh, (I-16). It seems that Eberhardt collided with Tarkhov since it’s reported that he single-handedly fought against a number of He 51s before being forced to bail out after a collision. While hanging in his parachute, Republican soldiers mistook him for Nationalist pilot and opened fire, hitting him six times. Tarkhov landed in Madrid but was attacked by the public because they thought he was a German. He died of his injuries at Gómes Ulla hospital on 23 November. This led General Miaja to the issue following order the next day: “Any aviator who jumps from his aircraft using a parachute is out of the battle and, therefore, I order all forces defending Madrid not to shoot at parachutists under any circumstances. They may be our own men, but, if they prove to be enemies they can provide us with valuable information, which will be of great use for our operations.”

A second Soviet pilot was killed when Vladimir Bocharov was wounded and made a forced-landing in enemy territory with his I-16 “Black 9”. He later died of wounds or was killed by Nationalists. According to Republican/Soviet sources Bocharov´s body was chopped into pieces and packed in a box which was on 14.11.1936 delivered to Republicans by airdrop! One of those horror stories, which make one to ask if it really happened or was created for propaganda purposes?

Totally, the Germans claimed seven victories (2 I-16s and 5 I-15s) of this combat. Five of them were later confirmed; the two unconfirmed were those of killed Henrici and Eberhardt (I-16) for the loss of one He 51 and two pilots (Henrici and >Eberhardt).

The Republicans claimed four victories for the loss two aircraft and pilots Bocharov and Tarkhov. They were posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on 31 December 1936. Following Eberhardt’s death, Hauptmann Knüppel became the new Staffelkapitän. Eberhardt was awarded a posthumous Cruz Laureada de San Fernando. This was the first time when German pilots met Soviet pilots in air combat.

Leutnant von Houwald recorded:
“On Friday, 13 November 1936, we encountered the Ratas for the first time and a wild melee resulted. We downed five of them (note: 5 I-16!), but what were these victories when compared with the loss of our Staffelführer (flight leader Eberhardt)? This only served to show that our good old He 51s were too slow compared with the new Ratas - they could play with us as they wanted."

The whole combat seems to have been very confused and messy. To me it seems that Republicans lost only two I-16 in the combat as they admitted at that time, although "Håkans Aviation page" goes for 4 Republican losses. The first Republican loss was Tarkhov´s I-16 which collided with Eberhardt´s He 51. The other one was the plane of Bocharov which force-landed at the Nationalist zone and was captured. It seems that German pilots did not shoot down in this combat any I-15, although five (!) were credited to them. Also the Germans themselves told that they were scattered and disengaged from the combat as soon as possible. He 51 pilot Houwald of this combat: "Ratas could play with us as they wanted". This does not fit with the story of 5-7 air victories, which would have been a crushing and depressing defeat to I-15/I-16 pilots. Had the He 51´s been shooting down I-15 and I-16 as easily as claimed, the whole battle would have gone other way Soviets escaping for their life and leaving German He 51´s as the sovereign masters of airspace over Madrid. But that did not happen.

When it comes to Republican (Soviet) claims, they claimed four planes for the loss of two I-16 and their pilots (Tarkhov, Bocharov). The real German losses of this combat were 1 He 51 and two pilots (Eberhardt, Heinrici). So after all the propaganda and overclaiming it was quite even result both sides losing two pilots. Heinrici managed to bring his He 51 back to home and thus minimized German aircraft losses to just one, but it was not much comfort when the pilot was lost.

[mars]

About that horror story, my impression is that, in the early stage of the SCW, both nantional and republican side were perfectly capable for that kind of atrocity

[Ironmachine]

Eberhardt was awarded a posthumous Cruz Laureada de San Fernando.

What's the source for this? I have never seen any Spanish source stating that, and for example The Condor Legion: German Troops in the Spanish Civil War by Carlos Caballero Jurado says that

no member [of the Condor Legion] received Spain's highest award - the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando

[durb]

Forsyth: Aces of Legion Condor (2011), p. 30: "Eberhardt and Henrici were posthumously awarded highest Spanish decoration, the Cruz de laureada by Gen. Franco".

...but this is just a citation from Herwig Knüppel and comes likely from the German propaganda book Das Buch der Spanienflieger (which unfortunately is too often cited by Forsyth without any criticism).

[Ironmachine]

Forsyth is not basing his statement on any oficial document; he is just quoting Knüppel's (undated) account of their activities during the SCW. AFAIK, Knüppel is wrong and consequently so is Forsyth.

[durb]

Forsyth´s book has much quotes of Das Buch der Spanienflieger and other German propaganda prose. They are first-hand accounts of German pilots for sure, but they should not be taken as objective truth including correct details on what actually happened. I think that Forsyth could have been little more critical when quoting German accounts or at least remind readers about the origin and nature of these German quotes.

When it comes to Cruz Laureada affair, the damage is unfortunately done. Forsyth quoted Knüppel without criticism - an average reader of the Osprey book will take it as granted truth as I did. Also "Håkans Aviation page" has taken the Knüppel claim as the truth - no wonder because Forsyth´s book is one of the sources of that website. It is difficult to tell why Knüppel wanted to decorate his fallen comrades with Cruz Laureada - it could be also that the German propaganda machinery "improved" Knüppel´s statement a bit.

[Feuerbach]

Here is a summary of this famous air combat, based mainly on the German accounts:

In the afternoon on 13 November 1936, nine He 51s from the German Legion Condor took off from Ávila to provide escort for five Ju 52/3ms and three He 46s, which were to attack the Republican positions on the west bank of the Manzanares.

At 15:00, twelve I-16 type 5 “Moscas” and twelve I-15s intercepted them over Madrid. The I-16s were led by the Russian squadron leader Kapitan Sergey Tarkhov (’Antonio’) (he was the commander of the first and newly created escuadrilla of I-16s) in their first combat while the I-15s (Escuadrilla Palancar) were again led by Starshiy Leytenant Pavel Rychagov. All Republican pilots taking part in this combat were Soviets.
The Republican fighters dove on the Henrici Kette. Unteroffizier Ernst Mratzek was able to claim an I-16 as it dove past. Oberleutnant Oskar Henrici shot down a enemy fighter in the same way as the He 51s dove into the clouds. A bitter dogfight raged over Madrid at 1,500 meters. The Knüppel Kette dove into a cloud, reversed course in a steep turn and re-emerged below the Republican aircraft. Oberleutnant Herwig Knüppel and Unteroffizier Erwin Sawallisch claimed two I-15s; Sawallisch made his way home with some difficulty with shot-up tail surfaces. The Eberhardt Kette (3 planes) had remained above the bombers as top cover. Eberhardt collided with an enemy fighter he had shot down and was killed; the Soviet pilot was able to bail out. Oberleutnant Henrici took a bullet through the lung, but was able to land his aircraft in friendly territory. As he left his aircraft, however, he collapsed and died. The German Staffel became completely scattered, each pilot seeking cover in cloud and making his own way back to Avila. Leutnant Henning Strümpell and Leutnant Dietrich von Bothmer reported the destruction of two further I-15s.

Henrici was wounded mortally probably by Sergey Chernykh, (I-16). It seems that Eberhardt collided with Tarkhov since it’s reported that he single-handedly fought against a number of He 51s before being forced to bail out after a collision. While hanging in his parachute, Republican soldiers mistook him for Nationalist pilot and opened fire, hitting him six times. Tarkhov landed in Madrid but was attacked by the public because they thought he was a German. He died of his injuries at Gómes Ulla hospital on 23 November. This led General Miaja to the issue following order the next day: “Any aviator who jumps from his aircraft using a parachute is out of the battle and, therefore, I order all forces defending Madrid not to shoot at parachutists under any circumstances. They may be our own men, but, if they prove to be enemies they can provide us with valuable information, which will be of great use for our operations.”

A second Soviet pilot was killed when Vladimir Bocharov was wounded and made a forced-landing in enemy territory with his I-16 “Black 9”. He later died of wounds or was killed by Nationalists. According to Republican/Soviet sources Bocharov´s body was chopped into pieces and packed in a box which was on 14.11.1936 delivered to Republicans by airdrop! One of those horror stories, which make one to ask if it really happened or was created for propaganda purposes?

Totally, the Germans claimed seven victories (2 I-16s and 5 I-15s) of this combat. Five of them were later confirmed; the two unconfirmed were those of killed Henrici and Eberhardt (I-16) for the loss of one He 51 and two pilots (Henrici and >Eberhardt).

The Republicans claimed four victories for the loss two aircraft and pilots Bocharov and Tarkhov. They were posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on 31 December 1936. Following Eberhardt’s death, Hauptmann Knüppel became the new Staffelkapitän. Eberhardt was awarded a posthumous Cruz Laureada de San Fernando. This was the first time when German pilots met Soviet pilots in air combat.

Leutnant von Houwald recorded:
“On Friday, 13 November 1936, we encountered the Ratas for the first time and a wild melee resulted. We downed five of them (note: 5 I-16!), but what were these victories when compared with the loss of our Staffelführer (flight leader Eberhardt)? This only served to show that our good old He 51s were too slow compared with the new Ratas - they could play with us as they wanted."

The whole combat seems to have been very confused and messy. To me it seems that Republicans lost only two I-16 in the combat as they admitted at that time, although "Håkans Aviation page" goes for 4 Republican losses. The first Republican loss was Tarkhov´s I-16 which collided with Eberhardt´s He 51. The other one was the plane of Bocharov which force-landed at the Nationalist zone and was captured. It seems that German pilots did not shoot down in this combat any I-15, although five (!) were credited to them. Also the Germans themselves told that they were scattered and disengaged from the combat as soon as possible. He 51 pilot Houwald of this combat: "Ratas could play with us as they wanted". This does not fit with the story of 5-7 air victories, which would have been a crushing and depressing defeat to I-15/I-16 pilots. Had the He 51´s been shooting down I-15 and I-16 as easily as claimed, the whole battle would have gone other way Soviets escaping for their life and leaving German He 51´s as the sovereign masters of airspace over Madrid. But that did not happen.

When it comes to Republican (Soviet) claims, they claimed four planes for the loss of two I-16 and their pilots (Tarkhov, Bocharov). The real German losses of this combat were 1 He 51 and two pilots (Eberhardt, Henrici). So after all the propaganda and overclaiming it was quite even result both sides losing two pilots. Heinrici managed to bring his He 51 back to home and thus minimized German aircraft losses to just one, but it was not much comfort when the pilot was lost.