In the meantime II./JG 52 continued eastwards providing support for Panzergruppe 3 blasting its way across Lithuania in an attempt to assault the Belarusian capital Minsk from the north. The Soviets desperately tried to stop the advancing armor by sending wave after wave of bombers, which, without a proper fighter escort, were sitting ducks to the pilots from II./JG 52. By the end of June II./JG 52 had added 13 more kills to its tally. Fighting became much more intense in the first week of July: between July 1 and July 7, 1941 the Luftwaffe pilots from II./JG 52 shot down as many as 55 enemy aircraft without a single loss among their own ranks.
After the fall of Minsk the bulk of the fighting took place around the city of Smolensk. By the end of July II./JG 52 had claim additional 50 enemy aircraft destroyed, while losing four pilots killed or missing in action and two wounded.
On August 1, 1941 III./JG 52 began combat operations from Biyala Tserkov in support of the assault on Kiev. In the first week of fighting the unit’s tally grew by 37 kills and on August 7, 1941 the tally stood at 100 air-to-air kills achieved from the beginning of the war in September 1939. It was during that period that Lt. Hermann Graf, a future ace with 212 kills to his credit, scored his first aerial victory. During heavy fighting in the Kiev area the pilots of III./JG 52 shot down additional 61 Soviet aircraft.
Until September 12, 1941 the aircrews of III./JG 52 provided support for the German ground troops crossing the Dnieper River. The Luftwaffe pilots downed 23 enemy aircraft before moving to Berislav airfield to take part in the German push toward the Crimea through Perekop. On September 13, 1941 the unit’s pilots shot down three Soviet aircraft, followed by three more over the following three days. On September 17 III./JG 52 returned to the Kiev area to provide support for the German ground forces finishing off besieged Red Army troops. During the operation the unit’s pilots added three more kills to their tallies.
On September 24, 1941 III./JG 52 began combat operations from Poltava airfield in support of the German 17th Army pushing towards Kharkov. During the month-long battle the unit’s fighters destroyed 115 enemy aircraft.
On August 5, 1941 II./JG 52 deployed to Solzy airfield near Lake Ilmen. During the first days of operations in the north the unit achieved only two kills, since the rainy weather greatly affected the tempo of air operations. The rains stopped on August 14 and over the following week the pilots from II./JG 52 claimed 15 air-to-air kills while losing two aircrews to enemy action. On August 20, 1941 II./JG 52 was transferred to Spasskaya-Polist airfield from where it would launch combat sorties over Leningrad and Lake Ladoga. By the end of August II./JG 52 had amassed 39 kills. More rains interrupted the unit’s lucky streak and soon II./JG 52 moved yet again, this time to Lyuban airfield which featured much better runways. In September 1941 the pilots of II./JG 52 chalked up 58 more aerial victories. Own losses included three pilots killed in action and five aircraft destroyed.
On October 2, 1941 II./JG 52 began combat operations from Stabna airfield, some 500 km south of the unit’s previous area of responsibility. The Gruppe’s main task was support for German ground forces fighting near Vyasma. After Kalinin had been captured II./JG 52 took residence at the local airfield to take part in the German assault toward Moscow. By the end of October the unit’s pilots had claimed 19 kills.
After the launch of Operation Typhoon (the German offensive against Moscow)
I./JG 52 joined its sister Gruppen on the Eastern Front. Fighting alongside II./JG 52 the unit provided support for the German ground forces in the mid section of the offensive front. In November 1941 Rusa airfield, located just 90 km from the Soviet capital, became the main operating base for JG 52 fighters. On December 2,1941 Oblt. Johannes Steinhoff from 4./JG 52 scored his 50th and 51st kills becoming the first JG 52 pilot to achieve such a feat.
During the same time III./JG 52 continued operations over the Crimea, the Azov Sea and Rostov. It was during that time that the Gruppe was augmented by the addition of a Croat outfit (15.(kroat.)/JG 52), whose pilots scored six air-to-air kills between October 1 and December 5, 1941 losing two pilots in the process.
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