Рыбин, Ю. В. Советские асы на Харрикейнах в годы Второй Мировой Войны / Юрий Рыбин . – [Б. м. ] : Osprey Publishing, 2012. – 97 с. : ил., портр. – Англ. яз.

This map shows Karelian Front airfields (marked w ith a circled T symbol) that w ere home to Hurricane regiments in 1941-43 the Karelian Front, from where it was to play an active role against enemy ground forces. Its pilots reported engaging in several aerial combats that resulted in claims for the destruction of three enemy fighters (a Bf 109 and two Finnish Fokker D.XXIs) and an He 111 bomber for the loss of two I-153s. Pavel Gavrilov was among the successful pilots, recording his first success on 27 September. Although no detailed account of this battle is available, it is known, however, that five I-153s under the command ofsenior political instructor Sergey Khateev strafed enemy forces in the village of Rugozero. During their return flight the Soviet pilots were attacked by nine enemy fighters, which they identified as Bf 109s. In reality the I-153s had been engaged by eight Finnish Fokker D.XXIs of LeLv 10. Two of the I-153s were shot down, Lt M N Piskunov being killed and Khateev making a successful emergency landing on a country road leading from the front. Initially it was thought that only one enemy aircraft had been destroyed in return, but once back at Sosnovets the survivors o f Khateev’s group reported that another D.XXI had been shot down by Gavrilov. As Soviet fighter pilots tended to be judged by their success in combat, it was not surprising that Gavrilov was promoted one rank following this action. On 2 November the regiment was pulled back to a rear area outside the city ofArkhangelsk to re-equip with newly imported equipment. The Hurricane had arrived. Two weeks later, on 16 November, the regiment returned to the front with its first ten fighters. After conversion to the Hurricane, 152nd IAP became part of 103rd Combined Air Division (Smeshannaya Aviadiviziya, SAD), which had been formed within the Red Army Air Force on the Karelian Front at the end o f October. The unit was based at the Segezhsk airfield complex and given the task of defending the southern sector of the Karelian Front, specifically the areas of Medvezhegorsk, Mosalsk and Rebolsk. The principal enemy in this sector was the Finnish Air Force. The regiment’s pilots flew their first combat sorties with the Hurricane on the day the division 15 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com ON THE K AR E LIA N FRONT