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.

victories attributed to Soviet fighter pilots in World War 2 were actually unconfirmed. At most only about a third were verified, which means that out of five or six claimed only two can be regarded as actual kills. In some cases none of the victories attributed to pilots hitherto can be confirmed. Perhaps then it is only fair to devote some space in this volume to those pilots who did not become aces at the time but who nevertheless scored real victories in the early stages of the Hurricane’s career in the USSR. It was almost immediately after 78th IAP had been formed that Northern Fleet fighter pilots filed their first claim. As previously noted, on 25 October 1941 six Hurricanes of the regiment’s 1st Squadron, led by Snr Lt V P Rodin, engaged a formation of Bf 110s in a head-on attack over the frontline near Zapadnaya Litsa. Lt D I Sinev fired at one fighter that was subsequently seen emitting smoke and diving sharply towards the ground. Reports from other pilots acted as confirmation of this kill. The German pilots of 1.(Z)/JG 77 claimed to have given ‘as good as they got’, and Leutnant Feliks-Maria Brandis reported shooting down a Hurricane over the frontline shortly after the initial skirmish. In reality neither side had suffered any losses. The first Luftwaffe aircraft to definitely fall victim to Northern Fleet Hurricane pilots was Ju 52/3m Wk-Nr. 5974 of Tr.St.Fl.Fu.Nord. The aircraft had suffered compass failure and its crew had lost their way, blundering into Soviet-controlled airspace. The lumbering tri-motor transport was intercepted by a flight of Hurricanes near Belokamenki and shot down by Lt V V Kravchenko. The Ju 52/3m’s pilot, Feldwebel Rudolf Pesnak, managed to land the burning aircraft on the tundra, but seven men from an airfield construction brigade who were on board were overcome by smoke and died. Another was shot while being captured and the remaining six passengers and crew were taken prisoner. The Hurricane pilots shot down their first German combat aircraft on 17 December when, on this short and gloomy polar day, five Hurricanes led by Maj Safonov encountered seven Bf 109Es of 14./JG 77 near the frontline. The Soviet pilots engaged the German fighters at an altitude of 2000 m (6500 ft), and exploiting their superior manoeuvrability, they damaged Bf 109E-7 Wk-Nr. 4081 so severely that Leutnant Alfred Jakobi, who had been wounded in the shoulder, was forced to limp back to his airfield, where his aircraft was declared beyond repair. However, two Hurricanes had also been lost during the clash with the Bf 109s, Lt M G Volkov being killed and Safonov having to make an emergency landing on a frozen lake after his engine stopped with connecting rod failure. A UT-2 search aircraft swiftly located the regimental commander and flew him back to Vaenga-2, leaving his Hurricane to be finished off by German fighters a few days later. Official records state that four pilots claimed the honour of being Snr Lt V V Kravchenko of 78th IAP was one of the first Northern Fleet Air Force pilots to shoot down an enemy aircraft while flying a Hurricane. On 16 November 1941 he destroyed a Ju 52/3m to score his third victory of the war. Kravchenko was killed in aerial combat on 10 M ay 1942 shortly after shooting down his fourth German aircraft The remains of Ju 52/3m Wk-Nr. 5974 of the Tr.St.Fl.Fu.Nord, which was shot down by Snr Lt Kravchenko. The transport aircraft was carrying German military construction workers from Rovaniemi to Kirkenes when its crew lost their bearings due to navigation instrument failure and blundered into Soviet-controlled airspace 35 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com NORTHERN FLEET ACES