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.

CH A P TE R THREE the first to down an enemy aircraft while flying a Hurricane on 17 December —Safonov, Capt Markevich, Lt Sinev and the now-deceased Lt Volkov. Today, it is virtually impossible to determine which of the quartet was actually responsible for the only Messerschmitt loss in this battle. But there is no doubt about the identity of the pilot responsible for the next Hurricane kill. Snr Lt Dmitriy Reutov shot down an He 111 bomber on the last day of 1941 to score his first victory, and the year’s tenth for 78th IAP. German sources confirm that He 111H-6 Wk-Nr. 4357 of 1./KG 26 failed to return from a sortie that day. Three Heinkels had left Banak for Luostari airfield the previous day in preparation for a raid on the port of Murmansk. On 31 December they failed to rendezvous with their escort of Bf 109s from 14./JG 77 near the target, probably because of poor visibility in the area. Accordingly, the bomber crews, who were now relying on the polar gloom for protection, arrived over the target without fighter cover. They bombed from 6000 m (19,500 ft) and then turned west, flying in ‘V’ formation. Thinking the worst part of their mission was already Maj Gen A A Kuznetsov, commander of the Northern Fleet Air Force, prepares to take off from Vaenga-1 in ex-No 151 Wing Hurricane IIB V5252 in late October 1941. This Gloster-built aircraft had been issued new to the RAF just weeks prior to it being despatched to the USSR aboard HMS Argus 36 Maj Gen Kuznetsov emerges from the cockpit of V5252 following an orientation flight in October 1941. Being the ranking aviator at Vaenga- 1 in the autumn of 1941, Kuznetsov became the first Soviet pilot to fly an RAF Hurricane, followed soon after by Boris Safonov © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com