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.

C HA PTE R FOUR claimed to have destroyed 13 Ju 88s, although, as was often the case, the reality was very different. Indeed, KG 30 lost only Ju 88A-4 Wk-Nr. 1746. After the battle Sgibnev was awarded his second Order of the Red Banner, and also recommended to receive the title of HSU. The official citation that accompanied the latter read as follows; ‘For the whole period of the war with the German invaders up to now, comrade Sgibnev has flown 260 combat sorties, totalling 243 hr 40 min flying time. He has engaged in 21 air battles, during which he has personally shot down ten enemy aircraft. One of Stalin’s original falcons, Comrade Pilot Sgibnev is consistently contributing to the glory of our Great Motherland. Through his indomitable ambition he seeks a fight with the enemy, and on finding it, he is unfailingly victorious.’ In mid May another 21-year-old pilot and flight commander, Lt Vasiliy Doroshin, began making a name for himself too, despite having been fighting as a member of the Northern Fleet Air Force since the first days of the war. He reported destroying three enemy aircraft (a Bf 110, a Bf 109 and a Ju 88) in the space of one week. Doroshin’s first success came on 12 May during a sortie to repel another raid on Murmansk, and he claimed his second aircraft the following day. His third victory came on 18 May. There was no let-up in the intensity of the battles in the skies over Murmansk during June. Sgibnev increased his score with two kills, but it was his regimental colleague and deputy squadron commander Snr Lt Aleksey Dizhevskiy who achieved the month’s greatest number of victories. Among the three enemy aircraft he claimed to have destroyed were a pair of Ju 87s during a single raid on the 2nd. That morning the Luftwaffe struck twice at Murmansk and its port. The Northern Fleet Air Force scrambled 30 fighters at 1120 hrs to repel the first raid, which comprised nine Ju 87s escorted by four Bf 109s and a similar number of Bf 110s. Several jetties were seriously damaged as well as the railway line to the port. A submarine, which was under repair in the shipyard, was also damaged by a bomb. The Hurricanes were joined by a squadron of I-16s under the command of Capt Vasiliy Adonkin. The Polikarpov pilots engaged the Bf 109s, giving their compatriots © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com High-scoring Hurricane ace Aleksey Dizhevskiy was born in 1917 in Kronshtadt, near Leningrad. Tw enty years later he entered Eysk Naval Aviation School. In 1940 he was posted to 72nd SAP of the Northern Fleet Air Force as a junior pilot in a squadron equipped with I-15bis biplane fighters. Dizhevskiy converted to the Hurricane in early 1942 w ith 2nd GSAP. After the re-organisation of the Northern Fleet Air Force in March 1942, Dizhevskiy served w ith 78th IAP as a deputy squadron commander. His first victory was achieved on 4 April 1942, and in M ay 1943 Dizhevskiy was appointed to lead 27th IAP. By war's end he was CO of 41st IAP, Pacific Fleet Air Force. Dizhevskiy was awarded the Order of the Red Banner three times