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.

The appearance of the Bf 109F-4 on the Polar Front in the spring of 1942 was an unpleasant surprise for Hurricane units supplied by the Western Allies. During the first six months of 1942 new regiments were formed on the Karelian Front at an impressive rate. By the beginning of the summer 13 were equipped with Hurricanes, namely 145th, 147th, 152nd, 197th, 435th, 609th, 760th, 767th, 768th, 769th, 835th and 837th IAPs and 17th Guards Ground Attack Regiment. It is also clear that the build-up of flight crews for such a large number of new units was mainly the result of accelerated flying training courses. Thanks to the Hurricane’s relative simplicity, Soviet fighter pilots were able to familiarise themselves with their new aircraft and become operational on them fairly rapidly. Yet the Hurricane’s contribution to the Soviet war effort has tended to be overshadowed. Its performance was considered inferior to that of the Messerschmitt Bf 109Fs and Gs opposing it. Many reports from this period, when Soviet fighter units suffered heavy losses, characterised the Hurricane as obsolete, bulky and slow. It was almost considered to be a burden on the fighter units operating it. And the Hurricane was unlikely to be the mount of an ace fighter pilot. O f course, there is a grain of truth in this. It was difficult to measure the Hurricane’s strengths against the latest Messerschmitt fighters, and it was hardly surprising that the more highly trained pilots tried to get themselves transferred to units operating faster and more manoeuvrable fighters at the earliest opportunity. The highest scoring ace of the Northern Fleet Air Force, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (HSU) Boris Feoktistovich Safonov, led the first Soviet fighter air regiment equipped with Hurricanes. He flew 44 sorties between October 1941 and February 1942 with the type. Although he encountered enemy aircraft only twice during this time, on each occasion he was able to increase his personal score. He was credited with shooting down a Bf 109 and an He 111 for his 15th and 16th aerial victories. But when more modern Kittyhawk Is arrived in-theatre Safonov immediately transferred from the Hurricane to the American fighter, which, until his death in combat on 30 May 1942, enabled him to account for four more aircraft (three of these were Ju 88s downed on his final ill-fated mission). Another reason for the negative attitude towards the Hurricane was that Soviet fighter regiments equipped with imported aircraft quickly lost their operational readiness during the intense combat of 1942. This 7 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com HURRICANES IN SOV I E T SERVICE