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 FIV E 80 Five-victory Hurricane ace Vasiliy Pronchenko was born in 1918 to a peasant family in the Chernigov region. Entering Eysk Naval Aviation School in 1937, he became a flying instructor upon graduation. In March 1942 Pronchenko was posted to 2nd GKAP of the Northern Fleet Air Force, and he claimed his first aerial victory on 30 M ay that same year. At war's end Pronchenko was serving as adjutant of 54th SAP, W hite Sea Flotilla Air Force This Northern Fleet Air Force Hurricane IIA was modified for night operations through the fitment of an anti-glare shield over the engine exhausts is unconfirmed. Two Hurricanes were lost in return. The official report detailing Vasiliy Pronchenko’s first kill read as follows; ‘He gave the Me 109 two bursts of fire from a distance of 20-150 m, after which the enemy aircraft turned onto its wing and went down, crashing into the water. Lt Pronchenko was slightly injured.’ As it happened, the leg wound inflicted on the future ace represented a lucky escape for the Northern Fleet pilot, as 80 bullet holes were counted in his aircraft upon his return to base. A little more than two weeks later, on 18 June, Pronchenko reported shooting down his second victim, a Ju 87. On this occasion he was flying in a group of five Hurricanes, led by Kurzenkov, that attacked a large formation of dive-bombers. Pronchenko made two attacks on one of them, initially from below and behind from a range of 150 m and then from below and to port from 50-70 m. As he reported later, Pronchenko could see ‘the impact of my fire hitting the Ju 87’s fuselage behind the cockpit’. The aircraft crashed ten kilometres [six miles] southwest of Murmansk. Although this kill remained unconfirmed, it nevertheless made a favourable impression on Pronchenko’s regimental superiors, for in early June he was promoted and made a flight commander. As previously noted, Northern Fleet fighter operations were restricted during the second half of 1942 by the lack of serviceable equipment. It was not, therefore, until the following year that Pronchenko was able to continue making a name for himself. The 19 March 1943 combat report states that Hurricanes took off to intercept a Ju 88, and that Pronchenko ‘attacked the bomber at an altitude of 4500 m [14,625 ft]. The aircraft subsequently crashed near Lake Kyadel-Yavr’. This is not confirmed. After claiming his third kill Pronchenko received his first decoration, the Order of the Red Banner. He was promoted again and made a deputy squadron commander in 78th IAP. Pronchenko reported his fourth victory on 13 June, claiming to have downed a Bf 110 while he was escorting Il-2s attacking enemy shipping. This kill is also unconfirmed. By November, when Pronchenko had claimed five victories, he was also serving as regimental navigation officer. Six months later, however, he was removed from this post, demoted and transferred to 54th SAP of the Belarussian Flotilla. He remained there until the end of the war, by which point he was serving as an adjutant. In 1951 Pronchenko was transferred to the reserves. The career of fellow Hurricane ace Vasiliy Strelnikov was almost a mirror image of Pronchenko’s. He too would claim five kills as a Hurricane pilot, but his early service was marked by a strange incident, the details of which were subsequently circulated outside the Northern Fleet. The Bulletin of Navy Air Force Combat Losses related combat experiences of naval pilots fighting the Germans. In April 1943 Strelnikov was a virtually unknown senior sergeant whose © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com