Jump to content

Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War - Helion and Company via Casemate UK


Julien

Recommended Posts

Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War

ISBN : 9781911512264

Helion and Company via Casemate UK

 

ll01.jpg

 

During WWII a huge ammount of material and arms was delivered to the Soviet Union, the value of this equipement has been long debated though its been shown that the depletion of German assets fighting on the Eastern front did no doubt help the Allied push into France and Germany. 

 

ll02.jpg

 

Through no doubt a great deal of research the author has not only made a an investigation into how these deliveries did in fact help the allied cause. The book considers the equipment, how it was delivered and how it was adapted by the Russians for use in their own challenging climate. The use by them, and mastering of equipment the western allies thought ill suited to their own operations is investigated; one of the more well known ones is the P-39. Not well liked by allied Air Forces but extremely well liked by Russian Pilots in the ground attack role.  Included are detailed combat assessments prepared by the Soviets with their views on the allied equipment supplied. 

 

ll04.jpg

 

Aircraft considered in detail are;

 

Hawker Hurricane   Supermarine Spitfire   Curtiss P-40 Kitty hawk   Hawker Typhoon
             
Bell P-39 Air Cobra   Bell P-63 Kingcobra   Republic P-47 Thunderbolt   Short Stirling
             
Curtiss O052 Owl   Douglas A-20 Boston   North American P-51 Mustang   Vougt OS2U Kingfisher
             
Curtiss C-46 Commando   de Havilland Mosquito   North American B-25 Mitchell   Amstrong Withworth Albemarle
             
Handley Page Hampden   Dougals C-47 Skytrain   Consolidated PBY Catalina  

North American AT-6 Texan


 

 

In addition to the official deliveries of aircraft the book looks at those which arrived by accident. The text is supported by nearly 700 photographs, 100 colour aircraft profiles, plus maps and charts.

 

ll03.jpg

 

Conclusion

It is evident that a great deal of research has gone into this book. It really does give a proper attempt to assess the impact of deliveries of these aircraft to the Soviets. If you're interested in these aircraft in Soviet service, and this part of WWII in particular then its well worth investing in this publication.

 

Very Highly Recommended.

bin.jpg

 

Review sample courtesy of

logo.gif

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like a very promising book that should belong on many bookshelves, and a large number of new photographs will be welcomed.  However it is rather sad to see, even in so short a review, some familiar myths being repeated.  The P-39 was indeed liked by the Soviets but as a standard fighter not in the ground-attack role.  The Hampden torpedo bomber did not have a modified bomb bay deeper at the rear, but a standard bomb bay and a shallower ventral gun position.  They were also painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme of green and grey, not green and brown.  The head-on view of the Hurricane Mk.IIB shows the eight guns of a standard Mk.IIA rather than the modified armament of the Soviet variant it is supposed to be (which I suspect to be just carelessness).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Julien said:

one of the more well known ones is the P-39. Not well liked by allied Air Forces but extremely well liked by Russian Pilots in the ground attack role.

neat review Julien, but this is one of those enduring myths...

Graham beat me to it....

 

The P-39 main role in the VVS was as fighter...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_the_Soviet_Union

 

This is a list of fighter aces in World War II from the Soviet Union. For other countries see List of World War II aces by country.

Name Victories Regiment(s) Notes
Ivan Kozhedub 62[1] or 64[2] 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment (became 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment), 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
Alexander Pokryshkin 59+6 shared[3] or 59 (53 + 6 shared)[4] 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment (became 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment), 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
Grigory Rechkalov 61 (56 + 5 shared)[4]

55th Fighter Aviation Regiment (became 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment)

 

 

 

note that both Pokryshin

http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/p/pokryshk.htm

and Rechalov

http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/r/rechkalv.htm 

main mounts were P-39's

 

http://acepilots.com/planes/soviet_p39_airacobra.html

 

Leading Soviet Airacobra Aces
Pilot Victories P-39 Victories Regiment
Aleksandr I. Pokryshkin 59 48 9 GFD
Nikolay Gulaev 57 41 129 GFR
Grigori A. Rechkalov 56 50 16 GFR
Dimitriy B. Glinka 50 41 100 GFR
Vladimir I. Bobrov 43 * 104 GFR
Aleksey Smirnov 34 30 153 FR
Ivan I. Babak 33 32 16 GFR
Mikhail S. Komelkov 32 32 104 GFR
A. Klubov 31 27 16 GFR
Boris B. Glinka 31 31 16 GFR
A. Fedorov 24 * 16 GFR
V. Semenishin 23 * 104 GFR
K. Sukhov 22 * 16 GFR
P. Eremin 22 * 16 GFR
P. Kryukov 22 * 16 GFR
N. Chistov 19 * 16 GFR
* - not identified, but likely most of their totals were scored in Airacobras

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

It looks like a very promising book that should belong on many bookshelves, and a large number of new photographs will be welcomed.  However it is rather sad to see, even in so short a review, some familiar myths being repeated.  The P-39 was indeed liked by the Soviets but as a standard fighter not in the ground-attack role.  The Hampden torpedo bomber did not have a modified bomb bay deeper at the rear, but a standard bomb bay and a shallower ventral gun position.  They were also painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme of green and grey, not green and brown.  The head-on view of the Hurricane Mk.IIB shows the eight guns of a standard Mk.IIA rather than the modified armament of the Soviet variant it is supposed to be (which I suspect to be just carelessness).

Im sorry but where in the review did I mention the Hampden bomb bay? or colour schemes? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Julien said:

Im sorry but where in the review did I mention the Hampden bomb bay? or colour schemes? 

He's referring to the colour profiles shown:

 

50 minutes ago, Julien said:

 

 

ll03.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

for more on Soviet Hurricanes

 

Soviet regunning

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/board/index.php?topic=881.0

On 16/01/2018 at 14:34, Graham Boak said:

The head-on view of the Hurricane Mk.IIB shows the eight guns of a standard Mk.IIA rather than the modified armament of the Soviet variant it is supposed to be (which I suspect to be just carelessness).

with drawings from a Russian magazine,  which show the correct head- on, and details of the underwing ejection slots plates.

note these are on Photobucket,  which I must sort out. (works with a hotlink fix though)

 

Soviet made airfilter

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/board/index.php?topic=2122.0

 

Two Seat conversions

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/board/index.php?topic=876.0

 

On 16/01/2018 at 14:34, Graham Boak said:

The Hampden torpedo bomber did not have a modified bomb bay deeper at the rear, but a standard bomb bay and a shallower ventral gun position.  They were also painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme of green and grey, not green and brown. 

the TB ventral  position is discussed here

 

as the Hampden  at Cosford was salavged from Russia,   remains of the TSS scheme were found.

this thread mention this, as well as  fitting of a Soviet turret

 

HTH

T

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm waiting for mine to arrive.  I have to say that it has two strong competitors, in Red Stars 4: Lend Lease Aircraft in Russia (Guest & Petrov) and US Aircraft in the Soviet Union and Russia (Yefim Gordon and the Komissarovs).  Both of these books are high quality in production and content, and are classics that belong on any enthusiast's shelf.  However, the first dates back to 2002, the second to 2008, so it is fair to say that another work on the subject is probably due.  Certainly for younger enthusiasts who lack these earlier works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My copy arrived today, and I've had long enough looking into it to gather a fuller opinion.  I've no doubt that this is well worth it for both those new to the subject and those already familiar.  In qualification the profiles, whilst nice enough, are not to the artistic quality of those in the above books.  (I doubt that the Albemarles were green and grey! )  The smaller format means that the photographs are not so well presented, but there are many that I have not seen before; including some useful ones of Hampdens, to name but one type.  Captions are generally informative, giving more than just the immediate necessities. To me, the great benefit of the book is in its text.  The author is both historian and engineer, and it shows.  In addition to the delivery and subsequent operational histories (including postwar use), considerable space is given over to the problems in operating Western aircraft that were never designed nor adequately developed for the Russian climate, and differed in design philosophy from Russian types.  The effort put into further modification of such types is described much more fully than anywhere else.  Both the weaknesses and strong points of the Allied types and their technologies are described in terms of their Eastern Front capabilities and achievements.  There is more on the specific operational history of each type than I've seen elsewhere.

 

No book this size can be encyclopaedic.  I'd have liked to see the discussion on the need for 100 octane, and the measures taken using Soviet fuels, extended.  He speaks of the Merlin as being suitable for 87 octane fuel, but does not detail the reduction in performance that implied and which must have coloured the Soviet pilots' views of the Hurricane's capability.  He presents considerable detail about the need for higher octane fuel for the P-39, but fails to mention that a high priority route was established to ensure just this supply, for this one type.  I'm sure that a full reading will produce more gems, and perhaps a few more niggles too.  I anticipate an overall gain.

 

Thank you Julien for providing this review in the first place.

Edited by Graham Boak
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...