Barbarossa & the Retreat to Moscow

Recollections of Soviet Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front

Artem Drabkin

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Aviation
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781473812093
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

Red Army Air Force pilots share their stories of WWII combat and life on the front lines in this collection of interviews with Russian war veterans. The onset of war in the summer of 1941 was a disaster for the Soviet Air Force. In a matter of weeks, most of the Soviet frontline aircraft were destroyed by the Luftwaffe onslaught, and the casualty rate among the pilots was cripplingly high. Yet the surviving few learned a great deal from their harrowing battle experience. In time, they formed the core of the fighter force that turned the tables on the Germans and eventually won air superiority over the Eastern Front. In Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow, Soviet fighter pilots share their recollections of going into battle against the relentless German invaders. Organized chronologically, the interviews in this volume tell the story of devastating defeats in 1941, the difficulties of regrouping and retraining, and the ultimate victory of 1945.

Contents

List of Plates

Introduction

Chapter 1 Vitaly I. Klimenko

Chapter 2 Alexander E. Shvarev

Chapter 3 Vitaly V. Rybalko

Chapter 4 Viktor M. Sinaisky

Chapter 5 Alexander F. Khaila

Chapter 6 Ivan D. Gaidaenko

Appendix I Fighter Aircraft on the Eastern Front: Nikolai G. Golodnikov Interviewed by Andrei Sukhrukov

Appendix II Observations and Notes on Soviet Fighter Production on the Eve of Barbarossa

Appendix III Featured Aircraft – Quick Reference Guide

Appendix IV Glossary

Index

List of Plates

(Plates appear between pages 112 and 113)

1. Ivan D. Gaidaenko.

2. Nikolai G. Golodnikov.

3. Alexander F. Khaila.

4. Vitaly I. Klimenko.

5. Vitaly V. Rybalko.

6. Alexander E. Shvarev.

7. Viktor M. Sinaisky.

8. Members Of A Flying Club.

9. Cadets Ivan Shumaev and Vitaly Klimenko.

10. Polikarpov U-2 Training Plane.

11. Vitaly Klimenko.

12. Graduation Photo.

13. Graduation Photo.

14. Last Serial Model I-16 Type 29.

15. Vitaly Rybalko.

16. Yak-1 in Flight.

17. LaGG-3 in the Air in Winter 1941.

18. Repair of I-16 Fighters at a Moscow Plant.

19. Results of German Air Strikes.

20. ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ I.G. Romanenko.

21. Soviet Airfields.

22. Mechanics Prepare an I-16 for Flight.

23. MiG-3 Squadron over Moscow.

24. Fighters of the 156th Fighter Regiment.

25. Swearing the Oath.

26. Pilots of the 17th Guards Ground Assault Regiment.

27. Repair Workshops.

28. Moscow Air Defence Pilots with an I-16.

29. Breakfast in Between Sorties.

30. Loading a Fighter’s Synchronized Machine Guns.

31. Dogfight over Murmansk in 1942.

32. Pilots on Duty.

33. A Sailor Guards a Captured German Pilot.

34. Wreckage of a Downed German Me 110.

35. Vitaly Klimenko.

36. Yak-1s from the 1st Guards Fighter Regiment.

37. Pilots of the 1st Guards Fighter Regiment.

38. V. Klimenko.

39. V. Klimenko Joins the Communist Party.

40. Congratulating Pilots on a Successful Mission.

41. V. Klimenko in the Cockpit of a Yak-7B.

42. Alexander Shvarev (on the Left) at His La-5FN.

43. Aces of the 40th Guards.

44. Cadet N.G. Golodnikov.

45. N.G. Golodnikov and Airacobra.

46. Boris Safonov and British Pilots from the 151st RAF Wing.

47. Pilots of the 2nd Guards Fighter Regiment.

48. 1st Squadron of the 168th Fighter Regiment.

49. Commander I.I. Petrov.

50. Pilots of the 168th Fighter Regiment.

51. Instructor Pilots of Chuguevo Air Academy.

52. ‘Malyi Theatre for the Front.’

53. A Squadron of the 122nd Fighter Regiment.

54. Fragment of a Newspaper Article.

55. 19th GIAP Regimental Commander Georgi I. Reifschneider.

56. Lieutenant Colonel Ivan D. Gaidaenko.

57. Ivan D. Gaidaenko in the Cockpit of His Airacobra.

58. La-5FN of the 40th Guards Fighter Regiment.

59. La-5 of the 98th Guards Fighter Regiment.

60. P-40A Kittyhawk of the 2nd Guards Fighter Regiment.

61. MiG-3 of the 122nd Fighter Regiment.

62. Yak-9L of the 168th Fighter Regiment.

63. Hurricane of the 1st Guards Fighter Regiment.

64. Yak-1 of Lieutenant V. Klimenko.

65. Yak-7B of the 1st Guards Fighter Regiment.

66. Air Force Lieutenant in Flight Uniform (1935–41).

67. Air Force Lieutenant in Field Uniform (1940–41).

68. Sleeve Badge of Air Force Pilots.

Introduction

As soon as a human being invents something he will apply it to the destruction of fellow human beings. The most outstanding invention of the early twentieth century – the airplane – was no exception. Soon after the birth of flying machines came the prestigious trade of Air Force pilot. And within that privileged caste – inhabitants of heaven – fighter pilots formed an elite: for they were the only ones tasked with aerial combat, and as such, became gladiators of the skies.

The fierce dogfights of the First World War and the record-breaking long-distance flights and races of the 1920s and 1930s captured the imagination, causing boys across the world to become obsessed with flying. As youngsters they built models of planes, and as teenagers attended glider schools and flying clubs. Upon graduation the best students became Air Force pilots. In the Soviet Union the popularity of pilots like Gromov, Chkalov, Kokkinaki, and those airmen who took part in the 1934 mission to rescue the crew of the ship Chelyuskin, crushed by ice in the Bering Strait, can only be compared to that of film stars. In a country where many people had never seen a steam engine, any profession related to machines was prestigious, and a person who could handle an airplane was especially respected. A smart uniform only increased this sense of awe. For at a time when boys walked barefoot during summer – in order to save their only pair of shoes for winter – and adults wore simple clothes of linen and shoes of canvas, pilots sported long leather boots and a dark-blue uniform of fine woollen fabric. Emblazoned with their distinctive insignia, they certainly stood out from the crowd. And like tankmen, pilots often wore medals and decorations awarded by the State – a rarity at that time. Finally, pilots were well paid and had all their needs met by the State. That said, the training of pilots was initially the preserve of flying clubs, which in the early to mid-1930s only existed thanks to membership fees paid by individuals or voluntary Osoaviakhim societies. Club members underwent training in their spare time, while holding down regular jobs.

But in the late 1930s came the slogan: ‘Our country needs 150,000 pilots!’ It was only then that flying clubs received State grants, instructors obtaining wages comparable to those of Red Army commanders. Club members were now required to study full time, moving into dormitories where uniforms and food were provided. Many younger students were obliged to quit school in order to complete pilot training. As well as volunteers for whom flying was a lifelong dream, many random people entered the flying clubs for pilot training. This was the result of a deliberate campaign to enrol as many Komsomol and Communist Party members in the Air Force as possible. Some of these recruits simply did not have a talent for flying; others, however, became excellent pilots. In this respect, the Soviet Air Force was unique: no other country recruited pilots on a draft basis.

After sitting exams at a flying club, superintended by Air Force instructors, graduates were sent to their next training stage: an Air Force academy. If in the early 1930s this training stage lasted about 2½ years, by spring 1941 it had been reduced to a minimum, due to the sharp increase in pilot numbers. Flying schools with four-month training courses were formed (implying that cadets had completed basic flight training in flying clubs), while Air Force academy courses lasted ten months. But aerobatics were forbidden and this had an immediate impact on the graduates’ level of professionalism. Training was confined to simple take off and landing procedures, other elements being considered secondary. As a consequence, fighter regiments received young replacements with only eight to ten hours of flying – and often in a different type of plane to that used by the regiment. Such pilots could merely hold the control stick, having no understanding of aerobatics, dogfighting or foul weather flying. And these would-be fighters had a limited amount of fire range training, for most graduates of the flying schools and academies only received two or three sessions of fire practice at a canvas cone towed behind a plane. As a result, they did not know how to use gun sights correctly.

But it would be wrong to state that all Soviet fighter pilots had this background. By the summer of 1941 the Soviet Air Force included pilots with a high level of training from the mid-1930s, their skills honed by battle experience gained in Spain (1936–39), Khalkhin Gol (1939) and the Winter War with Finland (1939–40). But their numbers were insignificant compared to the burgeoning crop of new flyers.

But a bitter blow befell cadets graduating between 1940 and 1943: this was Order No. 0362, announced by ‘the pilot’s best friend’, People’s Commissar of Defence Timoshenko. The order declared that graduates were no longer to enter the Air Force as lieutenants but as sergeants. Furthermore, graduates were consigned to live in barracks – supplied, paid and equipped as NCOs – until they notched up four years’ service. Barred from sporting the pilot officer’s badge they’d dreamt of since childhood (worn on the left sleeve, it depicted a propeller, wings and crossed sabres in gold, on a blue background, surmounted by a red star, and known colloquially as a ‘Chicken’), many took offence, expressing their displeasure by refusing to wear NCO rank insignia. Timoshenko’s Order No. 0362 not only caused bitterness among graduates, it also broke the military principle of subordination, as technicians and ground crew – often lieutenants – were obliged to make their maintenance reports to pilots classed as sergeants.

* * *

In contrast with the Red Army Air Force, the German Luftwaffe of 1941 consisted of carefully selected volunteer pilots. And by the time a young German pilot arrived at his unit he’d already accumulated 250 hours’ flying practice, including aerobatics, group flying, foul weather flying and so on. German pilots were also trained to handle any situation – such as emergency landings – while dogfighting (in groups or as individuals) and ground assault were emphasized. Upon arrival at the front, German pilots were not sent into battle immediately but placed in reserve groups, where their skills were improved by instructors with battle experience. Only then were Luftwaffe pilots deemed fit to fly combat missions. In 1941 the German system of training was one of the best in the world.

And with regard to tactics, the Luftwaffe was superior to the Soviet Air Force. Luftwaffe tactics were developed after thorough analysis of combat experience gained in the Spanish Civil War. The cornerstone of the German system was the deployment of fighters in free formation of pairs and fours – the mainstay of fighter aviation during the entire Second World War. This system gave German pilots great flexibility of manoeuvre. It also allowed them to maximize their advantage in speed. The Luftwaffe also had radios, something the Soviet fighter pilots of 1941 lacked. Thus the Germans enjoyed both tactical and technical superiority at the outset of the war.

In addition, the Luftwaffe cultivated independence and initiative in Air Force commanders at all levels, a German fighter pilot being free to fathom the best method of completing his mission. Soviet pilots could only envy their opponents in this matter: before a sortie they would be given not only the area of operations, but also the speed and altitude at which they were to fly. Under such conditions Soviet pilots could not react to quickly changing circumstances. One must also remember that during the early part of the war flyers were often attached to ground armies, whose staff officers frequently displayed a vague notion of Air Force tactics. For example, pilots were repeatedly tasked with long patrols at low altitude and low speed, ‘So that our infantry may see our Air Force in the sky all the time and feel confidence’. Naturally in such circumstances, Soviet planes were easy targets for high-speed German hunters and suffered heavy casualties as a result.

* * *

Without doubt a big factor in the Luftwaffe’s superiority in the first years of the war was the vast experience of its pilots and generals, gained during two years’ heavy fighting, predominantly against the British Royal Air Force. The USSR, on the other hand, largely ignored the lessons of earlier conflicts. But as time passed the situation changed. For a start, the Soviet training system was drastically improved. The air schools and academies continued to provide minimal training but pilots would no longer go into battle straight from class. Instead, graduates were sent to reserve air regiments to receive additional training on the types of aircraft they would be flying in combat. The large numerical superiority of the Soviet Air Force facilitated this change in training, which permitted ‘green’ pilots to become familiar with combat flying gradually.

Technology also improved, more new Soviet fighters receiving radios, permitting pilots to be guided and controlled from both ground and air. It also meant that fighter pairs could operate at longer distances from each other, in loose formations and at different altitudes. As a result tactics improved and group commanders became more flexible in their c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents