Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces)

This is in between a reference book and a novel, although the flow of the story is only for a paragraph or a few pages. A slight improvement over other books in this series. The content is somewhat unique since that side of the war is seldom covered.

OK, maybe 5 stars is a bit extereme. But what a pleasure to read if you have an interest in this pretty obscure subject.

Split into 4 main sections: Hurricane, P-40, Kobras (P-39), and other lend lease fighters. 80 B&W pictures mainly focusing on pilot portraits with aircraft behind. Hurricane section has more aircraft views and crash photos than others. Other lend lease fighters focus on Spits and P-63 in all of its 7 pages-2 pics of P-47 none of A-20. Nice, as always, art by Jim Laurier features 36 side views of all types covered and an A-20!! Only 1 written page (last one)devoted to A-20(with P-63 photo on it-???!!!), probably not much info on A-20 yet but good to at least include it and the P-63 photo haha. I enjoyed the Hurricane section and P-40 first hand accounts the most. Worth the money but as always WW2 VVS photo quality not as good as German or American books. Some repeat pictures from previous Osprey books on P-40 and P-39. All in all not bad and a must for modellers. Nice 7 page listing of Lend-Lease Aces Roster includes: Name, Rank, HSU, Unit, Victories, Sorties/Combat, Date KIA, and notes. 96pp. Recommended purchase for VVS historians, account of Lt. Kuznetsov cover story very interesting. Enjoy.

The over 15,000 fighters supplied to Russia by America and Great Britain played a vital role in Russia's survival and ultimate triumph in WW II. That total encompassed Hurricanes, Spits, P-39s, P-40s and P-63s along with small numbers of P-47s and -51s. The exploits of the VVS aces who flew lend-lease fighters are recounted in George Mellinger's latest Osprey volume, #74 in their 'Aircraft of the Aces' series.

Of the fighters supplied, Britain's fighters drew a mixed response. The Huricanes were viewed as rugged but slower than its Bf 109 opponents, poorly armed with .303 popguns, etc. Though the Russians demanded Spits, upon arrival, they found the Spitfire's landing gear wasn't up to the primitive airfields found on the Russian front. Nevertheless, pilots such as Sergei Kurzenkov, Yakov Bakharev, Sultan Amet-Khan and Vasilii Adonkin became aces flying ex-RAF machines.

The P-40 and, especially, the P-39 were well regarded by Soviet fliers. Early P-40 models were rated highly for their ruggedness, heavy armament, long range and tight-turning abilities. Pyotr Belyasnik, Aleksandr Matveyev, Aleksei Khlobystov and Stepan Novichkov - Russia's top P-40 ace with 19 kills - were among the Stalin Falcons who did well with lend-lease Tomahawks and Kittyhawks.

Though considered a dog in USAAF service, the P-39, christened 'Kobra' in VVS service, performed superably over the Eastern Front. Heavily armed, fast and maneuverable at the altitudes where most combats took place, VVS pilots swore by the Bell fighter. Russia's most highly regarded fighter leader and ace, Aleksandr Pokryshkin, was so enamored of the Kobra that he refused demands from his superiors that his unit re-equip with Soviet-made fighters! The combats waged by Pokryshkin, Grigorii Rechkalov, Nikolai Lavitskii, Boris and Dmitrii Glinka, Aleksei Smirnov, the legless ace Zakhar Sorokin, Aleksandr Klubov and other Kobra aces are well covered in Mellinger's book.

How important were lend-lease fighters to Russia? Well, by war's end, over 100 Soviet pilots were aces thanks to lend-lease fighters, many of them becoming Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Over 80 black and white photos and nine pages of color sideviews of Hurris, Spits, P-40s, Kobras, P-47s and even an A-20(!) in Soviet livery help illustrate this fascinating chapter of Russia's air war.