The number of aircraft received under Lend Lease. Aviation lend-lease: what planes got into the ussr during the wwii. The value of Lend-Lease for the USSR

28.11.2020

Lend-Lease is a state program according to which the United States of America transferred to its allies, including the Soviet Union in World War II: ammunition, equipment, food and strategic raw materials, including oil products. Aid to the Soviet Union came in three ways: across the Atlantic, through Iran and through Alaska. German aviation and the Navy tried in every possible way to prevent this. Nevertheless, Lend-Lease played an important role in the victory over Hitlerite Germany and its allies. Soviet propaganda subsequently downplayed the role of US supplies in the war. This led to the fact that many sailors, pilots and all those who participated in this program were forgotten.

Soviet Air Force officer near the post office of Galena airfield in Alaska, USA.

Loading tanks "Matilda" in one of the British ports for shipment under Lend-Lease to the USSR.

Royal Air Force captain Jack Ross unfastens his parachute after taking off in the Vaenga area (now Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast).

Indian women wipe and lubricate parts of Lend-Lease tanks.

British Major General McMullen and US Army Colonel Ryan in the cockpit of a steam locomotive delivered to the UK from the United States under Lend-Lease.

General A.M. Korolev and General Connelly shake hands with the first train passing through the Persian corridor.

General A.M. Korolev, General Sanley Scott and General Donald Connelly stand in front of the steam locomotive of the first train to cross the Persian corridor in 1943 as part of Lend-Lease shipments from the United States to the USSR.

Soviet and American aviators dance with girls at the Nome airfield club in Alaska.

Soviet pilots, Lieutenants Susin and Karpov, talk to US Air Force Sergeant Alex Khomonchuk at an airfield in Alaska.

American bombers A-20 are at Noum airfield in Alaska before ferrying to the USSR.

Colonel N.S. Vasin at lunch with US Vice President Henry Wallace and Colonel Russell Keiner in Alaska.

American bomber A-20 "Boston", crashed in Alaska.

An American P-39 fighter that crashed at Noum airfield in Alaska.

An American P-39 fighter is stationed at Noum airfield in Alaska.

The first delegation of the Soviet Air Force stands in front of an airplane at Noum airfield in Alaska.

Soviet pilots are taking the A-20 bomber, transferred under Lend-Lease.

US Lieutenant General Henry Arnold looks at a map at a meeting on the delivery of goods under Lend-Lease to the USSR via Alaska and Chukotka.

American senior officers at a meeting on the delivery of goods under Lend-Lease to the USSR through Alaska and Chukotka.

American General George Marshall talks to Admiral Ernst King at a meeting on the delivery of goods under Lend-Lease to the USSR via Alaska and Chukotka.

Soviet and American soldiers are playing billiards. Alaska.

Sending the tank "Valentine" from England to the USSR.

Transfer of frigates from the US Navy to Soviet sailors. 1945 year.

British women are preparing the Matilda tank to be shipped to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

Checking radio communications in the P-63 Kingcobra fighter before ferrying to the USSR as part of Lend-Lease supplies.

Pilot of the 2nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, Guard Senior Lieutenant N.M. Didenko at the P-39 Airacobra fighter.

A group shot of Soviet and American pilots in front of the first adopted P-63 Kingcobra fighters.

American military cargo prepared for shipment to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Tank M3 "Stuart" and aircraft A-20 "Boston".

American bombers A-20 "Boston" at an airfield in Alaska before being sent to the USSR.

Bomber A-20 "Boston" at the airfield in Alaska before being sent to the USSR.

B-25, A-20 Boston bombers and R-39 fighters, prepared for delivery to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease, are lined up along the Ladd Field US Air Force take-off and landing base in Alaska ahead of the arrival of the admissions committee from the USSR.

American A-20 Boston aircraft (also P-39 and AT-6 in the background) are ready for acceptance by a technical commission and pilots from the USSR. Abadan Field Air Force Base, Iran.

Soviet pilots arrived at Abadan Field Air Force Base in Iran.

The Soviet crew of the A-20 Boston bomber and the Americans: a photo for memory. Somewhere in Alaska.

Soviet pilots on leave in Alaska.

The P-63 Kingcobra fighter, previously supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease, has returned to the United States and is being examined by American technicians. Great Falls Air Base, USA.

Fighters R-63 "Kingcobra" at the Buffalo airfield before being sent to the USSR.

A pair of R-63 "Kingcobra" fighters in flight over Niagara Falls.
The planes were intended for delivery to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

American bomber B-25J-30 with Soviet identification marks in flight over Alaska.

Soviet and American pilots at the P-63 fighter in Alaska.

Soviet Hurricane Aircraft Testing Brigade.

Trucks "Studebaker" in the transport reserve of the command of the Red Army.

Pre-flight preparation of the P-39L fighter, intended for the USSR, at Ladd Field airbase in Alaska.

A rare photo of Soviet tankers with M3A1 "Stuart" tanks, wearing American headsets, with a Thompson M1928A1 submachine gun and an M1919A4 machine gun. American equipment was left fully equipped under Lend-Lease - with equipment and even small arms for the crew.

Head of the Alaska-Siberia air route Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant General Mark Izrailevich Shevelev

A convoy of American military trucks carrying Lend-Lease to the USSR stands on a road in eastern Iraq.

A corporal of the British Army's Department of Armaments carries the Thompson submachine guns received under the Lend-Lease from the United States for verification.

British soldiers in a warehouse with boxes of TNT received from the United States under Lend-Lease.

American attack aircraft A-36A aboard a cargo ship before sailing.

American fighters P-63 and P-39 before being sent to the USSR.

US Douglas SBD-3/5 "Dontless" dive bombers from VC-29 squadron, armed with depth charges, on the deck of the aircraft carrier "Santi", during a convoy escort operation in the Atlantic in 1942-1943.

Preparation of British Spitfire fighters, delivered under Len-Lease, for transfer to the Soviet side. Soviet pilots will ferry planes from Iran to the USSR.

American planes under Lend-Lease are flying to the USSR.

British fighter pilot Sergeant Howe, who fought on the Northern Front, was awarded the Order of Lenin for 3 German aircraft shot down.

Panorama of a military shipyard in Philadelphia.

Lend-lease (English lend-lease, from lend - to lend and lease - to lease), a system for the transfer of the United States on a loan or lease of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials, food, various goods and services to countries- allies in the anti-Hitler coalition during World War II. The Lend-Lease Act was passed by the US Congress on March 11, 1941; empowered the US President to transfer, exchange, lease, loan, or otherwise supply war material or military information to the government of any country if its "defense against aggression is vital to the defense of the United States." Countries that received Lend-Lease assistance signed bilateral agreements with the United States, which stipulated that materials destroyed, lost or consumed during the war were not subject to ANY payment after the war ended. The materials remaining after the war, suitable for civilian consumption, had to be paid in whole or in part on the basis of long-term American loans, and the US military materials could be claimed back.

Officially, negotiations on Lend-Lease with the USSR began on September 29, 1941. US President Franklin Roosevelt sent his representative Averell Harriman to Moscow. On October 1, 1941, Harriman signed the first protocol on supplies to the Soviet Union in the amount of $ 1 billion for a period of nine months. On November 7, 1941, Roosevelt signed a document on the extension of Lend-Lease to the USSR. The first deliveries to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease began in October 1941.

In the post-war years, in the context of the global confrontation between the USSR and the United States, in the official speeches of the political and military leaders of the Soviet Union and, accordingly, in the “scientific” works of Marxist historians, the role of Lend-Lease supplies was assessed as insignificant and hypocritical. Already in 1947, Nikolai Voznesensky, then a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee, determined that the share of supplies under Lend-Lease was only 4% of the total industrial production of the USSR (see Voznesensky N . "The military economy of the USSR during the Patriotic War", M., 1947, p. 74). Since then, for decades, this figure, without being subject to the slightest doubt, appeared in Soviet encyclopedias and countless monographs as the only correct one. Moreover, the scale of deliveries for specific types of military equipment was also adjusted to it. So, for example, in the book by EN Kulkov “Truth and Lies about the Second World War” (Moscow, 1983), it is stated that 4% of the Soviet production of aircraft were delivered to the USSR.
The true dimensions (absolute and relative) of the aviation lend-lease in the Soviet Union are still little known.

The deliveries of aircraft under Lend-Lease to the USSR in 1941-1945 are shown in the table below, compiled on the basis of the archives of the General Staff of the Russian Air Force by Igor Petrovich Lebedev, who was from October 1943 to October 1945, the military representative of the government procurement commission of the USSR in the United States.

Aircraft types	Delivered in 1941-1945.
Fighters: P-40 "Tomahawk" ("Tomahawk") P-40 "Kittyhawk" R-39 "Airacobra" P-63 "Kingcobra" R-47 "Thunderbolt" ("Thunderbolt")	247 1887 4952 2400 195
Total fighters:	9681
Bombers: A-20 "Boston" ("Boston") B-25 "Mitchell" ("Mitchell")	2771 861
Total bombers:	3632
Other types of aircraft:	813
Total aircraft from USA:	14126
Fighters from the UK: "Spitfire" "Hurricane"	4171
Total delivered under Lend-Lease	18297

In addition, to ensure the combat operation of aircraft under Lend-Lease, aircraft engines (more than 15 thousand), weapons, ammunition, aviation fuel, spare parts for aircraft and other equipment and other aviation technical equipment were supplied, without which normal operation of all would be impossible. funds received under the lend-lease.

The list of the main aircraft factories of the United States, from which aircraft came to the USSR under Lend-Lease:

P-39 and P-63 - Bell firm (Buffalo), P-40 - Curtiss firm (New York), P-47 - Republican firm (Long Island, near New York), A- 20 - Douglas firm (Santa Monica - Los Angeles - Tulsa - Oklahoma City), B-25 - North American firm (Kansas City), Catalina amphibious flying boat - Consolidated firm ( Elizabeth City - New Orleans), C-47 "Douglas" - firm "Douglas" (Santa Monica - Tulsa - Oklahoma City), C-46 "Curtiss" - firm "Curtiss" (New York).

On the basis of archival materials Lebedev I.P. An analysis was carried out, comparing the supply of front-line combat aircraft to the USSR under Lend-Lease with the number of similar machines manufactured by the Soviet aviation industry.

As can be seen from the table, lend-lease deliveries were: for front-line fighters 16% of those produced by the Soviet aviation industry, for front-line bombers 20% of those produced by the aviation industry of the USSR. If we count on front-line combat aircraft, taking into account 4171 fighters received from Great Britain, then 17484 aircraft received under Lend-Lease, from 77479 front-line fighters and bombers manufactured by the Soviet industry, will amount to 23%.

Thus, almost every fourth fighter and bomber that entered the active composition of the USSR Air Force during the Great Patriotic War was of Anglo-American production.

As for the tactical and technical characteristics of the combat aircraft supplied under Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union, this is the topic of one of the following issues of the page. Now we will cite only one quotation from the fundamental monograph “Aircraft Building in the USSR. 1917-1945 ”, book 2, TsAGI Publishing Department, M., 1994, pp. 250-251:
“The squadron, regiment, division, which were consistently commanded by AI Pokryshkin, from 1943 to the end of the war, flew on the P-39. The skill and courage of the Soviet pilots brought glory to the Airacobra. From an American newspaper in 1944: “... Fighters" Airacobra "are the best in the world! ... Fifteen Soviet aces, fighting on" cobras ", shot down five hundred aircraft of our common enemy - fascism! Pokryshkin, Glinka, Glinka, Rechkalov, Clubs, Fedorov, Trud, Trofimov ... ”. Of course, there is some exaggeration in this newspaper statement about “the best in the world”. But it should be noted that our pilots liked the Airacobra, as they say. Easy and obedient in control, simple in piloting technique and quite accessible to a pilot of average qualification for mastering, possessing powerful weapons and excellent reliable radio communication, in the hands of an experienced pilot "Airacobra" became a formidable weapon. "

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Winston Churchill on August 30, 1941 proposed to Stalin to supply 200 Hurricane fighters under the Lend-Lease. These machines were supposed to complement the batch of 200 R-40 "Tomahawks". At that time, the USSR had practically nothing to choose from, so consent was given almost immediately. These planes were planned to be delivered by sea to Murmansk, where they would be collected and handed over to the Soviet side, but the first Hurricanes did not get to the USSR quite often.

On August 28, 1941, 24 Hurricane Mk.liB from the 101st Wing of the RAF (commander - Wg.Cdr. H.N.G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood) landed at the Vayepga airfield near Murmansk. These planes took off from the deck of the Argus aircraft carrier. Later, 15 aircraft were added to them, delivered and assembled by British specialists in Arkhangelsk. The British group consisted of two squadrons - the 81st under the command of the squadron leader Topi Ruka and the 134th under the command of the squadron leader Tony Miller. British pilots were supposed to help Soviet pilots master new technology. But soon the British were involved in combat work, including joint patrols with Soviet pilots in the airspace, covering convoys, as well as ports where aid arrived from the West.

Soviet Hurricane Aircraft Testing Brigade. Fighters of this model were supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Second from the right - V.A. Ivanov

The British pilots made their first combat sortie on September 11, and the very next day they suffered the first and only loss for the entire mission - during the attack of Hurricane 126, which was covered by the Me-109 troika, the British were able to shoot down two fighters, but they themselves lost one aircraft. The pilot, Sergeant Smith, was killed.

In total, the British announced 15 victories before their departure on October 18. All commanders and three pilots were awarded the Order of Lenin, the highest award of the USSR.

Of the 37 aircraft left behind, a new division of the Northern Air Force was formed - the 78th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The commander was Boris Safonov, already a well-known North Sea ace.

On September 22, 1941, the Air Force Research Institute commission accepted the first Hurricane from those assembled directly in the Soviet Union. In the acceptance certificate, among other things, it was noted that the aircraft was previously in use and underwent overhaul.

The first batch of Hurricanes arrived in Murmansk in October. These aircraft did not enter service with the combatant regiments, since the required number of trained pilots was not available.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the first regiment of the Air Force of the Red Army, which received the new aircraft, was the Twenty-seventh Reserve Aviation Regiment, based near Vologda at the Kadnikov airfield. Next was the Sixth Reserve Aviation Regiment in Ivanovo. Later, the training of pilots was transferred to flying aviation schools, with Kachinskaya being the main one, who was evacuated inland. The use of Hurricanes (like most foreign-made fighters) on the Soviet-German front was started from the North. In addition to the Seventy-second and Seventy-eighth Fighter Regiments of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, "Kharitons" (this nickname was given to fighters in the army) were in service with the 152nd and Seven hundred and sixtieth fighter regiments that fought in Karelia. The lack of trained mechanics forced the engineers of the Air Force of the Karelian Front to come up with their own methods of keeping the Hurricane aircraft on alert. It was even harder for the pilots - after all, the first flights were carried out without instructors, especially since there was not only a two-seater version, but even a flight manual in Russian! This circumstance forced to make self-made two-seat fighters.

In December 1941, the pilots of the 152nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, despite enormous difficulties, made the first sorties. Poti immediately realized that the standard armament of the aircraft was clearly weak, and therefore two 12.7 mm BC machine guns were installed in each wing (100 rounds of ammunition for each barrel). In addition, a suspension for one 50-kilogram bomb was installed under each wing. Initially, such modernization was carried out on nine aircraft of the Air Force of the Karelian Front, and after this re-equipment was recognized as expedient on the following fighters. Later, in this sector of the front, fighters were modified to use rockets.

In January 1942, the 760th Fighter Aviation Regiment began operating in the interests of the 26th Army. Soviet pilots, having mastered the aircraft well enough, began to win victories on it, even though the aircraft's characteristics at that time were already clearly insufficient. For example, a trio of Hurricanes from the 760th Fighter Aviation Regiment under the command of Senior Lieutenant AI Nikolaenko. May 16, 1942 attacked seven Ju-87 under the cover of 4 Me-109. During the first attack, two "bastards" were shot down, and the rest turned around. However, it was not there - on the retreat "Stalin's falcons" shot down another bomber. The link of the senior lieutenant Kuznetsov N.A. on the same day, three Ju-87 and two Me-109 were shot down.

However, the Hurricanes of the 760th Fighter Aviation Regiment were most widely involved in the air defense of the Kirov railway line connecting Murmansk and the rest of the country. In addition to patrol missions, Soviet pilots carried out preventive attacks on enemy bases. For example, in early August, the Hurricanes from the 760th Fighter Aviation Regiment, together with the Il-2 17th Guards and LaGT-3 609th, carried out several raids on the Tung-Lake airfield. These attacks led to the Luftwaffe soon abandoning its base on Tung Lake.

The battles of the summer of 1942 in the Murmansk direction for the Soviet side turned out to be quite difficult. The Germans intensified their air strikes, and the Air Force of the Fourteenth Army had only 6 fighters on July 1. In September, the last reserve was transferred to the air force - the Eight hundred and thirty-seventh Fighter Aviation Regiment. However, the pilots of this regiment completed only a two-month training course and had no combat experience. This affected the results of air battles - the aviation of the Fourteenth Army lost 18 fighters in a few days, 23 more were damaged. Only on September 15, when repelling a raid on the Murmashi airfield, they shot down 5 Hurricanes from the 837th and 197th fighter regiments. In total, to intercept twenty Ju-87s under the cover of 16 Me-109 and 8 Me-110, they raised all available forces from 6 Hurricanes, 2 Airacobras and 2 Kittyhawks. Above the same airfield, 4 "free hunters" Me-109 on September 27, without loss, shot down 2 Hurricanes from the 837th Fighter Aviation Regiment and 2 P-40Vs from the 20 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.

In addition to the 760th, 195th, and 152nd Fighter Aviation Regiments, which were included in the 295th Fighter Aviation Division, the 835th and 435th IAPs, which were armed with Hurricanes, took part in the battles on the Karelian Front. Interestingly, for the armament of these regiments, aircraft were used, collected by Paul Murmansk at the Kirovsk airfield, which were originally intended for other countries. So, one of the Soviet veterans recalled that at some point he had to collect fighters with blue Finnish swastikas! However, apparently over the years, the veteran's memory began to fail, because, firstly, the Finns applied the identification marks on the spot themselves, and secondly, the Mk.P machines were supplied to the Soviet Union, and the Finns used Mk.I.

A number of "Hurricanes" fell into service with the 20 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, and in the spring and summer of 1942 they were included in the 65th Assault Aviation Regiment (which later became the 17th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment).

Soviet pilot stands on the wing of his British-made Hurricane fighter

A sufficient number of Hurricanes were assembled at the northern airfields in the winter of 1941/1942. This made it possible to begin the transfer of these fighters to other sectors of the front. The first was the Fourth Fighter Aviation Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A.V. Serenko. In early February, this regiment began to be based near Yaroslavl and performed the functions of air defense, covering industrial facilities in Rybinsk and Yaroslavl. Despite the fact that this area was far enough from the front line, German bombers "visited" it quite often. At first, the bombers' attacks were ineffective due to the weak weapons of the Hurricanes, but soon the aircraft were transferred to Moscow, where engineers replaced the original British machine guns with two UBT heavy machine guns and two 20 mm ShVAK cannons. Already at the end of May, after sufficient mastering by the personnel of the fighter, the fourth fighter aviation regiment was divided into two. The "original" regiment continued to be used in the air defense system, and a group of pilots led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Major AA Morozov, was sent to the 287th Fighter Aviation Division on the Bryansk Front. The pilots of the "new" fourth fighter regiment managed to shoot down 3 Me-109s in the first battle, and one Hurricane was damaged. In early July, the regiment was deployed near Yelets, where, from 6 to 28 July, the pilots shot down 40 enemy aircraft in 196 battles. In the second half of August, the regiment was rearmed with Yak-1 \\ 7, and the remaining "khariki" were given to another unit.

However, most of the Hurricanes at the beginning of 1942 were concentrated near Moscow. One aircraft of this type was already in December 1941 in the 728th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and on February 2, 1942, the 429th and 67th Fighter Aviation Regiments with 22 Hurricanes entered the 6th Aviation Corps of the Moscow Air Defense. They were later joined by fighter aviation regiments 438, 488 and 746. Most often, aircraft were rearmed with Soviet armament in the units, and there were frequent cases of mounting guides for rockets. In this rather chaotic process, an end was put in March 1942 - the Hurricanes began to re-equip the teams of technicians from the Moscow aircraft plant number 81. They mainly worked at the airfields near Moscow - Yegoryevskoye, Monino, Khimki and Kubinka.

The Hurricanes of the Moscow zone performed not only air defense missions, but also actively participated in the counteroffensive near Moscow.

The 488th Fighter Aviation Regiment with two other regiments was transferred to the air force of the North-Western Front on March 1, where it took part in covering the airborne assault in the Ostashkovo-Bologoye area. After completing the task, the regiment was returned to the place of deployment.

The biggest problem during this period was the wooden propellers of fighters, constantly breaking at field airfields. It got to the point that one of the Moscow factories mastered their production.

To replenish the losses of the 106th air defense fighter division from the Moscow air defense at the end of November 1942, fighter regiments 67 and 488 were transferred there. In winter 1942, the following regiments armed with Hurricanes took part in the counteroffensive near Moscow: First Guards Fighter Aviation fighter air regiments 157, 191 and 195. The pilots of the 1st GvIAP in March 1942 carried out 451 sorties, having conducted 12 air battles, during which 4 enemy aircraft were shot down.

As part of the air force of the Western Front in the spring of 1942 there was only one regiment armed with Hurricanes - the 170th Fighter Aviation Regiment. An interesting feature of the vehicles of this regiment was the presence of the original British armament, supplemented by guides for rockets. The regiment was later transferred to the 200th Bomber Aviation Division to accompany the Pe-2.

In Ivanovo in May 1942 he completed the rearmament of the 438th Fighter Aviation Regiment on the Hurricanes, which was sent to the Voronezh Front as part of the 25th Fighter Aviation Division. Basically, the regiment served as an assault regiment. The first flight turned out to be very successful - during the cover of the raid on the Rossosh IL-2 airfield, 17 aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and 4 more were shot down in the air. But further events for the pilots were not so victorious - the outdated characteristics of the machine affected, since only in one battle they lost 3 machines at once. Ultimately, this became the reason for a change in the tactics of using the Hurricanes and the refusal to conduct battles on turns. Fighter Aviation Regiment 438 held out at the front for a long time - until the end of 1942. At that time it was based at the Buturlinovka airfield and had only 4 Hurricane and 7 pilots. At the beginning of the next year, he was withdrawn for reformation. An interesting fact is that the opponents of the Hurricanes near Voronezh at some point were Italian pilots on the MS.200 (according to other sources, they were Hungarians on the Re.200).

In the summer of 1942, a crisis arose on the Stalingrad direction. The 235th Air Division of Lieutenant Colonel Podgorny I.D. was immediately deployed there. It consisted of fighter regiments 46, 191 and 436 (later joined by the 180th). Each regiment was armed with a 22-24 Hurricane, mostly Mk.Ilc modifications. During the first days of July, the division's pilots shot down 29 enemy aircraft, 20 of them being the 436th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Senior political instructor Ibatulin distinguished himself most of all, having shot down 2 Me-109s in one of the battles and did not withdraw from the battle even after the engine hood was blown off on his plane.

Assistant commander of the 3rd Guards Aviation Regiment of the 61st Fighter Aviation Brigade of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, Guards Captain A.F. Myasnikov. During the period of his combat activity, Alexander Fedorovich Myasnikov made 315 sorties, in 70 air battles he shot down 3 enemy aircraft personally and 15 in a group. September 11, 1942 died in an air battle (his "Hurricane" was shot down by mistake by his own fighters)

But soon the hardest battles began to affect and in the regiments by the end of August there were 4-5 vehicles assembled in the 436th Fighter Aviation Regiment under the command of Major A.B. Panov. In the end, this regiment was also rearmed with the P-40. In the spring - summer of 1942, the 485th Fighter Aviation Regiment of Major G.V. Zimin operated effectively on the North-Western Front. 18 Hurricanes of this regiment arrived at the Vypolzovo airfield at the end of March. From there, the Hurricanes supported the Soviet units, which surrounded units of the Sixteenth German Army near Demyansk. Due to the fact that this sector of the front was considered secondary by both the Soviet and German command, the war in the air was here for 1942 as a whole uncharacteristic.

Despite this, the Germans tried to supply their troops by air, so the pilots of the 485th Fighter Aviation Regiment shot down many German transport workers. For example, a Hurricane unit on May 29 intercepted about 20 Ju-52s, 3 of them were shot down and 6 more damaged. Another link of the regiment the next day intercepted a group of Ju-52, which covered 4 Ms-109. During the battle, 2 Ms-109 and 1 Ju-52 were shot down.

In May 1942, the regiment's pilots shot down 56 enemy aircraft, while 13 of them were shot down with rockets. For comparison, data on the one hundred and sixty-first fighter aviation regiment, armed with a Yak-1 and taking part in battles on the same sector of the front, will be presented below. His pilots won approximately the same number of victories (54), but in January-November 1942!

In July, the regiment was handed over eight Yak-1s, which continued to carry out combat missions with a mixed composition. In this composition, the regiment fought until 1943, when it was completely rearmed with Yaks. On the North-Western Front, in addition to the 485th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the Ninth Fighter and Twenty-first Guards Fighter Aviation Regiments fought on the Hurricanes, but they stayed here for less than a month.

On January 1, 1944, 37 Hurricanes of the Mk.IId modification were transferred to the 246th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The development of the personnel was delayed for 7 months (at a rate of 2), and 10 aircraft were destroyed in 18 accidents. Only on 07/30/1944, a regiment consisting of 34 machines was sent to the front - to the Two hundred and fifteenth Fighter Air Division, which at that time was fighting near Bobruisk. However, the regiment practically did not participate in battles, and by September 17 it was rearmed with Yak-1.

Air defense

At the beginning of 1942, "Hurricanes" began to arrive in the air defense units - mainly for the defense of the northern ports and Moscow.

In March, the 122nd air defense fighter division of Murmansk was formed, which included fighter aviation regiments 767, 768 and 769, armed with "hariki". The task of the air division was to cover the Kirov railway line and the port itself.

Later, fighters began to be attracted in the interests of the Karelian and Northern fronts. As already noted, the summer of 1942 in the north for Soviet aviation was extremely difficult - the following testifies to the fierceness of the fighting - as of July 1, only 4 pilots and 9 aircraft remained in the 122 fighter air division! However, even in this composition, the pilots continued to fight - in June they conducted 40 air battles, in which they shot down 28 enemy aircraft. Losses from the Soviet side - 14 fighters. In total, the division's pilots shot down 88 enemy aircraft in 1942.

The intensity of the raids on Murmansk in 1943 somewhat weakened - only a few cases can be cited: Hurricanes shot down 2 enemy planes on March 11, 1943, and Senior Lieutenant Nikolayev from the 768th Fighter Aviation Regiment rammed an enemy plane on March 27. In 1943, the division had 60 trained pilots, 40 of whom could fly night missions. In addition to the Hurricanes, the division included American P-40Es and Soviet Yak-7s.

In addition to the air defense of Murmansk, the Kharitons were also involved in the air defense of Arkhangelsk, another important northern port. It was carried out by pilots from the 730th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 104th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division. The same fighters entered service with units of the Leningrad Air Defense District. It was the twenty-sixth Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment under the command of Major Petrov. Until November 6, 1942, the regiment received 20 Hurricanes, while 6 MiG-3 and 3 I-16 remained in service. Already on November 15, the pilots shot down the Non-111 at night. Later, the Hurricanes began to be recruited to support ground forces.

On April 26, 1943, the 26th GvIAP received 8 Hurricanes equipped with Soviet weapons, and by May 6 - 10 more fighters equipped with Redut and SON-2 radar stations. The Spitfires soon joined them.

Soviet fighter "Hurricane" Mk IIB (T), piloted by the commander of the air forces of the Northern Fleet, Major General of Aviation A.A. Kuznetsov

In November 1942, the Hurricanes also fought over Stalingrad as part of the 269th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was part of the 102nd Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division. In April 1943, the IAP 933 and 934 were added to the division with the same materiel. Moreover, among the MkJIc there were 4 aircraft armed with 40 mm cannons. But by this time the front had moved west, and there were practically no encounters with German planes. So, for example, on May 23, 4 fighters from the 933th Fighter Aviation Regiment damaged the Fw 200 "Condor", which made an emergency landing in the steppe, and its crew was taken prisoner.

At the beginning of 1943 "Hurricanes" appeared in service with the 964th Fighter Aviation Regiment of Major A. Tarasov (130th Fighter Aviation Division of the Leningrad Air Defense). The regiment's planes have operated in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Mga station and the "Road of Life" since June.

"Hurricanes" in late 1943 - early 1944 remained in service only in the 439th Fighter Aviation Regiment from the 147th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division, which covered Yaroslavl. The Spaniards who ended up in the USSR after the end of the civil war also flew on British fighters as part of this regiment.

"Hurricanes" over the seas of the Northern Fleet Air Force

The pilots of the air forces of the Northern Fleet mastered the new type of fighter very quickly. The first victory for the 78th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet was won by Lieutenant D. Siniev in November 1941, who shot down a Me-110 on the Hurricane. The regiment commander, Boris Safonov, won his first victory on this fighter on November 27. By the end of the year, the regiment's pilots shot down about 10 more enemy aircraft.

The Arctic winter, the aviation of the opposing sides for a long time chained to the ground - active hostilities were resumed only in the spring, when the Luftwaffe carried out raids on targets in the port of Murmansk itself and in the Kola Bay. Together with the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, this area was covered by the 104th and 122nd Fighter Air Divisions. In the newly formed 27 Fighter Aviation Regiment in March 1942, in addition to the I-153 and I-16, there were several British fighters. "Hurricanes" in the summer of 1942 were in service with one squadron of the 20th fighter regiment.

The 2nd Guards Aviation Regiment in May began to receive American P-40 fighters (Boris Safonov made his first combat sortie in an American on May 17). 2 GvIAP until the summer of 1942 was completely re-equipped with P-39 and P-40. The Hurricanes were carried mostly by young pilots.

As of March 1943, 96 Kharitons remained in the Northern Fleet Air Force, 60 of which could take to the air. In total, these machines in service with the 27th and 78th NAL lasted until the fall of 1943.

3rd Guards Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet

In June 1942, the 3rd GvIAP of the KBF Air Force was taken to the rear for retraining for new fighters - Hurricanes Mk.IIb. In August, the regiment returned to the front, but the first flight was unsuccessful - I-153, mistakenly mistaken for a Finnish aircraft, was shot down.

Due to the relative weakness of the Finnish aviation, fighters were used to cover the Il-2 (primarily the 57th assault aviation regiment).

In September the regiment was transferred to the Karelian Isthmus, where the Hurricanes were used mainly as an attack aircraft. Here the regiment remained until November, shooting down 68 enemy aircraft, losing 11 pilots and 14 aircraft. After that, the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was re-equipped with LaGG-3

Aces who flew the Hurricanes

In connection with the difficult "Hurricane" in the Red Army Air Force, it is clear that most of the aces on this aircraft were in the North - precisely in the Seventy-eighth Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force, which flew on it the longest on the German-Soviet front.

Among the aces of the North Sea, you can name Adonkin Vasily, who underwent flight training at the Yeisk naval school before the war. The war began as a member of the Seventy-second mixed air regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force on I-153. It was on this fighter that he won his first victory, shooting down an enemy bomber on August 9, 1941.

In March 1942 he retrained on the I-16, was transferred to the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force. Later he was sent to the 78th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where he mastered the Hurricane. By July 1943, Captain Adonkin had flown 365 sorties, of which 31 were for attacking enemy troops, ships and military installations, conducted 42 air battles and shot down 13 enemy aircraft. On January 22, 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Having received the rank of major, he began to command the 255th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which flew in Airacobra.

On March 17, 1944, our reconnaissance found a German convoy No. 110 which consisted of 20 escort ships and 4 transports. In one of the attacks on this convoy, Major Adonkin, deputy commander of the 78th Fighter Regiment, was killed in an air battle. This happened in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Finnish island of Ecker. By the time of his death, he had 16 personal victories and 6 group victories (according to other sources, 16 and 3).

Krupsky Viktor Iosifovich distinguished himself on the Karelian front. Having excellent pre-war flight education, he began the war as part of the 147th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Karelian Front) on the MiG-3. Already in July he won his first victory. In December, after the formation of the seven hundred and sixtieth fighter aviation regiment, he was sent there. During the year of military activity, by July 1942, senior lieutenant Krupsky V.I., deputy. squadron commander, flew 240 sorties, conducting 28 air battles and scoring 3 personal and 8 group victories in them. In the regiment, Krupsky was considered a specialist in the fight against reconnaissance aircraft. So, for example, covering railway objects, in only 5 days in July 1942, they shot down three Yu-88s.

Krupskiy ended the war with 9 group and 10 personal victories in 330 sorties, all of which were won on the Hurricane or Kitgikhauk.

In the 760th air regiment, together with Krupsky, another remarkable pilot flew - Nikolayenkov Alexander. He began to fight in June 1941, in December he was appointed deputy squadron commander of the regiment. On his account in April 1943, there were already 229 sorties, 23 group and 8 personal victories, which were won in 28 battles (all on the Hurricane). On July 2, 1943, he was wounded during an air battle, was able to bring the plane, but on July 7 he died in the hospital from his wounds. On August 24, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Another Hero of the Soviet Union, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Fyodorovich Repnikov from the 152nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, also flew and died on the Hurricane. In addition to the downed aircraft, he also has rams. Here is an extract for December 4 from the regiment's combat log: "12.55-14.10 3 planes flew to the area of \u200b\u200bjunction N13 of the western part of Medvezhyegorsk, Par-Guba, Kamselga, Kumsa, Pokrova for enemy reconnaissance. The task is completed. 2 kilometers south of Kriv were an air battle with 7 enemy fighters Me-109 and Heinkel, as a result of the battle 2 enemy aircraft were shot down, the Me-109 aircraft was rammed in a frontal attack by senior lieutenant Repnikov, the pilot was killed. " This is an official document, but the reality was different.

Firstly, the Finns did not have any Heinkels and Messerschmitts in this sector at that time and, according to Finnish sources, they lost only one plane. This short fight, more like a skirmish, is evidenced in his report by one of the participants from the Finnish side - Art. Sergeant Vassinen.

Then over the state farm "Vichka", where the Finns attacked at that time the positions of the 24th regiment of the 37th rifle division, an air battle took place between 4 Finnish "Moran-Saulnier" MS.406 (pilots Tomminen, Vassinen, Jussila, Mesinen) with 2 Soviet "Hurricane" - Repnikov and his wingman (it was not possible to establish which of his fellow soldiers took part in that battle, presumably it was Ivanov or Basov). The Morans, according to the Finnish description of this case, walked in formation "a step of two pairs". At the same time, the second pair moved 300 meters behind and 200 meters higher than the first. Suddenly, a pair of Hurricanes attacked from the lower hemisphere behind the leading fighter. Tomminen, who was flying second, opened fire from a cannon and saw clear hits in the cockpit (in Repnikov's car). Almost immediately, the Soviet car went up. The Finnish pilot, carried away by the attack, was hit by a volley of 12 machine guns from Ivanov (or Basov?). As a result, Tomminen's car collapsed and hit Repnikov's fighter, which was apparently already uncontrollable. The Hurricane's wing fell off, and in a disorderly fall it crashed to the ground. Tomminen's fighter turned over "on its back", fell into a dive and crashed into the ground nearby. None of the pilots even tried to jump out with a parachute. Left alone, led by Repnikov, he launched a frontal attack on the leader of the group, Jussil, and he turned sharply away. Without changing the speed and course, the Soviet fighter disappeared into the clouds ... Apparently, a collision of two unguided aircraft took place in the air, and another, unknown pilot tried to ram.

Both planes crashed into Finnish-occupied territory. At the site of their fall on December 10, a Finnish commission worked, discovering the wreckage of the Moran (tail number MS-329) with the remains of Tomminen and the Hurricane (tail number BD761), painted black and bearing traces of English identification marks. The Finns recorded the very fact that some equipment was removed from the Hurricane. Everything was left in its place (the remains of two aircraft, thus, lie there today).

Another effective ace of the Red Army Air Force, Ivan Nikiforovich Stepanenko, began his combat count by piloting the Hurricane. The future ace graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1941. Sergeant Stepanenko began his combat activities in the Balta region on the Southern Front in mid-July. On June 12, 1942, he fought the first air battle. On June 15, during the battle near Yelnya, he shot down a Ju-87, having won the first victory.

To Stepanenko, real maturity came near Stalingrad, where, commanding a flight from the fall of 1942 to the beginning of 1943, made about a hundred sorties, shooting down seven enemy aircraft. Later Stepanenko fought over the Kuban, near Orel and Kursk. Ivan Nikiforovich was considered a master of frontal attacks. In June 1943 Stepanenko moved to the Yak-9T and his combat score increased rapidly (by the end of the year he had won 8 victories).

By August 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the Fourth Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Stepanenko, carried out 232 sorties, personally destroying 14 enemy aircraft. At the end of 1943, he was appointed squadron commander of the Fourth Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was already operating on the Baltic Front. 08/13/1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, Ivan Stepanenko by the end of the war made 414 sorties, conducted 118 battles, personally shooting down 33 enemy aircraft. August 18, 1945 - on the first post-war Aviation Day - for courage and courage shown in battles, squadron commander Major Stepanenko was awarded the second Gold Star Medal of the Hero.

Amet Khan-Sultan, another future twice Hero of the Soviet Union, also won his first victory on the Hurricane. 03/31/1942 Lieutenant Amet-Khan Sultan on the outskirts of Yaroslavl during one of the battles that day destroyed an enemy plane with a ram. He landed his Hurricane safely at the airfield. Moreover, the German archives confirm the loss of the intelligence officer. It was a Ju-88D-1 (side # 5T + DL, serial # 1604) from 3. (F) / ObdL, sent to the Vologda-Rybinsk region for long-range reconnaissance.

American bomber A-20 "Boston" (Douglas A-20 Havoc / DB-7 Boston), which crashed near the airport Nome (Nome) in Alaska while ferrying to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Later the aircraft was repaired and successfully delivered to the Soviet-German front. Source: US Library of Congress.

AVIATION LAND-LEASE IN THE USSR IN 1941-1945

Photo for the memory of Soviet and American pilots at the airfield in Fairbanks at the Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter. In Alaska, American aircraft intended for Lend-Lease deliveries to the USSR were transferred to the Soviet side, and Soviet pilots ferried them to the Soviet Union.

Aircraft types

	Delivered in 1941-1945.
Fighters: P - 40 "Tomahawk" P - 40 "Kittyhawk" R - 39 "Airacobra" R - 63 "Kingcobra" R - 47 "Thunderbolt" ("Thunderbolt")
Total fighters:
Bombers: A - 20 "Boston" ("Boston") B - 25 "Mitchell"
Total bombers:
Other types of aircraft:
Total aircraft from USA:
Fighters from the UK: "Spitfire" ("Spitfire") "Hurricane"	4171
Total delivered under Lend-Lease

Soviet Hurricane Aircraft Testing Brigade. Fighters of this model were supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

In addition, to ensure the combat operation of aircraft under Lend-Lease, aircraft engines (more than 15 thousand), weapons,
ammunition, aviation fuel, spare parts for aircraft and other equipment and other aviation technical property, without which the normal operation of all funds received under the Lend-Lease would be impossible.

Soviet aircraft technicians repair the engine of the R-39 Airacobra fighter, supplied to the USSR from the United States under the Lend-Lease program, in the field. The unusual layout of this fighter was the placement of the engine behind the cockpit.

The list of the main aircraft factories of the United States, from which aircraft came to the USSR under Lend-Lease:
R - 39 and R - 63 - Bell (Buffalo), R - 40 - Curtiss (New York), R - 47 - Republican (Long Island, near New York), A - 20 - Douglas firm (Santa Monica - Los Angeles - Tulsa - Oklahoma City), B - 25 - North American firm (Kansas City), Catalina amphibious flying boat - Consolidated firm (Elizabeth City - New Orleans), С - 47 “Douglas” - firm “Douglas” (Santa Monica - Tulsa - Oklahoma City), С - 46 “Curtiss” - firm “Curtiss” (New York).

Assembly of the Bell P-63 "Kingcobra" aircraft at the American plant, top view. 12 exhaust pipes on each side are a clear sign of "Kingcobra" (the R-39 "Airacobra" has 6 pipes each). The fuselage bears the identification stars of the Soviet Air Force - the aircraft is intended to be sent to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

On the basis of archival materials Lebedev I.P. An analysis was carried out comparing the supply of combat front-line aircraft to the USSR under Lend-Lease with the number of similar machines manufactured by the Soviet aviation industry.

Soviet pilots are receiving an American medium bomber A-20 (Douglas A-20 Boston), transferred under Lend-Lease. Airfield Nome, Alaska. Source: US Library of Congress.

In this way, almost every fourth fighter and bomber that entered the active composition of the USSR Air Force during the Great Patriotic War was of Anglo-American production.

INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL LAND-LEASE

In addition to weapons, ammunition and a variety of military equipment, the United States, Great Britain and Canada supplied the Soviet Union, which is fighting Nazi Germany, a huge amount of industrial and agricultural goods.
destination.

General A.M. Korolev and Major General Donald H. Connolly, the US Gulf Service Commander, shake hands as the first train to pass the Persian corridor from the US to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Source: US Library of Congress.

One of the weakest points of the Soviet economy on the eve of the war, which was grand in its scope, was the production of aviation and, to a lesser extent, automobile gasoline. There was a particularly shortage of high-octane gasoline.
So, in the first half of 1941, the need for aviation gasoline B - 78 was satisfied by only 4% ("The Military Academy of Logistics and Transport. Rear Services of the Soviet Army in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"). In 1940, the USSR produced 889 thousand tons of aviation gasoline, in 1941 - 1269 thousand tons, in 1942 - 912 thousand tons, in 1943 - 1,007 thousand tons, in 1944 - 1334 thousand tons and in 1945 - 1017 thousand tons ("Narodnoe economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 "). In total, during the war years, 2,586 thousand tons of aviation gasoline and light gasoline fractions were delivered from the USA, Great Britain and Canada under Lend-Lease and within the framework of Soviet orders (Jones RH The Roads to Russia: United States Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union. Norman, Oklahoma Univ. Press, 1969,
Appendixes). In the Soviet Union, imported aviation gasoline and light gasoline fractions were used almost exclusively for mixing with Soviet aviation gasoline in order to increase their octane number, since Soviet aircraft were adapted to use gasolines with a much lower octane number than in the West. Aviation gasoline supplied under Lend-Lease, together with light gasoline fractions, amounted to 46.7% of Soviet production in 1941-1945. If we subtract from the total Soviet production of aviation gasoline for the first half of 1941, estimating it at about half of the annual production, then the share of supplies under Lend-Lease will rise to 52.7%... It is obvious that without Western supplies of fuel, Soviet aviation simply would not have been able to support its troops in the required volume. It should also be taken into account that due to the much higher octane numbers of western aviation gasoline, its role in providing Soviet aviation was in fact even more significant than could be concluded from weight indicators alone.

Jubilant Sofia residents welcome Soviet soldiers entering the Bulgarian capital in Valentine tanks supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Source: Estonian History Museum (EAM) / F4080.

Motor gasoline in the USSR in 1941-1945 was produced 10,923 thousand tons (including in 1941 - 2,983 thousand tons) ("The national economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."), And liza 242.3 thousand tons, which amounted to only 2.8% of the total Soviet production during the war (excluding production for the first half of 1941). True, the actual role of American gasoline was somewhat higher due to the higher octane numbers. Besides, The United States built large refineries in the Soviet Union in Kuibyshev, Guryev, Orsk, and Krasnovodsk, which sharply increased the domestic production of fuels and lubricants. Nevertheless, the USSR's own needs for gasoline
could not satisfy, and the Red Army suffered from its deficit until the very end of the war.

Transfer of frigates from the US Navy to Soviet sailors. 1945 year. American patrol frigates of the "Tacoma" class (displacement 1509 / 2238-2415t, speed 20 knots, armament: 3 76-mm guns, 2 40-mm twin "Beaufors", 9 20-mm "Erlikons", 1 "Hedgehog" rocket launcher , 2 bomb releasers and 8 airborne bombers (ammunition - 100 depth charges) were built in 1943-1945. In 1945, 28 ships of this type were transferred to the USSR under Lend-Lease, where they were reclassified as patrol ships and received the designation "EK-1 "-" EK-30 ". The first group of 10 ships (" EK-1 "-" EK-10 ") was received by Soviet crews on July 12, 1945 in Cold Bay (Alaska) and departed for the USSR on July 15. These ships took part in the Soviet-Japanese war in 1945. The remaining 18 ships ("EK-11" - "EK-22" and "EK-25" - "EK-30") were received by Soviet crews in August-September 1945 and did not take part in hostilities.On February 17, 1950, all 28 ships were excluded from the USSR Navy in connection with the return of the US Navy to Maizuru (Japan).

An extremely important contribution of the Western Allies in the Anti-Hitler Coalition to our common victory was their Lend-Lease supplies for the needs of Soviet railway transport. The production of railway rails (including narrow gauge rails) in the USSR was as follows: 1940 - 1,360 thousand tons, 1941 - 874 thousand tons, 1942 - 112 thousand tons, 1943 - 115 thousand tons, 1944 - 129 thousand tons, 1945 - 308 thousand tons ("The national economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War"). Under the Lend-Lease, 622.1 thousand tons of railway rails were delivered to the USSR. This represents about 56.5% of the total production of railroad rails in the USSR from mid-1941 to the end of 1945. If we exclude from the calculation narrow-gauge rails, which were not supplied under Lend-Lease, then American supplies will amount to 83.3% of the total volume of Soviet production. If we exclude production for the second half of 1945 from the calculations, then lend-lease on rails will make up 92.7% of the total volume of Soviet rail
production... Thus, almost half of the railroad tracks used on Soviet railways during the war came from the United States.

A rare photo of Soviet tankmen with M3A1 "Stuart" tanks, wearing American headsets, with a Thompson M1928A1 submachine gun and an M1919A4 machine gun. American equipment was left under Lend-Lease fully equipped - with equipment and even small arms for the crew.

Even more noticeable was the role of lend-lease deliveries in keeping the number of the Soviet fleet of locomotives and railway cars at the required level.
The production of mainline steam locomotives in the USSR changed as follows: in 1940 - 914, in 1941 - 708, in 1942 - 9, in 1943 - 43, in 1944 - 32, in 1945 - 8.

British women are preparing the Matilda tank to be shipped to the USSR under Lend-Lease. In Great Britain at that time everything Soviet was very fashionable and popular, so the workers with sincere pleasure write Russian words on the armor of the tank. The first 20 Matildas arrived in Arkhangelsk with a PQ-1 caravan on October 11, and by the end of 1941, 187 of these tanks arrived in the USSR. A total of 1,084 Matildas were sent to the USSR, of which 918 reached their destination, and the rest were lost on the way when convoy transports were sunk.

5 mainline diesel locomotives were produced in 1940, and 1 in 1941, after which their production was discontinued until 1945 inclusive. Mainline electric locomotives in 1940 were produced 9 pieces, and in 1941 - 6 pieces, after which their production was also discontinued ("The national economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945."). Under Lend-Lease, 1900 steam locomotives and 66 diesel-electric locomotives were delivered to the USSR during the war years (Jones R.H. Op.cit. Appendixes). Thus, supplies under Lend-Lease exceeded the total Soviet production of steam locomotives in 1941-1945 by 2.4 times, and electric locomotives by 11 times. The production of freight cars in the USSR in 1942-1945 totaled 1,087 units, compared to 33096 in 1941 ("The National Economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"). A total of 11,075 cars were delivered under Lend-Lease (Jones R.H. Op.cit. Appendixes), or 10.2 times more than Soviet production in 1942-1945.
It can be argued that during the Great Patriotic War, without supplies under Lend-Lease, the work of Soviet railway transport would be threatened by paralysis.

American supplies played a significant role in the supply of tires to the USSR. Under Lend-Lease, 3606 thousand tires were delivered to the Soviet Union (Jones RH Op.cit. Appendixes), while Soviet production in 1941-1945 amounted to 8368 thousand pieces (of which only 2884 large tires "Gigant" were produced thousand), and in 1945 the production of tires amounted to 1370 thousand compared with 3389 thousand in 1941 ("The national economy of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"). American deliveries accounted for 43.1% of Soviet production, but if we take into account that mainly large tires were supplied from the United States, then the role of these deliveries will increase even more. In addition, Great Britain supplied 103.5 thousand tons of natural rubber ("Foreign policy of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War").

Lend-lease supplies of food were extremely important for the Soviet Union in general, for the Red Army in particular. It can be confidently asserted that in 1943-1945, domestic agriculture, absolutely ruined by the war, was unable to feed a multimillion army. The most acute food crisis broke out in 1943, when the already extremely meager food distribution rates were tacitly reduced by almost a third. Therefore, food supplies by the middle of 1944 significantly exceeded the total import of food during the period of the First and Second Protocols, pushing out metals and even some types of weapons in Soviet applications. In the total volume of cargoes imported under the latest Protocols, food products occupied over 25% of the tonnage. In terms of calorie content, this food, based on wartime norms, should have been enough to maintain an army of 10 million for more than three years (Otechestvennaya istoriya, 1996, No. 3; Mikhail Suprun, Lend-Lease and Northern Convoys, 1941-1945. ").

It is difficult to overestimate the lend-lease supplies of complex machine tools and industrial equipment for the Soviet Union. Back in 1939-1940, the Soviet leadership placed orders for imported equipment for the production of artillery weapons. Then these orders, placed mainly in the United States, were delivered to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Namely, there was the greatest need for special machine tools for artillery production during the war years in the USSR. In total, 38,100 metal-cutting machine tools were supplied from the USA to the USSR during the war years, from Great Britain - 6,500 machine tools and 104 presses. In the Soviet Union in 1941-1945 was produced
115,400 metal-cutting machines, that is 2.6 times more supplies under Lend-Lease. However, in reality, if we take cost indicators, then the role of Western machines will turn out to be much more significant - they were an order of magnitude more complicated and more expensive than Soviet ones. Without the supply of Western equipment, Soviet industry would not only have been unable to increase the production of weapons and military equipment during the war years,
but also to organize the production of modern machine tools and equipment, which was also served by deliveries from the United States of special types of rolled steel and ferroalloys (Sokolov B.V. "The Truth about the Great Patriotic War").

Western supplies of non-ferrous metals were of great importance for the national economy of the USSR and, in particular, for military production. From mid-1941 to mid-1945, Soviet industry produced 470 thousand tons of copper. Under Lend-Lease, 387.6 thousand tons of copper were supplied from the United States to the Soviet Union, which amounted to 82.47% of its own copper production during the war. A situation similar to that of copper also developed in Soviet aluminum production. From mid-1941 to mid-1945, the USSR produced 263 thousand tons of aluminum. During the war years, 256.4 thousand tons of aluminum were supplied from the USA to the USSR. In addition, the USSR received 35.4 thousand tons of aluminum from Great Britain and 36.3 thousand tons of aluminum from Canada. In this way, total western supplies of aluminum to the Soviet Union in 1941-1945 amounted to 328.1 thousand tons, which is 1.25 times higher than its own production... The Soviet aviation industry, the main consumer of aluminum, operated mainly from Western supplies.

A particularly difficult situation at the beginning of the war developed with the production of artillery ammunition and cartridges for small arms. At the end of 1941, vigorous measures were taken for the regular supply from abroad of the main components for explosives and propellants, as well as equipment for the daily production of 10 million 7.62-mm cartridges. Deliveries have become very significant
various types of gunpowder. However, due to the high calorific value of imported gunpowder, carbon deposits were formed in gun and gun barrels. Soviet experts suggested mixing imported and domestic gunpowder and only then making shells and cartridges from it. Only in the manufacture of rockets can English nitroglycerin powder be used almost without impurities. In the USSR, the production of explosives in the period from mid-1941 to mid-1945 was about 600 thousand tons. 295.6 thousand tons were delivered from the USA, 22.3 thousand tons from Great Britain and Canada. Thus, Western supplies of explosives reached 53% of the total Soviet production.

The supply of communications equipment and fire control systems by the Western Allies was truly exceptional for the conduct of the armed struggle. 956.7 thousand miles of field telephone cable, 2100 miles of sea cable and 1100 miles of submarine cable were delivered to the USSR. In addition, 35.8 thousand radio stations were delivered to the USSR under Lend-Lease (radio stations imported only in 1944-1945, according to military supply standards, would have been enough to provide 360 \u200b\u200bdivisions, and charging units - to staff 1,333 divisions), 189 thousand field telephones (telephones imported in 1944-1945 would have been enough to staff 511 divisions), 5899 receivers. The radio stations imported into the country during these years were distinguished by their reliability and ease of operation. In the USSR, not
was analogous to stations similar to the American ones: inter-divisional, regimental, and also inter-battery. They tried to be copied and mass-produced. But until the end of the war, the domestic industry was unable to organize their serial production. By the end of the war, the proportion of allied communications property in the Red Army and the navy was 80%. A large amount of imported communications property was sent to the national economy. Following the 3-channel high-frequency telephony systems, more complex 12-channel ones began to arrive in the country. If before the war in the Soviet Union it was possible to create an experimental 3-channel station, then there were no 12-channel stations at all. It is no coincidence that it was immediately installed to serve the most important lines connecting Moscow with the largest cities of the country - Leningrad, Kiev and Kharkov. American radio stations Nos. 299, 399 and 499, designed to provide communications between the headquarters of armies and fleets, also found wide application in the sea and river fleets, in the communication system of the fishing industry and the country's electric power industry.
And the entire system of artistic radio broadcasting of the country was provided with only two American 50-watt radio transmitters "M - 83330A", mounted in 1944 in Moscow and Kiev. Four more transmitters were sent to the NKVD special communications system. The deliveries of Western radars were revolutionary in nature for the rearmament of the Red Army. The Soviet Union, having begun hostilities, had only the very first prototypes of these systems. Throughout the Red Fleet, one cruiser, Molotov, was equipped with a radar installation.
Domestic developments carried out during the war on the basis of foreign systems became obsolete instantly: military electronics developed so dynamically during these years. Therefore, the supply of radars in accordance with Soviet applications continued to grow until the very end of the war. In 1944-1945, compared with the first war years, they were increased five times. 2181
radar, including 373 sea and 580 aircraft, were delivered to the USSR during these years. Moreover, along with the already known modifications, more advanced ones began to arrive in the Soviet Union. Of the fifty main varieties of radar systems supplied to the USSR, half arrived at the end of the war. Among them - the well-proven American artillery radar installations "Mark", which were in service with most large US ships; British GL fire control radar; Canadian systems for correcting fire on explosions "REX". At the front, radars were still irreplaceable.
For example, on October 10, during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, Soviet ships at the entrance to Volokovaya Bay came under fire from German coastal artillery. But thanks to the American radar stations installed on large hunters, the ships managed, under the cover of a smokescreen, to go deep into the bay and land troops without serious losses. Two days later, a detachment of torpedo boats of the Northern Fleet, with the visibility of 3 cables, detected and successfully attacked the enemy convoy with the help of American locators. Of the four Higgins, only the boat, which had no radar on board, was damaged. On June 1, 1945, of the 2036 artillery radars of the Red Army, only 248 SON-2 systems were of domestic production. More precisely, the domestic assembly, since
the SON - 2 locators were an exact copy of the GL - 2 English locator, assembled on imported equipment and using imported units.

During the first, defensive, period of the war the supply of barbed wire was very valuable - 216 thousand miles.

Support from the sea was of no small importance for the offensive operations of the ground forces.
The role of the naval forces increased even more with the advance of the Red Army to the west and the expansion of the operational zone of the fleet. However, the war-torn Baltic and Black Sea fleets demanded a large replenishment. The Northern, but most importantly, the Pacific Fleet and river flotillas were in dire need of further strengthening. Therefore, in the second half of the war, significant assistance for
the Soviet Navy also received lend-lease - 596 warships and vessels, including 28 frigates, 89 minesweepers, 78 large submarine hunters, 202 torpedo boats, 60 small hunters (patrol boats), 106 landing craft. Of these, 80% of ships and vessels took part in hostilities against the fleets of Germany and Japan. In addition, only in 1944, due to reparations from Italy, Great Britain transferred to the USSR Navy a battleship, 9 destroyers, 4 submarines, and the USA - a cruiser. Such types of necessary military equipment and equipment received under Lend-Lease, such as landing craft, proximity trawls, powerful radar stations, a number of samples of hydroacoustic equipment, diesel generators and emergency rescue equipment, were not produced in the USSR. Since 1942, the construction of domestic combat boats (minesweepers, small hunters and others, which were mainly produced during the war by the domestic shipbuilding industry) was carried out with the help of imported equipment (for example, engines of the American company "Packard"). Thanks to help from overseas, the composition of the Northern Fleet in 1944-1945 increased by 155 destroyers, minesweepers, submarines, patrol ships, which was 3 times (!!!) exceeding the size of the fleet on the eve of the war. This number did not include the largest ships in the North: the British battleship Royal Soverinl ("Arkhangelsk") and the American cruiser "Milwaukee" ("Murmansk"), provided in 1944 as reparations. In the course of the Soviet Union's preparations for war with Japan, the United States, in fact, created another Pacific Fleet. In March-September 1945 alone, 215 warships and auxiliary ships were delivered from the Coold Bay base to the Soviet Far Eastern bases. About 100 more ships and boats arrived were distributed among other fleets and fleets.

Both in absolute terms and in relation to other goods, supplies of industrial equipment increased by the end of the war. Industrial products delivered in 1944-1945 included 23.5 thousand machine tools, 1526 cranes and excavators, 49.2 thousand tons of metallurgical, 212 thousand tons of power equipment, including all turbines for the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station. To understand the significance of the supply of these machines and mechanisms, it is appropriate to compare them with the production at domestic enterprises, for example, in 1945. This year, only 13 cranes and excavators were assembled in the USSR, 38.4 thousand machine tools were produced, and the weight of the produced metallurgical equipment was 26.9 thousand tons.
The range of industrial equipment numbered thousands of items: from bearings and measuring instruments to cutting machines and metallurgical mills. An American engineer who visited the Stalingrad Tractor Plant at the end of 1945 found that half of all the machines and equipment at the enterprise were supplied under Lend-Lease. Along with batches of individual machines and mechanisms, the Allies provided the Soviet Union with production and technological lines and even entire factories and mobile power plants.

Increasing its own production of weapons and military equipment using raw materials and materials, machine tools and equipment supplied under Lend-Lease, played no less a role than the finished American and British equipment and weapons. The exchange of military-technical information with the allies in accordance with the American Lend-Lease Act also played a role. 19 October 1942 was accepted
gKO decree "On the exchange of military-technical information with the United States and Great Britain." Despite the fact that the USSR, fulfilling its allied duty, transferred part of its own military-technical information to the USA and Great Britain, it received from them many times more. The latest technical documentation came from abroad in the form of various reports, reports, descriptions, instructions, manuals, bulletins, catalogs, drawings and technical orders.
So, from America only on aviation technology from the engineers of the PZK until the end of 1945, the USSR received 11 313 different instructions (58 108 copies). 89% of them were sent to interested Soviet organizations for familiarization, use and implementation in Soviet production.

In total, from June 1941 to September 1945, 17.9 million tons of various cargoes were sent to the USSR, 16.6 million tons were delivered to the destination (1.3 million tons were losses in the sinking of ships).
The cooperation of states with different socio-political systems and millions of people within the framework of Lend-Lease testified that, opposing the common enemy of humanity - fascism, people separated by vast distances, oceans, seas and mountain ranges were able to understand each other in hope, that the victory over fascism will provide them and future generations with a peaceful life. They were mistaken in this (wars continued and continue), but their example, nevertheless, can still inspire the peoples of our planet to cooperate in the fight against global threats to life on Earth.

2017-10-15T23: 22: 51 + 00: 00

LAND-LEASE (english lend-lease, from lend - to lend and lease - to lease), the system for the transfer of the United States on loan or lease of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials, food, various goods and services to the allied countries of the anti-Hitler coalition during the Second World War. The Lend-Lease Act was passed by the US Congress on March 11, 1941; empowered the President of the United States to transfer, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise supply war material or military information to the government of any country if "... defense against aggression is vital to the defense of the United States."... Countries that received lend-lease assistance signed bilateral agreements with the United States, which stipulated that materials destroyed, lost or consumed during the war were not subject to any payment after the war ended. The materials remaining after the war, suitable for civilian consumption, had to be paid in whole or in part on the basis of long-term American loans, and the US military materials could be claimed back.

An interesting aspect of the supply of aircraft under Lend-Lease was the mass familiarization of Soviet pilots, engineers, and designers with foreign equipment that differed in design concepts, design traditions, and other, often more advanced, technology. All types of machines that entered our country were carefully studied in order to borrow everything new and interesting. Some aircraft were specially ordered in small quantities or single copies for testing.

Working in calmer conditions, the US industry had much more opportunities than the Soviet one. She was less worried about the problem of a shortage of metal, she had reserve capacities for mastering new types of machines, and could afford more complex and expensive technology.

American engines, weapons, components and assemblies were not used on Soviet aircraft. The only exceptions are the Yak-9DD radio stations and the Bendix wheels, which were supposed to be installed on the Tu-2, but were actually installed by domestic ones. But the supply of raw materials, materials, equipment for our aviation industry and related industries played a big role. The import of aluminum, which began in the spring of 1942 and compensated for the loss of enterprises in the territory occupied by the enemy, should be considered especially significant. They also imported rolled metal, alloy steel, cables, instruments, radio components, photographic equipment and much more from the USA. The supply of machine tools compensated for the decrease in their production in the USSR - our factories made weapons. The growth rates in the import of machine tools and tools for aircraft factories far exceeded the growth in the supply of aircraft proper. All this largely contributed to the growth of aircraft production in the Soviet Union.

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