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IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Famous title comes to consoles. |
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since its a russian theme day...
Boris Safonov's "British Show". The most well-known Russian fighter ace during the first period of the war, was the young Boris Safonov, flying with 72 SAP (Composite Aviation Regiment) in the Murmansk area in the far North. Before his death on 30 May 1942, Safonov had scored 17 victories, of which at least 8 can be verified by Luftwaffe loss records. During his last combat, he was credited with another 3 kills - bringing his total to 20 (according to his flight book; higher figures are given in various Russian publications). What makes his achievement remarkable is that 14 of these victories were achieved during the three first months of the war, while Safonov was flying an I-16 "Ishak" fighter, far inferior to the German Messerschmitt 109s. During the RAF fighter pilots' stay in this area in the fall of 1941, Boris Safonov gave the RAF pilots an impressive show of combat skill. In September 1941, the Air Force of the Soviet Northern Fleet was reinforced with thirty-nine British Hawker "Hurricane" fighters of Wing Commander H. N. G. Ramsbottom-Isherwood´s 151 Wing, including Nos. 81 and 143 Squadron. Twenty-four were flown to Murmansk and fifteen to Arkhangelsk. The British were eager to revenge themselves for their humiliating defeat in the air over the same area on 30 June 1941, when German fighters had shot down 15 British aircraft sent out from the carriers "Victorious" and "Furious" - without a single German loss. On September 12, the twenty-four "Hurricanes" bound for Murmansk took off from the aircraft carrier Argus in the Barents Sea . That same afternoon, the British pilots of 81 Squadron flew a combat mission over the front lines. They bounced five Messerschmitt 109s escorting a Henschel 126. In the ensuing action, the Messerschmitt-pilot Leutnant Eckhard von der Lühe and the Hurricane-pilot Sergeant Smith were both shot down and killed. (The British pilots claimed to have shot down three Bf 109s plus the Hs 126. During the following five weeks, the RAF pilots took part in several combats, claiming 16 confirmed victories, 4 "probables" and 7 damaged enemy aircraft - a high over-claim - for the loss of only 2 "Hurricanes".) But at the hands of an expert, the old I-16 was still to be reckoned with, as Boris Safonov would show the British guests. On 6 September 1941, the Luftwaffe had raided 72 SAP´s airfield. Safonov and four other I-16s met the attackers in the air, claiming two Ju 87s shot down. Clashing with the escorting Bf 109s, A. Kovalienko had been credited with one kill while another '109' was 'shared' between Safonov and Maksimovich. According to the Russian report, a third Messerschmitt crashed into the ground while chasing the agile Ishaks. None of these claims can be verified in the loss tables of JG 5 (which by all means not necessarily are complete). Three days after the arrival of the British - 15 September 1941 - Safonov decided to demonstrate his abilities. This was to become Safonov´s most successful day: A Schwarm of Messerschmitt 110s from 1.(Z)/JG 77 was out on an escort mission for the "Stukas" of Hauptmann Arnulf Blasig´s IV.(St.)/LG 1, attacking Soviet ground troops in the Zapadnaya Litsa region. Leutnant Heinz-Horst Hoffmann, the pilot in one of the Bf 110s, spotted a lone I-16 below. Hoffmann was one of the veterans of the Zerstörerstaffel, with three victories to his credit. Without hesitating, he put the nose of his twin-engine fighter down to make an attack. He didn´t realize the trap until too late. A dark green I-16 with the bold inscription "Smert fashistam!" ("Death to the fascists!") painted in two-feet-high white letters on the side of the fuselage came shooting down from above. It was Boris Safonov´s "White 11". Hoffmann´s Bf 110 was hit in an engine. The plane made a roll and went down from low altitude, exploding on impact three miles west of Zapadnaya Litsa. Having scored his 12th victory, Safonov turned against the "Stukas". One of them went down in flames, Safonov´s 13th victory. Shortly afterwards, the Russian ace caught a third German plane, Hs 126, and shot it down as well. On the following day, Boris Safonov received the highest Soviet award, the Golden Star - the token of the Hero of the Soviet Union. As the British pilots left for home, the Hurricanes were naturally handed over to 72 SAP. With a better outfit, the Soviet fighter pilots were able to inflict growing losses upon the small Luftwaffe forces on the "Polar Front". Marking the end of 1941, Boris Safonov claimed one Messerschmitt 109 on 17 December and one He 111H-5 (piloted by Unteroffizier Engelbert Roithmayer of 1./KG 26) on 31 December, flying a "Hurricane" fighter.
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