U.S.S.R. - World War Two

page generated: May 10, 2006

compiled by Allan Magnus

References:

1. Mikhail Bykov's Russian Aces web site (http://avia-hobby.ru/publ/sovaces/sovaces.html)
2. Hobby Vista (http://www.hobbyvista.com)
3. Russian Aces web site (http://aces.boom.ru)
4. 146 GvIAP Site (http://www.geocities.com/giap_146/)
5. VVS Russia - Who is Who page (http://www.airforce.ru/staff/who_is_who/index.htm)
6. Polka sov osobogo znachenya, Maria Pavlovna Markova, Moscow 2005
7. Voyna v Vozdukhe No.74 - Hawker Hurricane, Russia 2005
8. LaGG & Lavochkin Aces of World War 2: Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 56, George Mellinger, Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003
9. P-39 Airacobra Aces of World War 2, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #36, George Mellinger & John Stanaway, Osprey Publishing, London 2001
10. S aviatsiei cherez XX-oi vek, Georgii Arturovich Baevskii, Delta N.B., Moscow 2001
11. Triumf a Tragedie, Milos Sedivy & Valeriy Dimich, Svet Kridel, Cheb, Czech Republic 2001
12. "Imya iz spiska zaytykh geroyev", Sergei G. Vakhrushev, Aviatsiya i Vremya, 3/2000, Kiev, Ukraine
13. "Operaciya Barbarossa - Vozdushnye srazhenya 1941 goda", Viktor Kulikov & Ilya Moshtchanskiy, editor: OOO Strategiya KM, Frontovaya Illyustratsiya 3/2000, Moscow 2000
14. "Bitva nad Jassami", Dmitrii Khazanov, AVIAMASTER 4/99, Tekhnika Molodezhi, Moscow
15. Porshneviye istrebiteli Yak perioda 1941-1945gg v polkach VVS. Katalog vypusk 2-j, A.V. Stankov, Ukraina i Mir, Kiev, Ukraine 1999
16. "Uravnenye s odnim neizvestnym ili Snova o vozdushnych pobedach asov II Mirovoi voiny", Yuriy Rybin, AviaMaster 5/99 , Moscow
17. Stalin's Eagles: An Illustrated Study of the Soviets Aces of World War II and Korea, Hans D. Seidl, Shiffer Military History, Atglen, Pa. 1998
18. Stalin's Falcons:The Aces of the Red Star, Tomas Polak & Christopher Shores, Grub Street, London 1998
19. Staliniskye Sokoly, Nikolai Bodrykhin, Delta Pub., Moscow 1997
20. Korean War Aces, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #4, Robert F Dorr, John Lake & Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing, London 1996
21. Wings, Vol. 26, No. 5, October 1996, Sentry Books Ltd.
22. Stalinowskie Sokoly, Kampanie Lotnicze No. 7, R. Michulec, A.J. Press, Gdynia, Poland 1995
23. Asy Frontu Wschodniego, Przemyslaw Skulski,Janusz Bargiel & Grzegorz Cisek, ACE Publication, Warsaw 1994
24. Red Stars: The Soviet Air Force in World War Two,Carl-Fredrik Guest, Kalevi Keskinen & Kari Stenman, Ar-Kustannus Oy, Kangasala, Finland 1993
25. Na vysotakh muzhestva, Fedor Semyonovich Gnezdilov, Izdatelstvo Belarus, Minsk 1987
26. Air Aces, Christopher Shores, Presidio Press, Novato, California 1983
27. Red Stars in the Sky, Volume 3,Carl-Frederick Guset, Kalevi Keskinen, Klaus Niska & Kari Stenman, Tietoteos Pub., Espoo, Finland 1983
28. Trista neizvestnych, P.M. Stefanofskii, Vojenizdat, Moscow 1968
29. Famous Airmen: The Allied Aces of World War II, William N. Hess, ARCO 1966

    The information on Soviet aces has steadilty grown over the years since the
  demise of communism in the USSR and the more open access to Soviet records. As a
  result, many new books and articles on Soviet aces have been published within the
  past few years.
    Unfortunately, the victory tallies for Soviet aces can vary quite a bit between
  the various references.
    The major English publications, Stalin's Eagles by Hans Seidl and 
  Stalin's Falcons by Tomas Polak and Christopher Shores, where the vast 
  majority of my information comes from, are no exception. Many of the names 
  contained in both books, including those of the more famous and well published aces,
  can vary quite significantly. To try and reconcile the differences would be a major
  task beyond my modest means. Thus, what you see for Soviet ace tallies follows this 
  basic set of rules as much as possible.
  

• Where references match each other in total claims for a pilot, the publication that presents the score as individual plus shared, is the score that I use for the web page.
• The lowest score that I have found in the references I've used will be the one presented on the web page. The high score will be included in the comments.
• The Soviets appeared to have kept aerial victory tallies based on a pilot's individual plus shared claims. Since the exact breakdown of pilot claims by individual and shared is unknown for a lot of the Soviet aviators, I feel it would be inappropriate to list on the web page only those pilots with 5 or more individual claims. Thus, I have included pilots that have 5 or more victories in total, regardless of the combination of individual and shared claims they have.
• The Soviet Union is unique in the method of deploying its fighter and other aircraft. The basic services were army [VVS], home air defence [PVO], naval [ChF, TOF, KBF, and SF] and long range aviation [ADD]. Unit swapping between services was common. For example, units may be transfered from VVS to PVO, or within different naval services. In most cases the unit number did not change, but, it usually did when the unit received the Guards appellation, an honourary title for meritorious work. For example, the 1GvIAP was formed from the 29IAP. For simplicity sake, I have listed all Soviet aces as flying with the VVS, as it is impossible at this time to break down pilot victories by their service.