In post-war communist historiography, Lend-Leas aid was downplayed and marginalized. However, contemporary Russian historians already openly admit that it was the Allied material aid that significantly helped the Soviet Union in its fight against Nazism. Members of the Soviet 1st Ferry Aviation Division played a significant role in the distribution of the air part of this assistance.
Members of the Soviet 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment were at the invasion of Poland, occupying Bessarabia, so that they could finally feel the blows of a stronger enemy - the German Luftwaffe.
One of the most penetrating anti-tank handguns constructed in the Soviet Union during World War II.
Mark Solonin (1958, Samara) is one of the main representatives of the so-called new wave in Russian military historiography. He has long been involved in the initial phase of the Soviet-German war and is the author of the following works: "June 22, 1941 - Disaster Anatomy" (2004), "At Peaceful Sleeping Airports" (2006), "June 23, 1941 - M Day" (2007), "The False History of the Great War" (2008), "June 25, 1941 - Stupidity or Aggression?" (2008), "There is no good in the war" (2010).
Description of the origin and use of a standard signal pistol of the Czechoslovak People's Army
The 4th Guards Tank Army was formed only in March 1945, but it still managed to make history in a significant way. Its troops played a significant role not only in the fall of Berlin, but also in the liberation of Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia.
The history of the fighter aviation regiment filled with combat actions.
Although the Soviet 5th Tank Army existed for only two months, it made a significant mark in the history of the Second World War.
Chechen terrorist nicknamed One-Eyed (Одноглазый) and Bakar (Бакар); bodyguard and one of Shamil Basayev's closest collaborators.
In 1933, the command of the Austrian army placed an order with Austro-Daimler for the development and production of a vehicle for the transport of soldiers, ammunition and possibly the towing of light field guns. Austrian engineers have chosen the concept of a wheeled tracked chassis. This allowed, in contrast to a purely tracked chassis, faster movement on roads and solid surface on the wheels and in the case of use in heavier terrain, a tracked chassis could be used. The vehicle was given the designation ADMK "Mulus" (Austro-Daimler Motor Karette) and in addition to the Austrian army also found its application in the Wehrmacht army.
A brief description of the research of the behavior of the Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft in a fall into a corkscrew and the solution of this undesirable phenomenon, carried out in 1943 by Soviet test pilots. Rare photos are attached.
History of the origin and development of an experimental aircraft with a landing gear replaced by an air cushion
Blinding agents (Blendmittel) were designed mainly to stop an oncoming tank, against which it was then possible to more effectively use other anti-tank agents designed for close combat.
Description of the development of a bomber aircraft equipped with a non-traditional propulsion.
At the time of its creation, the weapon was primarily intended for combat with tanks and, given the thickness of the tank's armor at the time, it was fully sufficient for this task.
The first flying machine in the Soviet Union with a cargo hole in the nose of the aircraft.
Blinding agents (Blendmittel) were designed mainly to stop an oncoming tank, against which it was then possible to more effectively use other anti-tank agents designed for close combat.
History of the origin and unsuccessful end of a structurally interesting seaplane constructed during World War II in Switzerland.
Former President of the Republic of South Ossetia, unilaterally declared in the northern part of Georgia. He is a strong supporter of South Ossetia's independence from Georgia. Before the 2006 presidential elections, he declared that the Georgian-Ossetian conflict was not inter-ethnic but political, caused by Georgian efforts to place the norms of Western democracy above "traditional Caucasian law".
The life story of a Tatar with a hard-to-pronounce name whose life was saved by the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany and its satellites.
The largest tank ace of World War II - destroyed as a gunner and later tank commander confirmed 168 enemy tanks
Reichsschatzmeister der NSDAP, Reichsleiter, SS-Oberst-gruppenführer, M.d.R, Leutnant d.R.a.D. Franz Xaver SCHWARZ.
Commander of the German 6th Army, which was surrounded by Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942. He was a Soviet prisoner of war from 1943-1953 and spent the rest of his life in the GDR.
Biography of the President of the Pro-Russian Chechen Republic in 2004-2007.
Wounded during Stauffenberg's assassination of Hitler on July 20, 1944, after the war an adviser to the Federal Chancellor on security issues, Chairman of the Federal Military Council of the Federal Ministry of Defense, First Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, member of the NATO Military Commission
Gheorghe Pintilie, real name Timofej Bondarenko, was a Romanian communist of Ukrainian descent and an officer of the Soviet secret service NKVD, the founder and first director of the Romanian secret service Securitate. He organized mass repression, yet he was never punished for his crimes.
Ace becomes a tanker after destroying five enemy tanks. Grigory N. Najdin became a triple ace in a single day, when the crew of the BT-7 tank under his command destroyed 15 enemy tanks in 24 hours. For this heroic act, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and even in the popular computer game World of Tanks, one of the medals is named after him - Najdin's Medal. The player wins it if he destroys at least three enemy light tanks in one game.
History of the development, construction and tragic end of the almost unknown Soviet aircraft, strikingly similar to the American Bell P-39 Airacobra
A biography of an inconspicuous but influential close collaborator of Adolf Hitler
Who used plastic in the construction of the body of the weapon first? Gaston Glock or someone else? Read this article.
The story of one of the thousands of soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day
Unlike fighter, bomber or battle pilots, reconnaissance pilots are on the verge of the interest of the professional and lay public. Perhaps this is also because during the Great Patriotic War, the highest award - the Hero of the Soviet Union - was awarded "only" 86 air scouts. For comparison - 860 fighters were awarded, 836 fighters. One of the few pilots of explorers, who was awarded the highest Soviet award, was the guard major Vasily Ivanovich Donchuk. An exceptional man, a brilliant pilot, an excellent commander.
Description of the origin and use of a little-known Romanian training aircraft, the creator of which was the distinctive face of the Romanian design school - Dipl. Ing. Radu Manicatide.
Although this future "professional insurgent" and a leading Chechen field commander was named after his father by the name Samir bin Salih as Suwaylan, you would hardly find him under this name among fighters in Afghanistan, Tajikistan or Chechnya. In all these countries he worked as Ibn al-Khattab (translated as Black Arab), or simply - Khattab.
Abdol Hossein Sardari was an Iranian diplomat originally from the royal family who was credited with saving hundreds of Jews. Since then, he has been known as the "Iranian Schindler". Despite his undeniable merits, he died in poverty and oblivion.
The incredible story of Sergeant Joseph Beyrle, the only American soldier who served in both the US and Russian armies during World War II.
The Yakovlev Pchela-1T ("Пчела" meaning bee) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by the Russian Yakovlev Design Bureau. Its primary use is for surveillance and observation in battlefield environments with downlinked video. Other implementations and uses include target designation and as a training target.
His voice was stronger than a division, Marshal Rokossovsky told Soviet radio announcer Yuri Levitan. One can only agree with him, because Levitan's words "Attention, this is Moscow speaking!" (Vnimanie, govorit Moskva!), delivered by his deep bass, evoke goosebumps even eighty years later.
If you were surprised that I ask the question from the title on the pages of a serious historical website, then you will probably be surprised by the answer to it. Harry Potter fell on Saturday, July 22, 1939, in a shootout with Arab insurgents near the Palestinian city of Hebron. Don't you believe that? This article will explain the circumstances of Harry's short life and his violent death.
Under what conditions were the shootings granted in the Soviet Air Force and how were they financially evaluated?
In most armies, honors were awarded for destroying an enemy tank or aircraft, or there was an extraordinary promotion to a higher military rank. The Soviet Union went about it differently. Even in the first state of workers and peasants, honors were awarded for the destruction of enemy combat technology, but in addition, the legal rewards were precisely determined by the financial rewards for such an act. So how much was paid in the Red Army for a destroyed tank or plane?
Germany lost World War II. That's a fact. But it was certainly not because they paid little to their soldiers. After all, during World War II, the salary was one of the highest fighting countries in the German army. So how much did German soldiers and officers make? And how much did Göring or Hitler, for example, improve each month?
A milestone in the history of the Social Democrats, but also in the life of Konrad Henlein, is the May parliamentary elections in 1935, in which his party won 1.249.530 votes mainly due to its flexible government policy in Prague, significant financial support from Germany and the social situation of the Sudetenland. In this way, in terms of the number of votes cast, he becomes the winner of the election and, with a share of 44 seats, he gains the position of the second strongest political party in Czechoslovakia.
Biography of the Imperial Protector of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Austrian engineers created their top wheel-tracked construction in the years 1940-42. They wanted to create a fast reconnaissance tank that would be able to fight even lightly armored enemy technology.
History and development of the training aircraft, which was created just after the war.
History of development and production of unsuccessful air cannon MP-6 cal. 23 mm.
The story of an immortal pilot who fought on biplanes against the Japanese in the 1930s in China, but also shot down American jets not only in the Korean but also in the Vietnam War. If you are wondering how this is possible, I will reveal at the outset that it is not possible.
A biography of a member of the elite Russian anti-terrorist commando Alpha, who laid down his life in the elimination of the Chechen terrorist Abu Bakar Visimbayev, the right-hand man of Shamil Basayev.
By his flight to Moscow, the naive man gave Mikhail Gorbachev a reason for an extensive purging under the command of the Soviet army.
On March 15, 2021, 82 years passed since the entry of German troops into the rest of Czechoslovak territory. What happened that day is now being re-examined by the Municipal Public Prosecutor's Office in Prague. Why?
Combat morale, or willingness to fight and risk injury or death, has been promoted in various ways in the armies involved in World War II battles. The German army doped some of its units with amphetamines, which were able to suppress the feeling of fatigue. He was again issued to English sailors to heat rum. In the Soviet army, according to the command, the army was able to support vodka. But what is the truth about the fact that Red Army soldiers went on the attacks mostly drunk? And how much alcohol was officially dispensed to the Red Army?
History of the development and origin of the largest helicopter ever built
The life story of a brave flight attendant who made 980 combat flights on a slow biplane and dropped 147 tons of bombs on the enemy.
Looking at the photograph of SPECNAZ member Albert Maratovič Zaripov, most of him will probably be interested in his dark glasses, unusual in Soviet photos, resp. Russian officers. It may occur to you that the person in question is trying to get closer to the image of American action heroes. No, Zaripov is all but not a cheap hero. He is blind. He lost his sight at the age of 27 as a result of severe injuries he suffered during the fighting with the Salman Raduyev insurgent gang in the Dagestan city of Pervomaisk in 1996 and the subsequent poor health care. How did this man live and fight, who placed on the altar of his homeland after life probably the most valuable thing - the opportunity to perceive the world with his eyes?
Although it sounds unbelievable, the pilot replaced the landing gear wheel in flight! The performance worthy of the Guinness Book of Records unfortunately took place in 1936, when this record book did not yet exist. However, this act is written permanently in the annals of the Russian Air Force.
When Vadim Borisovich Shavrov is mentioned, an aviation fan may remember the Russian amphibious aircraft of this designer. An entomologist turned on his collection of beetles of the Fuzáčov family, and a philatelist turned on his huge collection of Russian and Soviet stamps. You will find out who this versatile person was and what life he lived in this article.
The story of the creation of the only armored vehicle mass-produced in the German Democratic Republic.
One of the most prominent personalities among Czech and Slovak historians in recent decades, author of a large number of books and articles in the field of military history.
The range of ideas of this Soviet designer and inventor, ranging from the Air Force, airborne units to the ground forces, evokes at first glance the work of Jára Cimrman. Let's just accidentally mention a fraction of his creations or ideas - an aircraft designed primarily for ramming the enemy, inflatable machine gun nests dropped from aircraft, a prototype of a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, a tank on skis, a tank on an air cushion, an airborne booth for divers dogs, etc. Unlike the Czech novel genius, however, several inventions and ideas of Pavel Grochovský have found real application. However, it must be admitted that some of his ideas, whose constructions served, as with Cimrman, only to find out that it is a dead end of development. However, it is indisputable that the concept of airborne troops promoted by him significantly influenced the direction of this type of Soviet troops. Boldly, he can be described as the ideological father of airborne forces in the USSR.
The situation where a police negotiator offers a kidnapper in exchange for a hostage himself has already been artistically processed in several films. Most of them end in a happy ending - the negotiator leaves with minor injuries while the police lighthouses are flashing and the kidnapper is taken from the crime scene by ambulance, at best. Unfortunately, the Colonel of the Federal Security Service, Anatoly Savelyev, who offered his life to a kidnapper for the life of a Swedish diplomat, was unlucky.
Curriculum vitae of the commander of the 26th Guards Fighter Air Regiment, the Hero of the Soviet Union, who, according to official data, shot down 15 aircraft. Although current historical research has not confirmed these data, it was clearly an excellent pilot who deserves our respect.
Biography of the fighter ace of World War II, holder of the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
The incredible story of a Russian Su-25 fighter pilot, Major Filipov, who chose to die rather than fall alive into Syrian insurgents.
A short biography of a little-known, but all the more fruitful Romanian aircraft designer.
... or the story of another Russian puppet on the Chechen throne.
SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Richard Jungclaus (degraded to SS-Obersturmführer d.R.)
The son of the last Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs and a descendant of a famous military family whose members have served the German army with honor for centuries.
NVA-10 - Russian airplane on the basis of the Czechoslovak transport aircraft Flight L-410? Fiction or fact?
In the 1960s and 1980s, the then Soviet Union was a leader in drones. At the time of writing, just a single unmanned military system has been introduced and used in the Russian army.
The hero of the Chechen national liberation struggle? Or just an ordinary terrorist?
Chechen field commander, exporter of the Islamic revolution, better known as Ibn al-Khattab, resp. only Chattab.
History of the last of the council evolution of the signal pistol, which origins date back to the time of the Second World War
In 1955, the American aircraft designer of Russian origin Igor Sikorski first introduced the public to the concept of a flying crane, which he had been thinking about since the first helicopter was built. Unlike the previously designed machines with a rotating wing, the machine proposed by him was to be lightened by the cargo space, which in the case of loads transported on a rope under the helicopter unnecessarily deprived the machine of its load capacity.
German single-shot recoil weapon caliber 50 mm developed by Hugo und Alfred Schneider AG (HASAG), which was to be mounted on fighters Focke Wulf Fw-190, Messerschmitt Me-163B-1 and Me-262.
The VSS Vintorez is a marksman rifle featuring an integral suppressor originating from the Soviet Union. The Vintorez was developed alongside the AS Val to replace modified general-purpose firearms, such as the AKS-74UB, BS-1, APB, and PB, for clandestine operations.
Short description of the rescue of a two-member crew of a shot down aircraft on the wings of a biplane in the crashing Finnish winter
Soviet heavy machine gun DS-39, which was to replace the obsolete machine gun Maxim, was withdrawn from production even after a year of use and resumed production of morally obsolete and more complicated machine guns Maxim vz. 1910/30, which also had a lower rate of fire. However, they had one excellent feature for the needs of the army - they were not as pervasive for ammunition as the DS-39.
The development of aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing was not simple and straightforward. One of the types that has entered the history of research into this type of aircraft is the Ryan XV-5 Vertifan.
TB-3 bombers have been involved in many conflicts. They fought against Japanese troops at Khalkhyn Gol, dropped bombs on Finland's defenders and took part in the invasion to Poland.
History of the origin and use of the little-known universal machine gun of Danish construction.
The little-known event in Brazilian history in our region, when the introduction of compulsory vaccination in 1904 resulted in a bloody conflict.
The only post-war high party and government official of the Soviet Union who went through the war as a first-line soldier. He was wounded three times in the fight and also took part in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. For six years he led the secret service of the Soviet empire to end up as the head of security of a popular singer at the end of his career.
The VYa-23 cannon was mounted on Il-2 and Il-10 ground attack aircraft, on LaGG-3 and Yak-9 fighter aircraft, and on the experimental Mikoyan-Gurevich DIS long range fighter aircraft.
In spite of the large round, the VYa-23 proved to be a disappointment in its intended anti-tank role. Light German tanks could be defeated from the side or rear only, with front armor of all tanks impervious. Medium tanks could be defeated if hit into the top of the turret or the engine compartment from under 400 m (1,300 ft) in a greater than 40-degree dive—a very difficult maneuver in Il-2 even under the most ideal conditions compounded by the difficulty of aiming at a small target.
The life story of a Soviet pilot and commander of an air regiment.
The phrase "East German transport aircraft" does not sound the most realistic impression at first sight. However, the opposite is true. This socialist country also tried to enter the field of construction of its own aircraft, but it was not allowed due to the hegemony of Soviet aircraft within the socialist camp.
The history of the successful M-11 engine began in the first half of the 1920s. At that time, the basic engine of training aircraft in Russia was the M-2 engine with an output of 120 (horsepower). It was not a home construction, but a copy of the French engine stmp. Gnome-Rhone 9 Jb. However, these rotary engines were obsolete at the time, with low efficiency and low reliability. At the end of 1923, therefore, the Air Force Command placed a request for the development of a new aircraft engine with an output of 100 pieces.
The history of the creation of the highest decoration of members of the Soviet secret service is slightly chaotic, as is the time in which it originated.
Hlinka's Guard was a paramilitary organization under the control of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party - the Party of Slovak National Unity. It originated from the original paramilitary organization HSĽS Rodobranya, which was established on January 20, 1923.
Biography of a forgotten general, legionnaire and one of the organizers of the SNP.
Description of one of the unnecessary accidents of not exactly the most reliable LaGG-3 fighter, nicknamed "guaranteed painted coffin" by pilots
Only seven days were enough for the German troops to destroy the Soviet 5th Panzer Army. Behind its destruction, however, stood not the cowardice of ordinary soldiers, but the mistakes and bad guesses of the Soviet high command.
A brief history of the transformation of the English fighter aircraft Hawker Tempest Mk.V into an aircraft for towing air targets Tempest TT.5
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