Berlin under attack by Soviet aces in 1941

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

For some reason, it has become customary to believe that at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army suffered only one defeat. This flawed, rotten stereotype turns to dust if we recall the bombing of Berlin in August-September 1941. Even Hitler, looking at the burning capital then, could not believe his eyes.

Indeed, in the summer of 1941, Germany was choking with delight before the victorious tread of its soldiers on Russian soil. Here, it would seem, is the same "blitzkrieg". Die, Moscow! You didn't even have any aviation left, we destroyed it during the meeting while it was still based on the ground. "Not a single bomb will ever fall on the capital of the Reich," the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, declared to the German people. And the people unconditionally believed him because there was no reason not to believe. Adults and children slept in their beds in a healthy, well-fed sleep.

Meanwhile, in the head of Admiral Kuznetsov, the idea flared up to tune the Germans so that the dream and reality of each of them would be filled with a nightmare, so that a piece of sausage would not go down the throat, so that the Germans would think: "Who are they, these Russians, and what are they capable of?" Well, soon the officers of the Wehrmacht will indeed write in their diaries: “Russians are not people. They are made of iron."

So, on July 26, 1941, Kuznetsov's proposal for the bombing of Berlin falls on the table of Joseph Stalin. Madness? Undoubtedly! From the front line to the capital of the Reich - a thousand kilometers. Nevertheless, Stalin smiles with satisfaction and the very next day orders the 1st mine and torpedo aviation regiment of the 8th air brigade of the Baltic Fleet Air Force to bomb Berlin.

On July 30, General Zhavoronkov arrives at the indicated air regiment and barely has time to talk about the order of the Headquarters, when the commander of the regiment, Evgeny Preobrazhensky, discourages him by laying out ready-made calculations, a list of crews and a map of the proposed route on the table. Amazing! In those hellish days, the pilots, anticipating the order, thought with a single mind with Admiral Kuznetsov.

It remains only to start the task. But it's easy to say … All conditions were against the flight. First, there is a huge distance. A minute error in the route threatened to affect the fuel supply in the most fatal way. Secondly, take-off was possible only from the territory of the Baltic States, from the Cahul airfield on the Saarema island, where there was a short earthen strip, quite suitable for fighters, but not for heavy bombers. And, thirdly, they had to fly at an altitude of 7 thousand meters with a temperature overboard of minus 45-50 degrees Celsius. Killing cold for an eight hour flight.

"… They are made of iron." Exactly. August 7 at 21:00 with an interval of 15 minutes, DB-3F aircraft took off. Three flights of five bombers each. The first link was headed by the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment. In the sky, the planes lined up in formation "rhombus" and took the direction to Germany.

At first, the route involved a flight over the sea past the island of Rugen (Slavic Ruyan or Buyan, praised by Pushkin). Then there was a turn to the southern port city of Stettin, and after that a direct route to Berlin was opened.

Eight hours in an oxygen mask and in the cold, from which the windows of the cabins and the glasses of headsets froze. Behind the whole day of intensive preparation. Total: superhuman stress, never experienced by anyone.

Above the territory of Germany, the group finds itself … The Germans contact her by radio and offer to sit at the nearest airport. They believe that it is the gallant knights of the Luftwaffe who have gone astray. It doesn't even occur to them that it might be the enemy. Therefore, without receiving an answer, they calm down. They do not answer, they say, and let them. It will be on their conscience.

Ten aircraft are forced to drop bombs on Stettin, on its port facilities. Fuel is running out, there is no need to risk. However, the five remaining DB-3Fs reach Berlin.

Trams and cars move below. Railway stations and military airfields are illuminated. The windows in the houses are on fire. No blackouts! The Germans are convinced of their invulnerability.

Five planes are dropping 250-kilogram FAB-100 bombs on military-industrial facilities located in the very center of the city. Berlin is plunging into pitch darkness, torn apart by flashes of fires. Panic begins in the streets. But it's too late. The radio operator Vasily Krotenko is already reporting: “My place is Berlin! The task was completed. We return to the base."

Only after 35 minutes the Germans realize that they have been bombed from the air. Beams of searchlights rush into the sky, anti-aircraft guns open fire. However, the fire is fired at random. The shells explode in vain at an altitude of 4500-5000 meters. Well, it can't be that the bombers were flying higher! These are not gods!

The sun rose over the disfigured Berlin, and the Germans did not understand who had bombed them. The newspapers came out with ridiculous headlines: “British aircraft bombed Berlin. There are killed and wounded. 6 British planes were shot down”. Confused like children, the Nazis decided to lie in accordance with the precepts of Goebbels: "The more impudent the lie, the more they believe in it." However, the British were also at a loss, rushing to declare that their spirit was not over Germany.

It was then that the blitzkrieg singers admitted that the Soviet aces had carried out the raid. Shame fell on the head of the Ministry of Propaganda, and the heart of the entire German nation sank. What else to expect from Russian "subhumans"?

And there was something to wait. Soviet aircraft continued their sorties. Up to September 4, 86 of them were committed. From 33 aircraft 36 tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs fell on Berlin. This is not counting the shells stuffed with propaganda leaflets, and 37 planes that bombed other cities in Germany.

Hitler howled like a wounded animal. On September 5, he sent innumerable forces of the "North" group to smash the Kahul airfield to smithereens. However, Berlin had already stopped lighting the lights at night, and every German had an animal fear of the darkness of his native Aryan sky.

The first group under the command of Colonel Preobrazhensky returned all, except for the plane, which did not have enough fuel. It was run by Lieutenant Dashkovsky. On August 13, 1941, five pilots who bombed Berlin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and 2 thousand rubles each. The rest of the pilots were also awarded and awarded. After that, the Preobrazhensky group bombed the capital of the Reich 9 more times.