On various Internet sites, you can find many German photographs of destroyed and captured Soviet military equipment, both tanks and guns, and aircraft, captured on film during the Second World War, and then scanned and posted “on the net”. Among them, perhaps the most interesting are the pictures taken at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. They make it clear the atmosphere of those tragic and heroic days. Therefore, the photographs of the summer of 1941 attract both fans of military history and poster modelers. If the first is interested in discovering unknown episodes and facts, then the second is to assemble a model based on photographs of real samples of military equipment used in battles.
The study of such photographs led us to the idea to systematize and analyze the images of Soviet aircraft collected together from various sources, according to one reason or another, attributed by us to the Bobruisk airfield, captured by the advancing Wehrmacht units in June 1941. We hope that our work will be of interest to readers and that this is not the last publication on this topic.
CHRONICLE OF EVENTS 22-28 JUNE 1941
According to the fund of the 13th Bomber Aviation Division (hereinafter BAA), Major General F. P. Polynin in the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation it is known that on June 22, 1941, the control planes of the division, the 24th Red Banner High-Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment (hereinafter SBAP) of Lieutenant Colonel P. I. Melnikov and the 97th short-range bomber aviation regiment (hereinafter BBAP) Major E. L. Ivantsov, also courses for flight commanders (hereinafter referred to as KKZ). The courses trained not only the pilots of the 13th BAA, but also the pilots of the 13th, 16th and 39th SBAP, belonging to the 9th 11th and 10th mixed aviation divisions (SAD) of the Air Force of the Western Special Military District (ZAPOVO). Captain Nikiforov was in charge of the courses.
In addition, by the morning of June 22, on the field of the Bobruisk airfield, the aircraft that were ferried to the border regiments accumulated: four Il-2 intended for the 74 assault aviation regiment (hereinafter SHAP) of the 10th SAD, 21 Pe-2, already included in the 16th SBAP 11th SAD and seven Pe-2, also already included in the 13th SBAP 9th SAD. As a result of subsequent events, the aircraft intended for the 74th ShAP and 13th SBAP fought as part of the 13th BAA (in total, at least two Il-2 and nine Pe-2), and before the Peshek part of the 16th SBAP, all - so the crews of one of the squadrons of this regiment arrived.
On the first day of the war, the aircraft of the 24th, 121st, 125th and 130SBAPs, as well as the Flight Commander Courses, bombed German territory. Soviet pilots bombed airfields, depots, troop concentrations and artillery positions in the areas of Biala Podlaska, Siedlce, Kossova and Suwalki. A total of 127 sorties were carried out, 636 FAB-100, 102 FAB-504 were dropped.
Bombers flew combat missions without fighter cover to the basing areas of the main forces of German fighter aviation and the location of anti-aircraft batteries. ' Despite such difficult conditions, all groups completed their tasks and carried out targeted bombing at the attacked targets, however, unfortunately, the losses were very serious. Up to 45% of the crews did not return to their airfields.
| Type of | Serviceable | Defective Total | Crews | ||
| Control | Sat | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
| U-2 | 1 | - | 1 | - | |
| 24 SBAP | Sat | 28 | 10* | 38 | 50 |
| CSS | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | |
| U-2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | |
| 97 BBAP | Su-2 | 36 | 14** | 50 | 51 |
| CSS | 1 | - | 1 | - | |
| U-2 | 4 | - | 4 | - | |
| KKZ | Sat | 19 | - | 19 | 19 |
| Total | Sat | 48 | 10 | 58 | 70 |
| Su-2 | 36 | 14 | 50 | 51 | |
| CSS | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | |
| U-2 | 7 | 1 | 8 | - | |
| TOTAL | 94 | 28 | 122 | 121 | |
* 5 SB are out of order, 5 SB have exhausted the resource of their motors;
** 14 Su-2s were assembled but not commissioned.
During the day, the planes of at least three more Soviet air regiments "paid visits" to the Bobruisk airfield. The first were 16 SB of the 39th SBAP of the 10th SBAP (according to other sources, 17 SB), which flew to Bobruisk at about noon, since the Pinsk airfield, on which the 39th SBAP was based, was subjected to massive attacks by the aircraft of the 2nd Luftwaffe Air Corps. These vehicles were subordinated to the commander of the 24th SBAP in the evening of June 22, and later they operated as part of this regiment.
The second were two groups of the 121st SBAP: nine SBs from the 4th squadron (AE) and two SBs from the 5th, which, at about 15:00, after performing a combat flight, made an intermediate landing for refueling, after which they flew to their Novo airfield Serebryanka.
The last to appear was DB-Zf from the 3rd AE of the 98th DBAP, which made an emergency landing after 18:00 due to serious combat damage. In the target area, he was fired upon by ZA fire and attacked by three fighters. Apparently, this car has not left Bobruisk anywhere.
The location of the Bobruisk airfield on the maps of the 30s and the image of the present day taken from the satellite. Unfortunately, until now, it has not been possible to accurately tie the identified buildings and hangars on the ground, it is quite possible that the buildings did not survive the war and were demolished in the post-war years.
The command of the 13th BAA in the morning took measures to "unload" the Bobruisk airfield from the planes accumulated on it, as well as from the combat vehicles that began to arrive from the forward airfields of the ZAPOVO. During the day, 35 combat-ready Su-2 of the 97th BBAP flew to the Minki airfield, the serviceable aircraft of the 1st and 5th AE of the 24th SBAP - to the Teiki-chi airfield, and the 2nd and 4th AE of the 24th SBAP - to Telush airfield. Five SBs from the 39th SBAP flew "in transit" to the Teikichi airfield and another 11 - to the Novo Serebryanka airfield. I must say that this decision was very timely, since in the evening the Bobruisk airfield was attacked by German aircraft, but there were not so many targets left on it. As a result of the raid, only one SB from the 3rd squadron of the 24th SBAP was lost.
The further course of events and the movements of the material part of interest to us at the Bobruisk airfield, according to the documents of the Air Force headquarters of the Western Front, division headquarters and regimental headquarters, is extremely difficult to trace, and on most days it is practically impossible. The operational reports of the headquarters of the 13th BAA and subordinate regiments of the division for June 22-26, 1941 are very stingy and laconic. They, as it should be, basically contain the number of sorties, dropped bombs and downed aircraft. However, the scarce data available are of great interest.
06/23/41 At the end of the day on June 23, the "seagulls" flew to Bobruisk, led by the deputy commander of the 123rd IAP of the 10th GARDEN Captain Savchenko. They became the so-called "attached group of fighters", mentioned in the operational reports of the 13th BAA. According to the report No. 3 of 06/23/41 of the Air Force headquarters of the ZAPOVO, it is known that:
“The enemy's air force during the night from 22 to 23.06 (…) at 22.30 and 01.15 in groups of 4 planes bombed the airfield and the city of Bobruisk, as a result 1 Su-2 was destroyed at the Bobruisk airfield, the service building and the airfield were damaged. The fire of our FORA over Bobruisk shot down 1 twin-engine bomber of the enemy. According to the documents of the 24th SBAP, on 23.06.41, the SB from the 5th AE was destroyed by a direct hit.
24.06.41. From the operational report No. 3 of 24.06.41, the headquarters of the 13th BAA: “Airfield and mountains. Bobruisk was bombed at 12:35 -12 planes, at 20:30 - 7, 21: 15-5. Up to 80 bombs of various calibers were dropped on the airfield, the SB burned down."
The documents of the 24th SBAP report that on that day the personnel of the 3rd AE arrived at Telush airfield without materiel. Thus, by the end of the day on June 24 at the Bobruisk airfield, apparently, there were no serviceable bombers of the 13th BAA …
06/25/41. From the operational report No. 4 of 06/25/41 of the headquarters of the 13th BAA: “Attached 9 I-153 continued to cover the airfield and mountains. Bobruisk shot down 1 Yu-88 in aerial battles”.
06/26/41. From the operational report No. 5 of the headquarters of the 13th BAA: “24.06. at 20:30 7 Before-17 bombarded the airfield BobruiskN (altitude, approx. author) -800 m. up to 40 bombs of different caliber were dropped.21:15 5 Do-17 bombarded the Bobruisk airfield at the same altitude, up to 15 bombs were dropped. 15:00 25.06. skursom270N-1500s-tpr-ka carried out reconnaissance of Bobruisk. As a result of an air battle with our fighters, he was shot down, the type has not been established.
06/26/41. “At 4:30, twoYu-88s with an altitude of 1000 m bombarded the Bobruisk airfield. 7:00 26.06 made a raid two Ju-88s on Bobruisk, our fighters were driven away and shot down in the area of Slutsk.
Dislocation scheme of the Air Force ZAP VO on 1941-22-06
On the same day, the 160th IAP of the 43rd IAD was relocated from Minsk to Bobruisk. Having lost, mainly on the ground, most of the aircraft, but retaining the personnel, the regiment's headquarters acted independently, in fact, leaving the division. Only a few vehicles remained in the combat strength of the heavily thinned regiment, and the main thing that its commander, Major Kostromin, needed, was aircraft.
In Bobruisk, he was lucky in the form of 10 "seagulls" of the 10th GARDEN team. By this time, the headquarters and personnel of the regiments of the 10th SAD were sent to the rear for new aircraft. The pilots of the "combined group", apparently, having handed over their vehicles to the 160th IAP, followed their comrades to the rear "for retraining." Actually, the 160th IAP also stayed in Bobruisk a little longer. Unfortunately, the documents do not contain exact data when it was relocated, but already on June 28 the regiment was in the Mogilev area.
On June 26, the Bobruisk airfield was preparing for the evacuation. In fact, this day was the last when the planes of the Red Army Air Force operated from it. The next operational report No. 6 of 06/28/41 of the headquarters of the 13th BAA marks the new location of the division headquarters - Novo Serebryanka (the main airfield of the 121st SBAP). The 24th SBAP was relocated there from the Teikichi and Telush airfields. The evacuation of the division headquarters and the 160th IAP probably took place on the night of June 26-27. This is indirectly confirmed by the lack of operational intelligence from the division headquarters for that day, although the division's regiments carried out combat missions.
Bf-109F from 7 / JG 51 at the Bobruisk airfield on July 11, 1941
And on the evening of June 27, the area of the Bobruisk airfield turned into a battlefield. From the report of the commander of the 47th rifle corps to the commander of the 4th army on the actions of the corps control from June 23 to July 3, 1941, it is said:
“On 27.6.41, from the Pyrashevo area (10 km east of the Knot) through Pukhovichi, Osipovichi at 10 o'clock came to the eastern bank of the river. Berezina near Bobruisk. By this time Bobruisk was evacuated, the bridges were prepared for the explosion. At 22.00 on 27.6.41, when enemy tanks appeared, by order of the commander of the 4th army, three bridges over the river were blown up. Berezina near Bobruisk. The enemy conducted reconnaissance in small groups of motorcyclists, accompanied by tanks and tried to cross to the eastern bank of the river. Berezina. Enemy attempts to cross to the eastern bank of the river. Berezina were repulsed.
28.6.41, throughout the day, the enemy, under the cover of machine gun, mortar (large caliber) and artillery (105- and 150-mm) fire throughout the depth of our defense made attempts to cross to the eastern bank of the river. Berezina in the area of the Bobruisk railway bridge, showing special efforts to crossings on our
the right flank in the Shatkovo area and on the left flank in the Dom-novo, Holm area. Intelligence data confirmed information about the spread of the enemy - separate groups of motorcyclists, tanks and armored vehicles along the Bobruisk-Minsk road to Yeloviki and patrolling of individual tanks and motorized infantry to Shatkovo and Holm; in addition, there was an accumulation of motorized infantry and tanks in the area of the Bobruisk airfield”.
CONCLUSIONS
By June 22, 1941, a huge amount of aircraft had accumulated at the Bobruisk airfield - 154 vehicles, including 140 combat aircraft (58 SB, 50 Su-2, 28 Pe-2 and 4 Il-2), as well as six training aircraft USB and eight communications aircraft U-2. To the credit of the commander of the 13th BAD Polynin and the chief of staff Tel-nov, they correctly assessed the situation and by noon of the first day of the war had dispersed all the materiel of the 24th and 97th BAP across the field airfields. As a result of these actions, the Germans did not manage to achieve serious success in repeated attacks from the air of the Bobruisk airfield (three SB and one Su-2 were lost from the bombing). Unfortunately, the rear services did not manage to evacuate the faulty materiel from the airfield; the rapid advance of the Germans, who captured Bobruisk on June 28, did not allow this to be done …
In the context of these events, the conglomerate of Soviet aircraft that can be seen in German photographs of the Bobruisk airfield cannot fail to interest fans of military history and the history of military aviation during the Great Patriotic War. Documents that have come down to us can shed light on the identity of the combat vehicles captured by German servicemen in the summer of 1941 at the Bobruisk airfield. They are also proof that these aircraft ended up at the airfield as a result of hostilities conducted by units and formations of the Western Front from June 22 to 26, 1941, a general retreat of the front's troops and a hasty redeployment of its air force.
ANALYSIS OF PHOTOS
It is worth noting that in the reconstruction of the airfield, in addition to the images of the 24th SBAP aircraft, which have had a distinctive sign in the form of a characteristic forked cap on the keel since the Winter War, the DB-ZF with tactical number 11 in red played an important role. It is with this aircraft that a large number of photographs are associated, which gave a holistic view of the objects located at the airfield: both hangars and buildings, and aircraft.
The most complete picture, conveying an idea of the types and quantity of equipment located at the airport, is shown in photo №1. This is a view from the tail section of the Pe-2, with the consoles dismantled, along the line of aircraft, standing on the site bounded by the left-road, two hangars on the right (let's call them conditionally # 1 and # 2). The side of the site opposite to the shooting site forms a horseshoe-shaped courtyard due to the standing buildings and hangar No. 1.
The photo clearly shows that the planes are standing along the road, in order: Pe-2 with undocked planes and removed engines; light gray SB without planes, behind its cockpit you can see the landing gear I-16 (without engine and planes) and I-15bis (also without engine and wings); light gray SB with tunnel radiators and Pe-2 planes leaning against it, then I-153 (with stripped fuselage skin and without planes), behind it landing gear legs, obviously belonging to I-15bis; Then three Su-2s (painted according to the scheme "green top, blue bottom"), behind them is the keel of the I-16 (numbered 5); further DB-Zf (light gray, tail number 11) and behind it another light gray SB.
The end of the building is visible behind the line of planes, to the right - two hangars, along which planes also stand and their fragments lie: light gray I-153; at the edge of the I-15bis hangar; behind him "lies on his stomach" SB (on the keel he has a distinguishable "cap"); an IL-2 stands in front of it, and a little to the right, closer to the hangar - a light gray I-153 (without the upper left plane); even more to the right is the tail section of the SB (tail number 4 and the white "cap") and the extreme right U-2.
In the center of the site, in the foreground there are I-15bis and I-16. In addition, between the planes throughout the site, numerous details and fragments of aircraft are visible, poorly identified from this angle.
Analyzing the collected photographs, among the numerous remains of the aircraft, it is possible to identify several cars. Let's start with the Su-2, which we saw in the first photo. In photo # 2 - a close-up of the Su-2, white tail # 4 is clearly visible, and it can also be seen that the photo was taken later than the first, the engine was dismantled from the car.
The next object is I-16 type 5 (photo # 3), which is located between the Su-2 and DB-Zf.
The fuselage of the aircraft is broken in front of the keel, the red tail number 5 in the white edging is clearly visible, one more detail is the removed landing gear flaps.
Now let's turn to the images of DB-Zf №11. There were several of them. As a result of the work, it turned out that initially the plane was on the airfield, and then it was rolled along the concrete taxiways and placed between two hangars (one of them is No. 2, the next No. 3, it is clearly seen that hangars have a different design, one of them is No. 2 - double).
In the end, the plane was again dragged and placed in a common "line" at the edge of the road. During this time, German amateur photographers managed to shoot it, giving us the opportunity to look not only at this beautiful car sparkling in the sun, but also at the airfield objects and other planes that fell into the frame, which became the main elements for linking disparate photographs. For example, in photo # 5 it is worth paying attention to the different colors of the SB bow and its fuselage. Apparently, this is a former CSS, on which the navigator's cabin was mounted and thus turned into a combat one. This, by the way, is confirmed by the documents of the 24th SBAP. After heavy losses in the early days of the war, they began to convert the CSS into combat aircraft.
While the DB-Zf was rolling to the parking lot, between the hangars, in one of the pictures in the foreground, a U-2 with a red unit on the rudder got into the frame, and UT-1 in the left in the background (see Photo # 6). Hangar # 3 is also clearly visible in this photo.
The next plane, which has a sufficient number of photographs for identification, is an Il-2 with a white "two" on its tail. Initially, this car stood on the airfield (photo No. 7), and only after a while it migrated to the general group of cars on the site and took a place near hangar No. 2 (photo No. 8).
This picture shows that the number on the rudder is not drawn using a stencil, but what is called "by eye". In addition, the structure of the "double" hangar No. 2 is also clearly visible.
The next photo # 9 brings us back to the Pe-2, from which the site with the equipment was photographed.
It turns out that the extreme in this group is the SB (painted according to the scheme: "green top, blue bottom") with the screws removed, and between it and the Pe-2 there is a DB-Zf. The photo clearly shows a characteristic two-story building with a chimney and side extensions; between it and the planes you can see a small path - an exit from the main road.
Another shot, but already taken from a slightly different angle - because of the SB fuselage lying on the other side of the courtyard at the edge of the hangar (photo # 10). On the right, along the hangar wall, three semi-disassembled U-2s are visible, and on the contrary, near the light gray SB (to which the Pe-2 consoles are attached) a tactical sign on the rudder is clearly visible - a red letter "E". There is another snapshot for the same SB (photo # 11). The letter "E", instead of a tactical number, was used on the planes of squadron commanders.
Viewing another photo gives us a new perspective, previously unnoticed by the planes standing on the landing. Photo # 12 shows that there are more planes behind the light gray CSS …
The next picture clearly shows the SB destroyed during the bombardment of the airfield, painted according to the "green top, blue bottom" scheme. It has a white tail number 2 and a characteristic red cap. In front of him are the wreckage of another SB in a light color (photo # 13). The burnt-out SB with tail number “3” (photo # 14) also, apparently, received a direct hit from an aerial bomb.
The light gray SB with a red “five” on the tail has an interesting camouflage in the bow, consisting of green spots applied by a brush. Photo # 15 shows that this is an early series car, with engine windshield radiators.
I-16 with white number "13", painted according to the standard scheme, was originally filmed in the center of the common area (photo # 16), next to the tail section of SB # 4, but later it was dragged to a horseshoe-shaped courtyard.
In the course of our research, we drew attention to another group of photographs that appeared on the Internet without any reference to the place of events, but together with the photographs of the SB aircraft with tail "E", U-2 No. 1 and IL-2, already described by us. It contains previously unseen images of I-153 No. 14 with the radio antenna mast (photos No. 17 and No. 18). The same DB-Zf №11 accidentally helped to "tie" this plane. Upon closer examination of his photograph, an I-153 was found in the lower left corner, and an SB with the engines removed, which later stood in a row with the DB-Zf with white No. 7 and Pe-2, was found in the background. In addition, there is the same tree in the pictures, standing by the road in the background.
Now let's turn to the inner side of the yard between hangars # 2 and # 3. Photo # 19 shows another light gray I-153 with tail # 2, which lacks an engine and left wing consoles, SB in green-blue color and I-16 Type 29 with white tail number "8". In addition, a large number of fragments and parts of various aircraft are scattered around the site.
After analyzing the information we have, we drew up a rough plan of the part of the airfield that got into the lenses of German cameras. Alexander Korneev helped us a lot in linking the buildings on the ground by sending a modern photograph of that place (photo # 21). It turned out that the characteristic white two-story building with a chimney and side extensions has been partially preserved to this day. Until the early 1990s, it was an academic building, but now local residents are gradually dismantling this historic building into bricks.
Thanks to the pipe, the house is clearly visible on satellite images (in photo # 22 it is shown with an arrow). This helped to more accurately imagine where the airfield buildings were located in 1941 - hangars No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and two buildings that form a horseshoe-shaped courtyard (see the lower part of photo No. 22). Unfortunately, neither buildings nor hangars have survived to this day.
Photo 22, Modern satellite image of the Bobruisk military airfield. Below (on a reduced scale), the approximate location of hangars and other buildings in 1941 is superimposed on it. The only partially preserved building is circled in white
CONCLUSION
As a result of the study and comparison of archival materials with photographs of German photographers, we got the opportunity to establish the belonging of a part of the aircraft recorded by cameras at the Bobruisk airfield.
Let's start with the vehicles of the 13th BAA and the planes that had accumulated at the Bobruisk airfield by 22 June. SB with "caps" on the keels - these are the aircraft of the 24th SBAP. These tactical designations appeared on the regiment's vehicles during the Winter War. About a dozen of these cars remained at the airfield, four of them have numbers 2, 3, 4 and one number is not identified - the caps are clearly visible. Su-2 - aircraft of the 97th BBAP, there were simply no other regiments with such materiel in this direction.
The light gray SB with tail number 5 and frontal radiators of the motors, most likely, belonged to the 121st SBAP 13th BAA. It was this regiment that was armed, as noted in its documents, with machines of the "old series of the Irkutsk plant." SB with the letter “E” on the tail most likely belonged to the 39th SBAP of the 10th SBAP (the red stripe along the upper edge of the rudder differs from the “caps” of the 24th SBAP). The USB aircraft belonged to the 24th SBAP.
The Il-2 is a vehicle designed for the 74th ShAP 10th SAD, and the Pe-2 is one of 28 aircraft flown in the 13th and 16th SBAP.
Aircraft DB-Zf from the 3rd Air Corps RGK. According to the documents, it is known that one such bomber from the 98th DBAP produced
forced landing in Bobruisk due to combat damage in the evening of June 22. According to the documents, it was not possible to establish which unit the second DB-Zf belonged to, but only the aircraft of the 98th and 212nd DBAP operated in this area, so it can be assumed with a high degree of certainty that the machines were from these regiments.
Already on June 22, units from the border areas began to relocate to the Bobruisk airfield. The main "guests" were the aircraft of the 10th SAD. Due to heavy losses from enemy air raids, this unit was forced to relocate first to Pinsk and then to Bobruisk. And if everything is more or less clear with the bombers -16 SB became part of the 24th SBAP and flew to the Teikichi and Novo Serebryanka airfields, and one, apparently, remained in Bobruisk, then with fighters and attack aircraft everything is much more complicated.
In the documents of the 10th SAD, there is a mention of the relocation on June 22 to Pinsk from the Imenin airfield of the 123rd IAP (according to various sources, 10, 13 and 18 units), and from the Pruzhany airfield (33 IAP and 74 ShAP were based there) - five more aircraft belonging to the division.
This is confirmed by the deputy commander of the 123rd IAP Captain Savchenko in his report to the ZAPOVO Air Force command dated 06/23/41: "The headquarters of the 10th SAD was evacuated, I do not know where I am sitting in Pinsk, I am the head of a group of fighters of national teams (…) I am waiting for instructions on what to do next."
Which aircraft were in these groups, neither in the documents of the 10th SAD, nor in the documents of its regiments. Unfortunately, the few documents of the 10th Air Division and its units poorly reflect the events of June 1941, and there is practically no data on either losses or relocation of the materiel.
As of June 22, the 33rd IAP included 25 I-16 type 5, 6 I-153, 2 MiG-3, 4UTI-4, 4UT-1 and 2U-2 (according to the regiment's documents, all vehicles were disabled at the Kuplin airfield). However, all documents of the 33rd IAP (and this is indicated in the regiment's files) were handed over on June 22 to the military registration and enlistment office of the city of Pruzhany. So, everything in the fund of the regiment in TsAMO and concerning the events of June 1941 was written in hindsight. The 74th ShAP as of June 22 had 47 I-15bis, 15 I-153 and 4 Il-2. According to the combat log of the 10th SAD, this regiment on the very first day of the war lost all its materiel at the Malye Zvody airfield. However, judging by the documents of the regiment itself, from 22 to 28 June, it made 15 sorties, losing 28 aircraft and four pilots.
Another evidence that some of the vehicles of the 33rd and 74th regiments could have ended up in Bobruisk is the comparison of aircraft photographed by the Germans at the Pruzhany airfield and photographs from the Bobruisk airfield. In the photographs, we noted the correspondence of types (I-16 type 5, I-15bis and I-153) and the same aircraft paint schemes.
Thus, there is reason to assert that some of the aircraft of the 33rd and 74th regiments nevertheless reached Bobruisk and, as part of the combined group of fighters of Captain Savchenko, participated in hostilities until June 28, and the lack of documents about this was the result of confusion and chaos. the first days of the war …
Now let's go directly to the aircraft: I-16 type 5 - belonged to the 33rd IAP. The photographs from the Bobruisk airfield show at least five such aircraft. All have the same coloration, as well as the shape, placement and color of tactical numbers. All of this indicates
on the fact that the planes are from one unit. I-15bis - undoubtedly belonged to the 74th ShAP. There were simply no other regiments with such materiel in this direction. An I-153 with a green top and a blue bottom, most likely, is also from Pruzhany, but it is impossible to determine which of the regiments - 33rd or 74th - it belonged to. UT-1 also clearly belonged to the regiments of the 10th SAD, since there were no such aircraft in the combat composition of the 13th BAA.
The determination of the belonging of the light gray I-153 initially did not cause any particular problems for the authors, since according to the documents of the 10th SAD, the redeployment of the aircraft of the 123rd IAP to Bobruisk on June 23, 1941 was traced. However, in the process of working with photographs of aircraft captured by the Germans at the Minsk Loshchitsa airfield, Igor Zlobin drew attention to the same coloring and writing of tactical numbers on the Chaikas from Bobruisk airfield and Loshchitsa airfield.
After working out the documents of the 160th IAP in TsAMO), the guess was confirmed! The 160th IAP, after fighting in the Minsk region, flew to Bobruisk on June 26, 1941. In the documents of the 43rd IAD, which included the 160th IAP, there is information that during the hostilities the regiment received 10 I-153s from the 129th IAP for replenishment. Apparently, these are the planes of the combined group of Captain Savchenko, and the regiment number could well have been confused from 123 to 129. Moreover, the documents of the 129th IAP are quite detailed, but they do not mention any transfer of equipment. Thus, light gray "Seagulls" with red tail numbers are aircraft of the 160th IAP. There are photographs of three such aircraft (No. 2, 12 and 14), abandoned due to malfunctions on the field of the Bobruisk airfield.
The last persons involved in our investigation are two I-16s of the late series. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to establish the identity of these machines. But it is most likely that they flew to Bobruisk either with the Chaikas of the 160th IAP from Minsk (which means they belonged to the 163rd IAP), or from Baranovichi after the defeat of the local airfield by German aviation (then they were from the 162nd IAP) … In any case, these are the machines of the 43rd IAD.
As is known from the documents of the Red Army Air Force Management Fund, the 162nd and 163rd IAP were armed with "donkeys" of the later series. Two other regiments of the ZAPOVO Air Force, armed with similar machines (122nd IAP of the 11th SAD and 161st IAP of the 43rd IAD), were far from Bobruisk, and their vehicles could hardly be there. In addition, it is known that the 122nd IAP was defeated on June 23 in Lida, and the Germans destroyed the last three of its cars at the Machulishche airfield near Minsk. The fate of each aircraft of the 161st IAP can be traced in the surviving list of the losses of the materiel of this regiment: none of them was "marked" in Bobruisk …
