From the very first days of the war, Pravda began to publish materials about the successful military operations of the Red Army pilots, often accompanied by photographs [15, p. 2]. For greater reliability, the main events of the air battles were retold from the first person, that is, by the pilots of the Red Army. And this is what they, according to publications, reported from the pages of Pravda: “Fascist pilots are the complete opposite of ours. I do not know of a case that they were looking for a fight. They know only thieves, robbery attacks from behind, by surprise, after which they hurry to retreat back home”[2, p. 2]. It was reported that German pilots in every possible way avoid open combat, even when they are outnumbered: “It is well known that German pilots do not accept open combat with our fighters. It is not uncommon for entire links of fascist aircraft to scatter in all directions from the appearance of one red-star fighter”[17, p. 1].
In the first days of the war, the newspaper Pravda periodically published articles about such “bloodless” victories over the enemy: “… Seeing Stalin's falcons, the German vultures buried themselves in the clouds. Our fighters continued their pursuit. Several times enemy aircraft looked out of the clouds. Soviet pilots immediately overtook them, and the Nazis hid again”[6, p. 2]. Soviet pilots stated that "the fascists are afraid of our hawks and prefer not to mess with us … as soon as they see our fighter, only the heels sparkle" [9, p. 2]. Periodically there were publications that the domination of German aviation in the air is nothing more than a myth. Moreover, even ordinary collective farmers took German pilots prisoner and captured German aircraft [11, p. 3].
Already on June 29, 1941, the newspaper "Stalinskoe Znamya" published the appeal of the crew of German pilots who voluntarily surrendered [7, p. 1]. The article contained detailed data on the crew of the German aircraft, including the place of residence of the pilots and their date of birth: "June 25" near Kiev, four German pilots landed on a Junkers-88 dive bomber: non-commissioned officer Hans Hermann, born in 1916, a native of the city of Breslavl in Central Silesia; observer pilot Hans Kratz, born in 1917, native of Frankfurt am Main; senior corporal Adolf Appel, born in 1918, a native of the mountains. Brno (Brune) - Moravia and radio operator Wilhelm Schmidt, born in 1917, a native of the city of Regensburg. " Further in the article there was a letter written by the German pilots to all the soldiers of the German army, while the German pilot referred to himself as "the aircraft driver": "We, the German pilots: aircraft driver Hans Hermann, observer Hans Kratz, shooter Adolf Appel, radio operator Wilhelm Schmidt, we have been flying together for almost one year. " I wonder why Hans Hermann was called that? Why then not just call him a pilot or a pilot? In their letter, the German crew asked the following questions: “We often asked ourselves the question: why is Hitler fighting against the whole world? Why does he bring death and ruin to all the peoples of Europe? Why should the best people of Germany die from the bullets that are sent to them by the peoples defending their fatherland? " The pilots of the German army, judging by the content of this article, experienced constant remorse due to the fact that they had to destroy the civilian population: “Every time we saw that the war provoked by Hitler brings only misfortune to all the peoples of Europe, including the German people and death. We were often disturbed by the thought that our bombs killed many innocent women and children because of Hitler's bloody dog.”And at the end of the letter, the pilots reported that, out of sympathy for the innocent civilian population, they tried to cause as little damage as possible during the hostilities: “… this time we dropped the bombs so that they did not harm … We dropped our bombs on the Dnieper and landed near the city …"
It must be said that this article, written in order to convince Soviet citizens of an imminent victory over the enemy, was, in essence, harmful. After reading this material, people who had never seen the soldiers of the German army "eye to eye" could believe in their tolerance for the civilian population, and hope that the German pilots would again drop bombs past their houses, and as a result actually die during the bombing … The letter-appeal of the German pilots emphasized the high combat readiness of the civilian population of the USSR, its ability to win a battle with the soldiers of the German regular army, who had already been in battles more than once: “We were amazed when we were immediately surrounded by armed peasants who immediately took us into captivity. This once again convinced us that the Soviet people are united, prepared for the struggle and will win. " Well, where did the peasants have weapons at that time? Pitchfork and braids, except what?
"On my word of honor and on one wing." American carrier-based torpedo bomber "Avenger" returns aboard its aircraft carrier.
In parallel with the materials about the cowardice of the German pilots and their readiness to surrender at any moment, articles were published about the successes of the Red Army pilots with references to foreign sources: “Today British newspapers again note the heroism of Soviet aviation … daytime outside the front is the exceptional activity of the Soviet fighter aviation”[3, p. 1].
For example, just a few days after the start of the Great Patriotic War, on June 29, 1941, the Pravda newspaper published, citing foreign sources, material that the capital was even moved in Romania due to Soviet air strikes: “Istanbul Correspondent The Times reports that the Soviet air raids on Constanta and Sulina, undertaken in response to the German bombing of Kiev and Sevastopol, caused very great destruction. Docks and oil storage facilities were destroyed in Constanta. The entire city was reportedly engulfed in flames. Soviet raids also caused severe destruction in Galapa, Brail, Tulcea and Yassy. “The effectiveness of the Soviet air raids,” the correspondent continues, “is confirmed by the report that the Romanians were forced to move their capital from Bucharest to another city, apparently to Sinaia” [19, p. 5].
On December 24, 1941, the newspaper "Stalinskoe Znamya" published an article by Colonel B. Ageev, dedicated to the creation of a new type of aircraft, namely an anti-tank aircraft [1, p. 2]. With reference to the instructions of I. V. Stalin, he wrote about the need to create aircraft of this type to eliminate the superiority of the German army in tanks. In his material, B. Ageev described the principle of air combat against heavy military equipment of the enemy: “One of the significant drawbacks of enemy tanks is thinner armor on the side, rear, and especially on top. An aircraft on a low level flight can approach the tank from behind and from the side, and on a dive - and from above. Large-caliber machine guns and 20-37-millimeter cannons mounted on aircraft pierce the armor of light and medium tanks. High-explosive aircraft bombs of medium calibers (100-250 kg.) Successfully disable tanks, distort tracks, and destroy tanks in case of a direct hit. Self-igniting liquid, thrown from aircraft onto tanks, makes them unusable and destroys tank crews. "He further said that Soviet aircraft had already been successfully used in battles against German tanks, highlighting the combat characteristics of attack aircraft: “All types of combat aircraft are successfully used against tanks. Bombers are dropping high-explosive bombs. Fighters destroy tanks with rapid-fire cannons. But most successfully the qualities required by anti-tank aircraft are combined in an attack aircraft. Assault attacks on low level flight are especially used in modern warfare. In the fields of France, German Junkers-87 dive bombers disabled many French tanks. However, no one in the fight against tanks managed to get such a great effect as we achieved with the help of our most modern attack aircraft. The Soviet aviation industry provided the Red Army with unsurpassed anti-tank aircraft, which can be considered one of the most effective means of destroying German tanks. The attack aircraft we use are rightly called anti-tank aircraft."
The main place in the article was devoted to the description of the technical characteristics and high maneuverability of Soviet anti-tank aircraft in air battles with the enemy: “Anti-tank aircraft (attack aircraft) have high speed, powerful firepower, good maneuverability and reliable armor. A surprise assault strike and accurate aimed fire are the most important qualities of our anti-tank aircraft. As the combat experience of the war shows, the strength of anti-tank aircraft depends primarily on the combat training and courage of the crews. Low clouds are not a big hindrance for stormtroopers. On the contrary, they successfully perform combat missions at low level flight, when cloudiness does not allow flight at altitude. Cloudy weather only reduces the vulnerability of attack aircraft from fighter attacks … Effective strikes by our aviation forced the Germans to strengthen the cover of tank columns with fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons. When our attack aircraft appear, the Nazis open strong fire from anti-aircraft machine guns and cannons. But strong armor, a stealthy approach to the target on low level flight and the suddenness of a powerful strike ensure the safety of our attack aircraft, protect them from heavy losses …
On the pages of our and the world press, the question of the advisability of using attack aircraft as a special type of combat aviation has been repeatedly discussed. On the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, this issue was finally resolved in a positive direction. Soviet attack aircraft deservedly enjoy the glory of powerful anti-tank aircraft. " In addition, in his article B. Ageev highly appreciated the work of Soviet aircraft designers: “In the creation of an anti-tank aircraft, great merit belongs to the special design bureau of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, headed by the famous aircraft designer S. V. Ilyushin ". For the mass consciousness, these were good materials, and it was precisely such materials that had to be written and published then. We only note that in fact, the technical characteristics of the IL-2 aircraft were such that they did not allow it to effectively fight tanks, and what was desired in this case was passed off as reality. Moreover, at the beginning of the war, 37-mm cannons were not installed on our aircraft, 20-mm armor of German tanks was not penetrated by 20-mm ShVAK cannons.
The first aircraft in the Soviet Union with such a weapon was the American Erkobra fighter. However, the aircraft designers themselves were still more restrained in the comparative assessment of the technical characteristics of Soviet and German aircraft. The same S. Ilyushin in an article in Pravda in 1942 [10, p. 3], paying tribute to the skill and courage of Soviet pilots who sacrificed themselves for the sake of victory over the enemy [8, p. 2], for the sake of saving people, they performed aerobatics, and flew on ambulance planes between bridge spans, following the example of Valery Chkalov [18, p.2], analyzed the state of armament of the German Air Force and the Red Army and concluded that in the aircraft industry the USSR was in the position of a “catching-up” side: “It is known that any, most advanced weapon in war is rapidly aging. This situation is perhaps most strikingly reflected in aviation. Our enemy is continuously improving the flight and combat properties of its aircraft. It is quite understandable that Soviet designers do not sit idly by either. We work tirelessly to modernize our structures, take into account combat experience to the fullest, respond to it promptly and effectively. In parallel with the improvement of existing types of machines, Soviet aviation engineers are obliged to work on new designs."
Emergency landing of the American B-24 heavy bomber.
It should be noted here that the newspaper Pravda in the pre-war years willingly published materials about the successes of the German military industry in the field of aircraft construction. In particular, from publications about new developments in the field of science and technology in Germany, one could learn that the "Focke Wulf" aircraft plant in Bremen released a new model of the FV-200 "Condor" aircraft, which was an all-metal structure and was adapted for flights at high speeds over long distances. It is equipped with four motors, but if necessary, it can fly on two motors. The aircraft crew consists of two pilots, a radiotelegraph operator and a navigator. In addition to the crew, the plane can carry 26 passengers. The average speed of the aircraft is 345 km per hour. Maximum - 420 km. Fuel consumption - 9 liters per hour. With two motors, the plane can reach a speed of 200 km per hour at an altitude of 1,000 meters. The range of the aircraft is 3 thousand kilometers, the ceiling is 4,000 meters”[13, p. 5]. As can be seen from the above example, no comments were given regarding the goals of creating a new model of the aircraft, its technical characteristics and parameters were simply reported.
In 1940, from the pages of Pravda, Soviet readers could get information about the production of the newest pe-tse fiber at German chemical plants. Soviet journalists emphasized the advantages of the new material for German parachutes: "… the most important features are extreme resistance to chemicals, as well as against decay, high insulating properties" [14, p. 3].
According to the publications of Pravda, in the fall of 1941, British aircraft entered service with the Red Army [5, p. 2]. Comparing the technical characteristics of Soviet aircraft and British Hurricane fighters, Pravda journalists emphasized the superiority of Soviet technology. They wrote that "… Soviet pilots showed the enemy that British fighters in their hands are the same formidable weapon as domestic ones." “According to the pilots, the Hawker-Hurricane deserves a good mark. They especially note the excellent maneuverability of this machine and its low landing speed. The Hurricane is easy to control and obedient in piloting. In speed, it is not much inferior to modern Soviet machines”[12, p. 2]. In the winter of 1941, a series of essays on the American aircraft industry appeared on the pages of Pravda. They were written by the Hero of the Soviet Union Georgy Baidukov. In his materials, he shared his impressions not only of the life of American aviation pilots, but also showed the positive aspects of the American aircraft industry. In particular, the members of the Soviet delegation, which included G. Baidukov, became convinced of how quickly and dexterously the Americans are able to build their aviation garrisons. Our pilots noticed that “the Americans masterfully build airfields in places that seem to be unsuitable for this”, noted the high degree of labor automation during the construction of airfields: “With the large scale of construction, very few workers can be seen on the sites. A high degree of mechanization of work is characteristic of all new military buildings that we have seen in America."
As for the aircraft themselves, despite the wartime restrictions, G. Baidukov in his essays provided Soviet readers with very accurate information about the technical equipment of US military aircraft: “The final commitment of American designers to the three-wheeled chassis is striking. Most aircraft have it. Here is the famous American fighter Aero-Cobra, next to it is the Lockheed twin-engine fighter, the B-25 and B-26 twin-engine high-speed bombers, and the long-range squat four-engine B-24. And all of them, as one, stand with their tails raised high, their noses buried in the front wheel, and the middle of the fuselage rest on the two main legs of a three-wheeled chassis. The landing gear of this type gives the aircraft many positive properties: the aircraft does not overhaul in case of an error in piloting and on soft ground; you can brake sharply and strongly when landing, reducing the mileage; the plane is easier to control during takeoff and landing both during the day and at night; the range of movement of the center of gravity of the aircraft increases”[4, p. 4].
The central place in G. Baidukov's essays was occupied by the description of aircraft of various types of the US Army: “Fighter aircraft have different options for the placement of the engine group and weapons. For example, on the Aero-Cobra, in order to better place the weapons and create a good view of the pilot forward, the engine is moved back, behind the cockpit. A long, combined shaft drives the screw. The free nose can easily accommodate cannons and machine guns. The Lockheed twin-engine fighter (meaning the P-39 Lightning fighter - authors' note) has a short cockpit above the wing between two thin fuselages, which provides a good overview and freely accommodates numerous weapons of different calibers. Two powerful motors make it possible to develop high speed. High-speed bombers "Glen-Martin" and "Nord-American" companies are distinguished by engines that develop more power on takeoff, thereby reducing the takeoff run and not requiring large airfields. The remarkable propellers of the Hamilton and Nord-American firms give the aircraft an excellent ability to easily fly on one engine, if the other, for some reason, does not work. The fact is that a modern propeller at low angles of attack creates colossal resistance if it is not rotated by the power of the motor. The mechanisms of the "Hamilton" and "Nord-American" propellers make it possible to move the blades into a vane position, thereby reducing to a minimum the harmful resistance of the propeller of an inoperative motor. These properties of the propellers give the bomber survivability in the event of the defeat of any engine in battle. The bombs are usually hidden inside the fuselage without creating unnecessary resistance. Of course, not all the experience of modern warfare has yet been taken into account in the new bombers, but they are continuously being improved. The four motorized bombers Consolidated B-24 and Boeing B-17 make an excellent impression.
Speaking about the advanced technical equipment of American flight equipment, the Soviet pilot emphasized the superiority of US combat vehicles over German aircraft: “Excellent flight data - high speed, huge payload and good ceiling - are characteristic of both the B-24 and B-17 ". The famous "Flying Fortress" "B-17" proved itself during the bombing of Berlin as a machine that was extremely inaccessible to the German fighters guarding the fascist capital. There was a case when a German fighter, having removed some of the equipment and weapons, leaving only one machine gun, managed to get to the height where the Boeing was walking, but the fascist could not pinch an armed American with much. Issues of concentration of fire of all points of the aircraft on one target have been resolved in an extremely rational manner”. In addition to military equipment, American aircraft, according to G. Baidukov, were equipped with radio stations: "On all aircraft, good radio stations provide communication both with the command post on the ground and in the air, between aircraft."American pilots, according to the materials of the essays, had solid experience in maneuvering in the air: “American pilots fly frequently and regularly, skillfully making all the evolutions. It can be seen that the new material part is being quickly mastered. The order at the airport is peculiar - there is not a single person on the airfield, not a single sign is laid out. The pilot receives all commands about the behavior at the airfield from the command post by radio."
English ace Douglas Bader on prosthetics climbs into the cockpit of his Spitfire fighter.
Only one conclusion can be drawn from these publications - namely, that Soviet journalists, as well as those who commanded them, absolutely did not have a serious understanding of the issues of information and mass communications. If "hurray-patriotic" articles about how our hawks drive German planes into the clouds can still be understood, then truthful stories about the military-technical power of the United States should not have been published even for purely propaganda purposes. It was necessary to understand that no one canceled the Soviet-American contradictions and that sooner or later, but the "picture" created by our own newspapers would turn against us, and in the end it turned out that way! That is, using the examples of publications on aviation topics, it can be concluded that the Soviet print propaganda during the Great Patriotic War was short-sighted, relied on the low educational level of the population and equally reflected the same level of its party and state leadership!
LITERATURE
1. Ageev B. Aviation against tanks // Stalin's Banner. 1941. No. 302.
2. Antonov N. Month of combat work // Pravda. 1941. No. 215.
3. The English press about the heroism and skill of Soviet aviation // Pravda. 1941. No. 197.
4. Baidukov G. American impressions // Pravda. 1941. No. 352.
5. Bessudnov S. Soviet pilots on British aircraft // Pravda. 1941. No. 320.
6. Fight in the clouds // True. 1941. No. 186.
7. Hermann Gano, Kratz Gano, Appel Adolf, Schmidt Wilhelm. Appeal to German pilots and soldiers of four German pilots // Stalin Banner. 1941. No. 151.
8. Heroic death // Truth. 1941. No. 280.
9. Zheleznov L. Combat pilots // Pravda. 1941. No. 185.
10. Ilyushin S. Let's clear the sky from fascist aircraft // Pravda. 1942. No. 309.
11. Collective farmers seized a fascist plane // Pravda. 1941. No. 193.
12. Lidov P. Soviet pilots on British aircraft // Pravda. 1941. No. 320.
13. New German aircraft // Pravda. 1937. No. 356.
14. True. 1940. No. 139.
15. Raid deep into enemy territory // Pravda. 1941. No. 175; Air battle // Truth. 1941. No. 178; Zheleznov L. Combat pilots // Pravda 1941. №185; Fearless son of a winged people // Pravda. 1941. No. 187.
16. Rudnev D. Fighters // Pravda. 1941. No. 196.
17. Glory to Stalin's falcons! // Truth. 1941. No. 227.
18. Bold maneuver of pilot Rozhnov // Pravda. 1941. No. 280.
19. Successful actions of Soviet aviation // Pravda. 1941. No. 178.
