Lend-Lease - the story of the US Soviet military aid
Humanity has experienced one of the most difficult epochs for history its existence - the twentieth century. There were quite a few wars in it, but the Second World War was the most difficult test. To date, there are a huge number of episodes, facts, events and names that no one knows about. And there is a real threat that no one will know about them unless eyewitnesses tell about it. Among such little-known facts is the American Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union, during which military equipment, food, weapon, equipment, ammunition, as well as strategic raw materials. For certain political reasons, these supplies were highly classified until the 1992 year, and only the direct participants knew about them.
The total amount of Lend-Lease received by the Soviet Union amounted to the sum of the order of 9,8 billions of dollars. The help of America at that time was truly invaluable, and became one of the decisive factors that contributed to the defeat of fascist power.
At the same time, the Soviet authorities not only artificially created a negative opinion regarding American assistance, but also kept it in the strictest confidence, and all of the direct participants were often outlawed. But finally, the time has come to dot the “i”, and find out at least a part of the whole truth about such fruitful (probably the only thing in history) cooperation of the two superpowers.
Both American and Soviet pilots, sailors who participated in the distilling of aircraft, in the transportation and escort of goods, made a real feat, bending around more than half of the globe, so our generation should not, just has no right to forget their feat and heroism.
The official start of the lend-lease negotiations was in the last days of September 1941. From the American side, A. Garriman took part in the talks, who was specifically sent to Moscow by the American president. October 1 1941 years he signed a protocol on deliveries to the Soviet Union, the amount of which was 1 billion dollars. Delivery time is nine months. But despite this, it was not until the beginning of November 1941 of the year that the American president signed the decree that the law on lend-lease (the full name of the document is English. "An Act to Promote the United States States ”), adopted by the US Congress 11.03.1941 of the year) extends to the Soviet Union.
The American bomber A-20 "Boston" (Douglas A-20 Havoc / DB-7 Boston), which crashed near the airport Nome in Alaska during the distillation in the USSR under a lend-lease. Later, the aircraft was repaired and successfully delivered to the Soviet-German front. Source: US Library of Congress
The first deliveries of weapons and equipment began in October, and by the end of the year 256 aircraft worth 545 thousand dollars were supplied to the Soviet Union. The sum of the entire aviation Lend-Lease during the war years was 3,6 billion dollars. However, from the very beginning there were certain difficulties with distillation. Unable to achieve a clear organization of supply. Especially the situation was complicated in the winter period of time, when it became clear that American airplanes were not adapted to cold weather: during severe frosts, tire tires became fragile, the hydraulic system froze. Therefore, it was decided to exchange technologies: the Soviet side shared the production technology of cold-resistant rubber, and the American side - hydraulics, resistant to frost.
But even more difficulties were experienced by people. The pilots during the distillation through the Verkhoyansk range were forced to climb to a great height (5-6 kilometers), not having oxygen devices. For many, this was beyond the power of, and a large number of aircraft crashed, falling on the rocks. Similar incidents occurred throughout the three years that distillation took place. So far, wreckage of aircraft with the remains of pilots has been found in the Russian taiga, and how many have not yet been found. In addition, many aircraft along with the crews just went missing.
General A.M. Korolev and Major General Donald H. Connolly, commander of the US service department in the Persian Gulf, shake hands against the background of the first train that passed through the Persian corridor as part of supplies from the USA to the USSR under the Lend-Lease. Source: US Library of Congress.
In total, over the years of the war, more than 14 of thousands of aircraft were transported from America to the Soviet Union: Bell P-39 Aero Cobra, Curtiss Kichawq and Tomahawk, Douglas A-20 Boston, Consolidated PBY Catalina, Repablik Thunderbolt P-47, North American B-25 Mitchell.
Most of these aircraft (approximately 8 thousand) were distilled along the Alaska-Siberia highway. The Spitfire Supermarin, the Hurricane Hawker, and the Hendley Page Hampden bombers were delivered to Murmansk from England. Lend-Lease also supplied one of the most unknown aircraft - Armstrong Albermarl.
The aircraft, which were manufactured in the United States, were driven by American and Canadian pilots to Alaska, and from there they were driven to the Soviet Union by pilots of the distillation Soviet division, which was created specifically for these purposes and consisted of five regiments.
Many of the older generation remember jeeps, airplanes, as well as the Studebakers and the American stew, which were supplied under the Lend-Lease.
A picture of the memory of Soviet and American pilots at the Fairbanks airfield at the Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter. In Alaska, American aircraft destined for lend-lease supplies to the USSR were handed over to the Soviet side, and the Soviet pilots drove them to the Soviet Union.
In addition to great assistance in material terms, American Lend-Lease played a significant role in terms of the moral support of the Soviet troops. Being at the front, many Soviet soldiers felt more confident when they saw foreign planes in the skies that supported them. And the civilian population, seeing that the Americans and the British were helping with resources, understood that this could in many ways help defeat Nazi Germany.
American aircraft have always been visible on the fronts. They supported and covered air convoys with cargoes from the air, during the siege of Leningrad, the Kithiouk fighters carried out its air defense, they bombarded German sea transport in the Gulf of Finland, and participated in the liberation of Ukraine and the Kuban.
In addition to airplanes, under the Lend-Lease, jeeps were also delivered to the Soviet Union, although, according to the Soviet side, they asked for the supply of motorcycle carriages. However, on the advice of US Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, military cars were supplied, since the Americans had a great and very successful experience of using them. The total amount of jeeps received during the war years amounted to thousands of 44 units.
Jubilant Sofia residents welcome Soviet soldiers entering the Bulgarian capital for tanks "Valentine" (Valentine), supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Source: Estonian History Museum (EAM) / F4080.
In addition, 50 cars of models produced by American, British and Canadian firms came under Lend-Lease. Components for them were produced by a significantly large number of factories.
The largest number among all the vehicles supplied were US trucks US 6 Studebaker and RЕО - their volume amounted to thousands of copies 152. The total volume of such cars was about 478 thousands of units excluding spare parts (and they would have been enough to build several thousand cars).
Although the documents were signed later, the first sea convoys with lend-lease goods were already sent to the USSR in August 1941. They received the designation PQ (these are the initials of the British naval officer Edwards). Cargo was delivered to Murmansk, Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk. First, the ships arrived in Reykjavik, where they were formed into caravans of 20 ships, and then accompanied by guards from warships and delivered to the territory of the USSR. But very soon, German intelligence received the exact coordinates of the routes of these convoys. Then the loss began. One of the biggest losses is an episode that occurred in July 1942, when only 36 survived from 11 ships, at the bottom there were more than 4 hundreds of tanks, 2 hundreds of aircraft and 3 thousands of cars. In total, during the war, 80 ships were sunk by German submarines and torpedo bombs, even though warships and airplanes were involved in their protection. British and American naval forces lost 19 combat ships in the North Atlantic.
It should be noted that in Soviet history, there are many dark spots on the Lend-Lease. The opinion that the Americans deliberately delayed deliveries, waiting for the Soviet system to collapse, was generally accepted at that time. But at the same time, many questions arise: why did the Americans, with such haste, adopt a law on Lend-Lease and its extension to Soviet territory? Is it possible to consider as an accident the fact that the war “did it” in the term of this law?
Moreover, some researchers put forward the version that American Lend-Lease is the result of the work of Soviet intelligence. There were even rumors that Stalin himself played a big role in signing the law on lend-lease, allegedly he, in order to prevent the spread of Nazism, intended to be the first to start a war against Nazi Germany and very much hoped for help from the West in this war. But these are just rumors, no documentary evidence of these theories exists yet.
Soviet aircraft technicians repair the F-39 Aero Cobra fighter, which was supplied to the USSR from the USA under a lend-lease program, in field conditions. The unusual layout of this fighter was to place the engine behind the cockpit near the center of mass.
In any case, we must pay tribute to Stalin in this matter. It can be said that he proved himself to be practically a genius of diplomacy, wrapping up Lend-Lease supplies for the benefit of the USSR. When it became known that America and Great Britain expressed their readiness to render assistance to the USSR, he first mentioned the word “Sell”, but pride, or some other motive, did not give either the American or British sides to demand payment. In addition, the Soviet troops very often got the technique that was originally designed by the British, in particular, Bantam all-terrain vehicles, of which there were not so many.
Among other things, the Soviet leader did not hesitate to reprimand the Allies for the fact that the cargo was poorly packed, and also hinted that if Soviet troops could not continue military operations, the whole burden of the war would fall on the British.
The assembly of the aircraft Bell P-63 "Kingkobra" in the US plant, view from above. 12 exhaust pipes on each side are a clear sign of "Kingcobras" (for the P-39 "Air Cobra" - for 6 nozzles). On the fuselage are marked with the identification marks of the Soviet Air Force - the aircraft is intended to be sent to the USSR under a lend-lease.
Note that deliveries practically did not stop the entire war, with the exception of once in the 1942 year, when the United Kingdom prepared for operations in Africa, and once in the 1943 year, when the landing of the Allied forces in Italy was planned.
At the end of the war, part of the equipment, according to previous agreements, the Soviet side surrendered back to the allies. But at the same time, there was a substantial USSR debt to the US under Lend-Lease, the Soviet authorities refused to pay the rest of which in the amount of 674 million dollars, motivating it with trade discrimination against the USSR by the Americans. But, already in 1972, an agreement was signed, according to which the USSR agreed to pay the USA 722 million dollars. The last payment under this agreement was made in 2001.
Handing over frigates to the Soviet sailors fleet USA. 1945 year. American patrol frigates of the Tacoma type (displacement 1509 / 2238-2415t, speed 20 knots, armament: 3 76-mm guns, 2 40-mm twin “bofors”, 9 20-mm “Erlikons”, 1 jet bomb “Hedgehog” , 2 bomb spreaders and 8 airborne bombers (ammunition - 100 depth charges) were built in 1943-1945. In 1945, 28 ships of this type were transferred to the USSR by Lend-Lease, where they were reclassified as patrol ships and received the designation “EK-1 "-" EK-30. "The first group of 10 ships (" EK-1 "-" EK-10 ") was received by Soviet crews on July 12, 1945 in K old Bay (Alaska) and left for the USSR on July 15. These ships took part in the Soviet-Japanese war in August 1945. The remaining 18 ships (“EK-11” - “EK-22” and “EK-25” - “ EK-30 ") were taken by Soviet crews in August-September 1945 and did not take part in the fighting. On February 17, 1950 all 28 ships were expelled from the USSR Navy due to the return of the US Navy to Maizuru (Japan).
Thus, the lowering of the significance of the deliveries of military equipment, ammunition and food, which were carried out by American and British allies, was carried out on the basis of the ideological principles of the time. This was done allegedly in order to approve the postulate that the Soviet military economy has not just a great, but simply a huge superiority over the economies of capitalist states, not only Germany, but also the United States of America and Great Britain.
In contrast to the Soviet point of view, in American historiography, as is almost always the case in the West, the role of lend-lease supplies has always seemed to be a decisive factor in the ability of the USSR to continue to wage war against fascist Germany.
But whatever the judgments were, one cannot deny the fact that Lend-Lease provided substantial support to the Soviet country in difficult times.
In addition, it must be said that practically nothing remained on the territory of the former Soviet Union that would serve as a reminder of the heroism of our people, who drove American planes, drove and escorted transports, except perhaps for three small museums and the remains of airplanes. At the same time, a completely opposite picture is observed in Alaska and Canada - plaques and large museums, well-kept cemeteries. Every year celebrations in honor of the veterans are organized in the cities along which the route was held.
Maybe it's time to think and at least try to change something? After all, this is also a part of that war, which we simply have no right to forget.
Italian soldiers at the wrecked Soviet medium tank MHNUMX "General Lee". Tanks M3 "General Lee" of the American were supplied to the USSR by Lend-Lease. Summer 3 g. Location: South-Eastern Ukraine (Donbass) or Rostov Oblast, Stalingrad direction.
A rare photo of Soviet tank crews with the Stunt M3A1, in American headsets, with the Thompson M1928A1 submachine gun and the M1919A4 machine gun. American technology was left fully leased by Lend-Lease - with equipment and even small arms for the crew.
British women are preparing the tank "Matilda" for shipment to the USSR under the Lend-Lease. In the UK then everything Soviet was very fashionable and popular, so that the workers with sincere pleasure displayed Russian words on the tank's armor. The first 20 "Matilda" arrived in Arkhangelsk with a caravan of PQ-1 11 in October, and only 1941 of such tanks arrived in the USSR before the end of 187. In total, the 1084 Matilda was sent to the USSR, of which 918 reached their destination, while the rest were lost on the way when the convoys sank.
Soviet reconnaissance vehicle M3A1 Scout Car, supplied under a lend-lease, in a battle on the streets of Vienna, Austria. Machine 1-th Guards Mechanized Corps 3-th Ukrainian Front.
Sending the Valentine's (Valentine) tank to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program. A tank with the inscription "Stalin" is transported by truck from the factory to the port. The photo was taken on 22 September 1941, when the tank factory Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. a solemn meeting took place, to which the Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky was invited. The photo "Valentine" modification Mk.II.
A company of General Li, the M3s of American tanks, supplied under Lend-Lease in the USSR, is being pushed to the front line of the Soviet 6 Guards Army. July 1943
The Kingcobra P-63 fighter, previously supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease, has returned to the United States and is inspected by American technicians. Airbase Great Falls, USA.
Materials used:
http://www.pravda.ru/world/nationals/nasledie/08-05-2003/32832-lendliz-0/
http://blog.i.ua/community/662/703824/
http://www.utro.ru/articles/2005/04/27/433264.shtml
- Valery Boval
- http://waralbum.ru
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