September 6,
2006
This episode of attacks performed by the Soviet aviation against bridges across Zapadnaya Dvina river on June 30, 1941 is well-known on the west, but not much data avialable from Russian sources. I'd like to present some numerical data from the article [1] I managed to find here. I think these figures are somewhat less than mentioned in German memoirs.
In any case, I'm not going to insist they are 100% correct, because like any other data they need to be verified using cross-data including direct archival research.
Alex. (AMVAS)
| Unit | Leader | Flew Out | Attack Time | Shook Down | Landed | Damaged | Crew Losses* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| on own airfields | out of own airfields | |||||||
| 1st Mine-Torpedo Aircraft Regiment | ||||||||
| 1/1 MTAR | Capt. Tchelnokov | 9 DB-3F | 14:25 | 4 | 5 | - | 5 | 11/1 |
| 2/1 MTAR | Capt. Grechishnikov | 6 DB-3 | 14:20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7/0 |
| 3/1 MTAR | Capt. Plotkin | 9 DB-3 | ~14:45 | 6 | 3 | - | 2 | 5/1 |
| 5/1 MTAR | ? | 8 DB-3F | 15:30 | 1 | 7 | - | ? | 0/4 |
| TOTAL | - | 32 | - | 13 | 17 | 2 | 10+? | 33/6*3 |
| 57th Bomber Aircraft Regiment | ||||||||
| 2/57 BAR | Capt. Rubtsov | 8 SB | ~18:00 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6/2 |
| 3/57 BAR | ?*1 | 2 DB-3 | 9:40 | - | 2 | - | - | - |
| Capt. Yefremov | 6 DB-3 | 18:20 | 1 | 5 | - | 1 | 0/1 | |
| 4/57 BAR | Capt. Khrolenko | 9 DB-3F | 13:07 | 4 | 5 | - | 5 | 14/0 |
| 5/57 BAR | Capt. Tchemodanov | 3 DB-3 3 DB-3F |
13:05*2 | - | 5 | 1 | 1 | - |
| TOTAL | - | 31 | - | 10 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 20/3 |
| 73rd Bomber Aircraft Regiment | ||||||||
| HQ | Capt. Nikanorov*1 | 1 SB | ~13:45 | 1 | - | - | - | 3/0 |
| ?/73 BAR | ?*1 | 2 SB | ~4:30 | - | 2 | - | - | - |
| 2/73 BAR | Capt. Syromyatnikov | 8 Ar-2 | 13:00 | - | 8 | - | - | - |
| 7 Ar-2 | ~19:30 | - | 7 | - | - | - | ||
| 4/73 BAR | Maj. Ivanov | 6 SB | ~8:30 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 11/0 |
| St. Lt. Kosov | 5 SB | 13:13 | - | 5 | - | - | - | |
| 5/73 BAR | Capt. Ivanov | 6 SB | 13:10*4 | 4 | 2 | - | ? | 8/0 |
| Ml. Lt. Darogan*1 | 1 SB | ~13:45 | 1 | - | - | - | 2/0 | |
| TOTAL | - | 36 | - | 11 | 25 | - | ? | 24/0*5 |
| TOTAL | - | 99 | - | 34 | 60 | 5 | 18+? | 77/9 |
* - Killed + missed / wounded
*1 - Recon mission;
*2 - Target not found;
*3 - Incorrect figure. Correct sum would be 23/6
*4 - rem. AMVAS: In original text 3:10. Corrected following the text of article.
*5 - Figure corrected by AMVAS. In original - 24/?
BAR - Bomber Aircraft Regiment
MTAR - Mine-Torpedo Aircraft Regiment
