Red Star Against the Swastika, The Story of a Soviet Pilot over the Eastern Front

Although there are several books about Luftwaffe Stuka pilots, 
there is almost nothing about their Soviet counterparts. This is 
the extraordinary story of Vasily B Emelianenko, a veteran pilot 
flying the Shturmovik ground attack aircraft.

NAME: Red Star Against the Swastika, The Story of a Soviet Pilot 
over the Eastern Front
FILE: R2376
AUTHOR:  Vasily B Emelianenko
PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword, frontline
BINDING: soft back 
PAGES:  271
PRICE: £12.99
GENRE: Non Fiction
SUBJECT: WWII, World War 2, Second World War, World War Twp, Russian 
Front, Great Patriotic War, Eastern Front, ground support aviation, 
dive bombers, anti-tank aircraft
ISBN: 1-78303-034-8
IMAGE: B2376.jpg
BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/gsce74a
LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale 
DESCRIPTION: Although there are several books about Luftwaffe Stuka 
pilots, there is almost nothing about their Soviet counterparts. This 
is the extraordinary story of Vasily B Emelianenko, a veteran pilot 
flying the Shturmovik ground attack aircraft.

It is particularly interesting to compare this story against that of 
German ace Col Hans-Ulrich Rudel who flew mainly the Junkers 87 Stuka 
but also, later, the FW190 ground attack fighter. Both pilots were 
shot down several times and managed to get back to their own lines. In 
the case of both pilots, this demonstrates the risky nature of flying 
low and slow to kill enemy tanks. The Shturmovik had the advantage of 
more armour, although it was large for a single engine warplane and 
made a very visible target.

This book provides a very rare insight into the role and tactics of the 
Soviet air forces as they fought the Germans. The large open spaces 
lent themselves to an armoured war of movement as in the North African 
desert, where tanks and assault guns swept forward for many miles, only 
to be swept back again. In this form of warfare, the dive bomber held 
special importance and was in effect a combination of flying artillery 
and flying anti-tank guns.

The author paints a dramatic and moving picture of life in this 
environment, the successes and the death of friends. The reader will 
gain a new perspective on this bitter and costly theatre of WWII.