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Book Reviews FOUNDATIONS of RUSSIAN MILITARY FLIGHT 1885-1925 by James K Libbey

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Book Reviews FOUNDATIONS of RUSSIAN MILITARY FLIGHT 1885-1925 by James K Libbey Book Reviews FOUNDATIONS OF RUSSIAN MILITARY FLIGHT 1885-1925 By James K Libbey Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA. 2019. xii; 250pp. Illustrated. $38. ISBN 978-1-68247-423-5. The author is a Professor Emeritus at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he taught aviation history and Russian-American relations, so it can be assumed that this book is authoritative. It is also interesting for anyone seeking knowledge of the beginnings of Russian airpower. Chapter 1 sets the scene and explains Russia’s attempts to modernise, following its defeats in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Reference is made to Alexander Mozhaiskii and his steam-powered Above: Sikorsky Ilya Chapter 4 describes how a bigger four-engine aircraft which, in early Soviet days, was portrayed as Muromets S-27 type E bomber, the Ilya Muromets, was built and proved a pioneering heavier-than-air machine claimed as the (Yeh-2) bomber. San Diego Air & Space Museum. a success and went into limited production and forerunner of such machines, whereas the so-called development in a number of versions. Chapter 5 – flight was uncontrolled and ended in a crash. ‘Flight during the Great Retreat’ – describes how Russian air power began in earnest through the supply of arms and equipment to the Third Army the Imperial All-Russian Aero Club and the Farman was irregular and insufficient and gave rise to a large Model III, which was licence-built in Russia. Dmitri undefended gap left vulnerable by escaping Russians. Grigorovich designed and built flying boats and Igor The aviation department of the Russian Second Sikorsky, went to France to study aeronautics. His S-6 Army was called into action with a certain amount of won the Russian military competition and Sikorsky success but the corresponding transfer of Russian became probably the best known Russian aeronaut. activity which drew 16 reserve divisions away from the Chapter 2 follows the timeline to the start of WW1 defensive line which gave rise to the Great Retreat, in 1914, then known as the ‘Great War’. At the start in spite of the activity the Russian Air Force and their of the war the aristocratic background of most of the FBA (Franco-British Aviation) flying boats. Alexander pilots gave way to accelerated training to make up for de Seversky, to use his Americanised name, was the losses and deaths in combat missions and accidents. son of pioneer Russian aviator and brother of his army The main training centres at Gatchina and Sevastopol instructor and became a Naval Pilot on the FBA flying were expanded and new training fields were boat but was seriously injured in an attack by German established in Kiev, Odessa, Omsk, Tashkent, Tiflis and gunboats. Warsaw. Family background no longer served as a key Chapter 6 – ‘The Height of the Air War’: The factor in securing flight school candidates. difference in magnitude of the airborne offensives The majority of aircraft used by the Russian in the Eastern and Western Fronts was substantial. military were imported, some from the UK and US Germany claimed 7,067 air combat victories in the but mainly Nieuports and Farmans from France, West but only 358 in the East, in spite of the much many built in Russia under licence. However, the greater length of the Eastern Front, from Riga in four-engined Ilya Muromets reconnaissance bomber the North to near Romania in the South. Russia was designed and built in Russia by Sikorsky. suffered enormous losses of 2.5 million troops killed At the begining of war in 1914, Russia had or captured who had to be replaced and imports of 40 squadrons but an average of only six aircraft hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of raw materials in each. Chapter 3 describes the campaign in the from the US between 1914 and 1917 and 2,500 autumn in 1914 and the lack of modern aircraft. The aero engines from France, Britain, Italy and the US. imported Nieuports were already two years old and Russia lost The situation was not helped by the Tsar Nikolai II and there was an absence of back-up aircraft. Russia 40% of its his wife falling under the influence of the notorious lost 40% of its military aircraft in August 1914 and military aircraft Rasputin whose cronies were given high ministerial had to import replacement aircraft and engines. positions. Rasputin’s murder by Prince Iusupov Replacements included imports from the US and in August came too late to save the Romanov dynasty. The Ilya Canada, via Vladivostok and had to be transported via 1914 and Muromets conducted 442 combat missions during the the Trans-Siberian Railroad to the front line in Europe. had to import war and destroyed 40 enemy aircraft, took 7,000 high Sikorksky’s four-engined Le Grand was successfully replacement quality photographs of enemy positions and dropped flown in May 1913 but was damaged by the aircraft more than 2,000 bombs. losing one of its engines which fell onto the Grand’s aircraft and Chapter 7 – ‘The 1917 Revolution Impacts wings. It was not rebuilt. engines Squadrons’ – describes how the Russian Black Sea 46 AEROSPACE Fleet launched a series of important missions against Turkish sailing ships and mines placed by the fleet and five Russian submarines sank 26 more Turkish vessels. Russian troops made it clear that, although they would fight to defend existing front lines, they would not participate in any new offensives. The ugly lies and actual truths about the Tsar and the government and massive deaths against an entrenched enemy and German firepower led to rampant inflation and the end of gold as the foundation of Russian currency. This led to large increases in living costs and numerous strikes and work stoppages. In March 1917 protesters against bread shortages and male workers locked out of factories, joined forces and evolved into uncontrolled revolution. The Tsar dissolved the Russian national legislature and then abdicated. This eventually led to a meeting of the Constituent Assembly Russian heartland with urban centres, industries and Above: Tupolev ANT-4 in the which was dissolved by the Bolsheviks after one railways and an abundance of population, hardware Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum. Vadim Indeikin. session. During the turmoil Igor Sikorsky departed and troops, which ultimately prevailed. Morale among to France and, in due course, to the US. Russian the Americans, British and French troops plunged and attacks against Austrian and German troops failed they failed to understand why their Russian Allies had everywhere as military discipline disintegrated and, become the enemy. in some cases, soldiers refused to take part in By 1920, in essence, the White Army no longer offensives and this led to the assault on, or murder existed, following the Soviet peace treaties with of, their officers. Ultimately, on 15 December 1917 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, formerly part the Soviet government agreed a ceasefire with the of the Imperial Russian Empire, leaving Red Army Central Powers. However, the Russians walked out forces outnumbering the White troops by four to one. of negotiations on 10 February 1918. The Germans Chapter 10 – ‘Soviet Victories in 1920 and 1921’: were shocked and began an unopposed offensive. The Red Army had evolved into a massive, well-armed Chapter 8 – ‘Reds versus Whites’: An armistice and effective fighting force. The White Army could was signed between Russia and the central powers, not replace casualties or match the firepower of the Austria, Germany and Turkey which ended the active Soviet military and behind it were large territories it fighting but, before a final peace agreement was could not control. The British disbanded the two RAF agreed, the Soviet Government chose not to wait for it, Squadrons that had been sent earlier. and on 11 February 1918 demobilised the Army and The Red Army had to deal not only with the Navy. Neither Sofonov nor Seversky were happy with White Army but also with a Polish invasion. However, their roles and Sofonov absconded with a new army a change of policy ensured that the Red Air Force Nieuport and, with his bride in the observer’s seat, flew concentrated its forces to obtain overwhelming air to Finland, which had recently become independent. superiority by the end of 1919. This increased during Seversky, however, made his way to Tokyo and took 1920, the Red Army’s superiority over the White’s a passenger ship to San Francisco, thereby avoiding patched together aircraft in its inventory. In November the Russian Civil War between Red (communists led there was a mass exodus of White Army personnel by Lenin) and Trotsky’s Whites (anti-communists). from the Crimea. Grigorovich, alone among the major aircraft designers, Chapter 11 – ‘Aircraft Development 1918-1924’: remained in Soviet Russia and, in due course, after At the conclusion of the Civil War, the Red Air Force five years, resumed designing and building aircraft. had 325 aircraft in 54 detachments plus 13 units Trotsky was banished and replaced by Stalin in 1927 of various seaplanes with the technical backing of and ultimately ended up in Mexico City, where he was the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI in murdered by a Soviet agent in 1940. Russian) established by N E Zhukovski. Anton Tupolev Chapter 9 – ‘Aviation and the Civil War’: In January designed the ANT-4, the world’s first twin-engine all 1919 there were enough Russian pilots to create metal monoplane bomber, in 1924. Stalin’s message two Slavic-British Aviation squadrons, as well as to the Politburo in August 1920 was to concentrate three squadrons manned only by English pilots, which on well-performing military aircraft.
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