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

by Vasily Emelianenko

This is the extraordinary story of Vasily B. Emelianenko, the veteran pilot of one of the Soviet Union’s most contradictory planes of WWII – the I1-2. This heavily armoured aircraft was practically unrivalled in terms of fire power, but it was slow to manoeuvre and an easy target for fighters. I1–2 had to attack enemy flak columns at extremely low altitudes, which led to enormous tolls both in equipment and personnel.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Aviation, Military Fiction

333 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2005

Reviews

[Aggrady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping

Close air support account by one of the few surviving Soviet pilots. Their mission totals dwarfed the allies, and they were fighting a more desperate battle for survival. By contrast our P47's, F4's, F6 etc had about two years of combat with limits on missions. Some of these russian pilots had hundreds. Staggering bravery. Great illustration of the effectiveness of close air support.

[H NELMS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sturmovic story,

A no nonsense account of one Russian pilots war and his comrades. No flurries just as it happened, no politics, no boasting just a true heroes memoirs of ww2.

[James Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new found respect

Captivating account of how and why the Germans were defeated by the USSR. One feels a part of the Red Air force as he reads this incredible account of one superbly skilled pilot. It was hard to put down.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid account of the author's service during WWII whose anecdotes truly shine. A must read for fans of the Strumovik aircraft and recommend for any interested in Soviet accounts or aerial warfare on the Eastern Front.

[Edwin Rudetsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red stars

Both the US and the USSR worked together to defeat the fascist beast on land and in the sky just 70 years ago.

[Tim Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid student of WW2 I’m happy to find the rare story of a Russian front line combatant with an English translation. It could be because of the translation but some parts of the story were a little hard to follow for a period. I listened to this as an audio book and I regretted not having maps to help set the scenes as they developed. The harrowing missions were well described and the many of the aviators were well represented in the book.