RED STAR AIRACOBRA: Memoirs of a Soviet Fighter Ace 1941-45

by Evgeniy Mariinskiy

Evgeniy Mariinskiy, a Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union, shot down 20 enemy planes in aerial combat over the Eastern Front between 1943 and 1945. He frequently engaged enemy fighters and bombers, shot down many but was himself shot down several times.

This is his extraordinary story. His vivid inside view of the ruthless war in the air on the Eastern Front gives a rare insight into the reality of fighting and tactics of the Red Army Air Force. In his own words, and with a remarkable clarity of recall, Evgeniy Mariinskiy describes what combat was like in the air, face to face with a skilled, deadly and increasingly desperate enemy. The reader can follow his career from an unskilled novice who has just arrived at his regiment through to him becoming an ace, and Hero of the Soviet Union, under the leadership of experienced commanders.

The terrifying moments of action, engagements with enemy fighters, forced landings, nervous strain before attacks, loss of comrades and everyday life of pilots - all these aspects of a Soviet fighter pilot's experience during the Great Patriotic War are brought dramatically to life in his memoirs. In his memoirs Mariinskiy describes tactics which enabled him to have an upper hand in dogfights against experienced German pilots. The grand strategy of the campaigns across the Eastern Front is less important here than the sequence of engagements that were the firsthand experience of the author. It is this close-up view of combat that makes Evgeniy Mariinskiy's reminiscences of such value.

Key sales points: A gripping and superbly readable memoir of the war in the air over the Eastern Front 1943-45, penned by a Hero of the Soviet Union and air ace credited with 20 victories / Covers the author's full aviation career including training and his initial experiences over the front, as well as his increasingly successful combat with a skilled enemy / Evgeniy Mariinskiy served with the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment 1943-45, undertaking 210 sorties, participating in 60 air-to-air engagements and shooting down 20 enemy aircraft. In 1945 he was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2006

Reviews

[IKO · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story. It paints a very different picture of the air war on Eastern Front from the German memoires the majority of the people read. I had to review my picture of the airforce of the Red Army (recently also confirmed by an account of E. Hartmann).

I really enjoyed this book

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was interested in this book for 2 reasons - 1) I haven't read a lot of Soviet accounts from WW2; and 2) I was curious to find out how a pilot could be so successful in air-to-air combat in a fighter that received very mixed reviews and was often relegated to a ground attack role.
This book is interesting - Mariinskiy has quite a story. It gave me insights into how the Soviets fought the air war from 1943-1945; what life was like for their flyers; and some of the dynamic of the Commisars and Communist party on Soviet armed forces.
I struggled to follow at times for 3 reasons - the narrative skipped around (deliberately), but I had trouble following (maybe an issue of translation?) and I had trouble tracking all the names and nicknames of Mariinskiy's squadron mates. Finally, the Soviets used different terminology for a lot of the maneuvers.

[Bonnskip24 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Language errors and misspellings that an editor should have corrected but nothing that stopped this from being a good book.