Category: Transportation: Airplanes: History

Copyright/published Year: 2008 by Hancock House

ISBN: 9780888395957

Binding: large pap

Description: Wings Over the Wilderness tells the story of the secret WW ì II airway that arched across 8,000 miles of sub-Arctic wilderness ì and the adventures of the men that flew it. Non-fiction, WW II ì history, aviation. During June of 1941, under an assault that was ì code-named Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet ì Union, signaling the start to one of history's most bloody and ì bitter conflicts. The powerful German army crushed all opposition ì and swiftly conquered huge tracts of Soviet territory. The highly ì skilled German Luftwaffe swept the skies of Red air power, ì pulverized troop concentrations and demolished Soviet industry. ì On the ground, German Panzer and artillery units pursued and ì hammered the retreating, beleaguered Red Army as fast as their ì steel wheels could roll.

After two short months the Nazis had rumbled up to the edge of ì Moscow: there seemed to be no stopping German military might and ì the complete collapse of the Soviet Union appeared inevitable. ì Within days of the initial June attack, both Great Britain and ì the United States responded to Stalin's appeal for assistance by ì extending Lend-Lease aid to provide Russia with the materiel of ì war. A downturn in aircraft production, combined with staggering ì battlefield losses, placed aircraft acquisition especially high ì on the Soviet's Lend-Lease shopping list. Both Britain and the ì United States responded with the immediate shipment of a small ì quantity of combat aircraft while pledging to send a steady ì stream of 400 aircraft per month. Delivery of tactical aircraft ì to the Soviet battlefield presented significant logistical and ì technical challenges due to the great distances involved, ì exposure to hostile forces and damage to delicate aircraft ì components inflicted while in transit. Spanning the breadth of ì Siberia there existed only a scattering of primitive airfields, ì and on the North American side the situation was only marginally ì better.

To accommodate aircraft ferrying on the scale envisioned, ì additional airfields would have to be created, others upgraded, ì hangars and housing built, navigational aids installed, massive ì quantities of fuel delivered and scarce manpower diverted for the ì purpose. Wings Over the Wilderness tells the story of the secret ì WW II airway that arched across 8,000 miles of sub-Arctic ì wilderness and over Siberia to reach an ally in need. The book ì pays tribute to the thousands of men and women who toiled under ì the most difficult of circumstances to help decide the outcome of ì World War Two. Primitive facilities, harsh climate and wild ì terrain were among the difficulties faced by American and Russian ì pilots in the transfer of nearly 8,000 warplanes from American ì factories to the Russian battlefield. The airway was cruel on man ì and machine as the grave markers and twisted wrecks of fallen ì warplanes littering forest and muskeg bear testament.

Smith's writings offer first-hand veteran accounts and ì fascinating stories surrounding the delivery of the warplanes to ì Russia. The book includes an extensive introduction by the author ì that offers the reader the historical and geo-political ì background at the time of the writing. Accompanying the detailed ì text are hundreds of never-before-published photographs. Also ì included in the book are extensive endnotes, a glossary of terms ì and abbreviations, a bibliography and index.

Condition Information

This book is new.