Allied aid to the Russian war effort

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by C.Evans:
The Russians recieved B-17s as lend lease. I do not know how many, but I know they did. My father was in the USAAF in WW2, and he was part of a crew that "ferried" B-17s to Russia.

My father is the only source I can name from memory, but there are books(I cannot remember names of titles)that tell about such things, I have seen them in the public library.

The only other evidence I have is the ships manifest log from my grandfathers ship, the SS Fort Lee. This tells you by date what they carried, which holds they were in, how much tonnage etc.

The only other source I could quote would be from the surviving crewmen of U-181, the U-Boat responsible for sinking my grandfathers ship.

Hope this helps.............................

I might add, that I have a manifest log to my grandfathers other ship, the SS New London, I just dont recall if it had anything to do with WW2, its been years since I have looked at it. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you. I've been looking and looking for now, but I didn't had any luck in finding a reverence for B-17-s given to USSR

I tried so far:

van Tuyll, Hubert P. _Feeding the Bear: American Aid to the Soviet Union, 1941-1945_ , Contributions in Military Studies, No. 90,1989

United States Army Air Forces: _Distribution of Air Materiel to the Allies, 1939-1944: Controls, Procedures and Policies_ Washington, DC: Army Air Forces, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Intelligence, Historical Division; 1944

Internet B-17 sites

Queries on AF veteran and U.S. Aircraft boards

Nothing.

Which doesn't mean you're wrong, of course. But I urge you to find out more about it and give the info to historic departments. Maybe you end up a as quotation in a history book, who knows?

So where the B-17 flown by your Dad to the Sov’s or shipped via merchant chips, or both?

 

Hello Andy: The B-17s were flown to Russia. I imagine some were shipped also, as many aircraft were.

I cannot quote sources since its been years since I read anything about it but, I do believe that in the Time-life series on WW2, I do believe that it is mentioned in one of their titles. It also might be mentioned in a book I think is called: American Heritage of World War Two, or something like that. This is and has always been a favotite book of mine; I think it may still be in print.

I also cannot ask my father for any details, he passed away in 1988. I might be able to dig up somew details from relatives though, if I can; I will post results here.

 

Thats sad, it would be neat for him to tell us about it.

 

Sorry to say, I don't have his diary, or I could give a better picture of when and where he went. Unfortunately, the diary is in my brothers possession, so I have no idea if or when I will ever get to see them.

 

How long was your father in the air force? where all did he serve at? Hope you didnt think im prying, im just curious.

 

I don't know when my father enlisted in the AAF. He served in WW2 was part of a crew that ferried aircraft to Russland. He was stationed in England as part of the US 8th Air Force. I do remember that he was a gunner in the B-17s, and was on several missions that took place in German skies. He used to talk about having visited places like Friedrichshafen and I forget where else but, this was all of course in the air.

After the war, he transferred to the 5th AF, and was stationed in Japan and or Korea. This time, he was in a Weather Detachment. While in the Weather Detachment in Korea, he was credited with capturing a patrol of Chinese soldiers, to which we have photos of-somewhere. The photos show him armed with his .45, and a M-2 Carbine, and he is walking along with the POWs. I don't remember how many there were, but probably 8-10.

I also remember that he liked serving in Korea but loved Japan much more.

 

> I've always read about all the help
> Russian received during the war, which
> practically save her ass.
> This help consisted of what exactly?
> (tanks, ammunition, food, etc...)

For info on the Lend-Lease sent to the USSR visit http://www.skalman.nu/soviet/ww2-lendlease.htm

/Marcus