The Luftwaffe in Russia was said to be so deficient in fighter planes in 1943 that bomber formations operated with little fighter escort; the Russians claimed to have destroyed 100 Nazi machines a day since June 5, 1943. This drawing is of a Nazi bomber unit that is attempting to cover a river crossing for the retreating German forces, whilst the Russian bombers, operating in support of the Red Army have attacked dumps and concentrations on the German held river bank, meanwhile, the Soviet fighters break up the enemy attack. A German Heinkel 111 (1) almost obsolescent but still much used on the Russian front, has had its starboard engine cowling torn open by cannon fire and the power unit is beginning to flame. The pilot (2) and the gunner-bomb-aimer (3) are seen through the Plexiglas panels, the latter training his 7.9mm gun on the Soviet MIG-3 fighter (4) as it flashes past. These gull-winged planes had a 1200hp liquid cooled engine and a speed of over 350 mph, armament was one heavy machine-gun or cannon and two other machine-guns. Close by is a later Soviet fighter type, the Lagg-3 (5) was in production during 1943 and was made of all wood construction. Later models were said to fly in excess of 350 mph, with a 1600hp engine and 20-mm cannon, plus machine-guns. They were reputed to be a match for the Focke-Wulf 190. Seen through the smoke, upper left, are two types of Russian light reconnaissance bombers, the AK 4 (6) and the PE 2 (7) Both these types flew at 300mph with two 1100hp engines. The former had a crew of two; the PE 2 carried a 1700lb bomb load and a crew of 3.
