Roundtrip.
The Soviet T-34, the best tank of the Second World War, by all accounts, reached Berlin only in 1945, and the Il-4 bombers conveyed ardent greetings to the Reichstag and the surrounding area in the summer of 1941.
It was powerful. While the German armies of the Center, South and North groups inflicted crushing blows on the Red Army on literally all fronts, and the Luftwaffe pilots reigned supreme in the air, Soviet bomber aircraft unexpectedly struck the very heart of Germany.
The first of the Soviet air raids on Berlin took place just a month and a half after the start of the war. On the night of August 7-8, 1941, a group of 15 bombers, with the full connivance of the German air defense, bombed Berlin and the surrounding area and calmly returned to the base.
The Germans can be understood. Nobody in Berlin expected such impudence from the USSR. The official German propaganda the day after the raid reported on a successfully repulsed air attack on the capital from … the British Air Force. And only when intelligence reported that the British had not carried out any bombing raids that day, did they in Berlin understand the cause of the blockage.
The successful raid on Berlin in August 1941 is not only the result of painstaking planning, but also the merit of the long-range bomber aviation of the USSR, in particular the IL-4 long-range bomber. Despite its legendary status, this combat vehicle is not as famous as the T-34, Katyusha or Shpagin's submachine gun. Perhaps because for a long time this plane had a different name.
Back in the mid-30s, the Ilyushin design bureau presented its new development – the long-range bomber DB-3. The 14-meter twin-engine monoplane with a wingspan of over 20 meters demonstrated excellent characteristics for its time in terms of speed (about 400 km / h), and most importantly, flight range.
It was on DB-3 that several record flights were made at once. For example, in June 1938, the famous test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki made a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East on DB-3. The total length of the route was 7,500 km.
By that time, the mass production of DB-3 had already been established at several military factories of the USSR at once. Which, by the way, in itself leads to a natural question. If Stalin thought only about a defensive war, then why ordered the start of the mass production of long-range bombers – by definition, the weapon of the aggressor?
With all the advantages, the DB-3 had disadvantages. Difficulty in control, especially during takeoff, but also in level flight, insufficient defensive armament. The result of the modernization was the DB-3F bomber, which is better known as the IL-4. It was these planes that bombed Berlin in August-September 1941. Although in fairness it should be remembered that other bombers also took part in the raids – heavy four-engine TB-7 and twin-engine Er-2.
By the way, the Il-4 is far from the only contribution of the Ilyushin design bureau to the victory. How to forget about the legendary Il-2 attack aircraft? We had material about him.
After the first surprise for the Germans raid to the capital of Germany and back, ours managed to drive there eight more times. Already less successful. Without the surprise factor, the small number of aircraft and, of course, the complete absence of fighter escorts, the morale effect of these raids was much greater than the actual damage.
Well, after the Germans captured Tallinn in September 1941, the bombing of Berlin had to be stopped altogether. Without access to airfields in Estonia, Soviet long-range bombers lost their last base from which they could fly to their target and return. The flight range of the IL-4 with a bomb load was about 3800 km.
In any case, it was the Ilyushin Design Bureau bomber that became the first example of Soviet military equipment to successfully attack Berlin, and therefore a symbol of the very possibility of a future victory in the most difficult months of 1941.
Photo: Getty Images and Creative Commons
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