FlyPast – August 2018

the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945

GERMANY INVADESGERMANY INVADES

M-82A engines, although some
directional instability was
also noted.
So the decision to cancel its
production, made by Soviet
supremo Josef Stalin to enable
industry to concentrate on building
more fighters, proved controversial.
The edict was reversed, and in 1943
an improved version, the Tu-2S,
made its debut – introducing
boosted and fuel-injected 1,850hp
(1,380kW) Shvetsov M-82FNs,
improved defensive armament and
a simplified structure. Dive brakes
were dispensed with.

The Tu-2S first flew in action in
June 1944 through service trials
by the 334th ‘Red Banner’ BAD,
commanded by Colonel I P Skok.
The division had three regiments
with 97 of the new variant, of
which 74 were operational. They
were under the personal control of
Stalin. Perhaps mindful of his earlier
mistake in cancelling production,
the Soviet leader constantly
questioned Marshal Aleksandr
Novikov, commander of the Red Air
Force, about their status
and performance.
One of the first regiments to work
up on the Tu-2S was the 12th BAP,
which began training at Kubinka,
near Moscow, in late 1943. It was

ready for action by the end of April

1944 and joined the ranks of the

334th BAD. The following month

the 12th BAP was sent to the

Leningrad Front.

The 132nd OBAP withdrew from

the Southwestern Front to re-equip

with the Tu-2S. By then part of the

334th BAD, it also transferred to the

Leningrad Front, in June 1944.

Part of the Stavka (Soviet High

Command) reserve, the 334th BAD

had three Tu-2S regiments: the 12th,

132nd and 454th BAPs, with a total

of 87 aircraft.

THRUST WESTWARDS

The first large offensive in

which the Tu-2S took part was

Operation Bagration,

the reconquest of

Byelorussia, which began

on June 23, 1944 and led

to the destruction of the

significant German Army

Group Centre.

The Tu-2S fleet flew two to

three sorties a day. Even regimental

commanders flew missions, the

leader of the 12th BAP, M P

Vasyakin, flying two a day.

Vasyakin was no stranger to the

Tu-2: as a test pilot he had evaluated

the so-called ‘103V’ prototype.

The Tupolevs carried up to 6,614lb

of bombs for short-range missions

and were used to strike railway yards

deep behind enemy lines.

In July the 334th BAD transferred

to the 1st Baltic Front to fly against

German positions in the Baltic ports

in Latvia and Lithuania, operations

that continued until January 1945.

The follow-on from the Bagration

campaign, the Vistula to Oder

Operation, began on January 12,

1945 and took the Soviet forces

from Warsaw and the eastern border

of East Prussia to the Oder River,

just 30 miles from Berlin.

From January to April 1945, the

326th and 334th BADs, as part

of the 18th VA, supported the

3rd Byelorussian Front under the

command of I P Skok, by then

a general.

Tupolevs targeted Warsaw and

German cities and towns on the

Baltic coast such as Allenstein,

Heiligenbeil and Danzig.

In concert with Pe-2s, Tu-2s

suppressed flak positions on April 7

and bombed aircraft on the ground.

They struck the city of Königsberg,

helping to bring about its surrender

on April 10.

M-82A engines, although some
directional instability was

Operation Bagration,

the reconquest of

Byelorussia, which began

on June 23, 1944 and led

to the destruction of the

significant German Army

Above left

Early series Tu-2 of the

12th BAP in winter 1943.

VIKTOR KULIKOV COLLECTION

Left

A Tu-2S in 1944 or 1945.

VIKTOR KULIKOV COLLECTION

Below left

A Tu-2S – note the three

windows in the rear

fuselage around the

ventral gunner’s position.

VIKTOR KULIKOV COLLECTION

August 2018 FLYPAST 107