The 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism in World War II

On May 8, the world celebrates the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism in World War II.

Aviation played an extremely important role in this bloodiest conflict in human history. Here are some facts about the air war over Europe.

The first air battles took place during the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. It is believed that the first air victory in World War II was won by the German crew of Lieutenant Frank Neubert in a Ju 87 dive bomber, who shot down a PZL P.11 fighter at dawn. A common version is that in about 20 minutes, Polish pilot Junior Lieutenant Wladyslaw Gnys shot down two Do.17E bombers in his P.11. According to another version, these planes were shot down by Polish anti-aircraft gunners.

The first ever case of dive bombers sinking a large warship occurred on April 10, 1940. The British Blackburn Skua sent the German light cruiser Königsberg to the bottom near Bergen in Norway.

The first time that aviation played a decisive role in winning a victory over an entire country was in May 1940. On May 14, the German Luftwaffe launched a devastating attack on Rotterdam in the Netherlands, destroying the city's central part. The next day, the Dutch government surrendered after an ultimatum threatening to bomb other cities.

The first air raid by the Western Allies, which can be considered strategic, took place on May 16, 1940. Almost a hundred British bombers attacked 16 targets in the Ruhr area of Germany.

The first raid on the capital of Nazi Germany, Berlin, was carried out on June 8, 1940, by a French heavy bomber Farman F.223.4, nicknamed Jules Verne.

In total, during the war, the Western Allies dropped more than 2,770,000 tons of bombs in the European theater. Of these, 51% were dropped on Germany, more than 20% on occupied France (or the Vichy state as an ally of the Reich), and almost 14% on Italy. In Germany alone, between 300 and 600 thousand people died as a result of the bombing.

The largest airborne operation took place during the Allied landings in Normandy on June 5-6, 1944. It involved 2,300 transport aircraft and 2,600 landing gliders, which transported about 24,000 personnel.

One of the operations with the largest involvement of tactical aviation was the Battle of Berlin, which began on April 16, 1945. The USSR then concentrated more than 7,500 combat aircraft on a relatively small section of the front, which was almost 3.5 times the Luftwaffe's opposing forces.

The main European participants in the war built more than 419,000 aircraft over the course of its 6 years: Italy - 11,122, Germany - 119,370, Great Britain - 131,540, and the USSR - 157,260.

The most mass-produced aircraft of World War II was the Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft, with more than 36,000 copies built. It remains the most mass-produced combat aircraft in history.

The first jet aircraft to take part in combat operations was the German Me 262 fighter. On July 20, 1944, the first unit armed with the latest technology arrived in the area of combat operations in France.

Among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, only the United Kingdom was able to engage jet aircraft in combat. From July 27, 1944, Gloster Meteor fighters were used to intercept German Fau-1 cruise missiles.

German fighter pilot Erich Hartmann is considered the best ace in history. He flew 1404 combat missions on the Eastern Front, fought 808 air battles, and was credited with 352 victories.

The best ace of the anti-Hitler coalition was the Soviet fighter pilot, Ukrainian Ivan Kozhedub. His official record includes 330 combat missions, 120 air battles, and 62 enemy aircraft shot down. Kozhedub was ahead of Harman in terms of the ratio of downed to air battles: 0.52 to 0.44.

In total, 407 Ukrainian aviators became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war. Among them, 15 were awarded this highest honor twice, and Ivan Kozhedub was awarded it three times.