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Gentlemen,
Several years ago a thread appeared on this web site regarding WWII aircraft lost in the USSR.
Back in 1988, while searching through the stacks at the Univerity of Pittsburgh library, I came across an article in the propaganda magazine Soviet Life. It mentioned that previous articles had been published on the ALSIB route. So, I searched for these to gain more information. I hope the readers may find the citation below of interest:
"I recall the following episode. One very frosty day in January 1944, a US four-engine Liberator appeared in the sky over Yakutiya. On the plane was a prominent American political figure, Wendell L. Willkie, the senator and at that time a presidential candidate. He and his party were returning from China to Washington, DC after a long grip to many countries.
"In Yakutsk, the American mission was received by the local authorities and Senator Willkie spent several days familiarizing himself with the city, in particular, and Yakutiya in general. On the day the group was to depart for the States, the plane was found to be completely frozen. One of our engineers suggested that the engines and equipment be warmed up in Russian fashion. The US crew turned our offer down, because their plane was equipped with a special de-icer, which liquefied the cold oil in the engines with benzene.
"The guests boarded their plane, and after some difficulty, the crew managed to start the cold, coughing and smoking engines. The Liberator started rolling down the strip and took off, climbing to about 100 meters. Following the plane with my eye, I saw that it could not retract its landing gear. One engine sputtered and then fell silent, then another, and with a sharp turn, the plane dropped back into the airfield, skidding off the strip into a snowdrift. Only the skill of the pilot saved the plane from crashing.
"The Americans abandoned their plane, and Senator Willkie asked that he and his group be flown to Alaska on a Soviet plane. This was done the very next day. Prior to the group's departure on our plane, the Liberator's copilot came up to me and said he wanted to leave the US plane with us as a gift. A notary public was immediately summoned, and official deed drawn up, and I thanked the Americans. The generous guest took off, and red stars soon appeared on the Liberator in place of its former US Air Force identification marks. Our 'magicians'--the engineers, mechanics and their assistants--soon mastered the unfamiliar American plane and repaired its engine. The gift was sent to one of the fronts and placed in reliable hands. It was taken over by A. Shornikov, a combat pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Yugoslavia, famous for having rescued Tito from fascist encirclement.
"In summer the flights along the air route were hampered by fog, heavy clouds, midges and forest fires. Smoke would envelop vast areas. The only way to get through was by flying blind, but few pilots knew this skill in those days. There were not even radio compasses on fighters at first, and airfields had no radio stations or decent weather service.
"Force landings en route sometimes worked out very sadly since parachutes were very rarely used. For instance, Sergeant Major Dyakov, who was forced to land a damaged plane somewhere in the Verkhoyansky Mountains, was rescued only 34 days later by a reindeer team. An undamaged P-40 and the remains of a frozen pilot, who had lost his bearings and landed in the mountains without fuel, were not found until later years. There were other sad cases, too.
"During these times, there were a great many difficulties. Of course, it is hard to list them all. Yet the accident rate was low--only 0.2 per cent of the total number of ferried planes. Several thousand plane were transported along the intercontinental route in the three years of its operation. In terms of the over-all supply of aircraft during the war, the number was not very large, especially if we keep in mind that in the final years of the war, Soviet industry was turning-out close to 40,000 combat planes annually. Nevertheless, the planes delivered by the US certainly contributed to the victory. The appearance of American planes in our skies and at the fronts testified to the fact that we were not alone. "
It would seem there must be many downed aircraft scattered along the Soviet ALSIB route. The problems is how to find them? Satellite images?
Norman Malayney
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