At the end of the current detail, the Ministry of Defense declassified a unique document - Stalin's written order to bomb Berlin in early August 1941. It would seem that the task is impossible. But for Soviet pilots, there were no unsolvable problems. Bombs continued to fall on the capital of the Third Reich throughout the whole month of the first year of the war …
Commander's order
On the night of July 21-22, 1941, German aircraft bombed Moscow and its suburbs for the first time. Against the background of an extremely difficult situation on the fronts, the moral damage from German attacks on the capital was too heavy. An adequate response was needed to restore morale. The bombing of Berlin, proposed to the military and political leadership of the country by the commander of the aviation of the Navy, Lieutenant General Semyon Fedorovich Zhavoronkov, could become the very step that citizens of the entire Soviet Union were looking forward to. It is not surprising that Joseph Vissarionovich supported Zhavoronkov's proposal, approved by the People's Commissar of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov.
Soon an order appeared signed by Stalin, whose text became available to the public only in 2018: “T-shu Vodopyanov. To oblige the 81st Air Division, headed by the division commander, Comrade Vodopyanov, from 08/09 to 08/10 or on one of the following days, depending on weather conditions, to raid Berlin. During a raid, in addition to high-explosive bombs, it is imperative to drop small and large caliber incendiary bombs on Berlin. In case the engines start to fail on the way to Berlin, have the city of Königsberg as a backup target for the bombing."
But giving an order is much easier than following it. To accomplish this practically impossible task, Soviet pilots needed to approach Berlin at the limit of the technical capabilities of aircraft in terms of range and flight altitude, passing several lines of German air defense, and then return.
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After carrying out detailed calculations, as well as possible routes for the flight of Soviet military aviation to Berlin, the leadership of the Air Force stated with regret that it was not possible to reach the target from the European part of the USSR due to the tactical and technical capabilities of the aircraft. In addition, the pilots had to overcome the deeply echeloned German air defense system, which was almost impossible to pass unnoticed. Nevertheless, an order is an order, and it must be carried out at any cost. A way out of this situation was proposed by the People's Commissar of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov. In his opinion, our pilots could fly to Berlin and return without landing, but only from one of the military airfields of the Moonsund archipelago. At the same time, the admiral stressed that it is necessary to hurry,since German troops can seize or destroy these airfields at any time. The Cahul airfield on the island of Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea was more suitable for solving the problem. But its runway, from where the DB-3F bombers were supposed to take off, was intended only for light aircraft. Heavy bombers, she simply could not stand. Technicians immediately went to the island to modernize the runway of the airfield. All the necessary work was carried out with high quality and in record time. Technicians immediately went to the island to modernize the airfield's runway. All the necessary work was carried out with high quality and in record time. Technicians immediately went to the island to modernize the airfield's runway. All the necessary work was carried out with high quality and in record time.
Super tasks for supermen
At the same time, it was not enough for the pilots to take off from the airfield, having a sufficient supply of bombs and fuel. They had to travel more than a thousand kilometers, bombard and somehow miraculously return alive. Considering that shortly before the operation, German Air Force commander Hermann Goering assured Hitler that not a single bomb would ever fall on Berlin, it was necessary to come up with a non-standard solution to the problem in order to carry out Stalin's order. Soon a way out was found. Soviet pilots who participated in the operation were ordered to fly at the maximum height for Soviet bombers of seven thousand meters. The calculation was simple. German air defenses and interceptor aircraft controlled the airspace at a lower altitude, standard for conventional bombers and fighter aircraft. If you rise to a height of seven kilometers,the chance to break through to Berlin and complete the task increased several times. The return was planned, but the Soviet pilots did not think about it, the main thing for them was to bomb Berlin. It should be noted that the temperature outside the aircraft at an altitude of 7000 meters was 35-40 °. It was not much warmer in the cockpit. Only superhumans, without exaggeration, could withstand a long flight in such conditions.
Hit the target and return
The first flight was scheduled for August 7, 1941. Soviet planes took off, as planned, from the runway of the Cahul airfield on the island of Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea. Fifteen DB-ZF heavy bombers, divided into three groups of five aircraft in each, left in the direction of Berlin. Despite the fact that the planes moved at maximum altitude, as soon as they crossed the front line, they were immediately discovered by the enemy. At the same time, the most surprising thing was that the Germans did not fire at the Soviet bombers' links even after they ignored the response to the request "friend or foe". The enemy was sure that it was his planes returning from a combat mission. They simply could not believe that the Russians would dare to bomb Berlin. And in vain!
At the appointed time, the Soviet pilots saw the lights of Berlin below them. The city slept in a serene sleep, only in some places the last trams rang and late passers-by hurried home. A few moments later, the idyll of the nightlife capital of Nazi Germany was disrupted by powerful explosions of 250 kg bombs.
Further camouflage made no sense. Vasily Krotenko, a radio operator of one of the bombers, confidently reported to Moscow on the successfully completed command assignment.
The explosions continued in the meantime. The city was covered with red spots of fires, sirens howled, the population in panic poured into the streets.
It took several long minutes for the calculations of the German air defense, covering the capital, to figure out what was the matter and open return fire. Searchlights swept across the night sky in the vain hope of finding Soviet bombers. Alas. The searchlights worked at the standard height for conventional bombers - 4500-5000 meters, while Soviet aircraft were two kilometers higher. Oddly enough, the first raid on Berlin ended without losses on the Soviet side. All planes returned safely to their airfield.
Lie, lie and lie again
Only with the onset of dawn did the German authorities assess with horror the level of damage inflicted on the city by Soviet bombers. At the same time, they perfectly understood that the raids would continue. It was necessary to say something to the population of the city to prevent panic. We decided to lie - impudently and cynically. Of course, they kept silent about the fact that the bombing was carried out by Soviet aircraft. The most powerful machine of fascist propaganda was thrown in order to minimize moral losses from the helplessness of Berlin's air defense. German media said that at night fifty British bombers rushed to the city, six of which were shot down by valiant air defense crews. However, this time the father of German propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, miscalculated. The British themselves declared that the Germans were lying. London radio stations sarcastically replied to the Germans:"The German message about the bombing of Berlin is interesting and mysterious, since on August 7-8, British aircraft did not rise from their airfields due to unfavorable weather conditions."
In this situation, the fascist command had no choice but to admit that the night raid was carried out by the Russians. At the same time, further history showed the complete professional unsuitability of both German interceptor pilots and air defense calculations. In the period from August 8 to September 4, 1941, Soviet bombers made 86 sorties towards Berlin. On the city, following Stalin's order, they dropped 311 incendiary and high-explosive bombs with a total weight of 36 tons, as well as 34 containers with leaflets and propaganda newspapers. And despite repeated orders from the Fuehrer to deal with the insolent Russian bombers, Hermann Goering's wards could not do this. The raids on Berlin in late summer - early autumn 1941 continued until the Germans destroyed the Cahul airfield, the only pointfrom which Soviet pilots could reach the capital of the Third Reich.
Dmitry SOKOLOV