THE ILIUSHIN “AVENGER” PHOTO IS REAL

[righidan]

Dear Friends,
   I have already commented on the famous photo of an Il-2 with the side number 25, a bolt, and the inscription “Avenger” (мститель.)
   It has been discussed in several places if the decoration of this plane has been the result of retouching, even more so as it has been photographed nearby an Il-2 with no insignia but the red stars.
   Just a few days ago, while preparing a post with all the photos of this airplane known, I found an internet journal of Saint Petersburg, where in July 2020 the nephew of one of the veterans of the 567 SHAP to which this plane belonged, investigated the same problem.
   He was able to discover several things, and contact one of remaining veterans, and everything leads to the fact that the decoration was real.
   The airplane with only the stars was probably a High Quarters one, as in this mission was flying also the Squadron Commander, Major Svirs.
   Other photos have surfaced where the other planes show a number before the fuselage star.
   If you are interested in this plane, I have prepared a short pdf with photos and internet addresses.
   You should be able to download it at the address:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13c9eBGhkRgkeyaUw_LvZGmv5CXuD-SmY/view?usp=sharing
   Regards
Daniele Righi

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Daniele,
thank you for sharing this article, I think that it removes the main doubts on this interesting serie of photos.
It would be good to resume in brief the discoveries of the article.
Regards
Massimo

[righidan]

Dear Massimo,
   A short resume of the material that can be found at the address https://shkolazhizni.ru/victorywings/ is rather difficult, as it is a long piece, is a work in progress, and has a couple of histories inside it.
   One of the histories is that of the nephew of a veteran of the 567th ShAP to assess the truth of the famous “Avenger” photo, that brought him to know another veteran, contact the aviation historian Vitaliy Tymoshenko, and find in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces prints of the famous photo.
   These photos had handwritten comments by Svirs, the former Squadron Commander, confirming the main facts related to the “Avenger” plane.
   Than there is a presentation to the memoirs of the 567th ShAP, that the veteran was tasked with compiling for a reunion that happened in the eighties.
   Here we have scant news of what happened to a “normal” attack aviation squadron, with losses that started at 60% of the personnel, up to the flight over Berlin.
   There are some facts that could be explained only in a war situation, both from the pilots and from the technical personnel, and even not-so-glorious facts are candidly exposed.
   Let’s hope that these memoirs are completely written, and brought to the attention of the historian.
   If you are interested, you can easily translate and read the pages using Google or Yandex translate.
Best regards
Daniele

[PG monster]

https://imgur.com/a/nYO2RtX
I just put there some negatives (mirrored)

[learstang]

It's nice to know these are real markings - I may very well model this aircraft someday.

Best Regards,

Jason

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Daniele,
thank you for all your efforts to share the articles that you've found. I insert the link on the page aside the photos and profile.

Regards
Massimo

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   At the shkolazhizni address above, memories of the veterans of the 567 ShABP, where in ShABP the B is for the honorary title Berlin, continue to be published.
   Recently appeared a biography of Bondarenko, the pilot of the Avenger, but about the famous photos, I have translated part of the memories of Boris Karpovich Swirs, former commander of the unit:
   I met the May Day holiday in the air, carrying out a special mission. The night before, Colonel V. I. Belousov, Hero of the Soviet Union, phoned me. And he said that in the morning the photographers of the "Krasnaya Zvezda" Captain M. Redkin and Senior Lieutenant Arkhipov would arrive to me, who were instructed to photograph episodes of the combat work of aviation and Berlin from the air. And now the seven "Ilov" rose into the air. The place of the gunner-radio operator in my plane was taken by Captain Redkin, and in the car with the inscription "The Avenger" - by Arkhipov. Both correspondents were well instructed on how to counter fighter attacks with heavy machine gun fire, and seem to have shown a keen interest in the matter. And after a safe return to their airfield, they even expressed regret that not a single Fokker had hit their gun. However, they had enough work with cameras. And, between us, I was very afraid that if the vultures really followed us, then the correspondents, forgetting about the machine guns, would try to take a series of spectacular shots.
   The attack aircraft went without cover, since at that time we no longer encountered any organized opposition from the fascist aviation. At the request of the correspondents, we walked over Berlin in a low-level flight, almost touching the smoking ruins with our wings, making slides over high obstacles, and descending again.
   At first glance, from the air, it seemed that the city was completely destroyed and stopped resistance. But soon it was already possible to discern frequent outbreaks, the origin of which is well understood by every military man.
   And the closer we flew to the center, the more of them became. From the thick clouds of smoke, Katyusha rockets burst out like fireworks and, drawing fiery trails above us, crashed into a large building. The iron ring was shrinking closer and closer around the Reichstag. And, although the enemy still fiercely resisted in some places, his fate was sealed. As if symbolizing the collapse of the Third Reich, thousands of white flags, from a handkerchief to a sheet, hung from the windows of the surviving and dilapidated houses - signs of surrender.
   Regards
Daniele

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Daniele,
good to know these details, now it's fully confirmed that the plane was real and not the result of a photo elaboration. It's still to understand why the other planes are so uniform and this one only is perfectly sharp as markings and camouflage. Probably it was freshly repainted.
Thank you for your work to provide accurate informations from Russian sources.

Massimo