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[SOVIET AIR DEFENCE] Aviatsiia i PPO [i.e. Aviation and Air Defence]

Smirnov, M., Vinogradov, N.

Item #2702

Kyiv: Derzhavne vydavnytstvo politychnoi literatury pro RNK URSR, 1940. 112 pp. 16 × 12,5 cm. Contemporary owner’s binding. Illustrated printed wrappers are bound in. Ex-library copy: the book has stamps of Russian State Library, and the deaccessioned stamps over them: it was discharged from the library with many other books in Ukrainian in 2022, following the beginning of the current Russo-Ukrainian war. The book also has a stamp ‘Mandatory copy’ in Ukrainian, put on it in the 1940s by the publisher, when it was sent to the library. Overall in very good condition.

4th edition.
Rare WWII publication in Ukrainian, it came out in the series ‘Popular military library’ and was aimed at the broad audience in Ukraine and was supposed to educate it about aviation and air defense. In the preface the authors say that they are writing for the Red Army members, but also for the people, who are eligible for conscription. Although a lot of the data in the book are based on the military experiences of WWI, it’s quite obvious that the authors were preparing the population for the beginning of the greater conflict.
The book presents all possible types of aviation, the work of reconnaissance aviation, including battlefields, how to scatter political literature from airplanes, how aviation interacts with tanks and artillery, separate chapters are devoted to fighters, bombers and attack aircraft. The chapter on airfields gives a general plan of a standard military airfield and the location of the main things on it. Also, a separate chapter is devoted to airborne assault. The chapters on air defense provide an overview of how the army uses it during the offensive and defense. The role of the population in organizing a comprehensive defense is described in detail, with an explanation of air signals. The Last Frontier is devoted to the protection of the air borders of the USSR. In general, a rosy overview of Soviet aviation is given: record flights of pilots Kokkinaki, Chkalov and others are mentioned and the readiness of the fleet for war is noted.

The book is illustrated with 49 drawings.

Not in Worldcat.

Price: $950.00