On 1st July the Soviet State Defence Committee created 1st Aviation Army to provide a fighter reserve ready to be deployed to critical sectors. However this hastily created force had not operated together before, with some units coming from as far as Archangel. Five of these new regiments were equipped with British-built Hurricane fighters and two regiments with the Mig-3.
The 1st Aviation Army was immediately committed to combat on the morning of 5th July and soon ran into the Luftwaffe's veteran pilots of Jagdgeschwarder 3, between Voronezh and Terbuny. The Hurricane IIC fighter was slower and had an inferior rate of climb to the German Bf 109F-2 and F-4s that confronted them. This, and German fighter training would prove decisive, with 1st Aviation Army loosing dozens of fighters in a series of battles on the first day. In contrast the Luftwaffe lost only two fighters.
Here a pair of Bf-109F's carry out a slashing attack on an unsuspecting group of Soviet Hurricanes, with devastating results. Below the aerial battle the city of Voronezh can be seen through the clouds.
By 12th July, 1st Aviation Army's strength had been reduced fro 231 operational aircraft to just 66.

FROM: Osprey Publishing's: Stalingrad 1942-43 (1)

PRICE: £625.00 (Unframed)
IMAGE SIZE: Approx. H 34cm x W 50cm ( H 13.25 inches x W 19.75 inches)
MEDIUM: Watercolour and gouache