I 29.2:R 92 TO PIPELINE RUSSIA THE ALAS KA-SIBERIA AIR ROUTE IN WORLD WAR II Edited byAlexander B. Dolitsky ykrasnoya^ V^irensK 3WoK^ns'< Yakutsk L I i ( Vovrr'^ak°r\C Vsey^cha0 idan^Ny.Orr'O^0 v0 YlarW> Fairbanks take Batson >!LFortHe\son ^"\portst Jc Dutch Great Falls ft -r. The National Park Servicepreserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park Systemfor the enjoyment, education, and inspiration ofthis andfuture generations. . Pipeline Russia to The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II Whereas the Governments ofthe United States ofAmerica and the Union ofSoviet Socialist Republics declare that they are engaged in a cooperative undertaking together with every other nation or people of like mind, to , the end oflaying the bases ofa just and enduring world peace, securing order under law to themselves and all nations. . — Washington, D.C., June 11, 1942 Edited by Alexander B. Dolitsky FLARE Published by r I Alaska Affiliated Areas Program National Park Service Anchorage, Alaska 2016 Pipeline to Russia <xx><x>o<>o<c>o<x><><>c<><x><>c><><x><c>c<>o<><x><x><x>^^ AlaskaAffiliated Areas Program, NPS, Anchorage, Alaska 2016 All rights reserved. No portion ofthis publication may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronicor mechanical, includingphotocopy, recording, e-mail, orany information storageor retrieval system, withoutpermission in writingfrom thepublisherand the copyrightholders. First Edition Front Cover: Soviet and American pilots near a P-63 KingCobra in Nome, 1944, with the background ofthe Alaska-SiberiaAirRoute map. BackCover: Thewarposter: "Do thejobheleftbehind.” The UniversityofMinnesota Libraries, Manuscripts Division. Thephoto: P-39andP-63assemblylineattheBellAircraftCompanyinBuffalo, N.Y., 1944. Courtesy of the Niagara Aerospace Museum Collection, Niagara Falls, N.Y. The drawing: "Pipe Line to Russia," Bellringer magazine, a publication ofthe Bell Aircraft Company in Buffalo, N.Y. October, 1944. Courtesy of theNiagara AerospaceMuseum collection, Niagara Falls, N.Y. Printed and bound by Las Vegas Color Graphics, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. General Editor and Production Manager: Alexander B. Dolitsky, Alaska-Siberia Research Center Translator: James F. Gebhardt Copy Editors: James F. Gebhardt; Liz Dodd, IDTC Consultants/Historians: James F. Gebhardt; Ivan E. Negenblya; John Cloe; Dan Hagedorn Cartographer: Brad Slama, Slama Design, Inc. Book designer:Matt Knutson, InterDesign Cover designers: Alexander B. Dolitsky, AKSRCandAndy RomanoffofAlaska Litho, Juneau, Alaska Paperback edition: ISBN-10: 0-9907252-1-3; ISBN-13: 978-0-9907252-1-3 Keywords: Alaska, ALSIB Air Route, World War II, Glazkov Memoirs, Henry V. Poor, Lend-Lease, Siberia. The paper in this book meets the guidelinesfor permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelinesfor Book Longevity ofthe Council on Library Resources. n THE STRUCTURE OF WORLD PEACE CANNOT BE THE WORK OF ONE MAN, ORONEPARTY, ORONENATION...ITMUSTBEA PEACEWHICH RESTS ON THE COOPERATIVE EFFORT OF THE WHOLE WORLD. — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, March 1, 1945 Address to Congress on the Yalta Conference /*' documents IS od department <0 A S.'S' . rRrj ALASK SIBERI WW1I USArmyAirForce WomenAirforceServicePilots USArmyAirForce AirTransportCommand WASP 7thFerryingSquadron iii The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II <xxxxxx><xxxxxxxxx><xx><xx><xxxxx><xx>o<xx><x><xx><>o<xxxx><x><>c><><xxxxxx><><xxxxxx><x><xx><xxxxx><x><>o<><x><>^^ Table Contents of Transliteration Table vii Contributors ix Acknowledgments xiii Preface byAlexander B. Dolitsky xv Forewordby Dan Hagedorn xvii Introduction by John Haile Cloe xix Alexander B. Dolitsky 1 CombatAircraft to Siberia: U.S. Lend-LeaseAid to the Soviet Union in World WarII Victor D. Glazkov 27 We Flew in the Same Sky: TheAlaska-Siberia AirRoute in World War II Henry Varnum Poor 87 An Artist Sees Alaska: Portraits ata Russian Base Alexander B. Dolitsky 97 OneforAll andAllfor One: Lessons oftheAlaska-Siberia Air Route Selected Bibliography 101 Selected Glossary ofTerms andAbbreviations Relevant to theMissions ofSovietand U.S. Armed Forces in WWII 105 Index 109 v The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II <x*xx>o<>o<>o<><x><x><x>o<><><><><x><x><c>oo<><><><*>^^ Transliteration Table The system of transliteration adopted in this work is that of the United States Board of Geographic Names, with slight modifications for technical reasons. Instead of e, we use ye at the beginning of names, after vowels, and after the soft sign (b), oryo (e), where e is accented as e. The soft sign (b) and hard sign ("b) have no sound value, but they soften or harden the sound of the letter in front of them. A hard sign ("b) is transliterated when in the middle of a word and disregarded when located at the end of a word. Russian Letters Transliteration A a a (as in star, car, Arkansas) B 6 b (as in boots. Bill, Britain) B 6 V (as in voice, Virginia) r Z g (as in go, good, Michigan) A d d (as in do, road, Dakota) E e ye (as in met, yes) E e yo (as in yonder, York) >K DK zh (as in pleasure) 3 3 z (as in zoo, is, Kansas) M U i (as in meet, seat) M u y (as in may, boy) K K k (as in cat, kind, Kentucky) A Jl i (as in belt, lion, Florida) M M m (as in amuse, mother, Mexico) H H n (as in now, noose, Nebraska) O 0 o (as in port, comb, Oklahoma) n n P (as in pure, poor, Portland) P p r (as in river, trilled, Arizona) C c s (as in swim, SOS, South) T m t (as in stool, tiger, Texas) y y u (as in lunar, tune) 0 $ f (as in food, funny, California) X X kh (as in Loch Ness) u ts (as in its, quartz, waltz) H H ch (as in cheap, chain, cheese) ELI Ul sh (as in fish, sheep, shrimp) IE U{ shch (as in borsch) L> 5 // (hard sign; no equivalent) bl bl y (as in rip, flip) b b / (soft sign; no equivalent) 3 3 e (as in best, chest, effort) JO W yu (as in you, Yukon) R R ya (as in yard, yahoo) vii