by James R Benn
“Okay,” I said. “I buy it. What’s next?”
“A flight to Tehran,” Gideon said. “You three have travel orders to head to Cairo within forty-eight hours.”
We drove back to the airstrip, and Javid promised a lavish meal at his favorite restaurant tomorrow night before we left. That sounded fine. But what I really wanted to do was put this part of the world behind me. I wanted to go to a place where motives were straightforward, where lies and betrayals were not standard issue, and where I knew who the enemy was.
If I could find it.
Historical Note
The shuttle-bombing campaign known as Operation Frantic carried on from June to October 1944. After that, the airbase at Poltava was maintained on a skeleton basis until the end of the war.
While there were early successful bombing raids, the enterprise was marred by a lack of Soviet cooperation. The absence of antiaircraft and night-fighter support as described in this story were two of the major factors that resulted in a disastrous raid by the Luftwaffe. The actual bombing took place in June 1944, with German aircraft targeting the Poltava base just as described in chapter thirty-three. Forty-seven of the seventy-three American bombers at the airfield were destroyed, laying bare the inadequacies of the Soviet defenses. Wanting to limit the presence of foreigners within the Soviet Union, Stalin would not allow more Americans to enter with antiaircraft or night-fighter units. But neither did he provide them for the defense of the three airbases.
Tensions increased in the summer of 1944 when the Russians would not allow American bombers and fighters operating from bases in Ukraine to bomb targets in support of the Polish Home Army’s uprising in Warsaw. Stalin wanted the Poles to be defeated by the Nazis to facilitate his take-over of Poland.
After the war, Soviet officers who had worked well with the Americans were punished for their cooperation with Westerners. One Air Marshal, who had been awarded the US Legion of Merit by the Americans, was tortured and jailed for his helpfulness.
The Night Witches, officially known as the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, was one of three all-female air force units. The night bombers specialized in idling the engines of their wood-and-canvas biplanes and gliding to the target, with only wind noise between the struts to reveal their presence. German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and named the pilots Nachthexen, or Night Witches. They were so hated and feared by the Germans that any airman who shot one down was automatically awarded the Iron Cross. Even though the Night Witches were the most highly decorated Soviet air force unit of the war, they were disbanded six months after the end of hostilities and were not invited to participate in the victory parade held in Moscow.
Shtrafniki were Soviet penal units made up of troops convicted of political or military wrongdoing. Although mine-clearing was one of the duties often imposed on the shtrafniki, they were also used in suicidal attacks. During the battle of Stalingrad, one penal battalion made up entirely of nine hundred disgraced officers who had been demoted in rank to private, was reduced to only three hundred survivors after three days. During the war, about 423,000 soldiers served in these penal units, very few of them surviving.
In researching this novel, I wanted to gain a better understanding of the experience of bomber crews over occupied Europe. The 2018 documentary film The Cold Blue was invaluable in that regard. Put together from footage found in the National Archives, it utilized materials originally filmed by director William Wyler for his well-known The Memphis Belle. The film prints were found in pristine condition, and when matched with narration from surviving flyers and sounds recorded from the few remaining B-17 bombers, it is an astounding account of what it was like to fly, fight, and die in the cold blue skies over the Third Reich.
Acknowledgments
First readers Liza Mandel and Michael Gordon once again provided superb feedback and offered helpful commentary as the story was finalized. My wife, Deborah Mandel, listened to chapter readings throughout the writing process, offered valuable critiques, and edited the manuscript to bring it into sharper focus. I am also indebted to Miriam Kalman for her childhood recollection of soldiers attending NYU in the Bronx and clambering up the fire escapes, as described in Chapter 25.
I am also grateful to Abe Seidman, WWII Army Air Force veteran and my wife’s cousin, whose stories of bomber missions in the skies above Europe led me to write of that terrible, cold struggle in tribute to all those who flew.
Finally, kudos to Paula Munier and the entire team at Talcott Notch Literary Services for their brilliant guidance in bringing this and other stories to fruition.
