Hitler s Army Feared This Russian Storm Bird in World War II
The Soviet Air Force’s Ilyushin Il-2 “Shturmovik” took a heavy toll in German armor on the Eastern Front.
Here s What You Need to Know: The Il-2 proved deadly throughout the war.
Vasily Emelianenko led a flight of Soviet Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmoviks, or “Storm Birds,” in late June 1942 against a German-held airfield near Artemovsk in eastern Ukraine, flying low up a deep ravine to avoid detection.
The Il-2 planes banked slightly to rise above the hill to their front, and the ground gave way as they spotted two rows of German bombers lined up neatly on the airfield ahead. Emelianenko had lowered the nose of his plane for the attack when he heard a deafening sound and the craft jolted suddenly as a large hole burst open in his right wing. He worked swiftly, straightening the plane and firing a salvo of rockets into the parked enemy aircraft. Emelianenko’s machine guns then erupted, and the bombers caught fire