Pipeline to Russia: The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II

140 Pages·2016·10.76 MB·English

by  Alexander B. Dolitsky

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PIPELINE RUSSIA
THE ALAS KA-SIBERIA AIR ROUTE IN WORLD WAR
II
Edited byAlexander B. Dolitsky
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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
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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
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iii

The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II
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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
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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