The 55th Mixed Aviation Division was an

Aviation Division An Aviation Division (russian: авиационная дивизия) was a type of formation of the Soviet Air Forces, Military Air Forces of the Red Army during the Second World War, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and ...

of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The division was formed on 25 February 1941 in the

Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District. Hi ...

. It formed part of the 'operational army' from 22 June 1941 until its disbandment on 7 March 1942. On 22 June 1941 the division headquarters was in

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

. The formation of the division was not completed, and it consisted of only the 72nd High-Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment, which was composed of 34 serviceable

Tupolev SB The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB (russian: Скоростной бомбардировщик – ''Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik'' – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined ...

fast medium bombers. On 27 June 1941, the division was reinforced by 33 I-16s of the 155th Fighter Aviation Regiment. It operated from the beginning of the war in the area of

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...

and Byelomorsk. On 25 July 1941, the division made a raid on

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, losing one flight of nine planes, one of them knocked her. In general, the division launched strikes against ground forces of the enemy and provided air support to Soviet troops. At the end of August 1941 the division included 88 serviceable and 15 defective aircraft.

Units

* 72nd Bomber Aviation Regiment (22.06.1941 – 07.03.1942) * 65th Assault Aviation Regiment ( July 1941 – October 1941) (Assault Aviation Regiment) * 31st High-Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment (probably from September – 6 December 1941) * 155th Fighter Aviation Regiment (27.06.1941 – 23.11.1941) * 197th Fighter Aviation Regiment (24.07.1941 – October 1941) * 427th Fighter Aviation Regiment (from 29.10.1941) * 524th Fighter Aviation Regiment (from 13.10.1941) * 119th Separate Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron *2nd GVF Detachment (2-й авиационный гидроотряд гражданского воздушного флота)

Subordination

Commanders

* Colonel Alexander Bogorodetsky (?-18 July 1941) * Colonel Vasily Filin (18.07.1941-07.03.1942)

References

External links