"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
Cub Driver wrote:

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:05:54 -0500, Stephen Harding
wrote:

In fact, I don't think that many bomber raids against
Axis targets even originated from Soviet controlled
territory throughout the war

I can't think of any. Didn't the few planes that landed at Russian
bases simply refuel and return empty?

I think that initially that was the case, but as the war
progressed, some raids actually originated from Soviet
controlled territory.

The number of them was exceedingly small as I understand
it. The Soviets didn't really seem comfortable having US
bomb groups working from their territory. Cooperation was
never especially good.

After the war, a lot of the people who worked at the bases or who lived in
nearby towns were sent to Siberia to the Gulags and mines, as they had been
"tainted by the West." Stalin's orders. Those that survived were held for
years. Same thing happened to some of the POWs rescued from the Germans,
too....

This leads me to believe the Yak-9DD either didn't really
exist, or more likely, was just an experiment in range
enhancement with no real practical use for the Soviets.

Or a combination of that with a political exercise, something to hold before
their Allies as a gesture.

SMH