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Re: Unresponsive VVS.
There is little unknown about 2TAF, Nifty. We even have Operational Research Reports on its ineffectiveness, let alone the encyclopaedic reference books by Shores and Thomas, and shelves-full of memoirs.
We also know that Martel as military attache in Moscow in 1943 heard about the high regard in which the Il-2 was held by the Russians for its effectiveness. He raised the matter with the General Staff in London. Their response was the predictable "Nothing to see; pass along please".
This thread is an attempt to pause, and not to pass along, but to identify what is known about the VVS in its CAS role.
All I have read is that VVS CAS was unresponsive - and I assume Simpkin had his source for that statement, even if he did not reference it.
On many grounds, some of which I have mentioned, I find it difficult to imagine that the VVS was as ineffective as 2TAF.
But it's likely that there is no one in the West who can answer that question.
Perhaps someone in Russia has some of the answers?
Tony
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