[kirche]

I've seen a copy of this photo on several forums. There were opinions of some experts that the photo shows the plane in the A-20B modification. This modification had a weak reservation, weapons, there were no protected fuel tanks and the aircraft was not adapted for mounting large bombs and torpedoes (it required a lot of refinement). This modification was very outdated by the beginning of 1944 in General and in particular was practically not used in the VVS of Fleet (only rarely in as a scout). It is very strange that such an aircraft was flown by a division commander in 1944, when the entire division was armed with upgraded a-20C and A-20G aircraft. There are also questions - why did the major General of the fleet in 1944 wear the uniform of the red army, which is not typical for the fleet? This refers to the "trousers-breeches" ("sharovary", "galife"), which can be seen on the body of the deceased pilot. In Naval aviation, this element of clothing was canceled in the fall of 1941 and generally fell out of use by naval pilots by the end of 1942. Did the Navy General dislike regular uniforms? Also a question - why was the pilot's body lying in the Navigator's cabin? Pulled out of the cockpit (it's open) and put the body in the Navigator's cabin? The photo also shows a snow-covered landscape and very warm clothes of soldiers, which is not typical for Yevpatoria in January-February (in those years the average temperature there was about 0 degrees Celsius). In General, the photo raised a lot of questions during the discussion, so that we can't definitely talk about the version of the loss of 30.01.1944.