Land-Lease Alaska Siberia Route (ALSIB)

[Bernard]

ALSIB was the Soviet Union portion of the Alaska-Siberian air road receiving Lend-Lease aircraft from the Northwest Staging Route. Aircraft manufactured in the United States were flown over this route for World War II combat service on the European Eastern Front.

United States ferry pilots delivered aircraft to Ladd Army Airfield in Fairbanks, Alaska. There each aircraft was serviced by USAAF personnel in preparation for Soviet inspection. After Soviet inspectors accepted the aircraft, five regiments of ferry pilots conveyed aircraft from Fairbanks to Soviet pilot training facilities near Krasnoyarsk. Each regiment was assigned to a specific segment of the route to become familiar with navigation and weather within that segment.

Single-seat Bell P-39 Airacobra and Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighters flew in groups with a pair of multi-engine North American B-25 Mitchell or Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers. The lead bomber navigated for the flight and the trailing bomber watched for stragglers. Bombers and Douglas C-47 Skytrains might fly independently, and C-47s transported ferry pilots east for new aircraft.

The ALSIB Route used following arifields.

Ladd Army Airfield
Galena Airport
Marks Army Airfield
Gambell Army Airfield
Uelkal
Anadyr
Markovo
Seymchan Airport
Zyryanka West Airport
Susuman Airport
Oymyakon
Khandyga
Ust-Maya
Yakutsk Airport
Aldan
Olyokminsk
Bodaybo Airport
Vitim Airport
Kirensk Airport
Ust-Kut Airport
Krasnoyarsk Northeast

(Source: Wikipedia)


Here the involved aircraft at Ladd AAF




and at final destination in Kranskoryask before reaching the battle fronts



Bernard

[Bernard]

Here some more screenshots of the Alaska-Siberia Route:


Curtiss P-40 Warhawk reaching Cambell Airfield, the last stop before heading to the Soviet mainland




landing at Cambell Airfield




Douglas C-47 over Bering Sea on the way to Uelkal 




The first C-47 touches down there on the airstrip.




During the mid-1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency suspected that a major bomber staging base was being built at Uelkal capable of reaching United States,[12] however the Soviets instead built the facility at Anadyr Ugolny Airport 102 miles (164 km) to the south and the Uelkal airfield fell into decline. The village is the most western settlement in Russia in the western hemisphere and actually the most western Eskimo settlements in the world.


Bernard