Interview with World War II Russian Pilot Evgeny Stepanov

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AH: There were other foreign volunteer airmen on the Republican side, some of whom flew alongside Soviet pilots. Did you get to meet any of those fliers?

Stepanov: During the initial stages of the civil war, until about the beginning of 1937, volunteer pilots from France, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, the United States and Austria also took part in the fighting, but by May of that year most of them had departed.

AH: What type of enemy aircraft did you encounter?

Stepanov: In dogfights I took on Fiat CR.32s, Romeo Ro.37s and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81s flown by Italian aircrews, and German Messerschmitt Bf-109s, Junkers Ju-86s, Heinkel He-111s and Dornier Do-17s flown by German airmen.

AH: The I-15 was generally regarded as being superior to the German Heinkel He-51 biplane fighter, and roughly equal to the Italian Fiat CR.32. Would you agree with that appraisal?

Stepanov: The I-15 easily outperformed the Fiat CR.32, especially in horizontal maneuvers. I never encountered the He-51 in the air.

AH: Did you have occasion to fly the I-16 monoplane in Spain or later, back in the USSR?

Stepanov: I flew the I-16 very little while in Spain, and then mainly on reconnaissance missions. I often flew it in the USSR, however, both before and after the Spanish campaign. The I-16 was a good aircraft, but it was rather unforgiving to inexperienced pilots.

AH: What was your impression of the Messerschmitt Bf-109B or Bf-109C fighters that the Condor Legion introduced to counter the I-16s over Spain?

Stepanov: I often came up against the Bf-109 in combat, especially in August 1937, when the Northern Front was closed. It performed well, but was inferior to the I-16 in vertical maneuverability.

AH: Do you have a record of any aerial victories over Spain? Do you recall the dates and other details of any of your combats there?

Stepanov: I personally shot down four CR.32s, two Bf-109s, one Ju-86, one Do-17, and two SM.81s. All of those kills were on the Aragon and Teruel fronts. My greatest success was on October 15, 1937, during our I-15 squadron’s attack on the airfield at Garanillos, near Saragossa. According to subsequent reconnaissance reports, we destroyed six Fiat CR.32s, three Junkers Ju-52/3ms and three Heinkel He-45s on the ground. We also damaged about 20 other Italian and German aircraft.

AH: I understand that you were credited with a double night taran, or midair ramming attack. Can you describe how you accomplished that remarkable double victory?

Stepanov: I did not really carry out a premeditated ramming attack. On the night of November 27-28, 1937, I shot down two SM.81 bombers in the vicinity of Barcelona. During this attack, I had to ram one of the bombers with the left leg of my Chaika’s undercarriage. There was no special technique for ramming, nor could there be, since that was a last-ditch method in combat. During World War II, Soviet pilots carried out more than 580 rammings of German aircraft, after unsuccessful attempts to destroy them with gunfire.

AH: When and how were you withdrawn from Spain?

Stepanov: ‘Withdrawn’ is putting it rather mildly. My last mission was on January 17, 1938, over the town of Ojos Negros. I was shot down by either Italian or Nationalist aircraft. I spent the next six months in various prisons–Saragossa, Salamanca and San Sebastian. I was taken out to be shot on three occasions. The Republican government managed to exchange me via the International Red Cross for some German POWs. I departed Spain in July 1938, passing through France and Belgium, and then on to Leningrad by ship.

AH: It is reported that many Soviet airmen who had served in Spain fell victim to Stalin’s purges in 1937-38 — a terrible waste of men whose experience might have helped against the Luftwaffe in 1941-42. Were you aware of those purges, and did you know any flying comrades who ‘disappeared’ during them?

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Aerial Combat, Aviation History, World War II

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