The clouds of war had finally burst upon the Soviet Union. Code-named "Operation Barbarossa," the June 22, 1941, attack by Nazi Germany came as a thunderclap in the night as signaled the start to one of history's most bloody and bitter conflicts.

Empoying the same blitzkrieg tactics that proved so successful in earlier conquests, the powerful Wehrmacht crushed all opposition and swiftly conquered huge tracts of Soviet territory. With relative ease, the hightly skilled German Luftwaffe swept the skies of Red air power, pulverized troop concentration and demolished Soviet industry.