IL-2 "from Lena for the pope"

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At the beginning of February 1943 pilots 337 th Attack Aviation Regiment took the plane, the fuselage of which was an unusual inscription: "From Lena - for Dad».
This attack was built with funds collected by Soviet children. The first installment made pupil 612-th Moscow school Lena Azarenkova - daughter of the deceased pilot, Senior Lieutenant A. Azarenkova. She gave the construction of the aircraft due to its savings tree and toys 110 rubles. Thousands of children from across the country supported the girl, made a contribution of his small savings to build this airplane. Following the example of Lena 100 thousand students gathered Stavropol Territory, 1 million rubles - students of the Ivanovo region.

Pilots 337 th Attack Aviation Regiment wrote to her:
"Dear Helen! We got into a combat system built on the initiative of the collected money on your plane. We assure you that we are fighting friends of your father, the German thugs revenge for his death. In combat aircraft - attack aircraft we have written your name and gave his best friend of your dad ... ».

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