During the Second World War, from 1941 onwards, Stalin's Soviet Union was joined in a close but awkward coalition with the Western allies. Military aid and intelligence flowed to the Soviets but virtually no troops. This episode from the archives explores the exception: a small group of US airmen who were sent to Russia to set up an air operation to bomb targets in the Third Reich. They called themselves the Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front and Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhii has uncovered new material which sheds light on their time in Stalin's Russia.© IWMFor more, subscribe to our Warfare Wednesday newsletter here. If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!To download the History Hit app, go to Android or Apple store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.