Set during World War II, the story follows Johnny 'Red' Redburn, a British pilot leading the Falcon Squadron unit of the Soviet Air Forces on the Eastern Front.

Written by Tom Tully and initially drawn by Joe Colquhoun, the strip was the longest-running in Battle's history, only ending in 1987 when financial constraints saw it switched to reprints.

Battle editor Dave Hunt commissioned the story as part of his attempt to balance the different services depicted in the comic, which was lacking an enduring aerial serial.

He spoke to Tom Tully, an experienced and prolific writer with long stints on "The Steel Claw", "Mytek the Mighty" and "Roy of the Rovers" among his many credits, not to mention strips for Battle such as "The Team That Went To War".

The pair went backwards and forwards over how to make the idea of a British pilot serving on the Eastern Front, and picked the doughty Hawker Hurricane as the character's plane of choice - a decision Garth Ennis would describe as "the perfect mount for the down-at-hell, working class Johnny Redburn".

The initial episodes were inspired by Arthur Burr, an RAF pilot who used a Hurricat to protect an Arctic convoy before flying the fighter to a safe landing in Russia in September 1942.

"[4] While "Johnny Red" remained popular with readers, as the 1980s progressed sales of both Battle and comics began to decline, and new editor Terry Magee attempted to update the title, including producing a set of licensed strips based on Palitoy's Action Force toyline.

[13] 19-year old Liverpudlian Johnny "Red" Redburn is serving in the galley of a merchant ship on an Arctic convoy to the Soviet Union in November 1941; he had previously joined the RAF but was thrown out in disgrace following a training accident that kills an instructor.

Realising he can do more for the war effort fighting in Russia than potentially being imprisoned at home, he volunteers to join the Falcons, under the acting command of Captain Alex Semoyov after the squadron leader is killed.

The Commissar planned to kill Johnny himself by staging a friendly fire incident, while Redburn also makes a German archenemy of Luftwaffe ace Lieutenant Erich von Jurgen.

Some of the pressure is relieved when Johnny saves the life of minister Nikita Lychenko, who nominates him for the Order of Lenin, and while he captures von Jurgen he refuses to have his rival killed in a cowardly fashion, allowing him to escape.

The squadron gets a new commanding officer with in the ample shape of the cruel Colonel Grigor Yaraslov, who drives the pilots relentlessly - leading to a drastic rise in casualties as the German Army advances on Leningrad.

[17] The squadron then returns to the defence of the renamed Stalingrad, and after a gruelling battle the Germans are forced back, with Johnny fighting another duel with von Jurgen.

Tokoyev arranged for Johnny to take command of the Falcons, and Redburn once again clashed with the NKVD to prevent mistreatment of prisoners, once again helping von Jurgen escape in return for the German ace inadvertently saving him from execution.

[20] The fighting in Stalingrad continued, and Redburn - now nicknamed the 'Red Devil', and wracked by nightmares of his dead comrades - worked together with Captain Nina Petrova, a daring female Po-2 'sewing machine' biplane pilot, and he survived the bloody battle despite a loss of memory.

He was given a new customised blood-red De Havilland Mosquito and after mysterious dreams sets out to find the injured Yakob at his hometown of Lubyan, which is in the centre of vicious fighting due to its strategic position overlooking Kursk.

[27] Arriving in Liverpool, he found his mother had been killed in another bombing, while ministry official Fisher holds charges of impersonating an officer over Johnny, ordering him to function as a troubleshooter, with Ratov as his assistant.

Now personally equipped with a Typhoon, Johnny's job was made harder when Pelham was killed, with Krupolev offering to act as a witness in return for Redburn turning a blind eye to his savagery.

[31] By 1944 the Russian Army was advancing West through Ukraine with Falcon Squadron at the fore, even briefly deploying on the ground to help a penal battalion capture a ridge.

He was joined by the sole surviving Falcon, the injured Helga Kaganovitch, and loyal mechanic Rodimitz, who are on leave from a diplomatic flight and soon find the exploits of Johnny Red have made him a stories hero.