HERALD OF THE AIR FLEET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01043R002400050010-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 66
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2013
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: January 1, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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AIR TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE TRANSLATION
This publication is a translation of Herald of the Air Fleet, (Vestnik
VozdushnogoFlota)a monthly journal of the Soviet Air Force published by
Military Publishing House, Ministry of Defense, USSR.
(TITLE UNCLASSIFIED)
HERALD OF THE AIR FLEET
(Vestnik Vozdushnogo Flota)
Every effort has been made to provide as accurate a translation as
practicable. Sovietpropaganda has notbeen deleted, as it is feltthat such
deletion could reduce the value of the translation to some portion of the
intelligence community. Political and technical phraseology of the orig-
inal text has been adhered to in order to avoid possible distortion of in-
formation.
? Users and evaluators of this translation
racies, or have comments or suggestions
Commander, Air Technical Intelligence
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio,
who note technical inaccu-
are urged to submit them to:
Center, Attention: AFCIN 4B,
0
AIR TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER
WRIGHT -PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE
OHIO
AF-WP.ONJUL U 400.
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Table of Contents
Guarding the Achievements of Great October.
Editorial
V. I. Lenin on Developing and Strengthening the
Soviet Air Force
A. G. Rytov
.A.gainst the Black Baron . . .. . . ? ? ? ? ? . . 20
I. K. Spatar el'
In the First Battles with Fascism ..... ? . ? ? ? ? ..... 36
M. N. Yakushin
New Tactical. Procedures Born in Battle . ? . ? . . . . ?. .. . 51
A. I. Pokryshkin
In the Kuban' Sky ... ... . . . . . . ..... . .. . . . . . ...... 59
G. A. Pshenyanik
Years and People. . ? ?? ? ? ? ............ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 6 ?
70
S. S. Romazanov
Ordinary People . . . . ? ? .......... . . . . .. . . . ..... 80
Anat.Khorynzhiy
Daring. . . . 87
.............. . .......... .
F. A.. Vazhin
The Fastest Passenger Plane . 98
A. A. Arkhanger skiy
Some Problems of Rocketry ? ..... .102
T. M. Mel'kumov
When You Love Your Work 116
M. F. Rebrov
[The two pictures on page 114 and 115 constituted a
color insert in the original. They are reproductions of pic-
tures by Prof. G.I. Pokrovskiy showing a spaceship with
aerodynamic design which will ensure return to earth of the
carrier-rocket stages and the spaceship itself.
The picture on page 114 shows the blast-off and the
action of the booster rockets. The picture on page 115
shows the second-stage boosters working.]
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GUARDING THE
ACHIEVEMENTS OF
GREAT OCTOBER
? Forty years ,ago, by the will of the Communist Party ? led. by the great Lenin,
the Armed Force's of the first Soviet country in the world were established. On
23 February the Soviet people will observe Soviet Army and. Navy Day, which has
become one of the most popular and beloved holidays.
The founding of the Soviet Army, Air Force and Navy was one of the conditions
making for victory of the Soviet people over external and. internal counterrevolution.
V. I. Lenin taught that a revolution is worth something only if it is able to defend. it-
self. The Great October Socialist Revolution proved., in fact, that it could defend
itself and protect its achievements. The Armed Forces carry out their task of de-
fending the October achievements with dignity and honor.
The Soviet Armed Forces were fostered by the Communist 'Party and by the great
leader of the working people, V. I. Lenin ? the wise strategist of the Socialist Rev-
olution, the founder of the Communist Party and of the Soviet State. Preparing the
working class for the overthrow of autocracy, for the liquidation of the power of the
landowners and the capitalists, V. I. Lenin foresaw that the exploiting classes would.
not voluntarily leave the historical arena. They would resist desperately in order
to prolong their supremacy. Therefore even during the period of preparation for
and development of the first Russian Revolution)V. I. Lenin called the working class
to arms and. to the creation of fighting detachments. V.1. Lenin taught the 'working -
detachments the taCtics.and methods of street and barricade fighting; he organized
their supply of arms; and. he looked after the leader Cadres. .
The Red battle standard, stained with the blood of the combatants of '1905, was
taken up like a relay baton and raised still higher by the fighters of the Red Guard
detachments of 1917, hardened. in the 'fire of October's battles.
The passing of power to. th,e hands of the Soviets did. not Mean that henceforth the
Revolution would. develop Peacefully. On literally the day. after the overthrow of the
Provisional Government .an armed. counterrevolutionagainst the Soviet government
broke out. Kerenskiy, fleeing from Petrograd. in a motor vehicle of the .American'
Embassy,' moved the Cossack 'units with Gen. Krasnov in command towards Petro-
grad..
Detachments of Red Guard.s and revolutionary seamen advanced, to the front. With
a violent attack the troops Of the Revolution crushed. the White Guard. regimenti,.
Cupied Tsarskoye Selo and.,Gatchina, arrested. the staff of the cavalry corps ?headed
by Krasnov and disarmed the Cossacks.
In the following weeks and months counterrevolutionary centers on the Don, in
the Kuban' and in the Southern Urals were destroyed... The conspiracies of the
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P.
Editorial
White Guardsmen could not stop the triumphal march of Soviet power. The armed.
workers showed that they were a great force, capable of defending the achievements
of the Revolution.
International imperialism came to the aid of the overthrown exploiting classes of
Russia. , The millionaires and billionaires of all the countries in the world could.
not reconcile themselves to the victory of the proletarian revolution, a challenge to
the entire capitalistic system.
The country was threatened by mortal danger. In order to overcome this danger
it was necessary to Create our own Soviet army, built on essentially new principles,
an army whose weapons for the first time in history were used, not against the people,
but for the defense of revolutionary achievements and of the freedom of the Workers;
not for the seizure of foreign territory, but for the defense of our native land against
imperialist invaders.
"The Declaration of the Rights of the Workingman and of the Exploited People"
written by Lenin and published on 17 (4) January 1918 proclaimed: "In the interest
of guaranteeing the absolute power of the working masses and, the elimination of any
possibility of the restoration of the exploiters' power, the arming of the workers,
the formation of a Socialist Red, Army of workers and peasants, and the complete
disarmament of the propertied, classes are decreed."
On 28 (15) January 1918 V.I. Lenin signed. the decree of the Council of People's
Commissars on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and on
14 (1) February the Soviet Government issued. a decree on the organization of the
Workers' and Peasants' Red Navy. These historical documents formulating the
Leninist principles for the building of the armed forces of a dictatorship' of the pro-
letariat were the foundation of the Soviet Army and Navy.
The. creation of a regular Red Army was very timely, since the Soviet Republic
soon found itself in a fiery ring of fronts. For more than three years the young
armed forces repulsed the onslaught of predatory imperialists and the internal coun-
ter-revolution. The Soviet people experienced and. overcame severe privations and.
unheard' of difficulties. Gathering together all its 'strength, the Soviet people sup-
plied the Army with weapons, ammunition, and foodstuffs.
? International detachments and units, composed of revolutionarily disposed Chi-
nese, Hungarian, Polish, Yugoslav, Finnish, Rumanian, German and Czechoslovak
comrades, fought shoulder to shoulder with Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians,
Latvians and,representatiVes of the other peoples of our country against the enemies
of the Revolution.
The source of the strength and power of the Red Army, the inspiration for its
victories, was the Communist Party. Under its leadership a genuine People's
Army was created? an army representing the friendship and. brotherhood of the
peoples of our country, imbued. With a sense Of international duty.
Displaying unprecedented. heroism, high ideals, and. devotion to the cause of
socialism, the Soviet people and. its young Army routed the hordes of White Guards-
men and interventionists, all armed to the teeth.
During the period of peaceful socialist building, the imperialists attempted more
than once t? .test the strength of our bord.ers and. always met with a decisive rebuff.
,However, they continued to nurse their bloody plans for the destruction of the Soviet
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Editorial
Union and in 1941 hurled, against our Motherland the striking force of imperialism --
the army of Hitlerite Germany. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people began.
This was a severe test of the durability of the Soviet system and. of the viability of
our socialist state.
The Soviet Armed Forces and the entire Soviet people, girding themselves for the
sacred Patriotic War, broke the back of the Fascist beast, smashed the Hitlerite
armies, and. thereby showed. again the fate awaiting those who base their adventurist
calculations on the fragility of the socialist system.
The heroic deeds of the Soviet soldiers ancl the remarkable victories at Moscow
and. Stalingrad., at Kursk and Belgorod., on the Dnepr and. the Neman, at Budapest
and.Vienna, and. in the final battle of Berlin, will never fade in the memory of nations!
Soviet pilots displayed great skill, courage and. heroism during the, years of the
Great Patriotic War. Fighting for their beloved. Motherland., in the name of her free-
dom an4 independence, day and. night they dealt crushing blows to the enemy, destroy-
ing his manpower and equipment.
With each day the skill of our pilots grew; ways and means for the operational and.
tactical utilization of aviation were perfected.; the control of air detachments from the
ground and in the air was improved..
In battles with the enemy our pilots displayed. unparalleled. valor, heroism and.
courage, and commanders and chiefs exhibited ability and great skill in directing
air operations.
Trained by the Communist Party, our pilots and navigators, engineers and tech-
nicians, and men from the various branches of the Air Force specialties honorably
fulfilled their duty to the Motherland. The Soviet people will never forget the cour-
age and. heroism displayed by them in the Great Patriotic War.
The Soviet people and. its Armed Forces bore the main burden of WWII. The
people and soldiers of Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Albania and, subsequent-
ly, also the armed forces of Rumania, Bulgaria, and other European' countries, cour-
ageously fought side by side with the. Soviet people and its heroic Army against Fas-
cism. The great Chinese people and its valiant People's Liberation Army played a
large role in the utter defeat of Japanese imperialism.
The organizer and inspirer of the universally significant and historic victories of
the Soviet Union was the glorious Communist Party. In its severe trials the ,Party
drew still closer to the people and to the masses of soldiers. The Soviet soldier
considered it a great honor to go into combat as a member of the Communist Party.
The constant and immediate direction by the Central 'Committee of the CPSU and
by the Soviet, Government of all policy in the field of military development always has
been, is, and will be the deciding factor in the might of the Armed Forces of the
USSR.
The Party organizations and political organs of the Soviet Army, armed. by the
resolution of the October Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, are strength-
ening their influence on the entire process of forming Soviet soldiers, on the raising
of the morale and political condition of the troops and of their combat preparedness.
Ideological and political life in the Armed Forces has been revitalized. 'All person-
nel have rallied still more closely about the Communist Party, its Central Committee
and. the Soviet Government.
The Soviet Union, the Chinese People's Republic, and. all the countries in the so-
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Editorial
cialist camp invariably and consistently fight for the easing of international tension.
However, the bosses .of the imperialist camp are stubbornly pursuing a policy of ag-
gravating relations among states, of further intensification of the arms race and ex-
tension of aggressive blocs.
As long as imperialism exists it is impossible to relax Our vigilance against the
intrigues of foreign enemies; it is necessary to increase the might of the Soviet Union
and its defensive capability, which is in the interest not only of the peoples of the
USSR and of the socialist camp, but of all humanity. The powerful Armed Forces
of the Soviet Union, always prepared for combat, are one of the means for curbing
the imperialist aggressors and are the best guarantee for the preservation of world
peace.
The basis for the steady increase in the strength, of the Soviet Armea. Forces has
been the general rise in the 'national economy of our country, and the success in the
development of heavy industry, science, and technology in the post-war period.. The
fortieth year of the existence of our state has been marked. by especially remarkable
achievements of Soviet science and. technology. Soviet scientists, designers, engi-
neers and. workers performed the greatest feat in carrying out the launching of arti-
ficial earth satellites, thereby showing the entire world. of what the creative genius
and. constructive labor of the people of a socialist society,' free of the fetters of
capitalist oppression, is capable.
The Soviet Armed. Forces, created. and trained, by the Communist Party, are at
the present time stronger than they have ever been. They are capable of crushing
any aggressor if he makes encroachments on our Motherland.. They now are not
only completely mechanized, but have the most up-to-date arms. We have atomic
and. nUclear.arms and. rockets of various ranges including intercontinental rockets.
".,.'We have launched. a satellite on the principle of an intercontinental ballistic'
rocket," said N. S. KhrUshchev. "...If required, we can launch more artificial
satellites; we shall launch. as many as are necessary-, because for this we require
nothing new in technology. "
, Our Air Force has risen to a higher stage in its development. It now has at its
disposal superior jet aircraft and the latest instruments which, permit the solution
of any problem, at any time of .year, day and night, and at any distance.
As recently as 1957 our country's aircraft pool was reinforced by such remark-
able aircraft. as the Tu-110, An-10, 11-18 and. Tu-114. The latter is the largest
- passenger aircraft in the world, capable. of covering vast distances. without landing.
During the .past year our aviation acquired the new Mi-6 helicopter with two turbo-
prop engines.
Combat aircraft created. by Soviet designers, engineers, and. workers broke the
so-called. sound barrier long ago. They possess high maneuverability, powerful
armament, and. first- clas s equipment.
The men of the Air Force are welcoming the Fortieth Anniversary of the Armed
Forces with new successes. Their combat _skill has increased.. This is encouraged.
by socialist competition which embraces the men of the various' specialties. Wide-
spread. preparation for elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR revitalized. agi-
tational, propagandistic, Party and. political work; 'enlisted, aviators in the struggle
for. a further increase in training, combat and political preparedness,' and for the
strengthening of military discipline and. combat readiness of the units and. outfits.
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In the Air Force the number of rated. pilots and navigators, and of outstanding spe-
cialists, outstanding crews, flights and squadrons, has increased considerably.
Great success in combat and political. preparation' was achieved during the past
training year by personnel of the units and outfits commanded. by N.F. Klimenko, -
P. A. barmoyan, I. N. Il' in, A. P. Sitnik,ov and A. N. ProlOiorov.
Among the most 'advanced was the bomber squadron commanded. by Military Pilot
First Class Communist Maj. Ye.D. Bogd.anov.. The crews of this squadron success-
fully carried out Many bombing missions from high altitudes, on the run, on unfamil-
iar bombing ranges, day and night under adverse weather conditions. One of the
best squadrons in a fighter unit was the one commanded by Military Pilot First Class
Maj..V.I.Fomin, master of aerial gunnery.
The squadron commanded. by Communist Maj. N. S. Gorskiy obtained, good. results
in its combat and political training. Here all Communists became outstanding' men.
Maj. Gorskiy, as' one of the best air squadron commander's of the group, for the con-
scientious fulfillment of his military duty and. for outstanding combat and. political
preparation, was awarded an Honorary diploma by a decree of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the Karelian ASSR.
The squadron commanded by Military Pilot First Class, Communist F. F. Shiba yev
has been operating for twelve years without flight accidents. This has been achieved
because of the untiring struggle for the exact fulfillment by the per sonn.el of the re-
quirements of regulations, directions and. instructions regulating flight operations,
and. because of the uncompromising attitude of the commander and the Party organiza-
tion tOward. shortcomings.
Engineers, technicians, and. junior Air Force specialists set an example in carrying
out assigned missions. Among the outstanding men of the Air Force Engineer Serv-
ice are. Air Force Engineer Service Deputy Commanders Yu. G. Mizyuk and. V. N. Pi-
sarev, Regulation Inspection Service Graup Chiefs, officers LI. Pavlov and. A. F.-
Svirid.ov,' TECh.{ Technical Maintenance Unit], Chief, Engineer May. S. A. Nikolayev,
Radio and. Radar Equipment Engineer, officer V. Ya.Fishelev, Flight Technician
V K. Kornev and others.
The resolution of the October Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU .has
given rise to anew surge in the activity of the entire VVS [Air Force] personnel.
Political organs and Party organizations are going more.deeply into, all aspects of
combat preparation, military discipline and training of personnel. On the basis. of
a business-like criticism of principles, Communists boldly reveal defects in instruc-
tion and. training of soldiers and. simultaneously help, com.ma.nders to take timely
measures for the elimination of shortcomings which hinder an increase in the combat
preparedness of the units and outfits.
In the new training year aviators are confronted by the problems of further combat
improvement and. the acquisition of fixed. habits in using the latest equipment with which
the Air Force is outfitted. Pilots of the bomber, fighter and. other Air Force
branches must perfect their habits in carrying out training and combat missions with-
out simplifications, against a tactical background, and. in anticipation of heavy enemy
countermeasures.
It is necessary to devote the greatest attention to the study of equipment and the
mastery of it. Only the pilot who is capable of carrying out combat missions in any
kind of weather, day and night, can be consid.ered. thoroughly trained to defend the
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Motherland.. This is achieved by intensive training on the ground and. in the air.
If a pilot has sufficient and regular practice in instrument flying and systematic
training in instrument landings, then he is not afraid of any weather.
To be able to fly well and to have perfect mastery of the technique of piloting is
still mit all. It is necessary to learn ta carry out combat missions successfully:
to break through any enemy screening force, to drop bombs with accuracy on assign-
ed targets and to gain victories in aerial 'combat. It is necessary for a pilot to have
'a perfect knowledge of tactics. For this purpose every flight should be saturated
with tactical elements; new tactical methods should be considered beforehand and
skillfully used; and the experiences of topnotch air fighters should be studied.
,Our bombers must fly for great distances', operate on Unfamiliar bombing ranges,
and carry out the greater part of their practice bombings on tactical targets. It is
not possible to consider a bomber crew thoroughly trained, if it cannot bomb at night
or through clouds, since combat operations in modern warfare can develop at any
time of the year or day. Every navigator must have a perfect mastery of naviga-
tion, using for this purpose various up-to-date facilities; he must be able to approach
an assigned target with accuracy at the prescribed time and to hit it precisely.
Our fighters and bombers must work hard. and persistently to perfect their com-
bat skill. By virtue of their function they are duty-bound to master complex pilot-
ing, firing at ground and aerial targets, bombing of small-scale targets on the battle-
field, and to develop various method.s employing their aircraft in combat.
The engineering and technical staff is faced with a formidable and. exacting task.
Engineers, technicians, and aviation specialists are obliged, to study the aviation
equipment entrusted. to them, and. to reach such a state that the aircraft serviced, by
them will always be ready for combat.
The rear service outfits are called upon to support in full the aviation units with
everything necessary; to maintain the airfields and the facilities for safeguarding
training and combat activities in constant operational readiness; to raise the level
of discipline, order and organization.
'Soviet soldiers are the heirs of the glorious and heroic traditions- in which the
'history of our Armed Forces abounds. To preserve and propagate these traditions
and to guard. the Great October achievements vigilantly is the sacred duty of every
soldier, a matter of his honor and. dignity.
In response to the great faith of its people and of the great Communist Party, the
personnel of the Air Force will raise the glory of our battle standards still higher.
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Military Navigator First Class Maj .S. S. Korzhov has 53 commendations for suc-
ceasfully carrying out practice bombings on various targets. In the post-war
period he has been honored with three government awards for success in combat
training: The Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and the Order of the
Red Star, Communist Korzhov has been elected a member of the unit's Party
bureau for the third year running.
In the photo: Maj. S. S. Korzhov (far right) tells his comrades about bombing results.
Photo by A. I. Doteenko
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V. I. LENIN ON
DEVELOPING AND
STRENGTHENING THE
SOVIET AIR FORCE
Lt. Gen. of the Air Force
A. G. RYTOV
The building and strengthening of the Soviet Air Force as a component part of the
Armed Forces of the Soviet State are indissolubly linked with the activity of the Com-
munist Party and its great leader Vladimir Il'ich Lenin. V. I. Lenin left the Soviet
people and their sage director the Communist Party -- a great theoretical herit-
age.
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Air Force, and Navy, the elaboration of questions pertaining to the military defense
of the first socialist Fatherland in the world, and many other problems, were ob-
jects of special concern to V.I. Lenin.
In many of V. I. Lenin's works, in a number of his addresses at party congresses
and conferences, at assemblies and meetings, in his military correspondence, and
also in the practical work of directing the armed defense of the Soviet State, we see
a creative application of Marxism in the military field and. a skillful implementation
of the basic principles of Soviet military science and military development.
On the basis of the law which he discovered concerning the unequal development
of capitalism in the epoch of imperialism, V.I. Lenin came to the conclusion that
it was possible for socialism to triumph first in one individual country.
The old worlds warned Lenin,will not accept the triumph of the new order; the
exploiting classes will make attempts to destroy the first socialist state in the world.
In order to resist imperialist invasion, the state of the proletarian dictatorship
Vladimirll'ich preached, must have powerful armed forces.
Building the 'Army, Air Force, and Navy of the Socialist State was an extremely
difficult task, not only because earlier Marxists had never really raised this question
even theoretically, but also because it had to be accomplished under conditions of
.extraordinarily severe fighting against foreign imperialists and a domestic counter-
revolution.
One of the greatest services of our own Communist Party consists in that, under
these very difficult conditions of devastation, starvation, poverty, and a severe class
struggle, it was able to establish the basis of a new socialist military organization;
to develop the fundamental principles for building the Soviet Armed Forces, includ-
ing the Air Force; and to create a Red Army, Air Force, and Navy that were capable
of crushing the external and internal forces of counterrevolution.
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V.I. Lenin on Developing and Strengthening the Soviet Air Force
Aviation long ago attracted the attention of V. I. Lenin.
Many documents attest to the fact that even in the early period of aeronautical
development, he manifested a very lively interest in it as a new type of engineering.
Even in his work "Imperialism As the Highest Stage of Capitalism", Lenin called.
attention to problems in the development of aeronautics and in the production of fly-
ing machines in the early twentieth century, emphasizing that this field had a great
future. In 1916, summing up the results of studying the highest stage of capitalism,
Lenin again turned his attention to the problems of -aeronautics. In his works on the
war of 1914-1918, he noted the applied, military significance of dirigibles and pointed
out that one of the special features of WW I was the movement of armies "for tens
of versts at the request of fliers".
With the triumph of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Communist Party
and. V.I. Lenin personally devoted, considerable attention to solving the problems as-
sociated. with establishing the Soviet Air Force.
As soon as Soviet power was established, Vladimir Illich directed all the work of
the Communist Party in forming an Air Force.
On 28 October 1917, when the troops of Kerenskiy and. Krasnov had captured Gat-
china and Tsarskoye Selo, V.I. Lenin, arriving at the headquarters of the Petrograd
Military District, gave orders to form a.detachrnent of fliers immediately and to
assign it to the corps airfield. Lenin's instructions were carried out. In the order
of the day issued. by the command.er of the Petrograd Military District on 29 October
1917, it was stated: "...air units are to bring all combat machines to a state of com-
bat readiness. Four airplanes are to be at the corps airfield at dawn and are to
await orders."
In that same period, the first revolutionary unit of air administration -- the Bu-
reau of Commissars of Aviation and. Aeronautics ? was organized under the Revo-
lutionary Military Committee in Smornyy. - At the instructions of the Party's Cen-
tral Committee, the Bureau immediately began to organize the defense of aviation
materiel, to set up the first socialist air detachments, and to recruit for them re-
liable cadres devoted to the Revolution. In December 1917, there was created. the
AU-Russian Collegiurn for Administering the Air Force of the Republic.
A decree of the Sovnarkom Council of Peoples Commissars] concerning the
fdrMation of the Worker-Peasant Red ,Army, which was signed by V. I. Lenin, also
served. as the basis for forming regular air units in Petrograd, Moscow, and other
cities of Soviet Russia, despite the opposition of some old specialists who insisted.
that creation of an air force was beyond the strength of the ravaged country.
An important role in the work of the first air units was played by the revolution-
ary military committees established by the Communist Party. They locally re-
cruited flying and technical personnel for the units, protected these personnel from
counterrevolution-minded officers, strengthened order and discipline, and inventoried,
protected, and distributed aviation materiel. By the beginning of 1919, 61 air de-
tachments had already been set up.
The quantitative increase in air units and the need for better utilization of them
in combat on the fronts of the Civil War necessitated improvement in the agencies
of administration. In place of the All-Russian Collegium For Administering the
Air Force, a Main Administration of the Worker-Peasant Air Force was organized
in May. 1918 and local agencies of this Administration were set up in the districts.
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4
The successes of Military Pilot First Class Capt.A. P. Samsonov in mastering
new equipment have been distinguished. by two government awards -- the Order of
the Red. Banner and. the Order of the Red. Star. He skillfully accomplishes bombing
of various objectives under adverse weather conditions. Communist Samsonov con-
ducts considerable political education work in the sub;-units.- As secretary' of the
Party Bureau, Capt. Samsonov has done much to improve the quality of combat train-
ing of the personnel in the sub-units. All the Communists in the squadron are out-
standing in political and combat training.
In the photo: Capt". A. P. Samsonov preparing for the next minion.
Photo by A. I. Dotsenko.
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V. I. Lenin on Developing and Strengthening the Soviet Air Force 11
In that same year, a Field. Administration of Aviation and. Aeronautics of the Army
in the Field (Aviadarm) was formed und.er the RVS [Revolutionary Military Council]
to direct the military activity of aviation and. balloon units.
There are documents attesting to the fact that V. I. Lenin devoted, great attention
to the combat utilization of aircraft during the Civil War.
In the spring of 1918, American and Anglo-French intervention forces landed. in
the north of Soviet Russia. V.I. Lenin gave instructions that aircraft be used to
help our troops in the fight against the interventionists. Although some aviation
specialists thought that, inasmuch as there' were no airfields in the north,air craft
could not be used, the local workers nevertheless carried out Lenin's instructions,
and. the fliers began successful action against the foreign usurpers. When the situa-
tion on the northern front became more serious, V. I. Lenin telegraphed M. S. Kedrov:
"You must now make up the losses, reach Kotlas, send. pilots there immediately,
and organize the defense of Kotlas at all costs."
In accordance with the instructions of the Party's Central Committee, the new air
detachments were sent to the aid. of the ground units at the Civil War fronts. Thus,
a detachment of. reconnaissance and. fighter aircraft was sent to aid the defenders of
Tsaritsyn, and. help was given to the troops defending Astrakhan' under S. M. Kirov.
On Lenin's initiative, the Sovnarkom strengthened the air units on the Eastern Front
that were fighting Kolchak's army. With the active support of aircraft, the Red.
Army turned, back the advance of the White Poles into the Soviet country. The Party's
Central Committee sent aircraft to strengthen the troops on the Crimean front, so
as to hasten the defeat of Wrangel.
In 1919, the breakthrough of General Mamontov's cavalry corps into our rear at
the Southern front and the general advance by Denikin posed. a serious threat to. the
Red Army. V. I. Lenin considered it imperative to eliminate Mamontov's cavalry
at that time, and on 28 August 1919 he wired the RVS of the Southern front: "Extreme-
ly disturbed by Mamontov's successes. He may do Us great harm by destroying roads
and. storehouses". On 4 September 1919, Lenin sent the following request.to- the
Deputy Chairman of the Republic Revvoyeniovet [Revolutionary Military Council]:
"(Cavalry is powerless against a low-flying-airplane).
"... Can you not order military scientist X. Y. Z. to come up with an answer
(quickly): airplanes against cavalry? Examples. Flying very low. Examples. In
order to give instructions based on 'science'.. :Lenin".
At the personal behest of Lenin, a detachment of flight instructors from the Mos-
Cow Flying School was sent to fight against Mamontov's cavalry, and interceptor fight-
ers and heavy bombers of the "'rya Muromets" type were sent into the battle; 'help-
ing to hasten the defeat of Mamontov's cavalry.
? Learning of the uprising in Kolchak's rear, V. I. Lenin directed. the Air Force to
maintain communication with the partisans and. sent the following telegram to the
RVS of the Eastern Front:
"I have learned...about the uprising in Kustanay and the advance of the insurgents
against Chelyabinsk...All effort must be made to join up with them. What steps are
you taking? Are you sending them an airplane? If there is no aviation fuel, we can
probably get some by exerting pressure. Wire me in detail. Lenin".
In a number of memoranda and. telegrams, V. I. Lenin pointed, out the use Of 'air-
craft in the fight against banditry. On 11 June 1919, he Wired. to Simbirsls: "Pay
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12
A G R toy
special attention to the uprising in the Orenburg and Ural districts... consider
whether the insurgents cannot be beaten by airplanes".
In 1921, Soviet pilots participated in the defeat of the counterrevolutionary bands
of Malchno in the Ukraine and Antonov in the Tambov locale. During the suppression
of the Kronshtadt mutiny, the Air Force flew 137 sorties in three days.
IN BATTLES
At Kazan'
On 23 August 1918, the air forces operating near Kazan' were assigned, to bomb
enemy units in the area of Uslony. It was a foul day. The gusty wind, raising
clouds of dust, literally tore the little "Nieuports" from their parking are.as. How-
ever, this did. not stop the pilots. Assigned. to bomb the enemy
were group commander I. U. Pavlov and. pilot F. A. Ingaunis.
After a run of no more than 30 m, the aircraft lifted, off the
ground. and. quickly climbed, to an altitude of 600-800 m. The pi-
lots held. two bombs in their laps.
In less than an hour, Pavlov and. Ingaunis returned. De-
spite the difficult conditions under which the flight was made,
they had. fulfilled: their mission.
During the Civil War years Ingaunis flew many such mis-
sions.. - For .suceessful combat action in the area of Belgorod,
he Was d.ecorated. with the Order of the Red Banner in 1919.
*
?
F. A. Ingaunis
4
?
In the Battles for Ufa
? Red military pilots manifested, great heroism in 1919 on the Eastern front, par-
ticularly in the battles for Ufa.
In the area of Ufa alone, more than fifty missions were flown. Particularly
distinguishing himself was Military Pilot A. I. Tomashevskiy, who was decorated
with the Order of the Red Banner for his part in this operation.
During preparations for this operation, he flew reconnaissa.nce flights under
severe weather conditions and. at all times of day and night over entrenched posi-
tions Occupied by Kolchak's units on the other bank of the Belaya River, and. he in.-
variably brought back valuable information for our command. During the forcing
of the Belaya River and the storming of Ufa, Tomasheyskiy flew a large number of
?
?
?
?
V I Lenin on Develo and, Stren ihenin the Soviet Air Force 13
daring missions, dropping bombs and strafing the enemy with a machine gun.
In the photo: A. I. Tomashevskiy
V.L Lenin suggested the idea of using aircraft to distribute propaganda material
in the enemy's. rear. In August .1920, the Leader of the Revolution sent the follow-
ing memorandum to the RVS of the Western Front: "It is necessary to take all pos-
sible measures to distribute in Poland as extensively as possible the .manifesto of
the Polish ReirkOm [Revolutionary Committee] Use our aircraft for this purpose"
Some time _later he demanded that the RVS of the Western Front".. , increase ten-
fold the propaganda from airplanes for Polish workers and Peasants, that their capit-
alists are violating the peace and. condemning them to purposeless bloodshed".
The Central Committee of the Communist Party and Vladimir personally
Concerned themselves untiringly with improving the status of air detachments and,.
with setting up 'a Bolshevik order within them. Following is a?mernorandum from
Lenin to the Revvoyensovet of the Republic On 30 January 1919.
"A group of 8 aviators in the field. army at the Tsaritsyn front, Red. Air Fleet
(23rd Balloon Detachment) with chauffeur Baranov at the head. (he was formerly
in the 8th unit of the Special Balloon Division) ? requests that an inspection be
made, .reporting that the air detachments exist only on paper' and. that the situation
threatens catastrophe. Chairman of the SNK [Council of Peoples Commissars]
V.Ullyanov (Lenin)!'
The Council of Worker and Peasant Defense organized on 30 November 1918 with
V. I. Lenin at the head considered for two years a multiplicity of diverse problems
pertaining to improving the combat efficiency of the Air Force, to the training of .?
Air Force cadres, to improving the supply of?cornbat machines,- to the repair Of .air-
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14 A G. Rytov
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craft and:engines, to concentrating the air detachments at the critical sectors of the
front, to the reconstruction and expansion of aircraft enterprises.
Among the orders, decrees, and regulations issued by the Sovnarkom over the
'signature. of V.I: Lenin there are documents about releasing 'resources for reconstruc-
tion of aircraft plants and about the curriculum at the Moscow School of Aviation,
about a plan for publishing aviation literature and about eliminating .delays in paying
the workers at aircraft plants, about improving the supply .Of aviation materiel for
the front.
In a whole series of memoranda and. telegrams, Vladimir Il'ich?demanded that
pilots; aircraft, fuel, and.. warm uniforms be sent to the front immediately.
In the works of the leader and in the decisions adopted under his direction the
most diverse aspects of ,building and strengthening the Air Force were touched upon.
Available materials attest to his great concern for the aircraft industry.
. In 1918, at the direction of the Party's Central, Committee, and the Soviet govern-
ment, much was done to reestablish the aviation enterprises and. to expedite their
repair and, gear them up for production of aircraft.
On 17 January 1918 the SNK issued a decision with the signature of V.1. Lenin
"On the Andreyev-Lanskiy Aircraft Plant", wherein it was stated. that, in view of the
fact that the management of the Andreyev-Lanskiy Aircraft Plant had refused. to obey
the government's decree, the Sovnarkom had diztr.iderl to -rnpfi gCntP the said. plant and
all its appurtenances, whatsoever they may be and. to declare it the property of the
Russian Republic.
A decree of 28 June 1918 nationalized, all the repair and. assembly shops and. air-
craft plants then in existence, and. in late 1918 a center for administering these
shops and. plants (Glavkoavia [Supreme Air Force Command] ) was set up within
VSNKh [Supreme Council of the National Economy].
Not only did V.I. Lenin direct the Work of the higher air institutions, but he was
also closely associated with pilots. and met with the workers of aircraft enterprises.
And this helped him to be always aware of the most urgent needs of the young Soviet
Air Force. For example, when receiving a delegation from the "Duks" Aircraft
Plant, V.1. Lenin questioned them in detail about their work and their difficulties
and then ordered that the plant be given assistance and be allocated resources for
expanding its productiO of aircraft.. He signed the statement of the Small Sovnar-
kor.n of. 17 January -1921. granting credit to the Promvoyensovet [Council of War In-
dustry] for reestablishing Aircraft Plant No. 6.
Despite the enormous difficulties in the country, the Communist Party and the
Soviet gOvernment created. all the conditions necessary for the growth of aviation
science., Even during the Civil War, several teaching and scientific aviation re-
search institutions were organized.. V. I. Lenin concerned himself with the prosper-
ing.of aviation science and. supported. the scientists in every way, as is evidenced.
by the Well-knoWn. resolution (signed. by V. I. Lenin) of the Council of Peso' pies Com-
missars of 3 December 1920 which was adopted. in commemoration of the fiftieth
anniversary' ofProfessor N. Ye. Zhukovskiy's .scientific activity. In this resolution
it was resolved.:
"1. To relieve Professor N. Y e. Zhukovskiy from mandatory lectures, granting
him the right to give courses of greater scientific importance.
"2. To give him a monthly stipend, for maintenance to the amount of one hundred,
a.
V.1. Lenin on Developing and Strengthening the Soviet Air Force 15
thousand. (100,000) rubles, with all subsequent wage scale increases to apply to this
stipend.
"3. To establish an annual N. Ye. Zhukovskiy prize for the best work in mathe-
matics and mechanics.
"4. To publish the works Of N. Ye. Zhukovskiy."
At the direction of Lenin, TsAGI? the Central Institute of Aero-Hydrodynamics?
was established. in December 1918; this was later to become a strong scientific cen-
ter for modern aircraft building.
After the victorious conclusion of the Civil War, peaceful construction developed
throughout. the country. Restoring the national economy, the 'Communist Party did,
not relax its efforts ,to Strengthen defense.
A number of measures for strengthening aviation were adopted.. On 26 January
1921, the Council of Labor and. Defense ad.opted. a d.ecision to work out a program. of
aircraft building. In that same year, three million rubles in gold. were allocated.
kr the development of aviation, and. a plan for expanding aircraft plants was worked.
out.
The Tenth Party Congress in its decisions for building the army, together with
other special technical units, devoted. considerable attention to strengthening the
air units. The Congress defined the tasks in the development of aviation, pointing
to the need for increasing the proletarian personnel in the ranks of aviation, for
improving the political and combat training of airmen, for providing the units with
all the things necessary for combat and. for daily life.
Ln 1922 the Council of Labor arid Defense ad.opted a three-year program of ex-
pansion of aircraft enterprises.
It is well known that, shortly after this, Soviet designers N. N. Polikarpov, D. P.
Grigorovich, and A. N. Tupolev began building the first Soviet aircraft.
All this shows that the CominUnist Party and. the Soviet government created the
necessary conditions for and defined the basic trends in the development of the Air
Force.
Concerned with aviation cadres who could be entrusted with the defense of the ?
young Soviet State the Party sent CoMmuniits to flying. schools' and. to enroll in avia-
tion courses.
? The First Moscow School of Aviation, the Petrograd Higher Military School, the
Higher Aerophotogrammetry 'School; the Moscow Aviation Teclmicum, and, later,
the Air Fleet Academy, all.trained, aviation specialists commanders, pilots, ob-
servers,. and: engineering-technical personnel.
Vladimir Il'ich was very 'solicitous of Air Force cadres. For example, as
Chairman of the Council of Defense, on 3 May.1919 he telegraphed. the Minsk Pro-
vincial Military Commissar and. the Provincial Party Commissar:
"Pilot observer Fedor Aleksandrovich Armand of the 38th Air Detachment is
known to me personally and merits trust, although he is a former officer and is not
a Communist. Request Red. Army comrades and commissars not to hold him in
? suspicion. "
*'
Because of the great concern for aviation on the rt of
e the Communist Party
and. V.I. Lenin personally, aviation cadres devoted. to the Revolution were nurtured
in the country; very soon in the air units there were strong Party organizationS.that
united. the per sonnel of the units in the, Air Fleet around the Communist Party and..
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A G R ov
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17
the Soviet Government..
Like the entire people, the aviators knew and. loved. Lenin. The following attesta-
tion can be presented. as evidence of their ardent love for him:
"The bearer, Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars of the RSFSR
Vladimir Inch Lenin is in fact an honorary member of the Red Fleet of the aero-
nautical units of the KiyevMilitary District, as attested to by the signatories with
the seal hereon affixed". ,
Following Lenin's precepts, the CoMmunist Party has been and still is unremit-
tingly heedful of strengthening the Soviet Armed Forces, including the Air Force.
Relying on the advantages .Of the Soviet social and. state structure, the Communist
Party has been a.ble.to inspire our people to a heroic struggle for the universally
historic economic reformation of Russia. Carrying out the brilliant Lenin plan for
industrialization of the country and, for cooperation of rural economy,. the Soviet
people have been able to alter the face of their Motherland. in a very short time.
History has never known such a mighty volume and. strenuous rate of development
in all sectors of the national economy, particularly in heavy industry the very
basis of the entire economic structure.
Rapid expansion of industry, primarily of heavy industry, has been the key to
socialist reformation in the country and, an important factor in the flowering of cul-
ture, science, and technology. On this basis, the Armed. Forces have received
new and. modern combat equipment in the necessary amounts, as well as competent
persnnTiPl. Our Army, Air Force, and, Navy have been transformed into a formid-
able .fl.d. invincible force that is capable of curbing any aggressor.
Of particular importance for aviation has been progress in technology and avia-
tion engineering thought, which were matters of constant concern to V.I. Lenin.
The Communist Party has not spared resources or efforts in establishing an air-
craft industry. By the tenth anniversary of October, the country had already man-
aged to reestablish and expand its aircraft enterprises, and to establish scientific
research centers which have greatly promoted the growth of air might. Aircraft
of 'Soviet design and manufacture began to flow to the Air Force. And ten years
later, our aviation ,spread wide its mighty Wings and undertook to take by storm the
world records for distance, altitude, and speed of flight. By the end of 1939 the
USSR took fir* place in the world in respect to the number of international air rec-
ords established. Many of these records were achieved. by ordin.ar)i. series-produc-
ed' aircraft. 'This served as strong evidence of the high quality of our native tech-
nology, of the courage, bravery, and. masterful .skill of Soviet fliers who stand. ready
at any moment to 'answer the .call of the Party and the people in defense of their
Motherland..
The Great Patriotic War was a severe test for our Motherland. During the war,
however, under difficult conditions the Communist Party managed to reorganize
and increase the production of aircraft, supplying air units with first-class fighting
machines. Also improved was the organization of the Soviet Air Force, which,
like the entire Soviet Army,. came through the test of the war even more hardened,
and stronger. *
,The guns of battle were still thundering at Leningrad. and Rostov-on-Don when
Test Pilot 'Communist G. Ya..Bakhchivandzhi flew a fighter aircraft. with a liquid-
fuel jet engine. This was the beginning of a new era .of jet aircraft.
44%4
?
?
Officer Yu. G. Mishchenko has proved, himself to be a master of aerial combat
and of sniper fire at aerial targets. His high achievements in political and. combat
training have already been described, in our journal. In the latest aerial gunnery
competition, he again won individual first place, confirming his high rating as a
fighter pilot.
In the photo: Capt. Yu, G. Mishchenko.
Photo by V. I. Kolesnikov
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F
A. G. Rytov
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Bold Reconnaissance
It is August 1919. Mamontov's cavalry in the area of
Tambov is preparing a breakthrough on the Southern front.
In order to take countermeasures and to smash Mamontov's
troops, it is necessary to have precise information on their
movements and. their numbers.
At the disposal of the front command there is only one
old "'Voisin" airplane; there is no fuel and., above all, there
are no pilots. In the staff there is pilot I. L Petrozhitskiy,
but he is wounded in the hand, he cannot use his wrist. De-
spite this, the pilot requested. permission to make the re-
connaissance.
The plane is quickly repaired., it is fueled. with kerosene
because there is no good fuel. Petrozhitskiy ties his wound- 1.1. Petrozhitskiy
ed hand to the control stick and opens the throttle. After (1938 photo)
several unsuccessful attempts, the plane finally takes off
and climbs to an altitude .of 900 meters.
More than three hours have .gone by, the fuel is low, the wounded hand aches un-
bearably, and the enemy's cavalry is still not to be seen. 1314 the courageous pilot
has no thought of returning until he gets the necessary information.
When all hope for success was almost gone, Petrozhitskiy suddenly saw the black
columns of the enemy cavalry moving to the north of him. He was barely able to
count the number of the enemy when his motor died out, and the Cossacks, spying
the plane, began shooting at It. With difficulty, Petrozhitskiy started the motor
and flew into a cloud hanging low over the ground. A few minutes later the motor
died out again. Ahead could be seen a railroad line. Gliding in that direction, the
pilot landed. the plane beside a flag station. Luckily, there was a telephone there,
and. he transmitted to the staff the information he had. gathered..
For this bold reconnaissance flight and. for reconnaissance he made a few days
later, I. I. Petrozhitskiy was awarded. the Order of the Red Banner.
V. I. Lenin on Developing the Soviet Air Force. 19
The war ended. with a universally historic victory for the Soviet, people, led. by a
sage helmsman ? the Communist Party., Healing the wound.s of war in a short
time, our 'people made an epic advance on the road of ?glorious victories toward the
building of Communism: they are building scores of mighty hydroelectric? power
stations, bla.stfurnaces, mines, factories, . and. plants; they are developii:ig, millions
of hectares of virgin and. fallow lands; they are building the first atomic power sta-
tion in the world; and, finally, they are launching artificial earth satellites into .space.
These great landmarks of historic triumphs denote the vitality of the socialist system,
its indisputable advantages over moribund. Capitalism:
The postwar years in aviation have been years of unparalleled, technical progress,
years of high speeds, great flying range and. altitude. New discoveries, new achieve-
ments in mastering modern equipment constitute a veritable technical revolution in
aviation.
Our, Air Force is now equipped. with thoroughly modern jet fighters and. bombers. .
The Soviet Union has intercontinental ballistic rockets and. other types of modern
armament. Planes are flying ever faster, higher, and. farther.' The so-called.
sound barrier has been left far behind.; jet engines have been mastered.; in immediate
prospect are better aircraft and. engine designs. Inspired, by the daily concern of
the Communist Party, our scientists, aircraft workers, pilots, navigators, and.
aviation specialists are working resolutely
of our Air Force.
Following Lenin's precepts, our Party has trained. outstanding Air Force cadres
who are illimitably devoted to their Motherland., the Communist Party, and. the
Soviet Government. . The Party has reared a galaxy of renowned. Soviet scientists,
aircraft designers, and engineers.
Carrying out Lenin's behests, the Communist Party and. the Soviet people are
doing everything necessary to strengthen from day to day the Air Force that is vigi-
lantly guarding the peaceful creative work of the Soviet people.
A profound and comprehensive study of Lenin's military legacy serves to improve
. the theoretical military training of our cadres, to increase their Marxist temper.
In the works of V. I. Lenin there are answer's to many questions on the character.'
and purpose of the Air Force. The Leninist principles retain their validity even
under present conditions. Using them as a guide, our Party is doing :Considerable
work to further strengthen the Air Force, ensuring the development' of aviation at
the level required. for the safety of our own socialist Fatherlan.d.
toward.
4rwrvrinvinerb the combat capabilities
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?
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witzek #44411
Maj. Gen. 1. K. SPATAREL' (ret.
(From the Notes of a Participant in the Civil War)
A leaden thundercloud, covered, half the sky, blew a gust of raw wind., and. raised.
whitecaps on the grey Dnepr.
The wind, fluttered. the red. calico standard. A formation of pilots and mechanics
stood at attention before two airplanes. They were all we had. left after incessant
battles.
In front of the formation stood. the Air Group Commissar Savin. As he spoke he
beat the air violently with a tightly clenched fist:
"The international bandits are gloating maliciously. But it is still early. Our
Thirteenth Army is not destroyed.. It trusts that the eagles of the proletariat ? the
Red pilots ? will help it in forthcoming bloody battles. An attack on the 131..ack Baron
is approaching. Death to Wrangel the hangman!"
'With a. deft soldierly motion, the Commissar smoothed out his blouse under his
belt and. continued.:
"The commanding officer and I have cOnsulted and have decided to give the best
plane to the best young pilot. The commander will have little chance to fly now. We
must procure new planes and must organize the work of our air detachments and bas-
es located far from the main body of the group. So, in order that the commander's
:Nieuport-24 bis' does not stand idle, Nikolay Nikolayevich Vasil'chenko will use it
for a while... It
VasiPchenko's gaunt face flushed. crimson.
"And remember", continued Savin, "the commander will give the new machines
to those who' merit them in combat."
.It got darker. A sharp gust of wind came along. The thunderhead was already
directly over the airfield.
"The flag to headquarters! Everybody to the planes! Make them fast! On the
double', I 'yelled, and saw VasiPchenko's light and nimble figure dash to the "Nieu-
port". A stupendous flash of lightning lit up the city, the river, the steppe, and the
men standing around the planes. A clap of thunder split the heavens...
This was in June 1920 when WrangePs troops had succeeded in breaking through.
the front. AS a result of battles, the 16th Air Detachment and the combat flight Of
the 48th Detachment ?both of them a part of our Air Group? were without planes
a
I.
a
Aftist the Black Baron 21
and. had gone to Zaporozh'ye for replacements. The tnain body of the group the
Second Fighter Battalion? had, been attached. to the Pravoberezhnaya Group of the
Thirteenth Army and had been moved to the Novo-Kamenskiy farms. / ,
Wrangel's attempt to smash the Thirteenth Army did not succeed. The offensive
cost General Kutepov's corps heavily; he lost 30% of his per sonn.el in combat.
Ivan Konstantinovich Spatarel' is the oldest
Russian pilot. He has served in the Air Force
since 1910.
During. WW fl Spatarel' served. intiie. Sec.-
ond Air Combat Group which was commanded by
the renowned fighter pilot Yevgraf Krutent.
The Great October Revolution broke out.
I. K. Spatarel' was elected chairman of a soldiers'
committee, and he directed all the work of?the
Air Group toward supporting the Soviet regime.
Soon, on orders from the Revkom [Revolution-
ary Committee] of the Eleventh Army, Spatarel'
in company with other pilots flew a number of
liaison and agitational leaflet raid. missions.
In 1918-1920, I. K. Spatarel' participated ac-
tively in battles against the White Guardists.
The Air Group that he commanded played a sig-
nificant role in routing Wrangel.
During the Great Patriotic War, Maj. Gen.
Spatarel' taPP nlintn1 worked
?...caso.Ly 111 y
ing combat units with new air, equipment.
1/1?11111111111111111.1.11111Ma
During the retreat, the Air Group carried, out assignments in proteeting the.
units crossing the Dnepr. The command, did. not forget the work done by the_Group,
and. soon sent two "Nieuports". We rep4ired one more ourselves. Thus, by 1 Ju-
ly there were already five operational Machines. In the daytime, two or three pi-
lots flew in turns in each plane.' At night, the technicians and. mechanics patched
up the shell-holes and 7-epaired the engines.
The Pravoberezhnaya Army Group was confronted. with the task of not only keep-
ing the Wrangelites off the right bank of the Dnepr but also of establishing a bridge-
head. on the left bank for an offensive against Per ekop.
At dawn on 1 July the men and officers of the 52nd and. the Latvian Divisions
waded. into the still-warm Dnepr.. And when the first shots rang out, aircraft with
Red. Stars appeared in the sky. They attacked the batteries and. concentrations of
the Whites.
The machines were on the ground only long enough to replenish their fuel. Spell-
ing each other, Skaubit, Bylinkin, Visbnyakov, Gulyayev, VasiPchenko, Zakharov,'
Artdorf, Datsko, and others took off. They reported to the staff the slightest
movements, regroupings, and maneuvers of the enemy, plotted, on. the Map the camou-
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22
7,11 'A V
I K. S atareP
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flaged. White batteries, and. patrolled. the
area where the pontoonl?ridge was being
laid.. e
The crossing of the broad. Dnepr was
made successfully. Our troops seized
Kakliovka and. the Korsun'skiy Monastery,
capturing iiitiOners and. machine guns.
,But they were Unable to expand the bridge-
head. on the left bank..
During these anxious days I mapped.
out three principal reconnaissance routes
covering the entire battle area and. the'
enemy's operational rear. Twice each
day flights were mad.e over these routes,
-giving a comprehensive picture of the posi-
tion of Wrangel's troops. The fliers
"combed." the entire front line along the
Dnepr in the Nikopor-Berislav-Kherson
sector, an overall distance of 200 km. In
depth, the enemy's rear was reconnoitered.
for 100 km.
Always eager to go out on a mission
and. having obtained the "Nieuport-24 bis",
Niko4y Vasil'chenko was now. quite ready
to stay in the cockpit all the time..
It was gratifying to see how this true
N.N.Va.sirchenko upon graduation from eagle-pilot spread his wings. He often
asked. about air battles of the World. War,
about the tactical combat method.s of the
.famou 8 airinan, Capt. Kruten', under Wlips'e command I hacl. been lucky to serve at
one time. could. see how yasiVtlienko seized the best our experienced pilots had.
to offer, creatively, applying their battle methods.
The commissar approached me. His hands were covered with oil; he had been
helping to repair- an engine.
? "Ivan.KOnstantinovich, he is overdue. H.as something possibly happened to Va.sir-
Chenko? "
I didn't have time to reply.
"He's coming! Vasil' is coming!" shouted his mechanic.
Savin and I looked towards the east. It was true.. Low over the ground, at an
altitude of .about 50 meters, the "Nieuport-24" was approaching. But what had.
happened. to it? The upper left wing was shattered and. the elevator was hanging
loose.. Somehow the plane landed. on the airfield..
We ran up to where it had. landed.. VasiPchenko.climbed: out of his cockpit to
meet us. He looked terrible. ,He had a guilty look.
"Comrade Group Commander", ..he reported, "Red Army Pilot VasiPchenko has
completed his mission." And suddenly, he concluded in a broken voice:
"Sorry, I didn't safeguard the plane!"
the Moscow Flying School in 1920.
A ainst the Black Baron
23
Together with the mechanic we examined the plane. The left upper wing had
been hit by a machine-gun burst. The fuselage longeron brace near the elevator
was smashed. The entire machine had. been riddled with bullets. -
a
(
_
N BATTLES
Above Zaozernaya Heights
A battle for the Zaozernaya heights
was being fought with the Japanese in-
vaders. Aircraft came to the aid of
our ground troops. The air was filled.
with the drone of motors.
The Soviet bombers had. just dropped.
their bombs. The Japanese _A_A. guns
were firing madly at a group of fighters
following the bombers. The fighter
piloted, by young Lt. Ivan Kukin was sur-
rounded on all sides by flak. But Ku-
kin, diving boldly on the Japanese ppsi-
tions,poured over them bursts of ma-
chine-...gun fire. However, there were
too many emplacements. Other fight-
ers came to Kukin's assistance.
The attacks of the Soviet aircraft
did not stop. The samurai fled. for
cover in. terror. But the AA fire was
still strong, and. Kukin tried a ruse.
He put his plane into a spin, as though
he were about to crash. Thinking that
the most intrepid Soviet fighter had. been put out of action, the enemy AA
ped firing.
That, was all Kukin needed. Quickly pulling out of the spin, he dove on the AA
positions in a strafing run. One more enemy AA battery in the area of Lake Kha-
san was destroyed..
men stop-
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eammt
-/
' SFM.Pn Agtr?Wri:111.14%01174.1{4,M61,31pArMaltrIF:49-`1%1NA,i,"'-`0.5,11Y'Seo,,,,ndeq.,- ,
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24 I. K Spatar ell
11111111111111111111111116.
Soviet airmen gave our ground. for vital assistance in the defeat of the Japa-
nese units in the area of Lake Khasan in the summer of 1938. More than 70 fighter
aircraft and 110 medium and .60 heavy bombers made attacks against the enemy posi-
tions. Our fliers carried out their missions with honor.
This is how it happened.. Returning from long-range reconnaissance, in the
flats of the Dnepr near Borshaya, Lepetikha, Vasil' chenko saw a horse standing with-
out a rider. ? "Where there is a horse, there should also be .his master," thought
the flier and reminded himself that in reconnaissance there are no insignificant de-
tails. But there was only twenty minutes of fuel left. What to do? Return to, the
airfield without finding out anything? No. He turned the plane back toward the
flats. The twisted shrub growth and thick reeds came closer and. closer. His
heart beat faster and. faster. His eyes scanned. every thicket. . From an altitud.e of
100 meters everything was as plain as the palm of one's hand.. Suddenly, there ap-
peared. a whole flotilla of boats hidden behind, the reeds on a sandbar. Further up
on the shore, in a clump of old. willows, was a troop of dismounted. cavalry, about
150 men. Realizing that they had. been discovered., the Whites began stirring. Turn-
ing into the attack, the pilot could. see rifles aimed at him; the upraised. barrels of
machine guns were gleaming. Turning his plane into the very thick of the enemy,
Vasirchenko pressed. the trigger. In response, there was the-flash of a return vol-
ley. He saw horses dashing around., men in green British tunics falling.
After the third. low-level run, literally just above the ground., the White Guardists
scattered in panic. The horses went wild with fear. Several score of the enemy
had. fallen in the reed.s and in the sedge along the shore. The rest fled pell-mell in
every direction.
. Only then, heading for the airfield, did. Vasil' chenko notice that the plane Was
not responding to the eleVators. He could see that the upper left wing was damaged..
The, engine was barely pulling on the last few drops of fuel. ? ,
It was learned later from a-prisoner that the detachment which was crossing at
Bol' shaya Lepetikha had been designated to make a surprise foray against the Novo-
Kamenskiy farms with the objective of a night. attack on the airfield..
One of the most daring airmen of the group was V. F. Vishnyakov. This is
how.Vasya Vishnyakov, a pilot from the ranks Who had attended. the Sevastopol'
Flying School with me in 1911,, came to fight against the White Guardists.
On the World. War front he had been decorated. with two "Georges" for extra-
ordinary valor in aerial combat.
When, after the October Revolution, the old. army fell apart and. a spontaneous
demobilization began, Ensign Vishnyakov returned. to his.native village.
Oh,. how lovely his native Tver' soil seemed. to him after the war...Beyond. com-
pare was the feeling of delight with which he greeted the morning as he walked. be-
hind the plow. .How rich was the furrow of black earth turned, by the plowshare!
How buoyantly and steadily the horse pulled; How wonderful all this was after the
front
But when the Civil War began and the Republic was inclosed. in an iron ring of
interventionist.s, Vishnyakov voluntarily came to the airfield..
A ainst the Black Baron
25
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy A
?
V. F. Vishnyakov
.He came as he.. was, like a young peasant lad.
.after a long journey: bareheaded., with his unbelted
sateen shirt hanging out, and. barefooted.. Brand.-
new boots dangled together with a small bundle from
a cane over his shoulder. No One believed him
when. he said he was a pilot. I winked. to Vasiliy
Fedorovich, indicating my ''Nieuport". Still' bare-
foot, .he jumped right in the cockpit.
When he laid. the plane on its wing right at
takeoff and pulled: it up in a climbing 'spiral, every- -
one gasped.. He made a couple of loops. And. then
he landed. And. what a landing! It was exception-fl beautiful. ' The plane dropped smoothly, almost
imperceptibly. Gently the wheels touched. the
ground. And the minute the _tail skid. touched., the
plane stopped.
That is how Vasiliy Fedorovich came to fly
in our 5th Air Detachment.
It was a dark Ukrainian evening. A bonfire
crackled. brightly, fed with waste oil and. old. rags.
Around. it sat the pilots. The Commissar was read.-
ing a letter from the Central Committee of the RKP
(b) [Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) J. His voice was fraught with emotion
and. import:
"For the immediate future, the attention of the Party must be concentrated. on -
the Crimean Front... It must be .explained, to every worker, every Red Army man
that a victory over Poland: is impossible without a victory over Wrangel. The last
bulwark of the Generals' counterrevolution must be destroyed."
Savin smoothed out the folds of his blouse under his belt (he always repeated this
gesture when deep in thought).
"Now here's what I have to say; dear comrades, Red Army piloti! We must
chop at the roots of the international bandits the way Vishnyakov, VasirchenkO, and
Zakharov are doing. This is how they do it," and the Commissar began to read
reports from the infantry commanders on the results. of the fliers' actions (he travel-
ed. for these reports ?to the headquarters of the Pravoberezhnaya Group). -
It would be difficult to devise better combat propaganda.. Everyone saw the ,real
usefulness of his own work, felt the very breath of the front lines, sensed, a d.eep
bond with those who sat in the trenches with a rifle.
Formerly a machinist and. a ,soldier in the World. War, 'Sa.vin enjoyed the love of
the entire detachment. ?A wealth of practical experience and. a profound, love for the
Bolshevik party helped him to solve the most complex problems, to understand. the
international situation,. the domestic life of the country, and matters of the: front.
He was always with the men, and they always felt that he was their comrade.
I thought of Savin' as a very 'close friend, and an astute political leader. His dai-
ly counsel and his work with the men helped. me very much. The pilots, listened to
him with close attention.
,The fire was going out. A lively.discussion.of our combat activity, into which
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26
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k*.rA.A.U.P.,...2,q6*.a't091.44.011$*:M5.9**1"51"1". ?
1{,*11:,i,
. - ,
Savin had drawn everyone after, the reading of the letter from the Central Committee,
was coming to an end. Without a doubt, the results of the discussion would son
show up in our 'combat missions.
111111111111111111111111M.
411111111111111MEMEI
BATTLES
41111=11111111F
The Strong of Heart
It was the summer of 1939. Soviet troops had. gone to the aid. of the Mongolian
Peoples Republic to repulse the outrageous provocation of the Japanese invaders on
the Khalkhin-Gol River.
Bitter battles were raging on the ground and. in the air. Col.Kutsevaloy was
leading a flight of Soviet fighters to meet the enemy. Suddenly, a single enemy
plane boldly darted, out at them from behind, some clouds. Kutsevalov easily sur-
mised. the cunning of the samurai? to break up the formation of Soviet fighters and.
then attack them with a whole group ? and. quietly gave the command. to a few pilots
to destroy the solitary enemy plane. Bursts of machine-gun fire raked. the hostile
scout plane. Smoking, it crashed. to earth. And. in less than a minute, as Kutse-
valov had. guessed, two flights of planes appeared simultaneously above and below.
But the samurai had. made a grave miscalculation. The top group was already late,
and its attack aborted. An aerial dogfight began with the bottom group.
The battle ,was fought at an altitude of three to four thousand meters. With an
unbearably bright sun in the sky, the fighters could not be seen. Only the roar of
climbing and diving planes could be heard. The results of this encounter could be
judged only by t4i.e number of falling machines.
Thirty minutes of tense fighting ende,d.
in victory; 16 of the enemy planes were
shot down. The rest fled in disorder
from the field of battle.
The Japanese pilots that were taken
prisoner that day said in their interroga-
tion that their best:pilots had. perished
in this battler.
*
,*
A Second. Gold Star
G. P. Kravchenko (right) and S. I. Grits e-
vets were awarded their second"GoldStar"
medal for extraordinary heroism in the
battles against the Japanese imperialists
at the Khalkhia-GolRiver in 1939.
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trir
Ii
A ainst the Black Baron
27
In early July preparations began along the en-
tire front for an offensive against 'Wrangel. The
?4 4
Pravoberezkmaya air forces were reinforced by the
?
49th Air Reconnaissance Detachment, whose planes
?
and. experienced. pilots lead. by Detachment Command-
er, Polyakov increased the combat capability of the
group considerably.
On each mission the fighter pilots carried'
2-4 ten-pound. bombs._ From low, altitudes they ..
strafed. the enemy with machine guns.. Every day
there were air battles, especially violent ones in
the area of the, ApostolOvo Station-- the central
supply base for the troops on the right bank. Fly-
ing patrol above the station and the probable routes
of the White Guardist planes, our pilots drove off,
the enemy in the air with bold attacks, protecting
the troops and. the railroad trains.
In early August the Red. Army began an ad.-
I. T. Dat sko after graduation vance along the entire Polish front. The final pre-
from the Moscow Flying School parations for an advance against Wrangel were also
in 1920. being completed.. By that time the Air Group al-
ready had seven "Nieuports", two "Spad.s", and. a
two-place reconnaissance plane. They were making a continua), and. thorough re-
connaissance of the left bank of the Dnepr. On 5 August the commanding officer of
the 52nd Infantry Division went up as an observer with veteran pilot Kish. This di-
vision was to be the first to start the new attack. The commanding officer went up
to stud.y the approaches and. the enemy's firing poeitions and. defensive lines. During
the night of 6-7 August the ground. troops began forcingtheDnepr. As was to be
expected., they met with stubborn resistance on the part of the White Guardists.
All the planes were in the air. From morning Until evening the pilots were mak-
ing reconnaissance flights. Completing their missions, they would. land at Beris-
lay where the .headquarters of the Pravoberezhnaya Army Group was located and, re-
ported, per sonally to the commanding officer On the results of their reconnaissance.'
Continual patrolling by our fighters prevented: the White Guardist planes from
penetrating through to Berisla.v or Kakhovka. Even on 7 August. at the very peak of
the battle, the hostile pilots were unable to drop ,a single boinb on the advancing
units of the Red. Army.
During the night' of 7-8 August, I received ord.ers to mOye the. Aiy group to Beris-
lay, closer to head.quarters and. the battle area.. -
The first to chalk-up a score from the new airfield was Vasirch.enko, who forced
a hostile battery to stop firing. The enemy barely managed. to pull. .two other guns
out of their positions to Bolt shiye Mayachki. In addition, Vasil' cheriko dispersed.
a cavalry troop.
An unexpeCted. rainstorm came up in the evening. The wind velocj.ty at ground.
level was. 25 meters' per second.; violent gusts raised. sand.spouts of river sa.nd. and,
tore the thatched. roofs off huts. At that very moment, in the dark sky appeared..
the plane piloted. by Vasilichenko who was returning from his third, flight of that day.
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28 I. K Spatarer
His "Nieuport" was being tossed around like a sliver of wood. It was impossible
for him to come in for a landing.
"Now what in the world is this," Savin repeated several times, not taking his
eyes off the plane which was battling against the storm. Every one thought the, "Nieu-
port" would be dashed to the ground and nothing would be left of it. But suddenly,
inexplicably, almost right, out of a turn, the plane dove down and touched the ground.
Ivan Datsko ancl. the Commissar dashed toward it, the others' after them. They
grabbed the wings, the tail, and held the machine., Out of it climbed. Vasil'thenko,
smiling sheepishly.
Never, as long as I live, will I forget that amazing landing:
The headlong advance of the ,Red divisions toward Perelcp alarmed the enemy and
he decided to move armored cars and Gen. Barbovich's mounted corps into the Ka
khovka area.
During the night of 9-10 August this corps withdrew in deep secrecy from the front
at Bol'Shoy Tokmak and. moved. by forced march to the rear of the advancing Red. reg-
iments. And who knows what turn the events at Kakhovka would have taken had. it
not been for the Red air forte?
On the morning of 10 August Pilot Krekis and. Air Observer Zolotov of the Central
Air Group discovered. in the Veseloye-Deka area a column 20 km long ? cavalry?
with artillery and. combat trains. Within an hour, the commander of the Thirteenth
Army knew of this.
On 11 and. 12 August Vasil'chenko and. Zakharov mad.e reconnaissance flights on
my orders. They fully confirmed, the reports from the pilots of the Central Air
Group, showing, that the columns were moving by field. and country roads rather than
by the main roads. In addition, they established that the main enemy for locat-
ed.in the village of Antonovka, had. up to 10 artillery batteries, up to 2000 sabers,
and 4000 infantrymen in vehicles. Thus, the appearance of Ba.rbovich's corps was
not a, surprise to us..
? The engagement at Kakhovka assumed great proportions and therefore the Central
Air Group, under the command of I. U. Pavlov, was also thrown into the battle for
the bridgehead. The planes of this group occupied our old airfield at the Novo-
Ka.menskiy farms.
.... Over, the pontoon bridge across the Dnepr stretched. a long column of our troops
moving off toward Kakhovka. Cannon fire could be ,heard from that direction. A
messenger ran up to Me.
"Comrade Commander; They telephoned. from The observation post that White
planes are coming!"
I saw Commissar Savin. skillfully adjusting a machine gun for shooting upward.
There were no planes to send against the Wrangelites. Of the three in working or-,
der, two were out on reconnaissance in the enemy's rear, the third had just returned
and was not yet ready for 'takeoff.,
There they were!' Clearly visible in the sky were seven White Guardist "de
Havilland.s". They were flying in formation, Ever louder sounded the character-
istic monotonous drOne of their stationary engines, the sound of which was so dif-
ferent from the murmur of the rotary "Rhones" installed in the older "Nieuports".
There was a congestion at the crossing. The bridge was jammed with Red Army
men...
The seven enemy planes went into their bombing run at an altitude of 800 meters.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
?
ft
411.Laiiast the Black Baron
29
411MISERINVINEN?
I N BATTLES
Life is an Exploit
"As long as I have a heart, a voice, eyes,
hands, I can be useful; I want to serve you,
my own Soviet people..."
So spoke Hero of the Soviet Union Mili-
tary Fighter Pilot Leonid Georgiyevich Be-
lousov, once addressing the students at the
Baltic Naval School.
Belousov's entire life has been. one of
self-sacrificing and. unselfish service to the
Motherland. On a stormy wintry night in
1938 at one of the border airfields, the
young pilot Belousov, returning to his home
field after pursuing a plane that had violat-
ed the border, suffered an accident on land-
ing. The plane caught fire from a gasoline
tank that exploded.. Very severe burns on
the face, the arms, and. the legs had, it
seemed, put this flier out of commission
for good.. But this was not the case. When
the action against the White Finns began,
the still convalescent Belousov could be
seen in a squadron of fighters at Leningrad.,
a number of important missions.
Came the war against the German fascists.
L G. Belousov
During those months he carried out
It found Belousov on the border at
the Khanko Peninsula, at Ganguta, where things were not only difficult but also very
dangerous.
It was the winter of 1942. Guards Major L. G. Belousov was the deputy command-
er of a fighter regiment on the Leningrad front, at Ladoga. This regiment was soon
designated a Guards regiment.
One time, on a long flight, Belousov froze his legs ?.which were once severely
burned? and gangrene soon set in. But this uncommonly courageous man, even
under the surgeon's knife, even after both his legs had. been cut off, dreamed of on-
ly one thing: to fly again without fail!
In the spring of 1944 LeonidGeorgiyevich was again inaction. His war comrades help-
ed.him to fly again. Guards Major B elousov f ought the Fascists until the end. of the war.
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30 I K Spatarel.'
I.
Their target was the river crossing. The confluent drone of their engines -filled.
the air. . They were about to drop their bombs: Suddenly I saw a small "Nieuport
-
17" diving from above like a hawk on the leading "Havilland.". The, hollow sound. of
machine-gun' fire could be heard.. It was Vasil'cheriko who had returned from re-
connaissance.
. .
The plane under attack dove in ,a bank.- His wingmen scattered. One to the left,
the other to the right. The rest dispersed. The group of aircraft, a moment. ago
flying in combat formation, had, been broken up.
. Over the thousand.s of fighting men on the Kakhovka bridgeead, over the re si-
dents of Berislav, over the headquarters of the troops in the/line ,of advance on the
right bank there developed, an unforgettable picture of an unequal air battle. On
one side, seven new, two-place English planes with 14 machine guns, on the other,
an old. "Nieuport" with a single machine gun..
Vasilichenko pursued. the leading enemy plane. The observer on the "d.e Havil-
land", wounded or dead., hung like -a sack from his safety belt. Enjoying an ad.-
vantage in speed., the pilot tried, to elude the attack. Coming to their senses, the
other White pilots hurried, to the aid. of their commander, and. suddenly three of
them attacked. Vasiltchenko's plane from the above rear.
Throwing his macHnp into a steep combat turn, Vasilichenko went over to the
attack himself. A short burst of machine-gun fire could be heard.. One of the
three Wrangelite planes fell sharply. Losing altitude, he glided. toward. his own
territory and fell beyond. Bol' shaya Kakhovka. The second. of this trio, declining
battle, also head.ed. for home at top speed..
At that moment the commander of the White Guardist group unexpectedly attacked.
Vasir,chenko from the side. Vasirchenko threw his "Nieuport" into a spin. The
enemy pilot in his heavier plane simply could not get him in the crosshairs of his
sight. Suddenly, intent on pursuit, the Wrangelite found himself below Vasil'chen-
ko. An instantaneous recovery from the spin ? and then a dive on the enemy. The
two tangling planes, joined,- in mortal combat, rolled around the sky. Meanwhile
the four remaining White Guard: planes dropped. their bombs pell-mell in the Dnepr
'and. fled..
Vasil'chenko's battle.with'the commander of the Wrangelite air group continued.
for more than 25 minutes. Finally, coming out of a turn on the tail of the "d.e.'Havil-
land.", Vasilichenko at almost point-blank range. gave him his last burst. ? 'Hi am-
munition was all gone. The enemy plane first nosed up unnaturally, and. then, with
a sharp drop, turned toward. its own lines trailing a plume of smoke. ?Vasilichen-
ko hovered, over it, following' it until it fell to the ground.. Unfortunately, that was
already behind, the front lines.
At an altitude of 100 meters, Vasilichenko's "Nieuport" flew over the crossing,
on its way home. And then, after- the/nervous tension they had. gone through and.
after the anxiety for the life. of the daring pilot, everyone who had. watched. this air
battle was gripped by a feeling of utter delight.
Excited, still heated from the fray, Nikolay VasiPchenko,walked. rapidly toward
me. His helmet was shoved, back on his head.. . His eyes were ablaze.
"Comrad.e Commander.... , "he began,. throwing up his hand. in 'a salute.
"Oh, my d.ear Vasilek:" I interrupted him and, words failing me, embraced, and,
kissed. him.
4
A ainst the Black Baron 31
The commanding officer of the Pravoberezhnaya Army Group arrived and. warmly
gripped. Vasilichenko's hand..
The result of this brilliant air battle was that the Kakhovka crossing was saved..
For this battle, Nikolay Nikolayevich Vasil'chenko was recommended for a Golden
Arms award.. The example of daring displayed. by this pilot was deeply ,imprintecl
in the Memory of the men at the bridgehead..
Only half a year had. passed, since Nikolay Vasirchenko arrived from school, but
his chest was already decorated with two Orders of the Red Banner., The first was
for an aerial photoreconnaissance of Perekop,. and the Second for intrepid air battles.
Half a year at the front is a good. deal. Some peaceful person in ten years of life
will not learn, will not experience as much as can be gained, from a few months of
hot fighting.
,
Wrangel understood. very, well the danger in the Kakhovka dagger.. 'And a dagger
it was, directed. at his back. Whatever action he might take on other fronts,. he
could not forget Kakhovka.
On 12 August two White corps, supported. by air units, began storming the tokid.ge-
head.. Groups of enemy planes flew over the area where our troops were located.
several times a day, but they were rarely able to drop their bombs on their objec-
tives. Warned, from observation posts, I scrambled. the planes that were on duty,
and..they managed. to intercept the enemy. There was not a single instance of the
Wrangelites carrying out their mission when our fighters were in the air.
...It was about 8 o'clock in the morning; most of our planes had. just landed. after
completing their first sortie and. the others had. gone out on missions. The mechan-
ics were tinkering with the engines of the planes that had. returned.. The pilots had.
gone to the mess hall for breakfast. We had, just sat down at the table, when the
distant drone of a "Havilland" was heard..
Everyone ran outsid.e where the trucks were standing. Before we could blink an
eye, the Commissar had. already set up a light machine gun.. ..But he had. no chance
to fire: the plane was flying at an altitude of 1200 m and a machine gun couldn't
reach it.
From then on everything happened at once. The .Wrangelite plane appeared in a
break in the clouds. Then Came the whistle of a bomb. An explosion:
The hot breath of the explosion hit me in the face and. I was thrown back by-the
blast wave. Savin fell with his machine gun. Datsko collapsed as though cut
down.
When I came to, my first thought was of Savin. ? I bent over him. ?
My dear Commissar: He ,still lay there with the .machine gun cradled. in his
arms. I picked. him up and. carried, him inside...
In the evening' of that same d.a.y, two enemy planes, taking advantage Of the cloudy'
weather and undetected by the observers, crossed the front line and reaching Beris-
lay,. began searching for a break in the clouds to bomb the airfield.
Yakov Gulyayev was in the air at that time. Spying the "de' Havilland.s", he head-
ed directly toward them. His "Nieuport" dove under the cloud base. "I must come
out right behind the enemy planes," decided Gulyayev, "no 'sooner, no later; other-
wise they will get away."
The seccnds of waiting were agonizing. Finally, two black shadows flashed 100 m
above the plane. Gulyayev pulled on the stick; a combat turn, and he was "sitting"
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32'
I. K. Spata.rel'
on the tail of the leading "de Havilland".
BATTLES
0'.01iiifa
A Strike from the Rear
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A five-point wind, was raging over the sea. Heavy leaden cloud.s covered, the sky.
It was snowing. A squadron of heavy bombers under the command. of Vasiliy Ivan-
ovich Rakov was flying on a combat mission. The Soviet bombers were to destroy
an important enemy target d.eep in the enemy rear.
The clouds kept the heavily loaded, bombers close to the sea. Flying a strict
formation, the squadron hedge-hopped. for scores of kilometers, and. then, when
breaks appeared. in the clouds, Rakov led. the aircraft to an altitud.e of 400-500 m.
But this was not without danger; the enemy's AA artillery was always on the alert.
Maj. Rakov employed a Stratagem. About thirty kilometers from the target,
the squadron suddenly turned, aside. Having become accustomed. to air raids from
the direction of the front, the White Finns were deceived.. The Soviet bombers came
up from the rear. The enemy artillerymen gathered. their wits only after the air-
craft had appeared. over the target and had dropped. their bombs on hangars, ware-
houses, and other airfield installations.
. Maj.'Ra*ov's. squadron Made many combat sorties. And. each of them waa a
shattering .blow because of the commander's ability to feel out the enemy's' weak
point. The command rated highly this quality of Vasiliy Ivanovich Rakov in the
struggle against the White Finns. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet
Union.
The Crew of Niko' lay Stollnikov's Plane
Pilot Nikolay Stol'nikov received. his baptism of fire in the cold winter of 1939-
1940.. On 17 February 1940, Stolinikov's bomber was attacked by enemy fighters
when it neared. the target. The blow was strong and. violent. The left engine was
put out of commission.
However; this d.id not frighten the determined pilot. He flew his plane on one
engine and, shot down'one fighter. Stol'nikov had. barely managed. to drop his bombs
successfully on the enemy's d:efensive fortifications when suddenly five more fighters
attacked. the bomber.
In the unequal battle, the crew fought manfully and. bravely. The rad.io gunner
A
?
?
?
?
A ainst the Black Baron
was wounded three times, but despite that he kept on
firing accurately and. shot down two more fighters.
But the ammunition, ran out. The navigator was
wounded. The other engine began to smoke.
Saving his crew, Stol'nikov skillfully glided, down
.
and landed the plane on the ice of a lake within enemy
territory.
Taking everything they needed out of the plane,
Stol'nikov and his navigator carried the radio man out
and. dug in to fight it out. Fortunately, the fight did.
not last long. Our fighters appeared overhead. They
quickly found the place where the bomber had made its
forced. landing and managed to take Stol'nikov and his
comrades out to friendly territory.
Nikolay Maksimovich Stol'nikov was awarded the
title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
N. M. Stol'nikov
33
Intent on finding a break in the clouds convenient for bombing, the Whites, sus-
pecting nothing, flew along on a left bearing. Gulyayev flew the "Nieuport" right
up to the enemy and formated on him almost directly behind. Every strut of the
hostile machines could be seen. Gulyayev gently pressed the machine-gun trigger.
A long ,bur st pierced the air.
Ya. Ya. Gulyayev. 1940 photo.
The figure of the observer slumped. down
in the cockpit. The lead. plane, turning sharply,
dipped. into a cloud and disappeared.. Frozen
in terror, the face of the observer in the second
plane stared. at Gulyayev. And. at that very sec-
ond., Gulyayev opened.-fire again. The "Ha.vil-
land" passed, through a thin wisp of cloud., the
-"Nieuport" 'right behind. it. Recovering ,from
the shock, the Wrangelit.e observer fired his
machine gun. The yellow flashes of the shots
couR1 be seen. Something,burned Gulyayev's
arm. _
Descending sharply, almost diving,, the
enemy plane headed, for his own lines at top
speed. The red-starred, "Nieuport" pursued it.
Gulyayev got everything possible out of his "Rhond'.
But the Wrangelite was perceptibly lengthening
the distance between them. The rear cockpit
of the "Havilland" was emitting flashes ? the
terrified, observer was still firing. Gulyayev
gave him a few last shots and. saw a bomb fall
away from the White Guard plane. They were
dumping it at random to lighten the plane for
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34 I K S atarel'
further flight.
Satisfied with the result of this air battle, Gulyayev approached, Kakho'vka at tree-
top level. The Red Army men waved at him their helmets perched on the bayonets
of their rifles.
After it landed, several holes were found in the plane. The pilot's arm had only
been creasecl by a bullet. , I
...We were sitting at the airfield.. Some of tl?.e battle we had seen from the ground,
the rest Gulyayev had just described. Of short Stature, he seemed small when sit-
ting, as he .was now, hunched, over, swinging his lap board between his legs.
"Well, I have just paid them back a little for the Commissar," he said, "but the
main settlement is still to come at Perekop."
And still under the influence of the battle he had just gone through and the bitter
news of Savin's death, Yakov Yakovlevich suddenly continued.:
"Well, Comrade Lenin warned that it would be this way."
"How?" asked. VasiPchenko, surprised at the turn in the conversation.
"Like this," said. GulyayeV, his large eyes flashing. "Once you start an offen-
sive against the enemy, don't falter, keep on going, fight to the finish, never mind
the difficulties."
"Yakov Yakovlevich, you talk as though you had seen Irich [Lenin] yourself,"
remarked one of the pilots. "Is that really true?"
"True," said Gulyayev quietly. "I had the great fortune to hear Comrade Lenin."
The men crowded closer around. Gulyayev. Had. he, our Yasha, really seen
Lenin?
"Tell us about it, Yakov Yakovlevich, " I begged..
Yasha cleared his throat and, began:
"This happened, I remember well, before the July demonstration massacre in
Petrograd.. You knOw, I was a mechanic at the Gatchina Flying School. Well, a
group Of sailors came to the school., 'We are a delegation, they said, 'from the
Baltic. We are going to see ll'ich. But we, haven't eaten a thins for two days. Feed
us, brothers....'
"I got excited: 'To 'see ll'ich?
"Yes, to see comrade Lenin,' they said.
"Take one'of us:'
"Okay, you can come yourself if the committee will send you.
"The committee did.. We fed, our buddies a triple portion of millet porridge with
butter, and I went with them.
? "We went to Piter [ St. Petersburg] by train. Then straight to Kshesinskaya.'s
Palace, to the Bolsheviks."
Gulyayev's voice was agitated. He had never talked so much. Everyone was
silent; dozens of eyes were watching him attentively.
"At the Palace a guard stood at the door. The senior sailor showed him his
credentials. We went in. We were directed immediately to a large room with
green walls. Many people were there. An enormous chandelier hung overhead.
Here a:thought struck me: All these are sailors, I am the only, one in a grey coat.
What if Comrade Lenin asks. suddenly: 'And by what authority are you here?' But
Sverdlov came up to us and. chatted pleasantly with us. I calmed. down a bit. But
every oncein a while I thought: What if he aixIdenly asks?
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,..Against the Black Baron 35
"Unexpectedly a man. walked. in a sid.e door. His forehead, was high. His eyes
were sharp. His movements were quick.
"'Greetings,, comrade revolutionary sailors!' he said.. 'I have been waiting for
you for some time!'
"'Greetings, comrade Lenin!' we replied..
"He immediately began' talking to the senior sailor and to us.
"As soon as I saw him I was relieved.. Such a man would. not ask: By what right
are you here?
"Then Vladimir Inch talked. to us. I have forgotten much, but some of it stuck
hard.
"'Venomous are our. enemies,' said. Inch. 'It would. be wrong to think that the
conquest of power'by the proletariat has been completed.. Events are moving at a
dizzy pace... We must fight to the end., in a. revolutionary way, rousing the masses.
The slogan "All' power to the Soviets" will triumph. (Yakov Yakovlevich spoke slow-
ly, as though trying to remember the exact words).
"And. when he was taking leave of us, Inch said,: 'Once you start an offensive
against the enemy, don't falter, keep on going, fight to the finish, never mind. the
difficulties.
"And that's the way it was. Today the observer on the Wrangelite plane fought
.
me with a machine gun at point-blank range. And I fought him. And I remembered
Comrad.e Lenin's words. I am now telling you all this because we miss our Com-
missar," concluded. Gulyayev.
Evv,yone could. see how tired he was, and. they all pondered. over his tale.
...Like waves in a storm, the Wrangelite regiments rolled. against the Kakhovka
bridgehead.. But it held. We were helped. by the 51st Rifle Division headed by
Comrad.e Blyukher [Blucher] that arrived. from Siberia, hardened in battles with
Kolchak.
By its daring air battles and its valuable reconnaissance flights, the Pravobere-
zhnaya Air Group won the esteem, of the command and came to be known as the "eyes
of the Army command."
On 20 August 1920 the offensive of the Red, Army against Severnaya Tavriya began
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IN THE FIRST BATTLES
WITH FASCISM
Maj. Gen. of the Air Force
M.N. YAKUSHIN
In 1936, Germany and Italy invaded. Spain to support the Fascist revolt land. to
strangle the Spanish Democratic Republic headed by the Peoples Front government.
It was clear to everyone that the struggle of the Spanish people against the rebels
and. the Italo-German interventionists was the fight of all progressive mankind against
the threat of Fascism which was striving to enslave freedom-loving peoples.
The peoples of the entire world, seeing the serious danger, expressed their soli-
darity with the Spanish people, whose struggle for liberty and independence became
the struggle of ,all progressive humanity againstthe black forces of reaction.
Thousands of people of various occupations and. nationalities voluntarily went to
Spain to join the ranks of those fighting against the onslaught of the Fascist hordes.
There were organized several international brigades that carried, the names of fight-
ers for freedom and for the national inclapendence of their countries:. Chapayev, Tel'-
man, Lincoln,, Garibaldi, .DOmbrovskiy. One of the brigades was named after the
Paris Commune, In a single battle formation with the Spanish people ?stood Czechs,
Italians, ..Germani, Russians, Poles., Yugoslays, Austrians, Bulgarians; There
were Communists, and Social Democrats, and people- of no party.
After a whole series of requests and petitions, our group of young Soviet *pilots
found themselves among a group of volunteers going to Spain to join the Loyalist pi-
lots and. the volunteer fliers from:other ?countries, and.' together with them to defend,
the Spanish cities and the peaceful people from the savage bombing by Fascist ,
avia-
tion..
Early in June 1937 we arrived in Barcelona from France in a passenger plane. The
weather was' hot. We went from the airfield. to the city by car. At that time, the'
front line traversed the country from south to north, dividing Spain into two parts.
The war could. be felt at every step.
-We drove along city streets that were practically empty. Encountered frequently
were ruined houses, broken windows, overturned, automobiles; here and there road-
ways were torn up. And then another building destroyed by a_bomb. Hanging on one
of the twisted. metal beams was a child's crib... The people, of Barcelona were silent-
ly rummaging. through the debris in the hope of saving the people buried under -it. Our
driver, a,Spaniard, told us that there had recently occurred in the city a Trotskyist-
anarchist counterrevolutionary putsch, which had been suppressed by the people'.
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In the F,irst Battles with Fascism 37
Our group consisted. of fighter pilots. We had. known before that our task con-
sisted of protecting the population of the city from attacks by hostile aircraft; but
now, when we, saw with our own eyes how people who wanted to be free and happy
were dying, it seemed:that the word task sounded. somehow unconvincing. Under
these circumstances, the words duty or retribution, were more appropriate.
And I realized that, when I glanced at the faces of my friends. They expressed
hatred of the enemy and determination, a 'desire to get to the airfield quickly so as
to climb into a plane and go into combat.
On the second day we arrived at one of the airfields near the city of Murcia in the
southeastern part of Spain. This was a rear-echelon airfield where .pilots had
gathered from many countries who had come either singly or in small groups. We
were met by representatives of the Republican Air Force command. They imme-
diately set about organizing squadrons. I found myself in a squadron that included.
several Russians, among them Serov, Yeremenko, Antonov, Rybkin, Shelyganov,
Soboliv, Masterov. In addition to us, the Russiansothere were assigned to the
squadron three Spanish pilots, two Austrians, two Americans, and one Yugoslay.
We made friend.s immediately, and our friendship was soon tested and strengthened
in the first battles over Madrid.
Despite the "multilingual" composition of our squadron, we quickly found a com-
mon language. This common language gradually became Spanish, which we later
began to speak not too badly (at least it seemed so to us). But at first, of course,
we expressed ourselves mainly by gestures.
What little time we had was used. for flight training. Everyone wanted to check
himself to see whether he had. enough experience, fortitude, end.urance. V Although
for the time-being the battles were for practice and were fought between friends
while the results were always "peaceful", nevertheless they were fought very bitter-
ly. ,No one wanted to be defeated, and therefore we strove to analyze each "battle"
to the minutest d.etails, to learn all the strong and weak points of our machines. In
a few days we would. come to actual grips with a real enemy.
At the airfield we met Several Soviet pilots who had joined the fight against the
Fascist air forces before we did. In air battles over Madrid, Guadalajara, Huesca,
they had acquired a wealth of combat experience. Meetings and conversations with
them were a real schooling. In their importance, they were no less significant
than our formal training.
For us novices, not experienced in actual combat matters, it was very important
to learn that, for example, the persistence displayed by airmen in their' first air
battles build.s confidence in their own powers and, reacts favorably on their future
combat activity. Our fighting comrades warned us that it would only take one dis-
play of faint-heartedness to encourage the enemy to greater impudence; and so it
woilld be until he met real resistance. Therefore, said our friends, the Republican
fighters were never the first to break off the engagement and. never refused battle.
From these same conversations we learned some of the tactical methods of the
German and Italian Fascist pilots and their habits. The more we listened to our
fighting friends the more convinced we became that the most important thing in'com-
bat was not to lose the initiative.
Our stay at the rear-echelon airfield came to an end.. What had. it given us?
That, only the future would show. At all events, we were ready to go into battle.
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38
M N. Yakushin
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BATTLES
R THE MOTHERLAND
Immortal Glory
? This happened in the early days of the Great Patriotic War. A flight commanded
by Capt. N. F. Gastello mad.e a bomb strike against Fascist tanks on the Molod.echno-
Radoshkovichi highway. ? The planes had started. on their return course. At that
moment a direct hit by an AA artillery shell set fire to the lead. plane.
Gastello 's attempts to put out the fire were unsuccessful. They could have used,
their parachutes, but the intrepid, men preferred. death to an enemy prison.
The bomber, guided. by the firm hand of Communist Gastello went into a dive and
plunged into the thick of Fascist tanks and tank trucks filled with gasoline: A tre-
mend.ous fire burst out on the highway.
Immortal glory to the heroes! Captain Gastello was awarded. the title of Hero of
the Soviet Union. His faithful friends, Lt. A. A. Burdenyuk, Sgt. A. A. Kalinin, and.
Lt. G. N. Skorobogatyy, were posthumously decorated. for their courage, bravery,
and daring with the Order of the Patriotic War, First Class, by a d.ecree of the Pre-
sidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 25 January 1958.
The Heroism of a Radio Gunner
It.was 17 July 1941. For, its twenty-sixth combat mission
the crew of an Ar-2 aircraft, where Lt.Ivan Moise.yevich Brazhni-
kov was radio-gunner, was ordered. to destroy a crossing,on the
Dnestr River south of Mogilev-Podol'skiy. The aircraft was es-
corted. by three 1-1.6 fighters. When still 20 kilometers from the
target, the Soviet airmen were met by nine enemy planes.
Six of the hostile fighters entered. into dogfights, while the
rest attacked the Ar-2. Three against .one.
After several attacks at an altitude of 800 meters, the bom-
ber's left engine caught fire ,but it continued, toward the target. Un-
I. M Brazhnikov der continuous attack from all sides, the Soviet plane nevertheless
reached. the target and dropped. its bombs. After the bombs were
dropped, in turning away from the target, radio-gunner Brazhnikov shot down one of
the enemy planes. At that moment, the Fascists set fire to the other engine.
In the continuing air ,battle, Ivan Brazhnikov shot down two more enemy planes
With bursts of machine-gun fire, after which the crew abandoned the plane. The
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In the First Battles with Fascism
radio-gunner landed. on territory over which the combat had just taken place. With
his back and his head burned, he was picked up by soldiers and sent to division head-
quarters. There he learned that the crossing had been destroyed. Brazhnikov was
soon moved out of the division area and sent to the headquarters of the air army.
After his recovery, Ivan Moiseyevich Brazhnikov continued to assail the enemy
in the air. In April 1942 by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
USSR, radio-gunner Ivan Brazhnikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Un-
ion.
The squadron soon flew to a front-line airfield northeast of Madrid.. I was the
right wingman in Anatoliy Serov's flight. His ^exceptional flying 'ability, his inex-
haustible energy, and his yearning to encounter the real enemies as soon as 'possible
and "smash in their faces" ? as he liked to say-- set him noticeably apart from the
other pilots. We did, not yet know that our flight commander would prove to be an
infinitely dauntless warrior, a hero, one of the renowned pilots of our country.
The mountains of the Central Cordillera
appearing on the horizon suggested to us that
Madrid. should be somewhere nearby on the
plains of the plateau of New Castile. Finally,
on the left, we could see the city below. We
had, already spent some time in several Span-
ish cities, but somehow Madrid was especial-
ly exciting. In those days, the attention of
the whole world, was riveted to it. This was
a fighting city, living through a great tragedy.
Beginning in the second. Ilalf of August 1936,
the aerial bombardment of Madrid. increased
every day. The city became the principal ob-
jective of the German and Italian bombers. In
From left to right: A. K. Serov, ,a few months Madrid suffere.d great d.estruc-
M. N. Yakushin, Ye. S. Antonov. tion and.' many casualties. In a single day in'
late October 1936, more than one thousand'peo-
ple were killed and wounded as a result of bombings. ?
By conducting a savage bombing of the peaceful populace of Spanish 'cities, the
rebel high command was Counting primarily on affecting the morale of the Spanish
people, on breaking their will to fight.
But the =punished. operations of the Fascist pirates soon came to an end. In
October, the Loyalists received some then modern, high-speed fighter planes and
bombers. Together with Loyalist pilots, the^volunteer' pilots fought. in 'these
planes. Among them were also those Soviet pilots to whom we were so grateful for
their help during our training at the rear-echelon airfield.
The Loyalist Air Force immediately offered strong resistance' to the enemy, The
British newspaper "Manchester Guardian", said at that time: "The Government planes
and pilots have already shown their superiority over the German planes and pilots.
The air attacks on Madrid have practically ceased, because the German and. Italian
planes have been simply driven off. "
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The navigator of a ship flown by an outstanding crew, Senior Lt. V. M. Tkachev,
skillfully carries out his flight assignments in bombing. For his success in master-
ing new equipment, he has been awarded the Order of the Red Star.
In the photo: Senior Lt. V. M. Tkachev. Photo: A.I.Dottaenko.
In the First Battles with Fascism 41
We thoughtof all this as we neared. Madrid.. We soon let? down for the approach
and landed. safely at an airfield. that, to our surprise, proved, to be. a small hippodrome
surrounded on three sides by the tall trees of a country estate. At the edge of this
estate, parking areas had. been built for the"chatos" (snub-noses) as the men of the
Republican army had. lovingly nicknamed our planes.
...At the break of dawn, we were already at the airfield. beside our planes that
had. been made ready for flight. This had, been taken care, of by our new Spanish .
friends ? technicians, mechanics, drivers. They were assisted by a few. Russian
volunteer mechanics.
With the first rays of the sun, several flights of the squadron took off. Each
flight had .been given its own assignment. Our flight headed by Anatoliy Serov was
sent to make a reconnaissance of airfields in the area of the cities of Segovia and.
Avila, located, beyond the ridge 'ofthe Sierra, d.e Guadarrama. ,Having flown, over
the ridge, we found. ourselves over enemy territory. .Over hostile territory for the
first time: It is hard, to remember, now what we felt most during this flight, doubt
and lack of confidence in our abilities and. our experience, or a calm faith in our
strength, or a thirst for battle. But almost any flight means excitement, and. that
is a good. feeling: In any case, it did not keep us from carrying out our mission.
True, there did occur a trifling incid.ent.
Approaching the last leg of the route, in the area of Avila we saw ahead and. to the
right some black silhouettes con.sisting of several symmetrical groups of three. Chang-
ing course, we were about to attack. But what is this? As we approached. them,
the silhouettes lost their outlines and. dissolved.. It turned, out that they were anti-
aircraft shell bursts. Turning around, we saw a whole cloud of bursts. The move
to attack could be explained only by our inexperience. 'After landing, we and. our
friends had a hearty laugh over our first "battle".
The bursts that blanketed us on all sides nevertheless required caution. What
could the anti-aircraft artillery be protecting? Evidently an airfield.? That's what
it was. Our .assumption was confirmed.
It seemed that the situation in the air was getting hotter. Although the end of the
day was approaching, it was necessary to make one more flight to reconnoiter an.,
airfield that was 'far from the front lines. ? To send a flight' Was already risky. Then
the commander d.ccid.ed to send the whole squadron (twelve planes). This decision,
as we learned later, was right.
This flight was engraved, in the memory of all of us as the squadron's first air
battle, and in this battle its pilots all received their baptism of fire at once. Despite
the fact that it was our first battle, it was fought in an exceptionally well-organized.
manner, .decisively, and aggressively. In this sense, it was one of the best of the..
many battles that we fought in Spain. In spite of the fact that the first encounter .with?
the enemy took place with, an equal correlation of forces ?.twelve against twelve ?
the enemy was literally destroyed in the course of a few minutes. ?
It happened. thus. ?The flight was coming to an end.. We were returning .to our
own airfield with 30-40 kilometers yet to go. Suddenly, considerably above us and.
on a head-on collision course appeared. a group of unidentified planes. No markings
could. be seen on them, the type of plane was also not clear; but by their silver-gray
color it could almost 'unmistakably be seen that they were rebel planes. They passed.
over us toward. the setting sun. It appeared that the enemy pilots did not see us,
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M N Yaitushin
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since they did. not reveal their intentions by any outward sign. However, knowing
? the enemy's habits, his desire to utilize the smallest advantage so as to attack, we
became alerted. The enemy had two advantages: the first was his position above
us, the second was the opportunity to attack out of the sun.
Each one of us was sure that the enemy would not let this favorable opportunity
for an attack escape, and we prepared for him: the flight on the left moved over to
the right side so as not to hinder the squadron's maneuver in making a left turn to-
ward. the 'enemy.
Our suspicions were confirmed. The enemy began to attack. It was even dis-
? advantageous for us to enter battle because the reconnaissance flight was coming to
an end and. the fuel in the tanks was getting low; but at the command of the squadron
leader Ivan Yeremenko, making an energetic turn, we met the enemy head on.
oro
111111EgA...--
---=-1N BATTLES
FOR siriE MOTHERLAND
.2.47/essa)
Master of the Sky
P. I Shikunov
On 29 November 1943 six of our fighters
flew out on a combat mission. The leader of
the group was Guard.s Lt. F. I. Shikunov.
In the target area, Shikunov noticed. a
group ,of He-1.11 planes escorted. 'by a pair of
F7-19.0 s. :Correctly evaluating.the?situation,
he gave over the Tr,d.io the cOmrn.and.'for the .
lower four some to cover the bombers, while he
and his wingrnan suddenly attacked. the hostile
fighters. The latter immediately withdrew
from the battle area-.
The enemy bombers, left without cover,
hurriedly dropped their bombs and fled..
At that -moment,- Fedor Shikunov noticed.
yet another group ? about 30*hostile Ju-87 bombers'. There was no time to lose,.
and he resolutely attacked the leader of, the group. and set it on fire with a single
machine'-gun burst. The enemy plane exploded in the air. ,
Attacks .followed one after another. Still another Ju-87 plunged. into the ground.
Shikunov also drove off this group of enemy bombers, not permitting them to bomb
our ground forces in battle formation.
Having barely repulseid. the, attack of a pair of "Messer s'!, Fedor Shikunov -saw
yet another group of hostile bombers the third.. RS fate wasi the same .as that of
,its predecessors,: our daring fighters attacked. the "Junkers" and. broke up their
In the First Battles with Fascism 43
combat formations. Dropping their bombs outside the target area one by one, the
enemy planes disappeared..
Two German fighters again hurried, to the rescue, but it was too late. Fed,or
Shikunov, having done with the bombers, forced the "Messer s" also to withdraw
from the battle area.
After this heavy engagement with a numerically superior enemy, Fedor Shikunov
justifiably came to be known as master of the sky.- During the war years he flew
118 combat missions, participated in 40 air battles, and personally shot down 18
hostile planes. For his courage and daring, he was awarded. the high title of Hero
of the Soviet Union.
The fight began. All twenty-four planes engaged. in the famous"tangle" that was,
characteristic of the air 'battles of that time. Now we could scrutinize each, other
face to face. Yes, they were silver gray "Fiats" with yellow-green camouflage and
black crosses on wings and. rudders. But in maneuverability they were inferior to.
our light and. nimble machines, and without great difficulty we quickly gained, advan-
tageous positions for attacking. The well-coordinated, beginning of the battle deter-
mined? its further course.
From defense we went over to the attack. Our onslaughts became ever more
persistent and. bolder. Several flaming torches of hostile planes had already left
alr-tr The "Fiats",
LaLeir L.A.aL.,es in the
44. ? 4-
more1 frequently to get away by turning, but they .stalled, in the turns and thereby ex-
posed. their "bellies" to the fire of our fighters. Gradually the air became clearer,
and soon there were no "Fiats" at all. Only our planes still continued for a while,
as though by inertia, to swirl around. the scene of battle.
At the command of the leader, who had already taken a course for home territory,
everyone settled. into formation, breaking up into flights. What joy there was when
we saw that each one was in place!
The.first battle and. with no 1.osses ? what a. victory:
We approached the airfield in organized fashion and. with a full complement, a,
rare occurrence after combat. ? On the' ground, no one even suspected. that the
squadron had. just gone through a battle. To our surprise., not Only. had. we not
suffered:any_ losses, but we had. not even received any d.arnage that was at all 'serious.-
. Next day, a report came into the squadron that six enemy planes had. been shot down
in this battle. And. so, the Squadron opened its combat account.
Despite the success achieved in the first battle, we could. still not Consider our-
selves sufficiently experienced and. acquainted, with all the fine points of aerial corn-
bat., Frankly, we did not even fully understand just what had. happened in the air,
and scarcely.a one of us was then in a position to examine and. analyze' the battle
intelligently and..in detail. The whole critique was reduced to a lively exchange of
opinions among men who had. for the first time, encountered an enemy in,a realfight
to the death. Yes, there was still much we.did, not know then, but experiences are
acquired. gradually. Only one thing was clear:, do not become conceited. and
member that the enemy is strong, that he can be broken only by the staunch and the
resolute, by men who have mastered their techniques well.
On the next day 'at d.awn began the operations of the troops on the Central* front.
. With that day,. there began intense combat activity for Republican'aviation also. In
unable to withstand our attacks, tried ever
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44 M. N Yaku shin
an especially difficult position were the fighter units,. which comprised. only a few
squadrons for the entire front. They protected. the troops from strikes by the
more numerous air forces of the enemy, supported. the operations of the Republican
bombers, warded off the rebels' pirate raid,s on Madrid., and. also mad.e reconnais-
sance flights.
The July days were long and. hot. The smoke of fires and the dust raised by
shell .and bomb bursts in the dry- Castilian soil hung in the motionless, torrid air.
They went as high as 3000 Meters, covering the earth and. the sky. From morning
to evening, .the air was filled, with the drone of aircraft engines and the crackle of
machine-gun bursts ? the Republican fighters were waging intense and continuous
battle with the Fascist air forces; covering the fighting operations of the army units
and. international brigades at the approaches to Madrid.. The engines did not have
'time to cool. Some days it Was necessary to fly six or eight combat missions,
engaging in three or four air battles, usually against superior enemy forces. De-
spite the intense strain the-Republican pilots displayed. remarkable steadfastness
and endurance.
As was to have been expected., the combat friendship between pilots of all nation-
alities which started back on the rear-echelon airfield, became strengthened in the
battles.
A feeling of comradeship and. mutual assistance in battle, hatred. toward. the
common enemy, and a love for freedom ? these are what determined, success in
combat. To this should. be added. such factors of very great importance as high
flying skill, judicious initiative and. resourcefulness in a complex combat situation,
honesty, mod.esty, and, finally, the cheerful attitud.e. of the whole group.
The temperamental and. fearless Anatoliy Serov, the jovial and. witty Zhenya
Antonov, the good-natured. and. shy Yugoslav Petrovich, the calm and even-tempered.
Leonid. Rybkin, quiet and modest Sobolev and. Masterov, the gay Spaniards Rafael and.
Sardino, and. others of our comrades aptly complemented, each other and., despite
differing 'characters and customs, made up a unifi..ed, friendly group that later ac-
quirec?he' glory of the. renowned Serov squadron.
During those difficult days, sno less successfully fought the pilots of the squadrons
led by 'B.A.. Smirnov, I. A. Lakeyev, G. S. Pleshchenko, ancl others with whom we
cooperated successfully. We soon learned of the famous exploits of these squadrons,
and we Were, proud. Of their successes. ?
'The?intensity of the fighting increased. Continually receiving reinforcements
from Germany and Italy,' the Fascists increased their resistance. Suffering heavy
losses in aircombat, they began to Operate in large groups. The Fascisthigh
,comMand introduced into combat for the first time a new type of fighter ? the
Me-109,' hoping' with- its aid. to take the initiative out of the hand,s of the Republican
pilots.
The -battles became fiercer, and news of losses in the Republican air forces
became ever more frequent. Our squadron also suffered its first losses. Early
in the morning, Serov, Karpov, Shelyganov,, and the author of these lines flew out
on 'call to an area west of Madrid. to reinforce our fighters which were 'waging a
battle against a superior enemy. As?we approached the area of 'combat, our group
was attacked. from three sides by 22 "Fiats". An unequal battle took place. In it,
,Karpov was shot down. the wound.ed Shelyganov limped, to our territory and landed
?
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In the First Battles with Fascism 45
in a field, where Spanish peasants gave him first aid. Serov and I were left alone.
Fighting off the Fascist fighters pressing from all sides, we tried to draw them to-
ward. Madrid, to our own territory.
The situation became critical, but we were saved, by anti-aircraft batteries that
were following the battle. They opened fire, outlining the center of the battle with
shell bursts, hoping thus to cut us off from the enemy. This proved to be enough
to cause the "Fiats", which had just been attacking two fighters so "bravely", to
scatter in all directions and quickly to retreat.
We were barely able to reach our own airfield, . so serious was the damage to our
machines. From the damage, for example, the wings of Ser ov's plane folded up
on landing.
We had lost Karpov. But each loss cost the enemy dear:
Ilk
411111.1111111111111111111111MI
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TI 11 BATTLES
FOR THL tvtui ia
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The Skill and. Courage of a Navigator
The task of finding the target and leading other aircraft to
it is entrusted. to the lead. plane.
. This time, as usual, flying in the target-illuminating lead
plane was the crew of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitriy BaryS4ev,
with .Visiliy Seniko (now twice Hero of the Soviet Union) as ship's
navigator.
The ship approached the target area, reducing altitude so
that the target- could be sighted. visually. ? -The entire crew stared
into the darkness until their eyes ached.. , Ther,e was only just
enough fuel ? just enough for the thousand-kilometer return trip..
V. V. SentkO Every minute seemed. an eternity. And. then,. through the dark-
ness, broke lines which seemed. long familiar..
"Check pOirit below", reported. Sen'ko and. gave the -already computed. course to
the target. A few more minutes of flying, and in the darkness were Outlined.. the
contours of the military-industrial Objective.
The plane went into its bomb run, so as to drop the flare bomb's from the wind.-
ward. side.
"Bomb run!", ordered. the navigator, bending over the bombsight. Soon, literal-
ly like giant chandeliers, the SAB illuminating 'aerial bombs] hung in the sky, slow-
ly drifting toward the objective.
And only then, when the plane began turning for the next approach, did the rays
of searchlights spring up in the sky. Immediately behind them flashed bursts of
anti-aircraft shells, covering the- entire area above the objective. Fragments began
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46 M. N. Yaku shin
to drum around. the plane. The crew made the second approach, to drop the next
series of flare bombs. The entire objective could be seen as plain as day. Toward
the target, guided by the SAB's,other aircraft were already approaching. Soon,
mighty blasts shook the air. Mission accomplished.
* *
Strike Against a Naval Target
P.7,5
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Capt. V.N.Kiselev sank several enemy
transports during the war. His squadron of
naval torpedo planes sank Fascist convoys and
made strikes against naval bases. Naval pilot
V.N.Kiselev was awarded the title of Hero of
the Soviet Union.
?
...In order to draw away some of the Republican forces around Madrid., the reb-
els undertook an advance in northern Spain in the area of Santander, where the Re-
publicans were still holding on to a small patch of land.. The Republican command.
was coMpelled. to weaken the already scanty air forces in the Madrid. sector and. send.
part of the fighters to the north: There, in particular, flew the squadron commanded.
by Boris Aleksandrovich Smirnov.
The situation at the Central.front became even more strained.. The numerical
superiority of the rebels in the air now became overwhelming. Nevertheless, the
initiative remained in the hands of the Republican air forces. The rebels still
would not risk battle with U.S unless they had at least a twofold advantage.
The bomber forces of the rebels, having suffered considerable losses in daytime
battles, went over to night operations in the main. As a rule, single planes made
the flights. Frequently during the entire night a bomber would. fly over every
15-20 minutes and, making two or three approaches, would drop his bombs. Since
the Republican fighters did not fly at night and there was practically no anti-aircraft
cover, the enemy could make these flights with impunity.
What to do? We gave much thought to this.
Anatoliy Serov posed the question of night operations by the fighters against the
insolent Fascist vultures. He began finding out who among the pilots had had night
flying experience. There were a few such in our squadron. For them, night
flights would have to be in addition to the daytime load, which was high enough al-
ready. However, this was not the principal difficulty. It was necessary to con-
vince the pilots of the practicability of the "night venture", inasmuch as there was
yet no experience in fighter combat operations at night. Naturally, many did not
immediately believe in the possibility of the fighters' participating in night battle's,
the more so because at that time there were no searchlight fields and the airfields
did. not have even the most elementary equipment for night flying, not to mention any
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In the First Battles with Fascism 47
facilities for control and. vectoring.
Nevertheless, several pilots supported. Serov' s initiative.
Everything now rested. on the consent of the command., which, .considering that
there was no system of night safety. and. control, doubted, the feasibility of night fight-
er operations. But Serov was not one of those who stop half way. He believed, more
and. more strongly in the practicability of the plan that had. been devised.. No one
knows how it all would. have end.ed. if F. A.Aga.rtsov, who at t4iit time was the Com-
missar for the group of Soviet volunteer pilots, had. not interfered.. He strongly
supported. Serov's initiative, after which the group commander was compelled to
consent to the organization of night flying for the fighters.
From among those who wanted. to try, four men ?.Serov, Rybkin,' Antonov, and
I ? were selected. at first. We amicably undertook the preparation and. organiza-
tion of night d.uty. ? We were given the best planes and were assigned the best mechan-
ics. A projector was also found. to illuminate the landing strip; a telephone line was
strung from the cdmmand post to' the aircraft parking strip. And that., if you please,
was the entire simple organization of night combat operations, requiring only a few
hours to set up. ; The warning was the appearance of the bombers themselves above
the airfield., and. sometimes the falling bombs. We kept watch at the Alcala airfield,
where we landed each evening after the completion of daytime flying.
The enemy, suspecting nothing, continued, to bomb our airfield.s regulArly, Several
times we soared. into the quiet night sky in the hope of encountering at least one bom-
ber, but all in vain. How to spot a hostile plane? ? There were no lights on it, it
was not lighted up by searchlight, while the rising half moon cast such a pale light
that the sky seemed. to be even darker and more impenetrable. And the bombs con-
tinued. to fall. What an annoyance! The enemy was somewhere nearby but we could
not see him, despite the fact that we were in the air. Once Rybkin noticed some
"blinker men", marking out the airfield. on three sides. He immediately opened. fire,
and the representatives ofthe fifth column ceased theirnactivity".
We had already begun. to doubt the usefulness of our venture, while' some of our
comrades in the squadron advised us to give it Up., But Serov would not even listen
to such advice. On thefifth or sixth night, flying at an altitude of, 3000 meters, I
suddenly saw, on the ground, almost directly beneath me, a series of .exploding bombs.
Carefully scanning the heavens, I spotted. at about 100 meters above me the black sil-
houette of a heavy bomber. Without thinking much, or more accurately without
thinking at all, I plunged to the attack from below and. behind., ,not even observing the
required. distance. The attack was mad.e from directly below and. almost vertically.
It Was necessary to open fire immediately with all four machine guns because the .
distance was rapidly growing shorter. I saw the cone of tracer bullets pierce the
three-engine Ju- 52, but the plane did. not catch fire and., without changing direction,
continued flying. To avoid. collision, I pulled, out of the attack and. again repeated
it, not letting the plane out of my sight. The second. attack was just t,he same. This
time I continued, firing until my speed. was gone entirely, until my plane fell into a
spin. But when I pulled the machine out of the spin, I found. that the bomber had. al-
ready disappeared.. After landing, I reported. my failure. We analyzed. the rep.son
in detail: haste and. lack of consideration for the enemy bomber' a weak points.
My failure grieVed. us' all, but at the same time it lifted, our hopes. It had. been
proved, that an enemy plane. could, be encountered and attacked at night, and .therefore
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48 M.N. Yaku shin
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it could:also be shot down.
But what happened'? Why did the rebel bombers cease their, attacks, while for
three nights we sat in our planes waiting in vain for our nightly "guests"? Apparent-
ly, .they sensed that all was not well and had learned that even at night .it was no longer
safe to fly over Republican territory.
On the night of 26 July 1937, Anatoliy Serov and I, tired and disgruntled, arrived
at the airfield to stand by our planes. We had fought several air battles that day.
Although the Republican fighters continued to wage a successftil fight against the
Fascistaviation, this struggle was becoming harder each day: the enemy was con-
tinually sending new forces into the fray. The pilots were becoming exhausted from
the extremely heavy load.
On the ground the enemy was also concentrating strong forces, and therefore the
Republican armies were advancing very slowly.
At about 12 o'clock at night, we had a telephoned report that the rebel air forces
were bombing Republican troops in the area of the Escorial. Serov and I took off
and headed toward the front. This was the first time we had flown toward the front
lines at night. We determined the area to be patrolled by the centers of conflagra-
tion. Serov began patrolling at an altitud.e of 2000 meters, while I climbed. to 3000.
In abotit ten minutes I saw an enemy bomber flying toward. me. This time he would
not get away! Letting him go by, I made a 180? turn and. began closing in on him
from the rear right at practically the same altitude. Knowing that the junction of the
right wing and. the fuselage was a vulnerable spot (the gasoline tank for priming the
engine was located. there), I forma.ted. on the bomber, almost touching him, equalized
my speed, aimed., and opened fire. Flames spurted immediately from the right side
of the fuselage. Almost simultaneously the enemy gunner opened fire on my fighter,
but it was already tool late the burning plane was beginning to drop. I followed. it
until it hit the ground.t1)
We had to continue patrolling. But how I wanted. to hurry back to the airfield. to
share my joy! I had barely climbed out of my plane when I fell into the powerful -
embrace of To,lya, Serov, who was no less joyful than I ? perhaps more so: After
all, it was a. victory for his idea. Soon afterwards the commanding officer of our
, group also congratulated me by telephone on being the "first in the world".
The following night, in the same area and. under the same conditions, a second.
Fascist bomber was 'shot down. This AnatolirSerov did, thereby proving conclusive-
ly that fighters at night were a formidable weapon against bomber aircraft. After_
that, the Fascist air forces ceased, their night operations on the Central front. Later
on, the Republican fighters successfully operated. at night against the Fascist bom-
bers,, wherever they might appear.. Yeremenko over Saragossa, Stepanov and. Finn
over Barcelona, Spanish pilots over-Valencia .-- all repeated. and confirmed. Serov's
."night venture".
A few days later our squadron was to fly from the Central front to the Mediterra-
nean coast, to the area of Valencia, for a rest. The night before we left, we were
awakened. ahead of time and informed that the squadron was to ?leave immediately, not
(1) This episode has also been described previously in literature. The pilot who shot
down the enemy plane in night combat was called Carlos Castejon. .Carlos Castejon
was the name given to Soviet volunteer pilot Mikhail Nesterovich Yakushin. ?Editor
?
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In the First Battles with Fascism
49
for a rest but to go somewhere else. To our question "Where?", they told us that
it was not yet definitely known but somewhere north. We all thought of the small
patch of Republican land far to the north in the area of Santander, where a Spanish
squadron under the command of Boris Srnirnov was fighting courageously. We glanc-
ed at the map it was a good 400 kilometers of flying over territory occupied by the
enemy.
.....M11111111D
IN BATTLES
The Hundredth Sortie
This happened in January 1942, when the German Fascist troops on the Maser -
skaya line in Karelia were striving tobreak throughto the main railroad line from
Leningrad. to Murmansk. It was bitterly cold. On a sunny morning, element com-
mander Vasiliy Knizhnik was preparing for his hundredth combat sortie. He was to
lead. into battle some young pilots who at that time had. not flown even once over the
front line.
In the area of the target, the leader's experienced eye immediately discerned
where the camouflaged dugouts and. bomb shelters of the enemy
were.
Knizhnik gave the signal for the attack and. put his machine
into a dive. Bombs rained down on the fortifications. The
deafening bomb blasts and the crackle of machine-gun fire did
not cease until the target was destroyed.
The mission had. been carried out excellently, and the planes
headed for their home airfield.. But suddenly, from out of the
sun and to the rear. appeared four Me-109's, while above them
were six more enemy fighters.
An unequal battle began. In a few minutes two Fascist planes V Knizhnik
fell to the ground. The enemy obviously had the advantage in
strength. The situation was made more difficult in that the supply of ammvnition
and fuel of our fighters was getting low. Despite this, Vasiliy Knizhnik continued.
the fight to the last round. The last burst had been fired at the enemy. Knizhnik
saw two enemy planes "putting the squeeze" on Sergeant Rulev's machine. Without
hesitating, Vasiliy decided to ram. He approached the hostile aircraft, banked,
and hit the enemy plane with his left wing. The enemy dropped like a rock and
plunged. to the ground.
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50 M N Yakushin
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Two Rammings in One Battle
On 8 April 1942, six Soviet fighter pilots encountered 28 Fascist planes heading
for Murmansk.
The Soviet pilots engaged in battle. Exceptional bravery was displayed by
Aleksey Stepanovich Khlobystov, who was later awarded the title of Hero of the Sovi-
et Union. He boldly led his group to the attack. One hostile fighter caught fire
and began slowly descending to the ground.
For a brief moment the enemy was stunned; the Soviet fighters took advantage of
this. They broke through to the bombers -- and in a trice one of them was shot
down. The others began ridding themselves quickly of their bombs.
The ammunition was gone. Khlobystov decided to use ramming tactics. He
came up on the tail of an enemy plane. The enemy tried to get away by descending,
but Khlobystov would not let him d.o that. Out of ammunition, he increased his
speed,, overtook the enemy, and rammed him with his right wingtip. The Fascist
crashed to the ground.
Then Khlobystov took his place in formation, continuing to lead the fighters. And
again, maneuvering, he came up on the tail of an enemy plane. Closing in on him,
he hit the empennage with the same wing. One more enemy plane was disposed. of.
4
We soon received our assignment. It appeared that we were to fly to Catalonia,
to the area of Barcelona. We were to cover the unloading at sea of n large ocean
liner that had. brought arms from Marseilles for Republican Spain.
Then in late August, along with other Spanish squadrons, we flew to one of the
airfield,s east of Saragossa. There began a land operation, and. with it bitter air
battles broke out again ? this time principally with the German Fascist air forces
reinforced by a large number of Me-109 fighters. But even here the Republican
air forces did not yield the initiative. Just as at Madrid, the rebel bomber forces
suffered considerable losses in day battles and were compelled to resort to night
operations. But now we knew how to act in such cases, and Yeremenko soon proved
this, shooting down an enemy bomber at night.
The Republican fighters gave the Fascist air forces no peace. The rebel com-
mand was preparing to strike a blow at the Republican airfields to snatch the initia-
tive from the Republicans. To this end, a large number of aircraft were concen-
trated at the Garapiniles Airfield.' But this plan was not fated to be carried out.
Several. Republican squadrons struck a crushing deterrent blow, destroying a large
number of enemy planes.
The time came to part with our Spanish friends. It was early autumn. Con-
tinuous rams had brought quiet to the front. We handed our machines over to
young pilots, and our selves returned to our Motherland.
Leaving the land of Republican Spain, we carried in our hearts an ardent love
for its freedom-loving people, for our combat friends in the international units,
and a burning hatred toward the most evilenemy of mankind Fascism.
? gim...........???????????????????MENEVOMMIft?
1.4
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NEW TACTICAL
PROCEDURES BORN
IN BATTLE
Maj. Gen. Of the Air Force A. I. POKR.YSHICIN,
Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union
In the years of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet pilots mad.e extensive use of the
"falcon thrust''. Human ingenuity adopted' and modified this bird.'s method and made
of it one of the more effective ways of attacking hostile aircraft. In the heat of batt-
le, the Soviet pilots tested and perfected this technique, discovering new variants to
suit each air situation. Life itself suggested the paths to discovery.
A sunny spring morning in the Kuban' region comes to mind. We were flying in
the direction of the front line where we were to give air cover to our troops. On
the left stretched mountains of the Caucasian range, their s'ilvery summits glisten-
ing, and below us on the right lay the boundless stretches of the fertile Kuban'
steppes as far as the eye could reach. Spring was in full bloom, yet no tractors
nor seed plows were visible in the fields. The rich black soil was being plowed up
by bomb and artillery shell bursts.
0 Kuban', beloved Soviet soil, how the Fascist barbarians have disfigured. thee!
Fury, noble fury, raged in my breast. With even more pains the pilots sought out
the enemy to destroy him and to sweep the sky of their Motherland clean of carrion
birds. ,
We fly at high speed in order to gain an advantage over the enemy. Then we fly
patrol, not on a horizontal plane, but in descending flight, maintaining, ,however,
the prescribed altitude While having the necessary speed reserve.
Suddenly down .below we see that three of our fighters are trying to shake about
ten Fascist planes. In defense they go into a wide turn. No time to lose: In-
stantly I reach a decision ? attack! .
Suddenly we tumble down from above in a steep dive into the swarm of "Messers".
-The "falcon thrust" was just the thing. The outline of the enemy plane was growing
larger and larger in the sight. Automatically my hand tends to press the firing,
button. * But reason prompts Me: too early. I must hit him for sure at 'close range.
The enemy pilot tries a sudden breakaway, but it is too late. A stream of fire 'rid-
dles his aircraft and, belching a bluish flame, it heels over on its wing.
I want to snap my plane out of the dive; I Cannot lose altitude, since there is the
possibility of colliding with fragments of the, enemy plane. I black out and for a
split-second I lose consciousness.
"What a beautiful attack!" I hear Dzusov's voice from the ground and .I go in for
a landing.
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A. I. Pokr shkin
? Back on the ground. we analyze the attack.
"The plane should be pulled out of the attack sooner", said one of the pilots.
"The dive angle should be shallower", advises another.
We pick to pieces, we analyze. Neither the one ncr the other ,suggestion is apt.
If we were to follow' these suggestions, then the main advantage of the falcon t4rust,
impetuousness and suddenness -- is lost. After some searching and testing, a new
tactical procedure takes distinct shape. The fighter dives just as steeply but not
'directly at the enemy aircraft-, allowing him to slip ahead a little. Then the plane
"breaks" and. attacks at higlvspeed and from the rear, but at a shallower angle. This
method .of ,attack has more than once paid off for our pilots. The advantage of the
falcon thrust is preserved in it. In this connection, the fighter not only maintains its
altitude, but climbs as well after the attack as a result of the high speed. And herein
? is the guarantee of success in subsequent attacks.
A lofty feeling of patriotism inspired the Soviet pilots to achieve heroic feats in
the name of the Motherland. At the same time we knew that victory in combat re-
quires a high degree of skill and a continual improvement of tactical procedures and.
methods of operation.
It is known that aviation equipment and armament were improved and altered. dur-
ing the war, which fact was bound. to influence the tactical procedures of aerial com-
bat. This is why Soviet pilots used to analyze in great detail their aerial combat op-
erations, seeking the most effective procedures..
?Qur Air Force commanders have mad.e the experience of their subordinates in
combat operations generally known. However, those men who buttressed this know-
ledge with their personal combat experience were the ones who most successfully
coped. with the problem. Such commanders supported in every way the searching
efforts of the pilots who were working out new method.s of operation, because the com-
manders themselves became convinced, in combat of the expediency of these new meth-
ods.
Many new tactical procedures and methods of operation originated in combat. But
a great deal of thought was necessary on the ground in order that, on a basis of pro-
found theoretical generalizations and further practical testing, these procedures and
methods be perfected, developed., and widely adopted in practice.
It was 1942. In MiG- 3's we were escorting 11-2 ground-attack aircraft. Off in
the distance two groups of Fascist German fighters appeared. One of them tied up
our striking, group in combat, while the other tried to break through to the "Llyushins' .
A pair of enemy planes made an approach from the left rear. The Soviet pilot who
was giving direct cover to the ground-attack planes suddenly turned left so as to re-
pulse the enemy attack, but went into a spin. The attack was repulsed by another
pilot who came up just in time from the striking group.
"No, this will not do," thought, "we have to find, some other escort procedure".
Maintaining his position in formation, the fighter had, to fly at the lowest possible
speed. This fact naturally limited his freedom to maneuver. This meant that we
had to developa procedure whereby fighters would not lose their foremost capability?
speed.. It was necessary to find, an escort method. by which the fighters could not on-
ly repulse 'attacks against the escorted aircraft, but could safeguard themselves as
well from the enemy attack. During the short breaks between engagements the pi-
lots held lively discussions of the different versions. Some versions were rejected
"1.
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ew Tactical Procedures Born in Battle 53
as soon as they were proposed, while others were tested. aloft. At last a new pro-
cedure was found. We named it the "scissors".
The fighters were divided into two groups and. they flew around the ground-attack
planes on a spiral, as it were. ? The first group at the start flies, say, on the left
side, and the second. on the right side. After this their flight paths cross and. they
switch positions, changing from one flank to the other. In this way the fighters
could. fly at maximum speeds, commanding greater opportunities for giving cover
? to the escorted. planes. At the same time the planes could. repulse each other's
enemy attacks, while protecting each other from the rear.
Once a group of us comrades were standing around. on the airfield. One after an-
other some fighters flew overhead.
saluting us with a rich display 'of
aerobatics. They were pilots of
a neighboring regiment who were
? expressing their delight at receiv-
ing their new high-speed aircraft.
Suddenly one of the pilots, trying
to execute a "barrel'', lost alti-
tude while performing the maneu-
ver. "That's no 'barrel', that's
a 'tub'," remarked. one of the pi-
lots standing nearby.
"Probably some youngster, "I
answered.. Then to myself I
thought: That was an interesting
figure. I wonder if it isn't pos-
sible to use it in combat to slip be-
low the stream of fire of the at-
tacking fighter.
'All. day long we pondered. the
Problem of how to set up this tac-
tical procedure. We sketched
diagrams and rnad.e rough estimat-
es. It seemed to work out fine on
paper. The next d.ay I went up.
I tried to execute an incorrect con-
trolled. "barrel" with a loss of alti-
tude. It clicked. According to
plan, it should. work out as follows:
If the enemy approaches the rear of
my plane, I withdraw from his at-
tack down below the stream of fire
by using the "barrel".
I decided. to consult with my
friends. I showed. my diagram to
pilot Iskrin and others. After
hearing me out, Iskrin said:
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?
ztte
,
t' t?
e0st?txv^
? Capt. A.A. Ternovskiy, commander of an
outstanding crew, sets an example of mastering
complex aircraft equipment and of skillful train-
ing and. instruction. For the successful accom-
plishment of missions he has received more than
20 commend.ations. Communist Ternovskiy is
the Party Bureau Secretary of a squadron.
In the photo: Capt. A. A. Ternovskiy is working
with training apparatus. Photo: A. I. Dotsenko.
Ig? tAAM, t 1,1,
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,
54 A.I Pokr shkin
"An enticing idea:"
Another pilot had a different opinion.
"Nonsense. A childish figure, " he sneered.
?But I had faith i in the maneuver; other pilots also believed in it.
Together with Iskrin I went up, and we engaged in aerial "combat" over the field.
Iskrin attacked my plane from the rear. As soon as he got within range of effective
fire, I Made a "barrel" and slipped away from under his attack. We ,repeated a num-
ber of attacks in this way, always changing places. We determined the moment of
initiating the maneuver, its 'timing, etc.
Soon we had the opportunity to test this procedure in combat. In a group aerial
battle with superior enemy forces, three hostile air craf(fell upon me. I attacked.
the leader, but at that moment I heard my wingman's anxious voice:
"The enemy is behind".
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----IN BATTLES
FOR THE MOTHERLAND
Ground -Attack Planes over the Target
On Jan 1944 seven I1-2's soared. into the air. I. M. Dolgov was the leader of the
group'. The pilots were assigned the mission of delivering a strike against the She-
Petovka railroad junction. In order to destroy such a target, unusual precision of
fire and bombing was required.
In the morning, after returning from a reconnaissance mission over this area,. Dol-
gov planned the flight route and the target, run heading. The commander agreed with
his, suggestion.
And now the planes flew over the woods 10 - 15 km north of Shepetovka, emerged
from the enemy rear west of Shepetovka, and turned onto the target. At first the
Fascists mistook the Soviet pilots for their own. But when they realized their error
and. Opened AA fire, it was too late. Our pilots attacked. from an altitude of 400-450
m, opened machine-gun and, cannon fire, and. dropped their, bombs.
After the liberation of Shepetovka in February 1944, a special commission inves-
tigating the 'results of operations by the Dolgov group established that during the raid.
14 enemy railroad trains were destroyed. (up to 460 coaches and flatcars and seven
locomotives), while five adjoining lines were destroyed., as well as a railroad, car
repair depot, a water tower, and other installations.
This strike was exceptional in its effectiveness. It was possible only because of
the courage, daring, and the high degree of skill on the part of the ground-attack pi-
lots who tarried. out the command.er's order despite all the difficulties. ?
?
?
New Tactical Procedures Born in Battle 55
Without looking around. I instinctively went into a "barrel" with a loss of altitude.
And at that very moment I saw a stream of fire flash overhead, and right behind it.
shot by the enemy fighter. A feeling of joy seized me. The maneuver was a suc-
cess, However, this was a defensive procedure. How could we make it into a
method of attack? It is a fact that every aerial combat maneuver must necessarily
he used both for defense and for offense.
Once again we began to make calculations, to analyze graphs and diagrams. Then
we ran. still another series of practice aerial fights. With each flight the new tacti-
cal procedure was further polished; it became more streamlined, terminating each,
time in a more precise attack. The final diagram of the maneuver appeared in My
album. Whenever the enemy attacked suddenly from the rear, the fighter withdrew
from the fire in a controlled "barrel" with simultaneous reduction of speed; and thus,
finding himself immediately behind the hostile plane's tail, the pilot opened fire on
the enemy. This procedure was recommended. to other pilots as well.
Searching daily for new aerial combat procedures paid. off. In our unit the pilots'
operations were characterized by versatility; every time we countered. the enemy with
new procedures. The number of kills kept growing.
Due to their courage, initiative, and. resourcefulness, our pilots often in the
course of battle discovered new mod.es of operation and applied, them right on the
spot.
One aerial fight in which G. A.Rechkalov and A. I. Trud. joined, forces with me
comes to mind.. Each one of us led. a foursome. ? Our twelve planes took up a
"shelved" combat formation. We encountered about 40 enemy bombers and fighters.
Rechkalov and. Trud. rushed. in to attack the escort fighters and tied. them up in com-
bat. My foursome had. to attack the bombers. But, having spotted our .planes, they
formed. a circle and opened. intensive defensive fire. It was difficult to approach
the enemy planes from the outside. Of course our pilots, without thinking twice,
could have attacked. the circle and knocked. out the enemy. But why should. I risk
my comrades' lives when it was possible sto find a more effective tactical procedure?
Sizing up the situation, I decided to penetrate the circle with a vigorous maneu-
ver and to attack the Fascist planes from within. In the descending maneuver, my
wingman Golubev and I were the first to penetrate the enemy formation; we were fol-
lowed by Zherdev and his,wingman. This maneuver startled the German pilots.
They could not open fire within the circle for fear of hitting each other. We, on the
other hand., fired at them at short range, although we were limited in our maneuver-
ing. One :bomber was destroyed. by the very first bursts. But in the meantime I
was attacked. from the above rear by a fighter which had. approached from a higher
level. There were shell-bursts near my right wing. I threw the plane to one side.
The enemy never had. a chance to fire the next burst. He was,hit-by My combat mate
Zherd.ev. Combat friendship and. mutual support qualities inherent in our pilots?
saved the situation.
The battle continued.. Making wide turns within the circle, of hostile planes, our
pilots attacked them intensively. A few more Fascists found their graves on Soviet
soil. Soon the enemy bombers; having dropped. their bombs pell-mell, began with-
drawing in great haste toward their own territory. The impending strike against
our advancing troops was brought to naught.
Towards evening a wire came from the ground troops command thanking the pi-
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56 A I. Pokryshkin
lots for successfully accomplishing the air cover mission.
In the course of battles one of those forceful vertical maneuvers was developed
which later was widely adopted and practiced by our pilots during the war. This
maneuver enabled pilots to effectively employ the superior capabilities of Soviet
aircraft.
Once in an aerial fight my wingrna.n, carried away by his attack, broke away and
had to formate onto a group of our fighters. At the time I was attacking a pair of
enemy fighters. Having spotted me, they withdrew by making a combat turn into
the sun. All My efforts to catch up with them were in vain; I found myself about
300 m below them since I did not have sufficient speed. As it turned out, these
were the enemy' a newest aircraft, the Me-109F.
My fuel was low and I tried to withdraw from combat; but the enemy fighters
immediately attacked. I had to turn to face them. But again they eluded me. And
this was repeated several times.
"I've got to do something", I thought, and. began to break away in a descent. When
the enemy fighters overtook.-my plane and were already coming within range for ef-
fective fire, I abruptly turned the plane on its back and put it into an almost vertical
dive. The Fascists fell behind a little, but then began closing in on me again. Jerk-
ing at the stick, I pulled the plane out of the dive and pulled up into a zoom. I
grayed out from excessive G-force but continued my planned maneuver and threw
the plane into a vertical spiral; at the end of this ,I laid. the plane over on its wing
and at that moment I caught sight of an enemy plane below and. in front of me. I
made a slight corrective turn and caught him in my sights. A long burst ---- and. the
Fascist carrion bird, belching smoke, went into a spin. The second enemy plane
disappeared in the west.
On the way back to the field I tried to think through my maneuver. I wanted to
analyze it and find out why I succeeded in gaining a victory over the Fascist pilots
who were flying their newest planes. The conclusion was obvious: we must make
more extensive use of the vertical maneuver. By the way, it must be mentioned.
that other pilots were arriving at the same conclusion. The vertical maneuvers
were being perfected in the course of the war, were being enriched by collective
experience.
We found it necessary to gather literally bit by bit all that was valid in combat
experience. As it is known, every pilot used to observe only a certain limited por-
tion of the air space. In order to have a complete picture of a battle and to reach
correct conclusions, we made a practice of carefully questioning all the pilots of a
group with a subsequent detailed critique of their operations. All this allowed us
to reconstruct an overall battle picture and to work out the most expedient methods
of operations for our fighters.
? Witha view to making combat experience widely known in our group and units,
during the war years we often made use of tactical conferences in which experienced
pilots actively participated. Typical aerial combats were analyzed at the conferenc-
es, new procedures and. operational methods were worked. out and were given theore-
tical substantiation;
One such conference, for example, was conducted. on a front-line scale under the
direction of Ye. Ya. Savitsldy, now a Colonel-General of the Air Force and twice
Hero of the Soviet Union. Many famed pilots participated. in the work of the. con-
.
.71E7S"Sr.Z3:;?OF'
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New Tactical Procedures Born in Battle 57
?ference : twice HerPes of the Soviet Union V D. Lavrinenkov, the Glinka brothers, A.
V. Alelyukhin ; Heroes of the Soviet Union, Arnet Khan, G. Golubev, and. others. The
foremost experience was made widely known and. propagandized also through the
press; this enabled us to bring it to the attention of a wide mass of flying personnel.
All this helped to conquer the enemy.
Experience in perfecting tactics in the course of combat operations has not lost
its significance even at the present time. While the flying personnel is mastering
present-day aircraft,new methods of employing them in combat are developed. To
make this experience widely known day by day, to seek out thoughtfully what is new
and progressive that is the noble task of Soviet pilots and Air Force commanders.
IN BATTLES
THE MOTHERLAND
?Nril/Pr?
Over the Oder
The day of complete defeat for Hitlerite Germany was fast approaching. Our
troops were pounding the enemy regiments inthe Oder region, but the enemy con-
tinued. to resist desperately.
Attempting to save the situation, ,the Hitlerites employed a jet fighter. However,
this. novelty was dealt with. In his very first encounter with an enemy jet plane the
Soviet fighter pilot, I. N. Kozhedub was victorious.
On 24 February 1945 Kozhedub,. with his wingman Titorenko flying La-5's took
off on a? combat mission. They flew over the Oder. Suddenly Kozhedub. saw' a plane
dart out of the haze at an altitude of 3500 in, Its speed was maximum for the "La-, .
vochkins", and. Kozhedub, immediately realized that an enemy jet fighter was in the
air.
The pilot instantly evaluated the situation and reached a correct decision. He
squeezed. the maximum thrust out of his plane's engine, executed a skillful maneu-
ver, and, took up an. advantageous position for attack.
Titorenko was the first to open fire on the jet plane; however the -stream of his
burst missed. The Fascist pilot noticed, the stream of fire and. began to withdraw
with a left turn. In so doing he exposed. his machine to the cannon fire of Kozhe-
dub's plane. Without delay came a well-aimed burst, and the enemy jet fighter be-
gan to disintegrate in the air.-
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5 A. I. Pokr shkin
Thrice Heroes of the Soviet Union
? In the years of the Great Patriotic
War, love for the? Motherland and ha-
tred of her enemies gave' rise to mass
heroism. ? In this period over 2000 pi-
lots, navigators, and aerial gunners
were awarded the title of Hero of the
Soviet Union. Sixty-nine pilots were
awarded the title of Twice Hero of the
Soviet Union. Pilots Aleksandr Ivano-
vich Pokryshkin and Ivan Nikitovich
Kozhedub bear on their chests three
Gold. Stars each.
AL Poltryshkin (left in photo) per-
sonally downed 59 enemy planes, made
550 combat sorties, and participated.
in 137 aerial combats.
I. N. Kozhedub has 62 d.owned enemy
planes to his credit. Kozhedub made
more'than 300 sorties and took part in
120 aerial combats.
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r..7,711.7.77,57.7,97,7.7.77,,S.771,7177.1.4.7.7.7,7?7,17,1'7,......7., 7
?
?
IN THE KUE3AN' SKY
Guards Col. G. A.." PSHENYANLK.
Docent, Candidate of Military Sciences
In the spring of 1943 fierce. aerial. combats flared up over the Kuban'. They
lasted about three months and ended. in a smashing defeat of the German Fascist
Air Force.
Combat operations in the Kuban' developed at the time when Soviet troops advanc-
ed far to the West after having liquidated. a Hitlerite troop concentration encircled
near Stalingrad. The advancing Soviet Army troops cut off the enemy troop Concen-
tration which was operating on the southernmost flank of the Soviet-German front.
To this troop concentration, sheltered behind a net of defensive installations which
the Fascists called the "blue line", a mission was assigned.: to hold the Taman'
peninsula, and afterwards to use it as base of operations in developing new opera-
tions in the Northern Caucasus.
British-American imperialists criminally continued to drag out the opening of a
second. front in Europe. The Soviet Army alone bore the entire burd.en of the war
against the Hitle rite coalition. Counting on this, the Hitlerites were planning a
new general offensive. The enemy force, which was on the defensive in the Taman'
peninsula had ? according to the Fascist plans ? to draw upon itself large Soviet
Army forces and in this way make it possible for their troops to advance in other
front sectors, in pa.rticular.in the Orel-Kursk sector.
Aviation was assigned. an. important role in: carrying out these' plans. Its -mis-
sion was to inflict a heavy defeat on our Air Force, to support the combat operation#
of German Fascist troops on the Taman' peninsula, and to create favorable condi-
tions for their own aviation on the Kursk line of advance.
By April the enemy had. increased. his Air Force concentration to 800 planes,
Crack fighter squadrons were part of this concentration. During the same month
16,660 German Air Force sorties had. been noted. i. e. 3., 5' times more than in
March.
There were two primary missions facing the Air Force of the North Caucasus
front at the end. of April 1943: first, they had to acquire air supremacy and. in this
way protect ground troops from enemy air attacks; second, with the main forces of
bomber and. ground-attack aviation, they had to support.the advance of ground. troops
in the region of Myskhako (South of Novorossiysk).
In the middle of April, according to the instructions of the Supreme Command.,
three fighter aviation corps were moved to the Kuban'. An approximately, equal. cor-
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60 G A F'shen an.ik
,91% rAttiPlAge121/.91411%
? 4t$24VANAftlegdiftaAttagiViabraTTWATIOWSiciS9VM.LYA1.721
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relation of forces,? with slight odds in, our favor (1.2- : 1) determined the most
strenuous period of aerial combats.
The morale of the Soviet pilots who were defending their Motherland was excep-
tionally high. Owing to their selfless toil on the home front, our people supplied the
front line with the necessary amount of first-class aviation equipment and armament.
Preliminary work concerned with raising the pilots' combat skill, conducted. in
Air Force units and groups, played an important role in the successful operations
of Soviet aviation in the Kuban'.
All the pilots had studied, the aerial tactics of the enemy, who was operating in
'echeloned combat formations and striving to disperse our fighter forces, Using the
element of surprise in his attacks. Shortcomings in aerial combats were thorough-
ly analyzed.
The most effective tactical procedures of our fighters were being generalized and
practiced on a large scale: the organization _of formations echeloned in altitude,
improvement of coordinated action in the pair, maximum utilization in combat of the
vertical maneuver and of advantage in altitude.
Fighter aviation bases, with consideration of the terrain, were brought closer to
the front line (on the average, airfields were being located at a distance of 30-45 km
from the front line, while one airfield. was located at 10 km).
Party and Komsomol organizations developed on a broad scale the work of incul-
cating staunchness and courage in combat, striving for a leading role of Communists
and Komsomol members. Communist briefings were an important part of Party-
political work. At the end. of a combat day, Party organizations assembled Com-
munist pilots for 15-20 minutes and summed, up the events of the day. Every day
political orientation talks on the topic "Heroes of today's combats" were conducted'
in the regiments. On the airfields every day --- and sometimes twice a day -- com-
bat leaflets were printed which popularized the exploits of pilots. All this mobilized
and inspired. our soldiers to carry out their missions in an exemplarymanner.
Combat operations on the North Caucasus front in the spring of 1943 can be divid-
ed into three phases:. ,from 17 to 24 April ? defensive combats of the troops of the
airborne group during the enemy advance in the region of Myskhako; from 29 April
to 10 May -- the advance of the 56th Army in the region of the stanitsa [cossack vil-
lage] of Krymskaya; from 26 May to 7 June ? penetration of ground troops into the
enemy defense line ("blue line") in the Kiyevskoye and Moldavanskoye regions.
-During the first phase the enemy trie0,toliquidate our group of airborne troops
at the base of operations in the Myskhako region. , From the very beginning of the .
offensive, the main forces of his aviation, which surpassed ours one and a half
times (on the given sector of the front), were thrown against the airborne troops.
Under difficult conditions, Soviet aviation successfu4y carried, out missions sup-
porting the combat operations of the airborne troops who were carrying on stubborn
defensive operations southwest of Novorossiysk. Our fighters caused great losses
to the enemy Air Force and decreased the effectiveness of its .attacks. The situa-
tion was .the more complicated as the airborne groups were isolated.. At the cost
of gieat, losses, the German Fascist troops succeeded in breaking through the main
line of ,resistance of our troops and in driving a wedge to a small depth in one of the
sectors. The threat of a further widening of the enemy breakthrough was arising
?
In the Kuban Sk
61
and of splitting our airborne group into two parts.
Till 17 April the main strength of the North Caucasus front Air Force was aimed
at supporting the troops who were advancing in the direction of the cossack village of
Krymskaya. The airborne group was supported only by aircraft of the Black Sea
Fleet and by a part of the forces of the Fifth Air Army; at the same time they had
to operate mainly during the night because of strong countermeasures .by enemy avia.-
tion.
It is natural that under such conditions it was difficult for the airborne troops to
hold the occupied lines. Therefore, When on 20 April the enemy began his offensive
against the airborne group, all the aviation of the front was switched over for opera-
tions in the Myskhako area. Without the enemy's expecting it this aviation inflicted,
two concentrated attacks on his troops.
The first attack on German troops by a group consisting of 60 bombers covered
by 31 fighter planes was delivered half an hour before the planned offensive. . A sec-
ond attack followed. In it 52 bombers and ground.-attack planes took part under the .
cover of 45 fighter planes. This resulted in the failure of the '"general" attack..
Crushing attacks upset the tactical control, routed group HQ and caused the failure
of the offensive. True, the enemy undertook a few weak attacks, but they were all
repelled completely by the airborne troops.
At this time the main forces of three reserve Air Force groups of the Supreme
Command General HQ joined battle. By 23 April the correlation of strength in the?
Myskhako-Novorossiysk area altered in our favor and an abrupt change in the air
situation was created..
From 17 to 24 April alone in fierce combats the enemy lost 152 planes destroyed,
by fighters and. about 30 planes downed by AA artillery. Our losses were half as
many.
A most important mission assigned to Soviet aviation was carried out, to prevent
organized, bomber attacks on troop combat formations. We took over the initiative
in the air. Henceforth the ground situation was also influenced by this fact.
The second phase takes first place in Soviet 'aviation combat operations in the
Kuban'. At this very time, when the main front troop' concentration, 'i. e. the 56th
Army, was fighting for the liberation of the cossack village of Krymskaya, - a most
intense struggle for air supremacy developed. Until then it had been Carried on.
under conditions when the initiative was in the hands of German aviation.
Even before the beginning of the decisive battles for the liberation of the cossack
village of Krymskaya, owing to measures taken by our command aimed at weakening
the enemy aviation concentration, conditions were successfully created on the main
salient of the North Caucasus front offensive for usurpation of the initiative' in the
air by Soviet aviation. ?Besides the destruction of enemy aviation in aerial combats,
an important part was played. here by the operations of our Air rorce against enemy
airfields on the Taman' peninsula, in the Crimea, and in the southern regions of the
Ukraine adjoining the Sea of Azov.
On 20 April 1943 representatives of the Supreme Command. General HQ approved.
the plan of combat operations aiming at the d.estru.ction of the enemy troop concentra-
tion on the Taman' peninsula. In order to win air supremacy in the preliminary
stage of the operation, this plan. provided. for assigning 65% of the sorties for the '
destruction of enemy aviation and '35% for operations against airfields. Thus our
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43':Ve,"744'444-141gX F7 4.!V
62 H G. A Pshenyanik
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command. interpreted, correctly the struggle for air supremacy as an indispensable
combination of two methods: destruction of the enemy in the air and on airfields.
T4e, plan provided for action against airfields of the enemy concentration which
were offering resistance not only to the North Caucasus front, but to the Southern
and Southwestern fronts as well. This precluded the possibility of the enemy's
bringing in part of his aviation from other directions for operations in the North .
Caucasus front zone.
The Air Force of this front (the Fourth and Fifth Air Armies) solved the prob-
lems of routing enemy aviation up to the Taman' boundary line, at a distance of
100 km from the front line. They used 18% of the resources assigned forattacks
on the airfields., The Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet operated. against the coastal
located, at a distance of 50 km from the front line, using' 6% of the general
resources.
A group of long-range aviation destroyed enemy aircraft. on airfields in the Crimea,
120-300 km away from the front line, and on the most important air junctions of the
southern Ukraine at a distance of up to 500 km from the Krasnod.ar. area. For this
? purpose, 54% of the general resources was assigned. The remaining 22% was used.
by the Air Forces of the Southern and. Southwestern fronts, the objectives of which
were airfields in the area west of Taganrog and Donbas.
During the night our Air Force carried, out quite effective raids on enemy airfields.
Long-range aviation attacks on large airfields in the Crimea were particularly suc-
cessful; over 100 planes in all were destroyed. and. damaged. Because of this, on
30 Apria, the German command. was forced to change the base of the 55th Bomber
Squadron from the Crimea to the Donbas area.
Before the beginning of our troops' combats for the liberation of the cossack
village of Krymskaya, more than 300 planes were destroyed. and damaged on enemy
airfields. The resisting enemy aviation concentration was weakened considerably.
This allowed. our Air Force, from the very beginning of the offensive of the 56th
Army, . to acquire air supremacy and. to hold, it firmly.till. 10 May.
A powerful ? for that time -- softening-up operation by the Air Force preceded
the ground troop,attack;.this lasted for a considerable part ,of the, night 'between 28.
and 29 April. During the night 379 sorties in all were carried out in the KrymOcaya
village area and about 2000 t. of bombs were dropped on enemy dcfense objectives.
A daytime Air Force softening-up operation started at 0700 on 29 April ? 40
minutes before the beginning of the attack-- and afterwards grew into an air support
operation.
With the beginning of the offensive of the. 56th Army massive use was mad.e of
support aviation. In the direction of the main attack, in a zone 25 lcm wide, 99% of
all its strength was operating, despite the fact that the entire length of the front line
was 160 km. During the first three hours, 493 crews carried, out missions. Never
before had there been such a massing of aviation on a limited, front sector.
Enemy attempts to submit our advancing troops to organized attacks failed, from
the very first day of the offensive.
On 29 April alone 1268 sorties were flown. Seventy-four enemy planes were,
downed., in aerial combats and 7 planes were downed. by AA artillery fire. On the
side of enemy aviation, 539 sorties in all had been noted, on that same day, i. e.,
about half as many as ours. Also on the following day 30 April? the Air Force of
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In the Kuban' Sk
63
the front carried. on uninterrupted. fierce aerial combats which at times, lasted for
hours, with 30-50 or more planes participating on each side. On some days, on a
comparatively narrow front sector (25-30 km), up to 40 aerial combats were going
on, during which 5040 enemy planes were destroyed. Soviet pilots courageously
fought with the enemy and., fighting stubbornly., they consolidated. tileir supremacy
in'the air. Owing to this, our ground troops were safely supported, from the air.
From the very first day of the operation, Soviet fighter planes forced. enemy bom-
ber aviation. to operate at high altitudes within 5000-7000 m,to make only One target
run, and., in most cases, to, drop _their bombs ,without aiming. The combat forma-
tion of our patrolling fighters was echeloned in altitude on 2-3 levels and was called
"stacking".
At this time fighter aviation consisted ..mainly of high-speed fighter planes of the
Yak-1, Yak-7B, La-5, LaGG-3 type, for which vertical maneuver in aerial combat
was fundamental. .
The tense air situation required precise control of group aerial combats in the
air and. from the ground by radio. For this purpose, on an. elevation 4 km from the
front lin.e, a command post was organized.; from here the commander exercised. con-
trol over group combats and gradual increase of strength.
In this way fighter aviation control in the main attack zone of front troops became
strictly centralized. At a distance of 500 m from the main IA [fighter aviation] con-
trol and. vectoring radio station was located, the observation post of the. PVO [AA de-
fense] chief. All incoming data about the appearance of enemy planes were imme-
diately transmitted to the KP [ command post] by telephone. It was thus possible
to take timely measures for repelling an attack as well as to coordinate the activity
of the fighters with AA artillery.
Having at his disposal' all the data on the air situation, the commander controlled
from the KP all the fighter planes over the battlefield. He informed approaching
fighter groups about the situation and vectored them to enemy planes; if necessary,
he increased strength in the combat, summoning new groups from other areas or
from the reserve; he warned pilots, of danger, determined errors made by them dur-
ing combat, and watched the results of the engagements. ? ?
With the help of the Main control radio station, fighters were, on the whole, suc-
cessfully vectored to enemy planes; and aerial combats, as a rule, ended in victory
for our pilots.
For instance, on 29 April, i. e., on the first day of the operation, the fighter divi-
sion commander, while at the KP; ,was informed by the AA artillery defense deputy
commander of 12 German fighters approaching the front line. Their mission pre-
sumably was to mop up the zone for the operations of their bombers.
At that time over the battlefield was the fighter squadron headed by the now Thrice
Hero of the Soviet Union, Maj. Gen. of the,Air Force A. I. Pokryshkin. By radio he
was ordered. to pin down the enemy planes. Soviet pilots swiftly attacked-the enemy
group and downed. 8 planes.
Five minutes after this combat, VNOS [aircraft warning service] posts reported
that three large enemy bomber groups were approaching the battlefield. A squadron,
under the command of, Guard.s Capt. D. B. Glinka (now Twice Hero of the Soviet UniOn),
was in the air at that time. The Captain was assigned the mission.of attacking the
first bomber group. In order to beat off the raid; the division commander ordered
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6 G. A Pshenyamik
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two More squadrons from the airfield.. One of them was ordered to attack thea fight-
ers which had just appeared,, the other, not to allow the second enemy bomber group
to reach the battlefield..
However, the fighter division commander did not have any additional forces to
beat off the air raid of the third bomber group. So, getting in touch by direct wire
with the AA defense deputy artillery commander, he asked him to beat off the raid
of enemy planes, with ZA [AA artillery] fire: This was carried out. Two enemy
planes were downed by AA artillery fire; the rest, having dropped bombs on their
own troops, disappeared in a hurry.
?
-_-T_1N BATTLES
FOR THE MOTHERLAND
Master of Bomber Strikes
? t"pit,
o.;
1.1
The "Petlyakovs" made a circle in the
clear blue sky where enemy AA shells were
bursting and assumed. a combat course. Shell
bursts pursued them, flashed. now higher, now
lower; it seemed they appeared. from nowhere in
the transparent air. Suddenly the planes began
a swift descent. Two bombers were simultane-
ously on the diving glide path. ,Soon bombs sep-
arated.from the planes., Eight bombs hit the
target accurately. A huge column of black
smoke rose-over the steppe. It grew larger
and larger. Gasoline stores,blew up one after,
another and. more and. more columns of. smoke
rose upwards.
The carefully camouflaged main enemy
gasoline supply dump in the region of Morozovs-
,
koye was destroyed by a ,direct dive-bomber hit.
This happened in t.1,ie summer of 1942.
The indefatigable warrior-Communist Ivan Sernenovich Polbin led aircraft groups
to bomb enemy equipment five or six times a day, and sometimes more often.
I. S. Polbin took part in the liquidation of a Hitlerite concentration encircled near
Stalingrad and in the battles for Kursk and Orel. Polbin 's dive bombers helped
Soviet infantry to liberate one city after another. Polbin's fame as a ma.ster of
bomber strikes spread along the whole front.
General Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Ivan Semenovich Polbin was not only
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In the Kuban' Sky 65
an unsurpa.ssed. master of dive-bomber strikes but also a bold innovator, who ma.d.e
a valuable contribution to the development of bomber, aviation. He was a gifted
commander-educator and a model Communist.
Thus, -a well-organized system of control and. coordination of fighter aviation
with AA ,artillery permitted us to foil the raid of large enemy bomber forces. The
enemy lost 18 planes; our losses were 4 fighters.
As a result of 285 aerial combats carried, out from 29 April to 10 May, 328 enemy
planes were d.estroyed. or, damaged, i. e., more than one third. of the resisting avia-
tion concentration.
But this did. not yet mean the final outcome of the ,struggle for air supremacy on
the North Caucasus front in favor of the Soviet Air Force.. The air 'enemy was ?still
strong enough and. capable of decisive operations. Realizing this, the command
took the necessary measures to maintain supremacy in the air. ?
On 26 May 1943 ground troops assumed. the offensive in the region of Kiyevskoye
and. Moldavanskoye. This was preceded by 100 minutes of artillery and Air Force
softening-up operations. In the Air Force softening-up'operation, lasting 40 min.
338 planes took part. They delivered, strikes on a front sector 7 km long and about
2 km wid.e. Our Air Force operated successfully and without any losses.
However, beginning with the' second half of the .day, the enemy, having carried out
a swift operational maneuver, pulled up large aviation forces from other directions,
in paiticular from airfields in the southern areas of the Ukraine, and. threw them
into the field of combat. As a result, he succeeded in establishing a strength ad-
vantage of one and a half times over our aviation and temporarily gained air superiori-
.ty in.the main strike zone of the North Caucasus front. ?
Fierce air battles were taking place every day on a limited front ,sector not more
than 15-20 km in length. Disregarding great losses, enemy aviation activity, was
concentrated. The situation became particularly strained. The offensive of our
troops stopped.
Having analfzed the conditions, the command took urgent measures for a rapid.
change Of the 'sitUation. First of all, the main forces of our fighter aviation were
assigned the mission to beat off enemy massed attacks in his own territory long
before the groups had approached. the front line. . With .this in view, fighter "hunters"
were being detailed for independent operations on distant approaches to the front,
line. ? Afterwards it was decided to cut down the composition of close fighter. sup-
port for the bombers and ground-attack planes, .and instead,, to provide safer cover
for the main troop concentration.
In connection with this, bombers and ground-attack planes began to fly in large
groups of no fewer than 50-60 planes with a small fighter escort.' Their responsi- ?
bility for self-defense sharply increased. , Now, in expending ammunition, they had
to leave no less than .15% of their ammunition supply for beating off attacks of enemy
fighters on the way home.
,If the situation permitted, escort fighters attacked enemy bombers when thdy met
them on the, flight route or in the target zone. But it also happened. that while cover-
ing the troops, they stayed over the field of combat; .and then the bombers and. ground.
attack planes, after they had carried out their missions, returned to the airfield in-
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G A Pshenyanik
dependently, or with a small fighter escort.
In addition, night attacks on enemy aircraft on their own airfields were intensified.
All this permitted our aviation to recover air superiority in a comparatively short
time. Even during the first days of June one could notice a decline in the activity of
Fascist aviation which had lost up to 230 planes during only 6 days (froth 26 to 31 May).
Soviet fighter planes began anew to operate with great effectiveness. At the end
of the third phase of air combats they succeeded in causing considerable losses to
enemy aviation in the Kuban'.
, ? "
The importance of Soviet combat aviation operations in the spring of 1943 in the
Kuban' went far beyond the limits of the North Caucasus front operations. They
were an important step in the struggle for air supremacy on the Soviet-German front
and strengthened the power of 'bur Air Force before the decisive aerial combats in
the battles near Kursk and Orel.
In aerial combats in the Kuban'; in the Spring of 1943 the enemy lost over 1000
planes. This resulted in his losing the last advantages in the air which his treacher-
ous assault on our Motherland. had. given him. "In the fierce aerial combats over the
Taman' peninsula and in the battle of the Kursk bulge," the Sovinformbyuro [Soviet
Information Bureau] reported., "the former air superiority of German aviation was
definitely upset."
The results of Soviet Air Force activity in the Kuban' had a great influence on the
development of Air Force tactics and. on its operational skill. What new concepts
did this experience introduce?
In the course of combats in the Kuban the most effective tactical methods of avia-
tion operations ?particularly of fighter aviation -- were worked out and checked.
Soviet pilots started applying on a large scale the basic vertical maneuver in high-
speed fighters. -Free search ("hunting") proved to be a very effective method of
fighting with enemy aviation. Soviet fighters applied such a method as excluding
enemy fighters from the target zone three or five minutes preceding the approach of
bombers and ground-attack planes (the so called air "mop-up"). Norms of detailing
fighter planes for close escort, basing this on a specific air situation, were Worked.
out. Special fighter groups were being assigned to particularly dangerous flight
course sectors in order to cut off pursuing enemy planes.
All these methods and tactical procedures widened considerably the offensive ca-
pabilities of our fighter aviation and raised the effectiveness of its operations. As
to the operational skill of the Air, Force", the experience in combat operations of
Soviet aviation in the Kuban' cannot be overestimated.
The combat operations of our Air Force proved the correctness of Soviet military
theory regarding methods of gaining air supremacy. The leading part in the solu-
tion of this problem belonged to the Air Force. But, along with it, other branches
of the army and types of armed forces took part in the struggle against enemy avia-
tion.
,
,AA artillery operated energetically. Field artillery was applied with success
for the neutralization of enemy AA artillery before the strikes of our large bomber
and 'ground-attack groups on targets in the field of combat. Battleships of the Black
In the Kuban' Sky 67
Sea Fleet frustrated with their fire the operations of, enemy aviation from coastal
airfields, inflicting considerable losses.
Air supremacy in the Kuban' was acquired through close combination of aerial
combats and fights with operations against airfields. At the same time it became
clear that stable results in the struggle for air supremacy could be attained only if
it was not limited by the 'scope of one front only, but covered a vast territory, thus
depriving the enemy of the possibility of a wide aviation maneuver. This requires
the coordination, of the Air Forces of adjacent fronts.
Experience of aerial combats in the Kuban' proved how important is the offensive
character of fighter aviation operations in aerial combats and how the level of its
effectiveness is raised if the engagement with enemy planes takes place before the
front line, over his own territory.
The need for creating in the Air Force a strong reserve of fighter aviation was.
made evident in the course of the battles. It was proved advisable to have on "duty
on airfields" and in the air, not a few outfits in several aviation units, but complete-
ly separate aviation units and groups.
In the struggles in the Kuban' a major part was played. by a large-scale applica-
tion of maneuverable fighter groups, part of which engaged enemy fighters and inflict-
ed defeat, while the rest attacked his bombers.
Li the aerial struggle in the Kuban' the method of controlling all fighter aviation
over the field of battle by means of radio stations set up near command (observation)
posts of combined arms commanders was confirmed..
1N BATTLES
In Combats with Japanese Militarists
After the defeat of Fascist 'Germany, carrying. out their duty as allies, Soviet
Armed Forces began combat operations against imperialistic Japan.. 'Our aviation
played a considerable part in the operations which destroyed the Kwantung army,
rendering great help to the ground forces.
Our Air. Force in the Far East, which had taken part in the .routing of the Kwantung
army mad.e more than 14,000 sorties in only ten days of combat.? They carried. on
reconnaissance, bombed enemy fortified. areas and important junctions, destroyed.
his equipment and man-power, and mad.e airborne landings.
By 16-17 August the ,Kwantung army, which included, crack troops, was already
routed and was no longer an org'anized. military force. Now it was necessary to ?
wipe out the remaining separate centers of resistance and. prevent the enemy from
taking away or destroying valuable supplies. Airborne troops, helped by transport
aviation, carried out these missions.
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On 19 August pilot Chetvertakov and navigator Ivanov received the order ,to land
airborne forces in the city of Girin. There was an unbroken overcast all along the
flight route. At?first they had to fly above the clouds, without visual contact with
the ground. But the altitude of the upper cloud, layer was rising higher and higher.
The crew had to break through the overcast and continue a low altitude flight. De-
spite complex flight conditions, navigator Ivanov accurately brought the plane to the
city of Girin and. pilot Chetvertakov skillfully landed the plane on a landing strip of
very limited size.
The crew carried out the combat assignment right at the appointed time.
The enemy had dozens of fortified areas, full of powerful fortification construc-
tions. Soviet pilots helped ground troops reduce them.
Here is one example.
On 10 August pilots of a bomber group under the command of Col. M. N. Kalinush-
kin (now Lieut. Gen. of the Air Force) were assigned the mission of destroying centers
of resistance in the Hu-t'ou fortified area.
Dive bombers of the group dealt a powerful bomb strike by squadrons from an
altitude of 2000 m. The fierce fire of Japanese AA men did not prevent our pilots
from carrying out the combat mission. Attacks with heavy bombs resulted in the
destruction of most of enemy permanent fortifications.
Our pilots' skillful and selfless operations helped Soviet ground troops and naval
forces to destroy in a short time the important strategic centers of concentration
of Japanese militarists and to force them to a complete and unconditional surrender.
?
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Pilots of X unit commemorated the Fortieth Anniversary of the Soviet Army and,
Navy with new successes in combat training. Here many excellent crews have been
trained, _among Which the leading place is held by the crew of Military Pilot First
Class. Maj. V. I. Borisov. Communist Borisov is a member of the unit Party Bureau.
For his successes in combat and political training he has been awarded the Orders of
Lenin and of the Red Banner.
In the photo: Maj. V. I. Borisov (left) with a group of comrades.
Photo by A. I. Dotsenko.
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"
Kiyev tittj
to the Kuban'.
end about the inability of Soviet troops to advance in summer time.
More and more cities and villages were being freed from Hitlerite troops. Life,
freedom, and the soil were being returned to the Soviet people.
Troops of the Southern front were advancing against Taganrog and on 1 September
1943 they liberated it, and by doing so, opened the gate leading to the Donbas. Regi-
ments of the South-Western and Southern fronts combined their efforts, and in less
than a week they drove the Fascists completely from the Donbas. In September our
troops entered Novorossiysk and liberated the Taman' peninsula.
Troops of the Central, Voronezh, and Steppe fronts were developing their offen-
sive toward the Dnepr. The Hitlerites were planning for a prolonged war.
fensive fortification system was being feverishly
set up. Special roles were assigned to natural
boundary lines. For the German-Fascist com-
mand, the Dnepr was the line along which they
intended to stop the offensive of Soviet troops.
Soon our troops along the entire length of the
front (it was now called the First Ukrainian) reach-
ed the Dnepr. The main line of advance lay in the
direction of Kiyev. On 29 September an important
railroad juntion on the left bank of the Dnepr
Darnitsa ? was liberated. The houses and gar-
dens of ancient Kiyev could be ? seen from here.
It was difficult to seize bases of operation, but
it was still more difficult to hold and widen them.
Realizing that these bases of operations would serve
us as springboard for the leap on Kiyev, the Hitler-
ites were bringing large forces into counterattacks
and hastily pulling up reserves from the rear. By Maj. Gen. of the Air Force
the beginning of Octoher twenty infantry, two motor- S I. Nechiporenko (1944)
Lt. Gen. of the Air Force
S. N. ROMAZANOV (ret.)
Having defeated. the German Fascist hordes near Kursk, So-
viet troops developed a powerful advance from the Zapadnaya Dvina
Each new ,blow on the Soviet-German front dispelled the Fascist leg-
?
A d.e-
?
Years and People
,71
ized., and. seven tank divisions of the enemy Were
fighting before our front. But if the Hitlerites
were staking everything on their struggle for the
Dnepr in the Kiyev region, for us too this was a
'struggle for the capital of the Ukraine, for -a com-
plete liberation of Ukrainian soil from the hated
Fascist yoke,, a struggle for a faster d.estrUction
of Hitlerite Germany.
? The Bukrin base of operations was one Of
the decisive ones in the battles for Kiyev. It at-
tracted. the special attention of both sides. When
in the region of the Bukrin base of operations the-
scheduled. breakthrough on the Rzhishchev-Kanev
sector had. shaped. up, the Hitlerites hastily pulled
up new reserves to this spot. They would. throw
into battle hundreds of tanks at a time in order to
beat off the advance of our troops. And. then pi-
lots of our Air Force would come to the assistance
of Soviet ground. forces. Wave after wave of
bombers, ground. attack planes and, fighters would.
go to the main line of resistance making converg-
Capt. V. F. Zudilov (1943) ing attacks. Each blow from the air inflicted, a
painful wound. on the enemy.
On 12 October a group of nine Pe-2 'dive bombers under the command. of S.I.Ne-
chiporenko headed for a height at the Bukrin base of operations, it was occupied by
the enemy and strongly fortified.. One had. to paralyze the resisting garrison and
create conditions in which our troops would gain possession of the height with little
bloodshed..
Bombers dealt the blow. For several minutes bombs rained. incessantly on the
heads of the enemy troops. Stones,. logs, cases of amunition were flying up into
the air. As soon as this fire onslaught was over, " ground units began to .attack.
Fifteen minutes after the bombing', the enemy garrison? 500 men strong was
taken prisoner.
Such was the result of a single raid. by a small group. And., how Many were made
every day by Col.Nechiporenko's division alone: In the units of this diviiion fought
the Moscow and Stalingrad.. heroes who, had taken- part in the aerial combats in the
Kursk bulge. For its .valour and combat honors the division was called.. Sredne-
Donskaya [Central Don Division]. Its commander, Col.Nechiporenko (later Maj.
Gen. of the Air Force) was 'known all along the front as a daring pilot and. organizer
of bold. bombing attacks.
Approximately on 13 or 14 October the Fascists exerted. very strong pressure on
the Rzhishchev-Khod.orov sector. Large tank and. self-propelled artillery units
rushed. against our main line of defense. Infantry followed. them. Strong artil,lery
fire was opened. against the enemy avalanche. At the same time, ground:attack
b.ombers appeared. in the air. They were led. by ?squadron commander Capt. Vasi3.iy
Fedorovich Zudilov, widely known for his flying skill. Even infantrymen recognized.
him when he was in the air.
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S. N. Roma zanov
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In air raid.s on 'airfields and other enemy ob- ?
jectiyes Zudilov acted. on the spur of the mo-
ment. Before 'a sortie ,he very carefully stud-
ied the target location area and its AA facilities
and. detailed. si3ecial.crews for their neutraliza-
tion. In the-units theralways k.n.ew that if Zu-
diloy went on a mission, it would be accomplished.
This was .so during all' of ZudiloY's- 140 or-
It was so this time,, too.
?The Germans concentrated their forces for a
counterblow in a cearing in the wood.s. Tanks
and Motor vehicles were cleverly ca,mouflaged.,
AA guns pounded. on every side. Despite this,
ground. attack planes descended. to hedge-hopping
flight, accurately dropping 'bombs and. shooting
up. the Fascists with cannon and. machine guns.
Explosions arose everywhere.
Next morning the air raid, was repeated.
Bombs were-being d.ropped into the very thick of
tanks and. motor vehicles. The steel monsters
of the enemy, the famous "Tigers" and. "Ferdi= Regimental Deputy Political Corn-
nand.s", were ablaze. A typical episod,e was mander Maj. N. P. Trifonov (1943)
told, to me by one of the combined. arms unit corn-
mand.er s.
After, a scheduled. attack of our aviation on a fortified, enemy garrison, antitank
rifleman Pavel Dorokhov approached the regiment
command.er and. said.:
"Allow me to go out and get a 'tongue'[ cap-
tured, informant]."
" H o w can you do it by day and. in an open
place?" asked. the commander.
, "That is nothing. After each bombing at-
tack they are 'conked', like a fish when you: hit it
on the head,: its eyes are open, but it sees nothing
? and,. swims with ,its belly up."
, The command.erlauglied and. gave his per-
mission. DOrokhov crept across the open,place
to the enemy 'positions and. in a few minutes re-
turned with a "tongue". The Hitlerite was quite
unharmed, buf lie really looked "conked." Be-
fud.dled., he gazed with bleary ey' es but understood
nothing.
, The Soviet Army's crushing blows which
were striking the enemy in 1943 broke the morale
of the Fascist fire-eaters. They were no longer
so presumptuous and. boastful as in 1941. Very
Many of them und.er stood, how senseless and fatal
Capt. I. L. Mogilichak was award-
ed the distinguished title of Hero
of the Soviet Union for his out-
standing service in the battles
for the liberation of Kiyev (1943)
-
?
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4
Years and Peo le 73
was the- adventure started ,by Hitler and..they suffered. keenly at the sight of the ap-
proaching collapse. A similar break was also apparent in the fighting spirit of Ger--
man-Fascist soldiers.,
Severe combats were going on near KiyeY. The Hitlerite command evidently
understood. that to lose Iciyey was tantamount to losing the whole, of the Ukraine, and.
meant their having to fight on their, own, not someone else's, soil. That is why the
Fascists tried. to:do their best to hold. on to the capital of the Ukraine.
While 'one part of our troops was holding and. extending the Bukrin base of opera-
tions, the other part was carrying on a bitter 'fight for the widening' of the Lyutezh
base of operations. -Here the enemy ad.ded. new reserves and. tried, to stop the ad.- .
vance Of Soviet troops. Fierce combats flared. up on each sector, individUalvillages
changed hands several. times during a single day.-. Again pilots rendered invaluable
help. to ground. troops. There'were days when army commander,, Lt. Gen. S.A.-Kra-
sovskiy .diverted. almost all the army forces from one base of -operations to another.
Pilots of the 235th Ground. Attack Air Regiment particularly distinguished them-
selves one day. In the areas of the village of Priorka and. the Petrovtsy railroad.
station air reconnaissance detected. a great massing of enemy troops. Evidently
Germans were preparing their next blow here. Two "LI" groups of twelve planes
each took off for the areas of concentration. One group was led. by Senior Lt. Ivan
Mogilschak, the other by Senior Lt. Dyl'ko. The ground. attack planes were escorted
by twelve fighters.
At the target approach our planes were met by strong AA fire. Six AA batteries
were fiing. Yetthe Soviet ground. attack planes were moving on to their targets. ?
Eighteen German "Focke-Wulfs" tried to attack them on their flight route, but most
of these attacks were beaten off by the escort fighter planes. Courage and. stamina
helped ground.-attack planes carry out a brilliant mission. Afterward.iit ws
ascertained, that they had. destroyed. several tanks, over 30 motor vehicles, one AA,
and one field. battery: ? .This attack is typical because our ground. attack pilots ex-
hibited in it exceptionally high moral and combat qualities. We have known many .
instances when the lauded Fascist aces,- having but noticed in the air some ?Soviet ?
fighters, or having encountered AA counterfire, ?swerved from the flight course and
beat it home. Doing so they dropped their bombs helter-skelter. , Our pilots acted
,quite' differently. . They carried out combat. missions even when this Seemed. quite? ?
impossible,. The mor. e difficult the situation, the more skill, . keenness of wit and.
military stratagem was displayed. by our fighter, ground: attack and. bomber pilots.
I remember w.(41 .a story told by deputy regimental political commander, Maj.N.-P.
Trifonov, a bomber pilot well known all along the front, who was designated to head.'
the group when it ,carried. out, a very responsible mission.
Early in the. morning, at a signal,, the bombers took off into the air., Visibility'
was excellent: the autumn sky, infinitely deep, blue and transparent, seemed to have
been washed. 'by the, rains. While appraaching the Dnepr the pilots saw the front
line. From behind a hillock enemy artillery was pounding in' the. direction 'ofSoviet
troops. Our ground. units were storming a large inhabited point. The Germa,n,d.e-
fense line ran through it. Their artillery positions were located, southwest of the vil-
lage.
? When the 'groupapproached. the target the Germans ,spotted. it and. opened. strong
AA-fire., Six shells burst, right in front of Maj.?Trifonov's plane and. his aircraft
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74 S. N Romazanov
passed through the crests of the bursts. Trifonov applied the snaking maneuver
with a 100 150 corrective turn. Such corrective turns are hardly noticeable from
the ground and are one of the best means of executing an AA evasion maneuver. Over
the target he led the group in a straight line. Navigators dropped their bombs from
an altitude of 1600 m.
Taking into account the strong AA countermeasures, the bombers altered their
initial plan of a second approach and, having made a right turn, they came in from
the southeast, at the same time having increased altitude by 500 m. The calcula-
tion was correct. The AA men had no chance to deploy and open fire before the
group had. finished. bombing. Planes were coming out of the sun, which made ob-
servation from the ground difficult. And while they were withdrawing from the tar-
get, the AA fire did not harm them at all.
In both bomb runs the bomb bursts neatly covered the target. Enemy artillery
was suppressed.
Maj. Trifonov was not only .a good. bomber but also a good political worker, thought-
ful, resolute, and he did not like to waste his words. I do not know a single impor-
tant combat operation in which this courageous man did not take part.
All through October intense battles were going on at the bases of operation. The
pilots of our army carried out 280 aerial combats in which they downed 206 German
planes. Our Air Force groups also suffered. great losses:? 109 planes did not re-
turn to their airfields. Two tt" rds of this number were fighter planes.
Here it will be apropos to say a few words about the peculiarities of the work of
ariny.b.ead.4uarters during the combats!-for the bases of operation. The first
days already revealed, the exceptional complexity of the operational management of
Air Force units and subunits. The headquarters of large commands could not direct
small groups operationally and. precisely; this was even truer of individual pilots.
Frequently there were errors, resulting in unjustified. losses. Under these con-
ditions army commander. Gen: S. A. Krasoyskiy mad.e the only valid decision: fighter
units, intended, for bomber and. ground. attack plane support, were to be subordinated
to the strike aviation commanders. Now things were going better. Coordinated ac-
tion became precise, and air cover more reliable. There Was less hustle and.
bustle in army headquarters as well as in corps and division headquarters. A bus-
iness-like tempo was immediately restored in the combat activity of all units and
groups. '
One can mention one more peculiarity of the Kiyev operation ? the great tension
in the work of rear. outfits. -Events in the Kiyev region were developing rapidly;
rapid transfers of large groups, including Air Force units, were being made. Under
these conditions the soldiers of the rear acted. as true heroes.. Even now I remember
well one episode. My car broke d.own ori the way to the airfield. I stopped a, vehi-
de which was going my way and. asked, the driver for a lift to where the pilots were.
He agreed willingly. . ? As soon as I 'got into the cab the driver drove his ZIS-5 at
high speed.. _Lwondered. at the skill of the operator who so smoothly drove the car
along the poor road.
"What is your name?" I asked him.
"Yegor Pomeshchikov" he answered..
"Really! Porneshchikov!" I said thoughtfully.
"Yes,- Comrade General, I was Pomeshchikov pomeshchik = landowner but.now
4
1
Years and. People 75
I am ...a Soviet man, and like everybody else a fullfled.ged. citizen. And. there is
no longer even any trace of a landowner. So there!"
I looked, at his sunburnt face and, thought of his. many fellow drivers who drive
their vehicles along many frontline ?roads, forgetful of rest, not counting on a re-
ward..
"You have a new vehicle," I said only to break the silence.
"What are you saying, Comrad.e General! I used. it when I was still working in
the kolkhoz."
"In the kOlkhoz? " I asked. amazed.
"Sure! When I was drafted into the Army I said: 'Give me my own machine! I
will go all through the War with it, and will bring it back like new.' "
I looked at the speedometer: it showed a high figure; but the vehicle still seemed
brand new.
"You will keep your promise", I Said quite sincerely and with conviction and I
thought that with such men it is impossible not to win.
The men of the rear area outfits, men like Pomeshchikov, brilliantly coped
with their difficult task ? they supplied. the troops at the front with all they needed.
In the course of a few days 6950 tons of fuel and lubricant and. 8000 tons of arnrn.uni-
tion were brought to the Air Army dumps alone.
The most important stage of the battle for the Dnepr was approaching: troops of
the First Ukrainian Front were aiming their blow at Kiyev.
NON/ember was beginning. The eyes of the Soviet people were turned to the cap-
of the Ukraine. Kiyev, the largest political center of the country, a huge rail-
dad junction, was an object of strategic importance.
The conception of the final operation was interesting. During the struggles for
bases of operations the Fascists were definitely convinced that the main blow of our
troops would. come from the Bu.krin base of operations. The most typical feature
of Prussian strategy was becoming evident:- dull stubbornness and. conservatism.
Once they had become convinced of something, ,it was difficult for them to change.
Yet it it doubtful that any of the German generals were making any such attempt
All the better for us. It was clear to our command that once, the enemy expected
us from the southern base of operations, we would strike from the northern. For
the sake of this plan a daring maneuver of mobile forces was undertaken. By, dawn
of 2 November, unbeknownst, to the enemy, one of the tank armies was transferred
from the Bukrin to the Lyutezh base of ,operations. This was done in the ?true Su-
voroy way, under the very 'nose of the enemy a whole_ tank army was "rolled" to ?
another place. Soviet tanks tame out, into the area of Lyute.zh and. the Petrovtsy
railroad station under a thick fog cover. Here, in the woods, behind the'infantry-
men' s back, tankers made ready for an assault.
A Guards corps wider the command of Gen. Bar anov approached the Lyutezh base
of operations just as stealthily and took cover in the woods.
What kind of mission did the pilots of the Air Army have? It was simple to put
it into words: with all means available, to support the main forces of our trool5s
which were preparing to liberate Kiyev.
The Air Army commander issued a special order, assigning a specific mission
to each Air Force group.
Yet everything can be planned, except the weather. Already during the last days
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? of October it suddenly became worse and. on some days the ceiling was zero. South
of Kiyev and, over the Black Sea cyclones were forming and. moving north and, north-
east. Anticyclones, advancing from Siberia, hindered. their motion. Having lost
mobility, the air masses hung over the Dnepr areas, produced. clouds and. precipita-
tion, fog and. drizzle. It seemed. as if nature herself was also preparing to test the
pilots.
On 1 November units of Soviet troops began breaking up the German defense ,at
the Bukrin base of operations. All measures were being taken to create the impres-
sion that the main direction of combat operations was right here. The offensive
. began with a strong artillery- preparation; then our bombers and ground attack planes
appeared in the air. The weather was unfavorable: low overcast, slight rains
here and. there. But even under these conditions the pilots successfully carried. ?
out their assigned mission. Hugging the ground., the ground. attack planes came in
at tree-top level. Dive 'bombers darted. out of the cloud, cover right over the target.
They fired on artillery batteries, on pockets of resistance, they destroyed engineer
fortifications, technical facilities and. enemy man-power. As soon as the planes had.
finished, their "working over" at the main line of resistance, ground. units rushed. to
the offensive.
The demonstration of the false offensive was proceeding successfully. Alread.y
on the second day the enemy decided. that Bukrin was the main direction and. began
to shift his forces from the north to the south. Our air reconnaissance instantly
detected. the transfer of troops and. immediately informed the front command..
On the night preceding 3 November the right flank of our Kiyev task force came
to life. In the sky one could hear the incessant rumble of aircraft of Soviet night
bombers. For, the infantrymen this was the first sign of an approaching offensive.
According to the plan of coordinated action night bombers "worked. over" enemy posi-
tions in the zone of the projected. Soviet troop operations. Pilots of the night bomber
air division carried, out mor e than 200 combat sorties, dropping bombs and leaflets
on enemy positions in the regions of Goryanka and. Pushcha Voditsa.
? At dawn artillery raised. its voice. This time the artillerymen brought down on.
the enemy a fire of unp.recedented. violence.. For three minutes, shells rained in-
cessantly on the enemy's main line of resistance. Then for half an hour the artillery-
.men neutralized. the predetermined, objectives by shifting the fire d.eep into the ene-
my's line of resistance.
At the termination of artillerypreparation the Air Force joined in the operation.
Air Force units and groups were delivering the main blow in the regions of ,Pushcha.
Voditsa,' Goryanka, Mostishche, Priorka. The first blow was delivered by 103
ground. attack planes and 64 bombers. A whirlwind. of fire and metal rose over ene-
my fortifications, 'scattering about concrete, timber, and earth. The Germans,
stunned. by such a squall, hastily diverted their fighter aviation attack. But they did.
not succeed, in 'hindering the pilots of our army. During 3 November alone, Air.
Force units carried. out 1145 sorties.
The offensive of our ground, units was developing successfully. The onslaught of
the First Ukrainian Front troops was growing stronger. Already by the end., of the
first day of the. offensive the. enemy began to withdraw to the south and southwest.
The day of 4 November was cloudy and. the ceiling was zero. Aircraft were
shackled ta the ground, whereas ground units continued to move. forward. It was
Years and People
77
more difficult for them without any support from the air, but the speed of the advance
was not decreasing. The pilots knew how much their help was needed by their com-
rades-in-arms and., gazing sadly at the low-hanging clouds in the sky, they waited
for the signal to scramble.' On 5 November, despite bad weather, the Air Force
commander ordered the planes to take off.
This was a gloomy autumn day: a gray and cloudy sky, oozing mud on the roads,
wet ruins, bare trees. But the heart of each Soviet warrior rejoiced: we all felt
the approach of October celebrations, the closeness Cl victory.
The northern flank of our task force was constantly moving towards Kiyev. Van-
guard units had already come quite close to it and were preparing for the last push.
The enemy, fiercely "snapping" back, was
retreating toward Zhitomir and Vasiltkov. Air
?
Maj. Gen. of the Air Force
A. V. Vorozheykin (1956)
Force pilots Were given a new mission: not to let
the enemy withdraw from Kiyev with impunity.
Ground attack planes and bombers, despite
low overcast and poor visibility, rushed at the re-
treating columns. Soviet pilots destroyed the ene-
my wherever possible: along roads, at railroad
stations and river crossings, on railroad stretches,
at road crossings and in spots difficult to traverse.
Enemy -fighters tried to hinder our Air Force
operations, but air supremacy was completely ours.
Having received, substantial air support, ground
units reached, the last line of enemy defense by the
end. of the day on 5 November. They broke into .
Gostomel', took Chelini station, reached the north-
ern and. western 'outskirts of Kiyev.. On 5 Novem-
ber tank army units poured. into the breach and head.-
ed. for Fastov and. Vasil'kov. One part, of the tank
a.;rny force proceeded. to encircle Kiyev.
Tanks and. armored vehicles were rushing' ?
toward the city, 'infantrymen were running:with sub-
machine ens at the ready. . Everywhere the War--
cry "Give up Kiyev!" was ringing: . ?
All night long ? a dark November night.--;-- raged the battle for Kirev. Foresee
ing their defeat, the Hitlerites conceived, a monstrous crime: to destroy before their ?
retreat one of the most beautiful Soviet cities. They. began' to blow up houses, to,
set fire to anything that would burn.' The sight of the burning city gave .rise to a ?
wave of hatred in Soviet warriors and. increased, their ardor for driving ahead. This
is what pilot Senior Lt. Strelkovskiy said about it:
"On the night of 5 November Lreceived. a mission to bomb the retreating Hitler-
ite troops on the Kiyev-Zhitomir highway. The weather was still foul,. To shorten
time I decided to fly cross country over Kiyev. To tell the truth, I was also very
eager to take a look at it this night.
"I flew at an altitud.e of 900 m. Even from a distance one could see the tangues
of fires and, later, smell an acrid odor. The city was full of AA guns firing from
all sides; but I hardly noticed them, so great was the sorrow and anger I felt during I
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those minutes. On the bank of the Dnepr stood.
a .four-'story house.; tongues of flame were
escaping from its windows, and, farther away,
fires stretched in unbroken lines. I did not
know the layout of the streets, but with. a pain
in my. heart I thought 'Kreslich.atik is burning',
and, my hand iinvoluntarily reached for the
throttle. I wanted t,o reach the target even. -
more quickly in order to finish off the brutal
enemy.
"pur tankers cut off all the enemy's avenues
of retreat. On the railroad. tracks there still
stood. troop.trains which had, arrived. from Ger-
many, and Soviet tankers had already broken
into Svyatoshino --the western suburb of the
city. Fascist pogromists fled from Kiyev,
leaving behind, their weapons and. equipment.
"Though the city had suffered badly, yet it
was saved, from destruction. On the morning
of 6 November the entire country heard. the
words of the long-expected. order: 'On this
6 November at dawn, as the result of a swiftly A. S.KurnaniChkin (1957)
carried out operation with a bold enveloping
'maneuver, troops of the First Ukrainian 'Front took by storm the capital of Soviet
Ukraine, the city of Kiyev, a great industrial and .a most important strategic center
of German defense on the right bank of the Dnepr... ' "
The Kiyev operation is one of the glorious pages in the military art of the Soviet
Army. The Struggle for Kiyev was characterized by the impetuosity of its opera-
tions, by the perfectlycoordinated action of all arms. In the course of two flying
days Air Force units carried. out 3500 sorties. During the final stage' of battle
scores of dogfights broke out in the sky over the city and over the bases of opera-
tions. The enemy lost 84 planes in these air combats. Our losses amounted, to
26 planes.
The combat successes of our Air Force units and groups were mentioned in the
order'of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief., It ran thus: "The following units espe-
cially distinguished themselves: Col. Vitriak's 291st Voronezh Ground Attack Air
Division, Col.Nechiporenko's 202nd Sredn.e-Donskaya Bomber Air Division, Maj. Gen.
.of the Air Force Baydukov's 4th Guards Ground Attack Air Division, Lt. Col. Klobu-
-kov's 264th Ground. Attack Air Division, Col. Gerasimovi s 256th Fighter Air Divi-
sion, Lt. Col. Chupikov's Eighth Guard,s Red Banner Fighter Air Division, Col, Yu-
zeyev's 208th Red Banner Short-range Night Bomber Air Division, Col. Sryvkin's
Tenth Guards Stalingrad Fighter Air Division, Maj. Gen. of the Air Force Lakeyev's
235th Stalingrad Fighter Air Division."
? A number of army units and. groups were granted the honor of bearing the name of
"Kiyeyskiye" [of Kiyev]..
In the battles in the Kursk bulge and in the Ukraine many of our pilots distinguish-
ed themselves. Maj. A. V.-Vorozheykin, a fighter-pilot Hero of the Soviet Union,
Maj. Gen. of the Air Force
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Years and Peo le 79
and alread.y famous in Khalkhin-Gol, further added to his score of kills of the ene-
mies of our Motherland.
Following his favorite rule --to attack the enemy at close range Vorozheykin
in this war brought his number of downed enemy planes up to 52. For participating
in the battles for the liberation of Kiyev he was awarded a second. Gold Star medal..
Nikolay Varchuk, commander of-the 737th Fighter Air Regiment fought .courageous-
ly in the same engagements. While forcing the Dnepr he downed 14 enemy planes
on his own and. 9 in group combats. He and Aleksand.r Kumanichkin, who had downed.
16 planes, were awarded. the title of Hero of the Soviet Union after the liberation of
Kiyev. The same high award was received by. about twenty pilots of our army.
Hundreds of commanders, political workers, technicians, engineers, soldiers of
all the specialities, were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union.
Troops of the First Ukrainian Front, breaking desperate enemy resistance were
moving west to the borders of our Motherland. Pilots of the Second Air Army in
combat cooperation with front ground. troops set about sweeping the whole Soviet
Ukraine of Hitlerites.
...Far behind the warriors of the advancing Soviet Army flowed the dark waters
of an autumnal Dnepr. Dozens of cities and. hundred.s of villages of Pravoberezh-
naya [right bank] Ukraine were awakening at the break of a new day, free from the
invaders' yoke.
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0
ANAT. KHORUNZHIY,
One warm Sunday, along with a stream of Kiyev townspeople who were admiring
the autumn foliage, I set out in search of a cottage in. which I was interested, on the
outskirts of the city. All along the way I thought of those strangers whom I had. to
see.
The house stood on a side-street where the branches of appletrees and. pear trees,
heavy with fruit, hung down from all the front yards over the shrubbery of the? hedges
onto the sidewalk. Opening the gate, I saw two whitewash-spattered men stripped
to the waist. ? They were dragging a cumbersome, Old-fashioned oak chiffonier across
the threshold of the house. The entire yard. was crammed. with household. utensils
and furniture, and a little black dog was blissfully sleeping on the seat of a soft
armchair. .
When I asked whether I could see Pilot Grigoriy DaniloVich Kudlenko and. his wife,
the older of the two, a man forty years of age with a scratch on his shoulder, let
down his end of the dresser and slowly wiped his right hand 'on his pants. .
"I am Kudlenko", he said. "And. as. for our wives, they will hardly be back soon.
Isn't that 86, brOther?"
, "I guess so, yes", affirmed. the younger brother, sitting down on a chair and ob-
viously glad. of the respite. ,
. It turned out that the brothers had let their 'wives go visiting. today in order to be
'able to organize a Sunday project for household. tasks. This Was Grigoriy t El idea.'
Ever since he was little he has liked carpentering, plastering, repair-work 'and in-
stalling windows, and when he *tarts work Of this kind he cannot stand to be disturb-
ed. But nevertheless this time it was necessary to interrupt work for a while.
They say that everything a man has experienced shows in his face. However, is
Grigoriy Danilovich and I walked about the' rooms and he discussed the quirks of
andlater, in the ,garden, while we were tasting the juicy pears, I could not
see anything remarkable in the face of this man who had gone through so much dur-
ing the war years. BUt when, stopping by an old well, Kudlenko finally began to speak
of the war years, hitt face suddenly came to life and. immediately reminded me of
those pilot's whom we rightly referred. to as bold falcons in our communications from
the front.
What the.former squadron commander began to talk about was much broader than
our, notion of "combat experience". He communicated his interesting ideas on the
3
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role of a combat ace in the training of young pilots; on 'the characteristic features
,of a fighter, on the art of introducing novices into action, and. on the personal exam- ,
ple of the command.er. Everything he said. could. be used as valuable material for a
series of articles or notes by a veteran commander. Listening to him I a.gain thou.ght
of how very useful a large collection of the Memoirs of veterans, compiled now when
the events of the Great Patriotic War have receded. into the past, would. be.
A little later I asked Kudlenko to tell me about his wife, aviatrix Klavdiya Mikhay-
lovna Blinova.
"I feel a little awkward talking about my wife", he replied with embarrassment.
But after a short silence he began to speak,
"It was in the fall of 1942 on the Kalinin front. In our regiment as everywhere,,
the pilots were exclusively men. And. suddenly two girls appeared on our airfield
in flight uniforms and. with chart boards. Who were they? Why were they here?
All decided that they had made a forced landing somewhere nearby. There had been
such incidents before. But it turned out that this was not the case. The chief of
staff sent for the squadron commanders and. informed them that two women pilots,
having through insistence obtained a transfer from the Mr? [AA defense system]
service to the front, had. been sent to the regiment as replacements.
" 'Well, who will take them on?' he asked.
"I must confess that we commanders were taken aback, because women had al-
ways been considered. poor pilots,
"I had a strong squadron, well trained as a flying team, and the chief of staff
rested his gaze upon me. I got it. That same day I flew into the zone in pair with
the quiet, tall, blond girl ? Blinova. I had never yet had. such a co-flyer in all the
five years of my flight experience. Taxiing out for the takeoff I did. not feel exactly
cheerful: the plane of my lady wingman was moving somehow .too close to mine.
"Gaining altitude, I looked around.: her plane was just as close as before. 'Even
if she relaxes her attention for ,a second', I thought, 'she'll run into me.,' I carried,
out several complicated, advanced piloting maneuvers with just about one objective
to break away a little. But I noticed. that my lady co-flyer was not lagging behind me
a bit. On the contrary, the more I elal?orated the flying, the closer she hugged. me.
My nerves couldn't take it any longer and. I said:
'"'You could keep a little greater distance. What's the matter, are yOu afraid of
losing your lead plane?'.,
" am not afraid of anything,,' Blinova calmly replied.
"The 'next day Blinova went on a combat mission. There was a lull on our sector
of the front then, and under the comparatively quiet conditions the girls quickly fell_
into the routine of frontline pilots.
"Klavdiya Blinova flew as wingman for almost a year. She helped many out in
combat, but somehow no one was able to help her when the Tokkers' crippled. her.
True, the circumstances of that battle were, as I was later told, very complex."
O "Excuse me, didn't Blinova come under fire while covering your aircraft and. res-
cuing you?" I asked.
"No. Not exactly. At the 'time they shot her down I was lying wounded in the
hospital. Klavdiya was flying in pair with another pilot but she came to see me
quite often. .To tell the truth, it may be that she really did. save me, yet it wasn't
;
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82 Anat Khorunzhi
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from enemy attacks in the air, but rather it was with her ,sympathy and. concern and
with kind, words spoken at the side of my hospital bed." Heaving a sigh, Grigoriy
Danilovich continued:
"There were many difficult days in Kla.vdiya's life. Of course, when she bailed.
out that time, she was taken prisoner. I got to speak with of the pilots with
whom she escaped."
"How did that happen?" I asked.
"After the end, of the war our regiment was stationed, at an airfield. near Berlin.
As I was walking past the parking area for military transport aircraft a pilot called
to me. He asked whether I knew a lady pilot by the name of Blinova. I didn't let
on that she was my wile, but only said that I knew such a per son. Then he began to
shower Klavdiya with praise. He told .how they; together with. other escaped prison-
ers, went by night through forests and swamps toward the front line, how some of
them were ready to stop in a village and. wait until spring, but how she convinced.
them all to continue the journey. He said that he owed his life to Blinova and that
he wanted very much to see her. I had to disappoint him by informing him that
Blinova was not in the regiment now. I did not mention, moreover, that she had,
given birth to a daughter and was living at her mother's in a village near Moscow..."
Our conversation was interrupted.: two little girls ran through the gate and. joy-
ful)."
) rushed to Griaoriy Danilovich. The older of the two was a skinny, blond., blue-
eyed. girl, and. the younger one was tawny, with dark braids. Two women came in
after them. Looking at the older girl it was not difficult to determine which of the
two women was her mother ? Klavdiya Mikhaylovna Blinova.
We were introduced. A few days later Klavdiya Mikhaylovna told about herself.
She recalled how, along with the other girls from a village near Moscow, located
near an airfield, she used to dream of becoming a pilot; how they joined an aeroclub
and did not grudge either their free days or evenings in order to learn to fly.
"Only a, few of us were lucky enough to fly in combat aircraft and even fewer to
fight with the enemy in the .air. Ancl. now," she said. with a certain amount of sad-
ness, "I have become a homemaker, a mother, a wife. Of course, Heft my favorite
work a little too early; I should. have, flown a little longer. "
"But you have seen a lot. You have something to tell others" I was about to.
encourage Klavdiya Mikha.ylovna.
"Everything is forgotten, forgotten? that's what hurts: While we were making
our way as a group from captivity to the front line, one of us, I remember, said by
the night campfire, If we get out of here, alive, we'll have to write a .book together
after the war about our. experiences'. And. I thought then: 'Yes, and. write about it
all.in detail; tell how one person gave confidence to another, gave him strength at
moments when he seemed, ready to give up out of a feeling of hopelessness.' "
"And. did. you have such a feeling?"
'I-low can I tell you. When I found. myself alone in the open country in occupied
territory, and Hitlerite soldiers were running toward me from all directions, for a
split-second I thought of suicide. But I immediately discarded this idea. 'No, I
shall be with my own people again!' I decided.. I attempted to run but they wounded.
me in the footand. caught me. I asked. the boys surrounding me what village we
were near. They told. me, but I immediately forgot its name. The Hitlerites tore
off .my 'For Bravery' medal, my Guards Badge, and. my shoulder boards, along with
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Ordinar Peo.1 83
pieces of my tunic. Photographers and. correspondents gathered. like a flock of birds.
Even some sort of Fascist general came to look at the Russian girl pilot.
"While they were taking us prisoners by train somewhere into the deep rear,
traveling in one freight car, we decided to escape. At first the men kept their, agree-
ment a secret from me: 'Why', they said, 'take such a burden upon ourselves? She
won't be at all able to keep Up with us'. I understood. what they were whispering to
each other andtried to convince them that I would. not be a burden to them.
"One of our comrades had a hidden penknife and with it we planned to cut a hole
through the sid.e of the car in order to put a hand. through and bend. back. the catch,
on the doors. We all took turns working on it. I would. not let anyone have my
tarn, although they tried, to take my place.
"After alew days and. nights the hole was ready. During the night we opened. the
car, , and all of us, one after the other, jumped out onto a slope While the train was
in motion. . I jumped out right behind two pilots. . It was dark, pitch-black. Going
along the 'embankment a little way I stumbled upon my comrades; there were three.
of them and later we picked up one more. Sazonov, Rybalko, Polyakov, and I have
forgotten the name of the fourth, the very one for whom I dressed a serious sid.e
vound throughout the entire journey.
"For two weeks we wandered. through the Bryansk forest until we heard. shots in
the forward. area. It was cold spending the night und.er bushes in the fall. We
would lay the wounded and the weak, as a rule, in the middle, in order to keep them
warm. During this hard journey it was found, that some did not have sufficient en-
durance and persistence for carrying out our common plan. Some began to urge us
to stop in. some village and to wait for the arrival of our troops there; others con-
sidered it necessary to take a rest for several days. Someone even suggested going
to the nearest city and applying for work at a German airfield as unskilled laborers
in order to steal an aircraft and fly over to our side.
"I did not agree and tried with all'my.might to oppose these delays which were
caused by nothing more than fatigue. And every time,., after a heated argument,'
we would all.corne to the original decision: for all to keep going and going together
toward. the 'front line.
"For a. day and a night. we sat in the forward area. Shells and mortar flew. over
us; a German patrol would pass by and our side would fire at it. We endured 'even
this.
"When we crossed the main line of resistance each one went to his own unit. All
were drawn by the desire to see their .comrades, to return to duty and to fight again
against the enemy; and I, in addition to this, was drawn by love....
"Where those comrades are now, I don't know. Grigoriy told me once that some
pilot asked. about me at Berlin airfield.. It seems that he Was the one who had
the serious wound. How nice it would be for ns all to get together: Frontline
soldiers who have undergone such severe trials together should. write' to each other.
One doesn't want the friendship of people who got to know each other well during the?
great war to die out. What a feeling ? the complete confidence of one pers,,on in? -
another: .What a force it "
A few days later I saw Kudlenko and Blinova in the city with their Children. They
were choosing a coat for their older daughter, at a store counter. Then they went
down the street ? she, a slender, beautiful woman in a light blue dress and he, a
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slightly limping, middle-aged. man who still preserved his military bearing.
I followed, them with my eyes and. thought of how rich. our country is in real people
who go just like that, shoulder to shoulder, in both adversity and in joy, doing much
good in the name of our Motherland.
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Forty Years in the Air Force
Among aviators the name of Do-
cent and Candidate of Militazy Sci-
ences, Maj. Gen. of the Air Force D.
N. Morozov is widely known.
Forty years ago, like many other
revolutionarily minded soldiers, Mo-
rozov joined the ranks of the Red
Guard. During the days when Petro-
grad was threatened by danger, he
participated. as a member of the
Twelfth Air .Force Detachment in the
struggle against Kerenskiy's counter-
revolutionary troops. Soon after,
Dmitriy Nikolayevich Morozov trans-
ferred to the Red Army and devoted
himself to the cause of defending the
achievements of the Great October
Socialist Revolution.
In 1919 D. N. Morozov fought against
the English interventionists who had
? invaded. A'rkhangersk. And in 1920
he made his way to the Western Front
?
where he immediately fought with the
White Poles at Smolensk and Minsk.
After the Civil War the young
Soviet commander, while training
? and instructing personnel, himself
studied persistently.. On 25 May
1936 the TsIK [Central Executive
Committee] of the USSR awarded
D. N. Morozov the Badge of Honor "for outstanding personal success in the mastery of
combat aviation equipment and for the skilful direction of combat and political 'train-
ing..."
D. N. Morozov devoted much work to the cause of training Air Force cadres. As
an Air Force Academy teacher he not only skillfully conducted the educational process
but also concerned himself with working out a series of problems related to the direc-
tion of Air Force combat operations.
During the hard .day, of 1941 when the Fascist German invaders treacherously a
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tacked our Motherland, D. N. Morozov made his way to the front. From the,first
to the last day. of the war he was a member of the field. forces. The units commanded
by D. N. Morozov received, several expressions of gratitude from the Supreme Com-
mander-in-Chief for distinction in combat. The activities of Gen. Morozov were also
highly valued.. As a skilled, military commander he was awarded. during the war
years two Orders of the Red. Banner, an Order of the Patriotic War, first class, two
Orders of Bogdan Khmelinitskiy, second. cla-ss, and. the Order of the' Red Star.
In the' fall of 1945 D. N. Morozov again returned, to his. teaching work and. became
the head, of one Of the departments of the Air Force Academy.. During the post-war.
years, along-with an increase in speeds 'there arose the problem of organizing the con-
trol of fighter aircraft, and. of vectoring them to targets. D.N.Morozov took part
in its solution. In 1946 he wrote, a study of the control centers of fighter aviation
groups and. at the same time solved, problerns-involving technical de sign of command.
posts.
D.N.Morozov, keeping in step with the development of aviation, has written several
scientific works which area great contribution to working out the organization of the
control of present-day fighters in combat.
On the Fortieth Anniversary of the Soviet Army (and for D. N. Morozov it is a double
holiday? forty years have also passed since the day of his entry into its ranks), we
would. like to wish him good. health and further success in his productive activities.
In the photograph: D. N. Morozov.
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Squadron Comma,nder Maj. D. A. Lysakov skilfully instructs and trains young 'pi-
lots. ?He has been elected a member of his unit Party Bureau.
In the photo: Maj.D.A.Lysakov (right) is enga.ges;1 in a flight critique.
Photo: T. N. Meltnik
Air exercises were going on. Interceptor fighters one by one disappeared into
the darkness of the night. They shot up into the air so that they might come up to
the "enemy" bombers and prevent them from reaching the defended objective. The
command post and all the crews worked efficiently and all bombers were intercepted.
The darkness of the night did not help them. The high skill of the fighter Pilots made
the mission successful.
Guards Lt. Col.P.P.Panchenko was satisfied with the results of the activities of
his subordinates. He himself had flown to intercept an "enemy." plane and attacked
Besides the professional feeling of pride of a fighter pilot for his branch of avia-
tion, Panchenko was also struck by another thought. It was the sentiment of a patriot
deeply concerned about the might of his socialist Motherland:
"But were the bombers 'really sufficiently protected against defeat'? "
On many occasions, both day and night, the first-class pilot had to intercept air
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targets under the most trying conditions. And he began to ponder this more and.
More often, Actually, in an engagement with fighters, the main weapon of bombers
at night and, in the clouds is maneuver and fire. But maneuver under such condi-
tions, especially in combat formation; is limited to a certain degree. The fighter
plane is always more maneuverable than the bomber. It has greater freedom in the
choice of place and. time of attack and, consequently, it is capable of achieving an
element of .surprise.
Present-day detection facilities make it difficult for the bomber to take advantage
of darkness or overcast-, It is "seen" by ground radar stations which vector inter-
ceptor fighters, as well as by the .attacking pilot, on his radar ,sight. ?
That is why Panchenko More than once asked himself the question: "Is there no
possibility of insuring the safety of bomber's flying at night and in the clouds by us-
ing close fighter escort?" The solution of this question, extremely important for
bomber aviation, will likewise expand the combat capabilities of the fighter planes
flown by Panchenko and pilots under his command.
This experienced officer, without a doubt, understood that this was a highly com-
plicated, matter that would. call for great effort, high skill, and. other additional con-
cern on the part of the pilots. But would a Soviet soldier be deterred. by a difficul-
ty when it was a matter of raising. the level of combat readiness?
Panchenko expressed. his opinion to Lt. Col. Z. B. Totrov, political d.eputy regi-
mental commander, and was backed. up by him.
"The problem,without a d.oubt, is complicated and. momentous. Much will have
to be' done to work these questions out theoretically. It will be necessary, Petr
Petrovich, to walk unknown paths. Even practical testing will require exceptional
skill of the pilots."
"I think we can rely on our people. Let us speak, Zakhariy Bimbulatovich, to
the Communists. They can think about it and then we can get together and discuss
the question again.
The pilots whom Panchenko spoke, With approved the idea of escorting bombers
at night and under adverse weather conditions. There Were some who reacted with
reserve.
"The idea is good': they would say," but other tasks confront us, and this might
divert us from fulfilling the plan. And besides it is a very complicated matter. The
slightest inadvertence may lead to disastrous consequences. No one, as everyone
knows, is patted. on the head for .flying accidents."
"That is true," thought Panchenko. "Every circumstance must be weighed and.
taken into account. Only then can a decision be made."' A.nd. the officer decided.
as his Party conscience prompted him.
II
Petr Petrovich Panchenko is younger than the Soviet Army which will be 40 years
old on 23 February. Only from accounts of his seniors does. he know of the hard lot
of the people under capitalism. The story about his grandfather Vias made a deep-
impression on him. Vias, as the old folks said., had been a hardworking man; but
he still lived: and died in poverty.
The Great October Revolution of 1917 set the man free. The sons and grandsons
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of grandfather Vias breathed. freely again and stood up with weapons in hand. to de-
fend. the great achievements of October,.
Petr Panchenko's father joined the ranks of the Soviet Army immediately after '
its organization, fought the White Guards near Petrogra.d., defending the' cradle of
revolution. In the years of the Great Patriotic War he fought against Hitler's in-
vaders and died the d.eath of a hero.
In 1943 Panchenko's son, a graduate of aviation school, came to the front to re-
place his father. In bitter combat the young pilot matured. He engaged, in battle
for his native Soviet Land, and. served, his country faithfully.,
Once Panchenko,together with Capt.
? Lukoshko and Lt.Krutoy, took off on a; corn-
bat mission. Having met a group Of bom-
bers, the Soviet pilots plunged. violently in-
to attack. In running attack, Capt. Lukosh-
ko set the enemy plane on fire. But at this
moment the aerial gunner of another bom-
ber opened. fire on him. Panchenko rushed
into attack to save the commander and with
a well-aimed burst downed the Fascist. The
remaining enemy planes hurried, back to
their own territory.
Nevertheless the enemy gunner suc-
? ceeded. in putting Capt. Lukoshles plane out
of acti n and. he was obliged, to parachute to
7to
safet . Panchenko and. Lt. Krutoyncircled"
around the slowly descending commander.
The thought disturbed. them: "Where will he
land.? On enemy territory?"
The situation on the ground Was .chang-
ing rapidly at the time. Sometimes our
units drove deeply into the territory occu-
pied by,the enemy, while enemy concentra-
tions remained. in their year. Panchenko'
, looked at the map. Judging froin the trace
of the front line, the area over which aerial combats took place was occupied by
Fascists. The pilots came down to hedge-hopping flight, trying to solve the prob-
lem that was tormenting them.
They saw their commander land among the yellow unharvested fields. Quickly
deflating the parachute, he dug himself in, ready for defense. ' How were. they to
save the commander? Panchenko began to look for a level landing area in order. to
pick him up and. get him out.' He had. extended the landing gear and was gliding in
for a landing. People from the village were running towards Lukoshko.. "I've
got to make it" ? the thought flashed through his mind.. But then the pilot saw the
commander indicate by hand gestures: "Our own people are here. Return to the'
airfield." Having made a farewell circle, the pilots flew off.
In the evening they met the command.er. The Captain embraced P.anchenko?and
said affectionately:
P P. Panchenko
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"Well, you are a really desperate fellow. And what if Germans had been there?"
"But you would have acted the same way," answered Panchenko.
After this ,incident pilots often said:
? "Panchenko won't let anyone down in a combat. He is a miner, and miners, as
it is generally known, are strong and friendly folk."
Once returning from a combat mission, Panchenko saw a pair of'Messerschmitts"
attack a Soviet pilot. The plane had. already been damaged and. the pilot could.hard-
ly fight off the enemy. Two more enemy fighters were approaching the scene of ac-
- tion.
-,"That will be. the end of him..." thought Panchenko.
, There is a sacred-law among Soviet men: Perish yourself, but rescue your corn-
.rade. 'With .a' sudden violent running attack he downed the enemy
"Withdraw from action: Withdraw:" Panchenko transmitted over the radio, cover-
ing the withdrawal with impetuous attacks. One attack followed another; the damaged
plane in the meantime was flying to friendly territory. Panchenko was running out
of fuel. With a vigorous maneuver he withdrew from action and returned safely to
the airfield. Soon a telegram was received from a neighboring unit. The regiment-
al commander thanked the pilot with a light blue number seven (tail number of Pan-
chenko.' s plane) for saving an officer and a combat aircraft.
In the years of the Great Patriotic War, Petr Petrovich Panchenko made 300 k?1/411.1.1.-
bat sorties. Nine Fascist planes met their end in his well-aimed fire. The com-
bat achievements of the pilot have been highly appreciated by the Motherland and. he
has been decorated with two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War,
first class,two Orders of the Red Star, and several medals.
In the post-war period the courageous pilot was one of the first to Master the jet
fighter. Already in August 1947 he flew a jet plane at 'a parad.e celebrating Air Force
Day. In "Pravda" a picture of a group of pilots appeared with the following caption:
"Heroes of the Great Patriotic War Participants in the Parade." Panchenkd was
among them.
To the combat decorations of the pilot additional decorations were added for mas-
tery of new combat equipment'in the post-war period and for high combat skill. The
additional" decorations were:,. Order of two Orders of the Red Banner, three
Orders of the Red. Star. Recently by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air
Force Lt. Col. Panchenko received a valuable present. , These awards testify to the
fact that the,wat hero in time of peace devoted all his capacities to strengthen the
might of his Motherland..
?The Motherland- and the Soviet People highly prize the merits of their defenders.
The working people of a regional town elected. Petr Petrovich a delegate of the City
Soviet. The officer devoted, much effort to community activities, being on the City
Soviet Board of Education.
Recently the Board dealt with the case of Kolya Skripnik, a fifth-grade student.
The boy set out daily for school, but never showed up there. His aged father and.
mother were unable to influence him. The Board considered the case and asked
Panchenko to speak to the boy.
Petr Petrovich went to the boy
, "Hello: Let' s.get acquainted",
Kolya- looked with surprise and
s house and found him at home.
he said simply and introduced himself.
curiosity at the high-ranking officer, on whose
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broad chest there glittered several rows of decorations on holders.
When the officer explained, why he had. come the boy became apprehensive. Petr
Petrovich caught. the piercing look of the school-boy, but, pretending not to have
noticed. it, he sat down on a chair offered. by the hostess and. began a conversation
with her.
The conversation was of life, work, family.
"I too," began Panchenko "because of my youthfulness dropped out of school after
the seventh grade. Wanted to be a miner, to break records. But I took good ad-
vice in time and enrolled in a FZU [industrial training school]. After, graduation I
worked in a mine...And now I am a pilot..."
The boy listened, to the conversation with interest. Thei he began to ask the of-
ficer questions. In some ten minutes they were carrying on a spirited conversation.
Panchenko managed. to have a heart-to-heart talk with Kolya, to find, out his inter-
ests, his opinions, and then In persuade him of the necespity of continuing his studies.
The boy promised to improve and. is now studying diligently.
The activity of Guards Lt. Col. Panchenko, an officer-Communist, a soldier-dele-
gate, and. a soldier-citizen, is many-sided. and diverse. No matter what he takes in
hand, his seething energy manifests itself everywhere.
III
? The jet plane was flying to intercept an aerial target. Lt. Col. Panchenko
strictly imaintained. the flight regime prescribed by the command. post. It was as
though the plane hung in mid-air in the night haze, and. only the quivering instrument
pointers showed that the plane was rapidly gaining altitude. Shred.s of cloud.s flashed.
by and. the sky, like a gigantic dome studded. with numerous stars, opened up above
the plane. At a given altitud.e the pilot changed. over to horizontal flight and. took the
.required. course.
Soon he heard. the familiar, voice .of.the ground. controller.
"Target ahead.; range.. , 'I
Panchenko involuntarily took his' eyes off the instruments and. looked ahead.. Cloud.s
loomed, below, and. above was the star-studded sky. Spotting the target Visually in
such conditions was out of question.
From the command. post it was reported that the target Was within detection range.
Soon a blip began to appear on the scope. Having vigorously closed. in on the "enemy"
bomber, Panchenko.attacked it successfully. After Opening "fire" the pilot did. not,
as is usually the case, withdraw from attack in 4 turn. Having notified the com-
mand post, he fell somewhat behind. the target and. allowed, it to pass to the' left at a
small .azimuth angle. Having flown for some time in such a position, Panchenko
began to turn left, still tracking the target on the scope. In this manner the pilot
maneuvered close to the bomber, evaluated, and checked. his visual judgement of
the close bomber escort.
Whei the occasion presented. itself Panchenko repeated all.this during other sor-
ties. With every mission the belief in the correctness .of his supposition became,
stronger. The combat capabilities of a,fighter plane were 'likewise studied in grea..t
detail during these flights and. important and. valuable conclusions were drawn as to
its utilization in combat. The pilot was convinced, that the radar equipment permit- ,
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not only trailing the bomber, but also maneuvering within certain limits:
The pilots worked. hard, on the ground too. Many officer's became interested. in
the idea of fighters escorting bombers at night and under adverse meteorological -
conditions. An active 'part in the realization of the idea was taken by the most ex-
perienced. military pilots- first class in the unit. They were, Majors P. S. Suvorov,
V. F. Yuzefyak, - V. A. Sukhostavskiy; Captains F. G. Petrov and Yu.M. Zakamskiy
Military Pilot Third Class Senior Lt. M. Ye.Golod, and others. There were lively
discussions. Diagrams were made. It was necessary to define not Only the possi-
bility of fighters escorting bombers, but also to find out, at least in a preliminary
way, its effectiveness and., consequently, its advantage. After a definite opiniOn
had been formed, the setup of combat formations of the escort was considered. Dif-
ferent versions were taken into account. All this was done on the basis of deduc-
tions made from the performance characteristics of fighter planes and certain infer-
ences made by pilots in the course of regular flights for aerial target interception.
It is natural that theoretical reasoning had to be verified in practice, in flight,
But how was this to be done?
Inteneive training flights as scheduled were going on at the regiment. The pilots
were mastering a high-speed fighter plane. Many of them had. not as yet become
thoroughly familiar with it. For escort flights under adverse meteorological con-
ditions and. at night the pilot must be exceptionally well trained.. Consequently it
was still necessary, .Panchenko inferred, to work hard. to raise the pilots' qualifica-
tions. They must be trained, to utilize fully the combat capabilities of the plane and,
in particular, to escort bombers.
Soon an occasion presented itself to verify the theoretical suppositions in practice.
The fighter air regiment under the command. of. Lt. Col. Panchenko was assigned a
training mission of covering bomber combat operations at night. It was, of course,
possible to support the 'bombers in the usual way hitherto used..
. Lt. Col.. Panchenko could^ not, after all, afford to miss a convenient opportunity
.to implement the idea which had, been worked upon for some time by the pilots of
unit. Having consulted his subordinates, he, made a bold decision to accomplish the
-task of closely escorting bomber combat operations.
? Lt. Col. Panchenko confided his idea to Herb of the Soviet Union, Col.G.V.Gromoy.
The topnotch officer backed him up and gave him valuable advice for organizing flights.
Preparations began. Lt. Cql.Panchenko invited Maj. Yuzefyak, Capt. Petrov,
Senior Lt. Golad, and other officers, who would be faced with the' task of flying escort
to come to the classroom. He suggested that ideas be exchanged to find the most
efficient, way of rendezvousing with the bombers to be escorted., to define, the most
advantageous Overall combat formation and the combat formation of fighter 'planes
when rendezvousing and escorting. In the course of these disdussions many ques-
tions were raised. which it was essential to solve before going aloft. In the course
of the discussions the officers.reached unanimous agreement as to the sequence in
accomplishing the task. Only after that did the flight personnel begin thespreliminary
preparations for the flights. ? Every detail was definitized.; all air operations were
reasoned out in the greatest detail, different variants were outlined in the event of a
change in the air situation; failure of equipment, etc. -
At last the long-awaited day Came. Lt. COL Panchenko was the first to taxi out
to the flight line. Hardly had his plane vanished ?in the darkness of the night, when ?
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the planes of Maj. Yuzefyak and Capt. Petrov zoomed into the air. The experienced
pilots quickly formated on the lead plane. The first wingn-ian flew right behind the
leader and the second. wingman behind, the first. On Panchenko's plane the ,radar
station was set for target sweep. The command post vectored him to the bomber;
his wingtnan followed. him. Soon, the pilot reported to the command post: "I see the
bomber''; and he began to reduce speed to formate onto it. The wingmen?likewise
began to reduce speed, but with a certain lag. The fighter planes formated on the
escorted plane and took up the combat formation which had been decided upon on the .
ground.
The pilots evaluated this combat formation,, took note on the radar sight scopes
of the position Of the blips of the planes flying ahead. They determined the possi-
bility of manetwering to repel an attack of "enemy" fighters, considered whether it
was possible to retain combat formation in case the escorted bombers should ma-
neuver.
First flights confirmed a series of suppositions worked out by the pilots and at the
same time introduced many new factors.
On the following day the flying personnel assembled for a critique of the flights.
On the basis of this detailed analysis some valuable conclusions were made concern-
ing the rendezvous of fighter planes and. the way they formate onto bombers, concern-
ing combat formation, etc.
Making use of diagrams, Lt. Col. Panchenko analyzed. the operations of the fighters
when flying escort.
"The flights have proved", he said, "that it is possible to escort bombers at night
and under adverse meteorological conditions. Taking the first experience into con-
sideration, the problem must be further elaborated upon."
Maj. Yuzefyak proposed that the lead plane warn the wingmen immediately after
sighting the bomber to be escorted. This would make it possible for them to reduce
the rate of closure in good time, maintain combat formation while formating on, and
provide for the safety of the flight. He also suggested increasing the distance be-
tween the fighters.
"Radar stations",said Senior Lt. Golod, "must be switched on as ,early as possible
so that after takeoff at the moment we formate on the lead plane they will be ready
for operation."
Other thoughts were also expressed. This clarified Many of the problems involved
in escorting. Nevertheless, further elaboration and practical verification were need-
ed, especially in the methods of repelling enemy fighter attacks.
The search continued. After a certain time another opportunity to escort bom-
bers at night presented itself. This time more complicated problems were posed.
"Enemy" fighters had to attack the bombers, and the escorting fighters were to fight
off their attacks.
Panchenko understood that in organizing these flights he was taking great respon-
sibility on himself. But no difficulty was great enough to hold back the Soviet corii-
mander once he was convinced that all this was necessary to promote combat readi-
ness of the Soviet Air Force. He depended on the pilots and. knew that they would be
able to cope with the tasks confronting them. By this time many pilots' of the unit had
thoroughly mastered their planes and had been trained to the level of pilots f irst and
second class.
1
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Lt. Col. Panchenko invited Lt. Col. Totrov
and told them of the forthcoming training ex
"As you see, it is a complicated matter'
sider and discuss the question of how to m
training in an exemplary way. "-
A Party meeting was held in the regiment. Each Communist was required to
serve as an example in the execution of his duties.
The political deputy and members of the Party Bureau consulted with Lt. Col.
Panchenko when they were drafting a plan of Party-political work for the period of
the exercises. Panchenko took a most active part in carrying out the plan. The
commander was very busy during those days. He himself flew on missions and in
spite of that found time to speak to many of his subordinates.
Communists --- commanders of sub-units, engineers, pilots, staff officers
exert strong influence on all the fighting men. Everything new and advanced that
emerged in the course of the flights became the common property of the flying per-,
sonnel and was discussed with animation. The Communists were the pioneers in
all the undertakings and the propagandists of what was developed and verified in
practice.
Communists Yuzefyak, Petrov, Zakamskiy and others shared their experience
and gave advice to their comrades on how best to execute a mission. The exercises
were instructive and well organized.
Particularly significant was the flight of Maj. Yuzefyak and his lead pilot, Military
Pilot First Class Capt. V. P. Boyko. Taking the experience of previous flights into
consideration they forrnated rapidly on the escorted bomber. The night was dark
and because of that the pilots were able to maintain combat formation and carry on
the search for the "enemy" only with the help of radar sights.
An "enemy" fighter tried to sneak up on the bomber. The escorting pilots watched
their screens closely and spotted the attacking fighter in due time. It was closing
in at high speed, but, in spite of that, Maj. YUzefyak managed to attack it.
Much valuable information was derived from these flights. Pilots that escorted
the bombers and the "enemy" pilots gathered for flight critique. This made it
possible to analyze in greater detail the operations of the fighters, and'bring out the
most efficient methods of escort and of repelling "enemy" fighter attacks. In addi-
tion to that, the officers suggested a number of valuable improvements in aviation
equipment.,
Thus the creative approach of Lt. Col. Panchenko and, pilots under his command. pro-
duced new tactical methods and methods of operation. Not to be satisfied with his
accomplishments, but rather to go on seeking and daring is the characteristic trait
of the first-class pilot, topnotch commander, and warrior-Communist. This is the
trait of the new Soviet man, the builder of Communism, nurtured in our glorious
Communist Party.
and. the Secretary of the Party Bureau
rcises.
said. the commander. "Let us con-
obilize the personnel to carry out the
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Darin
N. M Dudin
The Heroic Deed of a Commissar'
95
These were the last days of July 1941. Both on the
ground and in the air hard.. fighting continued ince Ssantly.
On one such day Squadron Commander A.A. Tormozov
and Commissar N. M. Dudin were patrolling in an area where
our troops were crossing the river.
The, pilots flew across the river and headed northwest.
At a highway and railroad intersection Tormozov arid. Dudin
made a left turn. At this very moment four"Messers,chmitts"
appeared from behind. the c:loud.s and. rushed. to the attack.
On noticing the enemy planes, Dudin immediately flew
in his nimble 1-16 to meet them. An unequal aerial engage-
ment began. A short burst of fire and one Me7109, after an
abrupt dive, went down. Two Soviet fighters boldly attacked
three Fascist planes. The latter, having a speed. advantage,
disappeared for a time and then tried either to get on the tail
of our I-16's or to strike from above.
Tormozov's plane began to burn and. the "Me sser-
schmitts" directed their attacks on Dudin. They were joined, by another Me-I09.
The Soviet pilot, making use of the superior capabilities of his plane in horizontal
maneuver, broke away from the enemy encirclement and plunged. into attack again.
At that moment one of the Fascists managed to get on Dud.in's tail. But Tormozov,
with. a sharp sid.eslip, shook the flame from the wing of his plane, and. was just in
time for the rescue. He shot up the "Messer schmitt", it burst into flames and. fell
to the ground. like a stone. Tormozov's plane was also damaged and.,he landed, among
our troops.
Commissar ?Dudin continued to fight with the enemy. Tension steadily mounted.
Two Me-109's got on the tail of Duclin's fighter and began. to dive' at, him from different
directions. Dudin turned vigorously and went in for a head-on attack.?: - The enemy
opened fire. Dudin preisedIthe.ifiring button; a burst and the Machine gun was. si-
lent. The ammunition was, expended. etr eat ? Never! Ram him:" Dudin decid-
ed. An 'enemy bullet wounded him but he made, a sharp turn and ripped. into the wing
of the enemy fighter with his prop. The Me-109 leapt up, heeled over on its wing,
and fell to earth.
On 22 October' 1941 the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was conferred upon N. M.
Dudin. ;
.
Friendship Born in Battle
In 1943 when Poland. was under the yoke of the Fascist occupation the "Warsaw'.'
fighter air regiment was organized on Soviet soil.
Polish, patriots who were ready to fight with arms for the liberation of their Mother-
land joirild t, Lt. Col. JanTaldykin, an experienced pilot, was the first commander of
this regirtk-ent: The Soviet country armed the Polish warriors with combat equipment.
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96 Darin
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The banner of this celebrated unit bears witness to the feats of the officers and
men of the "Warsaw" air regiment. It is adorned with the "Virtuti Militari" ? the
highest Polish military order. Many pilots, besides receiving decorations from their
'? own governments, have also received Soviet decorations . Officers Kalinovskiy,
Khoronzhey,Ya.kubik, Shvarts, and others shot down several Fascist planes in the
first aerial engagements. Their portraits and combat efficiency reportshave now
? ,
been placed on a display stand. in the combat glory room of the regiment.
, The unit veterans tell the young warriors of the combat deeds of their regimental
comrades in the fight against, Fascism. During the war Polish and Soviet pilots Were
often based on the same airfield, flew together on combat missions, and close friend-
skip sprang up among them. The veterans of the regiment recall these' days.' On
more than one occasion Military Pilot Second Class, Lt. Stanislaw Melicharek has
told about the Soviet pilot Iiikiforov, who fought for the liberation of Poland in 1945
and was his first teacher and mentor.
The illustrious combat traditions of the regiment are enriched by new achieve-
ments of the pilots in combat and political training. They are striving for a high
showing in mastering the latest aviation equipment now at their disposal in its com-
bat application under adverse meteorological conditions both day and night. Maj.
Lyutsian Kalkus, Capt. Zigmunt Cha.yka, Lt. Stanislaw Mel'charek have set an exam-
ple in this respect.
In their military training, Polish aviators avail themselves of the rich experience
of the Soviet Air Force pilots. They are the welcome guests of our aviators, while
Soviet pilots are welcome in their regiment. Friendship, born in combat, grows
stronger and increases in the common fight for the triumph of the great ideas of
Communism.
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Commander of a topnotch bomber element, Capt. V. F.Fedyayev was awarded. the ?
Orders of the Red: Banner and of the Red. Star for his successes in mastering combat -
equipment. Photo: Yu. N. Skuratov .
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' _.ome Problems of Rocketr ? 103 ? ' .
, -
. ,. .
* . same ideas were under development by Yu. V. Kondratyuk. His method.s of computa-
tion (of velocity and acceleration) differed from the methods used.by.K.E.Tsiolkovs- . .
,,,? kiy(the work method.). Yu. V. Kondratyuk proposed the use of a solid propellant for. ..
the rocket (lithium, boron, aluminum, magnesium, :silicon), outstripping in this
respect the work of many other researchers. .. , , ? . ?
. . ? In December 1923 F.A.'T.sander, independently of Yu. Y.Kond.ratyuk, proposed
, using the above-mentioned. type of propellant for the liquid. fliel?rocket motor, includ-
ing the combustion of the emptied tanks made of these .materials. He. developed a -
. , theory of rockets ?.includini finned.- rockets ? (as did Yu.V,Kondratyuk); a theory
- of liquid fuel- rocket motors; and he carried out some experiment's with. motor models, -
' Since 1928 V. P. Glushko.has been successfully working in the field of research on, ,' ?
and development of; liquid fuel rocket motors. The heritage of ideas handed. d.own
, by K. E. T siolkovskiy, Yu. V. Kondratyuk, and. F. A. T sander was 'developed by their . .
?
. successors, S..P.Korolev, M.K.Tikhonra..vov, Yu.A.Pobedonostsev, V..P.Vetchin- '
,
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The ,achievements- of rocket building in the ' :,?.-- -..,., ....- . ' - . ' . i kin, L. S. Dushkin, A. G. K.ostikov, A. M. Isayev, Ai I. Polyarnyy, and others. : We
. ,USSR are :immense and indisputable. In August '' ?'. . J.:,':''''''''"'....'''....'. ? ., . i take pride in the fact that all basic ideas in the field of construction of liquid fuel ?
:. of 1957 the successful launching of an inter con- ..1.-???,'',':::::..?'":1''ia:''''''''\.1..` ' ...'''''. ''' f rocket motors and. rockets, as well as their individual application in atmospheric ,
: tinental ballistic rocket was accomplished, the ? i.,?::i:::,.,;,?.:si:::.:?.,11?,,,7..?..,:.:.-,...i.:?..,.,,., . ',,....,.. ....:........ and outer space were first advanced. and. developed by scientists of our Motherland.
. ., .. ,.::... .. . i
. . ? l' ? The scientific wealth of our country in the field of rocketry produced fruitful re..-
. . '.rriigs7..le . accurately hitting the d.e si gnat e d. tar get_ :;.11, ' Ignal- '21""q": '''' ? . ? ' . ' ' .
. On 4 October the world's first artificial earth ..:';'.:''':?:1':'!e'''i':1''''I'''';'1'''''''..-.'-'i''''"...1'.".-'''''''':' sults as soon as the Soviet people, led by the Communist Party, created the neces.;, .
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