Pokryshkin is the first. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin - the storm of the Third Reich
American historians and politicians like to point out the fact that the Red Army won World War II only thanks to Lend-Lease. In fact, lend-lease - the supply of American equipment and food to the Soviet Union - played an important, but not the most leading role in the future victory over Germany. Many tanks and aircraft sank even on the approaches to the shores of the USSR, and the equipment that safely reached the units was, for the most part, outdated. But still there was one American aircraft, which, towards the end of the war, became one of the symbols of Soviet pilots' dominance in the sky. Bell P-39 Airacobra - aces car.
Such a loud epithet is not accidental. Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Kutakhov and many other masters of air combat in different time flew the R-39. Pokryshkin even in his memoirs called the “aircobra” his favorite aircraft, of course, because forty-eight of the fifty-nine aircraft he shot down fell on flights on an American fighter.
I liked the Airacobra for its shape and, mainly, for its powerful weapons. There was something to shoot down enemy planes - a 37 mm caliber cannon, two heavy-caliber rapid-fire machine guns and four normal-caliber machine guns of a thousand rounds per minute each. My mood did not deteriorate even after the warning of the pilots about the dangerous feature of the aircraft to break into a tailspin due to the rear centering.
It was this unpleasant "zest" that at first made the pilots look at the R-39 with distrust. The engine in it was located at the rear, which had both its advantages - unique maneuverability, and disadvantages - a flat corkscrew. Fastest to new car adapted former pilots of the Soviet I-16 fighter, the design of which had a similar defect. But soon the number non-combat losses fell, and the effectiveness of the use of the fighter increased, despite the fact that they had to be assembled almost "at random". Most Lend-Lease equipment was transferred in a collapsible state, so the mechanics in the USSR were initially faced with the task of assembling this unknown designer. Constant difficulties were caused by the fact that some of the instructions and drawings were missing, and the rest were still in unfamiliar English...
Soviet pilots liked the armament of the R-39 so much that they preferred to remove two underwing machine guns and use only a 20-mm, and later a 37-mm cannon. Firstly, less weight and better maneuverability, and secondly, one hit of a 37-mm projectile was more than enough to instantly destroy enemy Messerschmitts. Hero Soviet Union Evgeny Mariinsky wrote in his memoirs:
"Messer"! Where did he come from?! "Me-109" was very close - some twenty - twenty-five meters. I forgot about everything: about the radio, about the need to warn the leader ... "Shoot down! .." I turned the plane a little, the sight ... I could not aim: the sight was turned off. So the engineer for special equipment of the regiment taught, protecting scarce American sight bulbs, he recommended turning on the sight only in battle. But the German is very close, and so you won’t miss! I pressed and immediately released the trigger. The red ball of a cannon shell instantly covered this short distance and dug into the Messer's engine. There was no shell rupture - "it means armor-piercing." two bullets heavy machine guns- one passed in front of the cockpit of the enemy pilot, and the second pierced this cockpit.
The most important advantage of the R-39 was its excellent maneuverability and speed. And all thanks to the engine, which was located behind the cockpit, and not in front of it, like most Soviet fighters. Thanks to this design, the view from the cockpit was better than you can imagine, plus the cockpit itself was shifted as close to the nose as possible, and the wings were pushed back. After the Soviet I-153, I-16 and others, for a long time the pilots could not believe that the cockpit did not heat up during the flight from the forward engine. After all, earlier, a few minutes after takeoff on the Yak-1, the air temperature inside the cabin could reach 50-60 degrees Celsius! But in such a flying "bath" it was still necessary to shoot down the enemy and not lose consciousness every minute.
Separately, the pilots noted the "survivability" of the aircraft, even riddled, with pieces of skin torn off, it was able to continue the battle. Not infrequently, Soviet pilots, aware of such a "conspiracy" of their faithful fighters, attacked superior enemy forces. For example, in early 1944, in battles near the Prut River, six R-39 aircraft, led by twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gulaev, attacked twenty-seven German bombers and fighters. In a lightning battle, the enemy lost eleven aircraft, of which five were on account of Gulaev.
The main example of the recognition of the excellent qualities of the R-39 is the fact that by the end of the war almost all Soviet aces flew it. By this time, Soviet cars had already begun to be produced, which were stronger, faster and more maneuverable than the "Air Cobra", but experienced warriors did not want change, and dedicated fighters tried not to let them down.
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was born on March 19, 1913 in Novosibirsk (at that time - Novonikolaevsk) in a working class family. From childhood, young Sasha had a great thirst for knowledge, especially for aviation. But after graduating from school in 1928, at the request of his parents, he went to work at a construction site.
Two years later, young Alexander Pokryshkin left parental home and entered the technical school of Novonikolaevsk, after which he received the specialty of a locksmith - modeler. Next in educational and work biography The future pilot was listed as the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and work as a toolmaker at the Sibkombinatstroy plant.
In 1931, Alexander joined the Komsomol, and a year later, the Red Army, where he finally began to fulfill his dreams of heaven. As a volunteer, he was sent to an aviation school in Perm, from which he graduated in 1933. In the winter of 1934, Alexander Pokryshkin already served in the 74th rifle division North Caucasus District as a senior aviation technician. In this position, he was offered a number of improvements for the ShKAS machine gun, as well as for other weapons.
During the period of study at the Krasnodar Aeroclub (1936-38), Pokryshkin, secretly from his superiors, completed the course of the annual civil piloting program in just 17 days. Talented young man noticed and allowed to enter the flight school in Kachin, and then in the Kachin Red Banner Aviation School named after Myasnikov. After leaving its walls with excellent performance in all subjects, Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich was assigned to the position of junior pilot of the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment.
He met the Great Patriotic War as a deputy squadron commander on the Southern Front. The Pokryshkin airfield was attacked by air on the very first day of the war - June 22, 1941. Four days after this date, Alexander Ivanovich replenished his combat biography with the first feat - he shot down a German fighter Messerschmidt Bf 109. After the second successful defeat of the enemy on July 3, Pokryshkin was hit by a fascist anti-aircraft gun and pushed back to the front line. For four days he had to make his way to his unit.
A. Pokryshkin during the Great Patriotic War
The very first months of the war showed Pokryshkin all the backwardness of the tactics of the Soviet Air Force, deciding to correct this matter, Alexander Ivanovich began to write down ideas for improving it in his personal notebook. The brave and hardy pilot often made sorties in the most difficult circumstances. In 1941 he was awarded the Order of Lenin for his fearless flight on the MiG-z in bad weather. weather, after two other pilots crashed trying to take off. Pokryshkin not only took off, but also successfully located enemy tanks General von Kleist. Subsequently, he participated in many defensive operations: in Moldova, Donbass, Rostov, etc. In August 1942 he was appointed squadron commander of the North Caucasian Front. In the biography of the hero there is also a dark life streak. For criticizing the outdated tactics of air combat, Pokryshkin was stripped of his communist title and all positions and given to the tribunal. The hero was saved by the intercession of the regiment and higher commanders.
In 1943, A.I. Pokryshkin finally realized himself as an innovator in air combat. In the battles in the Kuban, speaking out against the strongest and most famous enemy air formations, the talented pilot applied his own tactics, known today as the “Kuban whatnot” and “high-speed swing”. Thanks to him, the Soviet Air Force began to use ground-based radars and an advanced control system. In any sorties, Pokryshkin assigned himself the most difficult task - the destruction of the leading enemy column, since, according to his observations, this contributed to the demoralization of German pilots.
A.I. Pokryshkin was the first three times Hero of the Soviet Union (April 24, 1943; August 24, 1943 and August 19, 1944)
Since 1944, he was transferred to non-combat work at the General Staff of the Red Army to manage the training of new pilots. From the same year, he became a living symbol of Soviet heroic propaganda. He was cherished and rarely released for flights.
In the summer of the same year, Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich was awarded the rank of colonel and took command of the 9th Guards Air Division. He made his last front-line flight on April 30, 1945. He took part in the Victory Parade. According to official biography, during the war years, he made 650 sorties, participated in 156 air battles, destroyed 59 Nazi aircraft.
After the end of WWII military biography the hero of the USSR did not end. In 1957, Pokryshkin graduated from the Higher Military Academy. Voroshilov. In 1972 he became the chairman of the Central Committee of DOSAAF, in 1981 - a military inspector-advisor of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders:
The name of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin inspired fear in German pilots. "Attention attention! Pokryshkin in the sky! - so the fascist pilots warned each other over the radio station. And they were not afraid in vain - 59 enemy aircraft were personally shot down by the hero pilot Pokryshkin. For Soviet people he personifies selfless love for the Motherland, courage and fearlessness. We will tell about his exploits, about difficult relationships with superiors and about his personal life in this article.
Brief biography of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin
pre-war years
City of Nikolaevsk, now Novosibirsk. On March 19, 1913, a second boy, Sasha, is born in a family of workers. In total, the Pokryshkin family had seven children: six boys and one girl. Since childhood, Sasha has been a smart guy. Sasha Pokryshkin's dream of the sky was born by the propaganda plane of the Society of Friends air fleet. It was a Junkers bought with donations from Siberians, which landed in a wasteland near a military camp. As a ten-year-old boy, the future ace first saw an airplane so close.
“I will do everything, but I will only become a pilot!”
After graduating from a seven-year school, Alexander begins working at a construction site, and then enters the FZU. His parents did not support him, and the boy left his father's shelter forever. A year later, the coveted ticket to aviation was received - he was going to Perm. But, having arrived to study, Pokryshkin finds out that he was enrolled in an aircraft mechanics course, since the aviation school was redeveloped from a flight educational institution into an aviation technical one.
Alexander Pokryshkin in 1940
In 1932 he enlisted in the Red Army as a volunteer. And here begins his journey as a pilot. Alexander writes a total of 44 reports to his superiors about being sent to flight training, but there was no answer. Then he asks for permission to be an observer pilot in the plane of Vsevolod Sevastyanov "R-1" (reconnaissance officer-1) and he is allowed. In fact, Sevastyanov becomes a teacher with Alexander Pokryshkin. Pokryshkin made his first solo flight at the Krasnodar flying club during his vacation. There, in 17 days, he masters the two-year program of the flying club and passes the exam as an external student with excellent marks. The head of the club said:
Pokryshkin is the first who was able to get a flight license in just three weeks
Then he enters the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School. In less than one year, he graduated from the famous Kacha and was assigned to the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment, located on the western border, near Balti (Moldova). It was there that A.I. Pokryshkin the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
The Great Patriotic War
The first flight took place on the first day of the war on June 22, 1941. Then Alexander Ivanovich was in the position of deputy squadron commander on the Southern Front. At the beginning of the war, he is attracted to carry out reconnaissance flights with instructions - "do not engage in battle." But Pokryshkin constantly gets involved in them, considering it shameful to return to the airfield with full ammunition. On June 26, 1941, Alexander won his first victory, shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter during reconnaissance.
After a while, our hero realizes that the battle tactics are very outdated and begins to take notes on this matter. He started a notebook, entitled "Fighter Tactics in Combat." These notes, clippings, diagrams became the beginning of his science of winning. (Notebook has been saved future wife Pokryshkin - by Maria Kuzminichnaya and transferred by her to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces). As a result of his painstaking creative work gradually developed that basic formula for air combat, which became known to all of our fighter aviation.Four elements were included in this formula: HEIGHT - SPEED - MANEUVER - FIRE. The merit of an outstanding pilot is that he was one of the first to manage to combine all the necessary constituent elements offensive air combat into a single whole. Later he said that, carefully studying Pokryshkin's theory, he applied it to life and improved it.
“In order to think in the air, one must prepare for it on the ground” - one of the rules of A.I. Pokryshkin
Pokryshkin was close to death several times. A machine-gun bullet went through his seat on the right side, damaged his shoulder strap, ricocheted off the left side, and scratched his chin, covering the dashboard in blood. Remembering the war, Alexander Ivanovich said:
"Those who did not fight in 1941-1942 do not know the real war"
The exploits of Pokryshkin
He became the first three times Hero of the Soviet Union in the country. And the only one - during the war. In total, during the war years, Pokryshkin made 650 sorties, conducted 156 air combat, shot down 59 enemy aircraft personally and 6 - in the group. Of his 65 official victories, only 6 were won in the last two years of the war.
In April 1943, A.I. Pokryshkin shot down 10 German aircraft. Then he received his first title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In most sorties, Pokryshkin took on the most difficult task - to shoot down the leader. As he understood from the experience of 1941-1942, knocking out the leader meant demoralizing the enemy and often forcing him to return to his airfield.
German pilots, losing their planes when meeting with our ace, soon began to warn each other about his appearance: “Attention! Pokryshkin is in the air!
During May 1943, he shot down 12 aircraft and 2 in June. Pokryshkin received the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on August 24, 1943. In the air battle in the Kuban, he personally shot down 22 enemy aircraft, many of his students became aces, and Pokryshkin gained all-Union fame. By the end of 1943, he completed 550 sorties, conducted 137 air battles, shot down 53 enemy aircraft.
On August 19, 1944, after 550 sorties and 53 official victories, Pokryshkin was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time. He became the first three times Hero of the Soviet Union in the country.
Pokryshkin created his own aces training system. He attached particular importance to military friendship and flying in squadrons. More than once he left a German plane already caught in sight for the sake of saving his pilot, who was in danger. Until the end of his days, he was most proud of the fact that through his fault not one of those whom he led into battle died ...
post-war period
After the war, Alexander Ivanovich became a student of the main faculty of the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze. And in 1948 he graduated with a gold medal. Pokryshkin passed and studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which he graduated in 1957, defended his thesis for the degree of candidate of military sciences, and became the author of many works and books. Almost a quarter of a century after the victory, Pokryshkin gave the air defense forces. From 1948 to 1969 Alexander Ivanovich served in the army air defense. He went from colonel to colonel-general, served as commander of the corps and air defense army, and deputy commander of the air defense forces. In 1972 he was awarded the rank of Air Marshal.
Hero's personal life
He met his wife, Maria Kuzminichna Korzhuk, during the war, when he visited a wounded friend in the medical unit. As Pokryshkin later recalled, it was love at first sight. He carried this love for Maria Kuzminichna through his whole life. The Pokryshkin family had two children: a son and a daughter.
After the war, Maria Kuzminichna became very ill and, according to the recollections of her son Alexander, said: “It is more difficult for a man to be alone than for a woman. And there will be no peace for me in the next world if you are unkempt. Just don't marry very young. She will need not you, but your position ... "" Well, how can I live without you? Father hugged mother. - What about our children? Yes, we will do anything, if only you get well ... Even if some magician returned my youth to me and lined up a hundred of the most beautiful beauties in front of me, and at the very end put you in a tunic and tarpaulin boots, which you were when we met, I would choose you ... ". Maria Pokryshkina until the end of her days believed that love had healed her.
In his life, Alexander Ivanovich with honor passed the test of "copper pipes" and fully sipped the bitterness of their reverse side - the envy of officials for glory folk hero.
Interesting facts from the life of Pokryshkin
- Secretly from his superiors, during his vacation, he masters the two-year program of the flying club in 17 days and passes the exam as an external student with excellent marks.
- Polkryshkin's first air battle ended in disaster: due to a misunderstanding, he shot down a Soviet aircraft of the 211th bomber regiment - a Su-2 light bomber, mistaking it for an enemy one. The chaos of that first day largely saved the future ace, and he escaped with only a very serious scolding from his superiors.
- Since 1942, Pokryshkin was in a very difficult relationship with the new regiment commander Isaev, who did not accept Pokryshkin's criticism of the outdated tactics of Soviet fighter aviation. A series of their conflicts led to the fact that Pokryshkin was removed from his post and expelled from the party, and from the skirmish that took place in the flight canteen with officers of a neighboring regiment, a case against Pokryshkin was fabricated, which was sent for consideration to a military tribunal in Baku. Only the intercession of the regimental commissar and higher commanders saved the combat pilot. The case was dismissed, and he himself was reinstated in the party and in office.
- In February 1944, he received a promotion and an offer to continue serving in the General Staff of the Red Army Air Force - to manage the training of new pilots. But the combat pilot rejected this offer and remained in his regiment.
- US President Franklin Roosevelt admiringly said of him: "Pokryshkin is undoubtedly the most outstanding pilot of the Second World War"
- The well-known pilot Konstantin Sukhov, who once served with Pokryshkin, once told how, being a Soviet military adviser on aviation in Syria during the Arab-Israeli war, he offered Syrian pilots to raid enemy positions using certain tactics, but they told him: no, we will not do this, Pokryshkin writes differently! And they showed him a beautifully designed book on Arabic. It turns out that the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Air Force used his own money to translate and publish a circulation of five thousand copies of Alexander Ivanovich’s book “The Sky of War”
Among the outstanding military leaders of our country is special place. Even during his lifetime, he became a national hero, like Suvorov, Kutuzov, Zhukov. Pokryshkin was the first in the line of heroes who glorified the Motherland to be awarded three Gold Stars. The brave ace pilot was known throughout the planet. For millions of compatriots, his name personifies selfless love for the Motherland, courage and fearlessness.
A.I. Pokryshkin was born on March 6, 1913 in the city of Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk) in the family of a bricklayer. Parents - Ksenia Stepanovna and Ivan Petrovich came from Vyatka and lived in the Zakamenskaya part of the city. There were seven children in the family: six sons and a daughter. Sasha was second. Since childhood, he showed amazing willpower, curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. He studied excellently, immediately went to the second grade, then passed the fourth (he proved that he had nothing to do in the fourth). Sasha Pokryshkin's dream of heaven was inspired by the propaganda plane of the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet. It was a Junkers bought with donations from Siberians, which landed in a wasteland near a military camp. As a ten-year-old boy, the future ace first saw an airplane so close. Having touched the duralumin wings, he discovered a dream for himself: only to fly, to be a pilot! And this dream became the goal of his whole life. From that moment on, all his activities were aimed at achieving his dream. For seven years he studied at a comprehensive school. To get into flight school, one had to have a working specialty, therefore, after graduating from the seventh grade, Sasha entered the FZU. His parents did not support him, and the boy left his father's shelter forever. A year later, the coveted ticket to aviation was received - he was going to Perm. But, having arrived to study, Pokryshkin finds out that he was enrolled in an aircraft mechanics course, since the aviation school was redeveloped from a flight educational institution into an aviation technical one.
At the beginning of 1935, military engineer of the 2nd rank Alexander Pokryshkin arrived at the aviation unit, located in Krasnodar. He immediately filed a report with a request to send him to training in the flying profession. But he was refused. He wrote them over and over again. A total of 44 such reports were written. But all of them remained unanswered. But in the military unit, the case helped Alexander Ivanovich to master the flying profession. Crew commander V.I. Sevastyanov obtained permission from his superiors to take Alexander to the district exercises on his P-1 (“Scout-1”) as an observer pilot. This is where it all started: Sasha learned to fly an airplane, and Sevastyanov was his first instructor.
Such cases of self-learning to fly in the 30s were not an isolated occurrence, so that time was permeated with the desire of young people to master the profession of a pilot. As for Pokryshkin, in 1938 he received permission from the People's Commissar of Defense Kliment Voroshilov to enter the Kachinskaya school as a student, and before that, being an air communications technician of the 74th Infantry Division, serving aircraft on the ground, Pokryshkin manages to engage in aviation in his free time. club OSOAVIAKHIM. And on October 6, 1938, Pokryshkin made his first solo flight on a Po-2 aircraft at the Krasnodar flying club during his vacation. In 17 days, he masters the two-year program of the flying club and passes the exam as an external student with excellent marks. The head of the club said that Pokryshkin was the first who could get a flight license in just three weeks. In the same year, he entered the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School. In less than one year, he graduated from the famous Kacha and was assigned to the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment, located on the western border, near Balti.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War caught A.I. Pokryshkin in Moldova. And already on June 23, 1941, he won his first victory in an air battle in the Yass region. Then he took part in battles on the Southern, North Caucasian, 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts, showing himself not only as an excellent fighter pilot, an outstanding master of air combat with high personal courage, but also as a talented commander-organizer , an educator and innovator who made a significant contribution to the development and improvement of fighter air combat tactics. Two months after the start of the war, the regiment flying the I-15, I-153 was re-equipped with MiGs. Pokryshkin took off one of the first. Pointed out a dangerous design defect, eliminated later in the series. On July 3, 1941, Alexander Ivanovich was shot down over the Prut by anti-aircraft artillery fire, but he managed to land the wrecked car on the forest edge. By that time, he had won 5 victories in the air on the MiG-3, conducted a dozen attack missions on the I-16 and deserved ... the unfavorability of the divisional commander, who saw obstinacy in his actions. While in the medical unit after a not entirely successful landing, he started a notebook, entitled "Fighter Tactics in Combat." These notes, clippings, diagrams became the beginning of his science of winning. (The notebook was kept by Pokryshkin's future wife, Maria Kuzminichnaya, and transferred by her to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces). In his first tactical sketches, Pokryshkin proposed to change the battle order of the link, to act as part of a pair and make up a group of pairs, since the third aircraft in the link, in his opinion, worsened the maneuver of the group. In the future, Alexander Ivanovich carefully studied the enemy’s equipment, did not miss a single opportunity to fly captured aircraft in order to find out their weaknesses and strengths. At the same time, he persistently searched for ways for the most effective use all the combat capabilities of their equipment and its improvement. As a result of his painstaking creative work, that basic formula for air combat was gradually worked out, which became known to all of our fighter aviation. Four elements were included in this formula: HEIGHT - SPEED - MANEUVER - FIRE. The merit of an outstanding pilot is that he was one of the first to manage to combine all the necessary components of offensive air combat into a single whole:
open battle formation;
Aimed attack from above high speed(falcon strike);
The idea of dispersing groups of fighters in height (the famous whatnot).
In his recommendations, Pokryshkin departed from some pre-war instructions. Upon returning to the unit, Pokryshkin is entrusted with the retraining of young people from the I-16 to the MiG-3. He, by order of the regimental commander, acquaints the replenishment with his tactical findings.
In June 1942, the 55th Fighter aviation regiment became a guards fighter regiment. Pokryshkin's squadron is being re-equipped with the Yak-1. In early April 1942, the regiment where Pokryshkin served flew to a field airfield on the outskirts of Krasnodon. It happened in Krasnodon significant event in the life of Pokryshkin - he was accepted into the ranks Communist Party. In the summer of 1942, the squadron was ordered to hand over the planes to the Dzusov regiment and leave for Baku for retraining and to receive new materiel. The unit where Pokryshkin served was placed in the town of a reserve air regiment in Baku. Plans for the imminent receipt of aircraft and return to the front collapsed - it was to be expected military equipment. This forced and prolonged separation from the hostilities turned into a full of drama and difficult experiences in the fate of Pokryshkin. While the commissar of the unit was being treated, the leaders of the regiment, using their authority, decided to recall old disputes and actually settle scores. They withdrew the submission to Pokryshkin on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and took other measures - they opened a case on charges of violating instructions and instructions for the actions of fighters. Pokryshkin fell into disgrace, he was expelled from the party members and removed from office. But soon everything was resolved safely. The division commander, having learned that Pokryshkin was under investigation, took urgent measures for his rehabilitation. At the party meeting of the regiment, Pokryshkin was acquitted. During the period of disgrace, Alexander Ivanovich was supported by the love of a young nurse, Masha, whom he met in the summer of 1942 and who later became his wife. In March 1943, Pokryshkin, along with his comrades, was transferred to a reserve regiment based west of Baku. The P-39 "AIRCOBRA" fighters, received under lend-lease through Iran, were supposed to be re-equipped on the Americans. Per short term the pilots studied the materiel and started flying. For Pokryshkin, who flew such strict aircraft as the I-6 and MiG-3, retraining for the AIRCOBRA did not cause any difficulties.
A new stage in the combat activities of the regiment began - the largest and fiercest battle in the entire world war in the skies over the Kuban in the spring of 1943. In terms of the concentration of aircraft and the density of air battles, the Battle of Kuban was the most intense of the entire war: over 800 German aircraft were shot down here in two months. It was here that Pokryshkin's remarkable abilities as a fighter pilot manifested themselves. German pilots, losing their planes when meeting with our ace, soon began to warn each other about his appearance: “Attention! Pokryshkin is in the air! The Kuban epic became stellar for Pokryshkin. After the air battles in the Kuban, the name of Pokryshkin became widely known. Newspapers and magazines wrote about him, talked on the radio as an innovative pilot, researcher and reformer of air combat tactics. US President Franklin Roosevelt admiringly said of him: "Pokryshkin is undoubtedly the most outstanding pilot of the Second World War." After these words, American President Pokryshkin was awarded the American Medal for Military Merit. Captain Pokryshkin made 354 sorties. Spent 54 air battles, shot down 13 enemy aircraft personally and 6 in a group with comrades. On May 24, 1943, for courage and military prowess shown in battles with enemies, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And on August 24 (3 months later) for 455 sorties and 30 enemy aircraft personally shot down by July 1943, the squadron commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Guard, Major Pokryshkin, was awarded the second Gold Star medal. A year later, on August 19, 1944, for 550 sorties and participation by May 1944 in 137 air battles, in which he personally shot down 53 enemy aircraft, the acting commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Guard, Lieutenant Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin was the first in the country to be awarded the third Gold Star medal. This news found him at the regimental airfield. A man of exceptional courage, great intelligence, and solid character, Pokryshkin became a real thunderstorm for fascist vultures during the Great Patriotic War. Having first entered into battle with him in June 1941 in Moldova, he ended the war in Berlin. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, he rose from the commander of an aviation squadron to the commander of a fighter aviation division, made more than 600 sorties, conducted 157 air battles, and personally shot down 116 enemy aircraft. He won his victories over the fascist pilots thanks to his courage and courage, the first-class skill of a military fighter pilot. During the period of hostilities A.I. Pokryshkin introduced many tactics into the art of war, into the tactics of air combat, and into the development of advanced methods of combat in the air. “In order to think in the air, one must prepare for it on the ground” - one of the rules of A.I. Pokryshkin. “A feat requires not only courage, but also thought,” said the famous ace. Alexander Ivanovich participant Berlin operation. In February 1945, having no normal airfields for basing the division, Pokryshkin decides to use part of the Breslau-Berlin highway. This was the only case in the history of world aviation, when an entire fighter air division successfully operated from a section of an ordinary highway for a month and a half, without having a single accident. AT last years war, being the commander of an air division, Alexander Ivanovich fruitfully introduced new fighter aviation equipment. Before last days participated in combat missions during the war. His catchphrase"ALTITUDE - SPEED - MANEUVER - FIRE" has become a well-known tactic.
Pokryshkin's post-war life began with the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, where the famous ace was honored to be the standard bearer of the combined regiment of the 1st Ukrainian Front. July 31, 1945 A.I. Pokryshkin became a student of the main faculty of the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze. And in 1948 he graduated with a gold medal. Pokryshkin passed and studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which he graduated in 1957, defended his thesis for the degree of candidate of military sciences, and became the author of many works and books. Almost a quarter of a century after the victory, Pokryshkin gave the air defense forces. From 1948 to 1969 Alexander Ivanovich served in the Air Defense Forces. He went from colonel to colonel-general, served as commander of the corps and air defense army, and deputy commander of the air defense forces. In 1972 he was awarded the rank of Air Marshal. Marshal's stars were presented to him by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N.V. Podgorny. For 10 years (from 1972 to 1981) he was the chairman of the Central Committee of the DOSAAF of the USSR and did a lot to strengthen the prestige military service. Under his leadership, the planned training of specialists for the Armed Forces was effectively improved. The fleet of aircraft and helicopters was replenished, the airfield network was developed. The creation of two aviation schools in the DOSAAF system made it possible to solve many problems of aviation clubs. Alexander Ivanovich knew how to appreciate people, their initiative, their work. He devoted a lot of time and attention to military-patriotic work with youth. Conducting such a hectic activity from 1945 to 1963, Pokryshkin continued to fly on all types of jet aircraft that were available in the fighter Soviet aviation. Flying in simple and difficult conditions, day and night, on aircraft such as MiG, Yak, Su. At the same time, he was both an active social and statesman. From 1946 to 1984, he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of several convocations, participated in the commission on foreign affairs, led delegations on foreign trips. His apartment was always full of friends, fellow soldiers, voters who came on deputy business. However, the main place in his life was always occupied by the family. He met his wife, Maria Kuzminichna Korzhuk, during the war, when he visited a wounded friend in the medical unit. As Pokryshkin later recalled, it was love at first sight. He carried this love for Maria Kuzminichna through his whole life. In his life, Alexander Ivanovich with honor passed the test of "copper pipes" and fully drank the bitterness of their reverse side - the envy of officials for the glory of the people's Hero. Here and air defense instead of the Air Force, and general stars delayed for 10 years, and a continuous series of business trips "at Batitsky". He was the "Honored Military Pilot of France", but never became the "Honored Military Pilot of the USSR". In 1983 A.I. Pokryshkin was appointed to the group of general inspectors under the Ministry of Defense. On duty A.I. Pokryshkin came to military units, met with military personnel, shared his combat experience with them. During these years, A.I. Pokryshkin began to get sick often and was increasingly in the hospital ward. One day he called the Central Committee and asked for his resignation. They objected, persuaded, offered options, but he left his last position himself.
November 13, 1985 A.I. Pokryshkin was gone. A national hero has passed away. He is buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
A.I. Pokryshkin was awarded 6 Orders of Lenin, the Order October revolution, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, 2 Orders of Suvorov 2nd class, Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, 2 Orders of the Red Star, Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd class, foreign orders and medals. Foreign states awarded the Soviet pilot with 9 government awards. A bronze bust was erected in the homeland of the Hero on November 6, 1949. Alexander Ivanovich personally attended the opening of the bust in his native Novosibirsk. And on November 15, 1968, at a solemn meeting, he was awarded a diploma of an Honorary Citizen of the city of Novosibirsk, where one of the streets bears his name. May 8, 2005 on the square. K. Marx took place Grand opening monument to Pokryshkin by the Moscow sculptor Pereyaslavets Mikhail Vladimirovich. In one of the private aviation museums in France there is his front-line "AEROKOBRA", in Bulgaria - the personalized Yak-3, presented to him by fellow Novosibirsk citizens, in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Chisinau there is a MiG-17, on which Pokryshkin flew already in the post-war period. He is the author of the books: Fighter Wings, Sky of War, Knowing Yourself in Combat, Fighter Aviation Tactics, Combat Requires Thought, Your Honorable Duty, etc. His name is immortalized: in a personal exhibition of the Museum of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, in the installation of a monument to him in Novosibirsk, in the installation of busts in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Kaliningrad, in the names of streets, avenues, metro stations, in the name of a fighter regiment, an ocean liner, a small planet, in the name of a variety of flowers, in museums created, in memorial plaques, in books written about him, poems, in the creation of films.
The selection was led by the head of the Museum of Aviation named after the Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkina NRO DOSAAF of Russia Vlasenko Lyudmila Aleksandrovna
Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin. 1945
Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich (1913, Novonikolaevsk - 1985, Moscow) - owl. military pilot. Genus. in a working family. In 1932 he was drafted into the army. He graduated from the Perm Aviation School of Aviation Technicians (1933) and the Kachinskaya Aviation School of Pilots (1939). During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945 he fought in fighter aviation, having passed the path of the commander of a squadron, regiment, division. He made more than 600 sorties, conducted 156 air battles, shot down 59 enemy aircraft and was the first in the country to be awarded the title of Hero of the Owls three times. Union (twice in 1943, 1944). Graduated in 1948 military academy them. M. V. Frunze, in 1957 - the Military Academy of the General Staff. occupied leadership positions in the air defense forces. In 1972, with the rank of air marshal, he became chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee, doing this work until 1981. Author of military memoirs "Fighter Wings", "Sky of War", etc. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Used materials of the book: Shikman A.P. Figures national history. Biographical guide. Moscow, 1997
Major A.I. Pokryshkin.
End of May 1943.
POKRYSHKIN Alexander Ivanovich (February 21, 1913, Novosibirsk - 1985), pilot, air marshal (1972), three times Hero of the Soviet Union (May 24, 1943, August 28, 1943, August 19, 1944). The worker's son. Educated at the school of aircraft technicians (1933), the Kachin Pilot School (1939), the Frunze Military Academy (1948), the Military Academy of the General Staff (1957). From 1932 - in the Red Army. During the Great Patriotic War, Deputy commander and squadron commander, assistant commander and commander of the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment. In 1942 he joined the CPSU(b). From May 1944 commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. He made over 600 sorties, conducted 156 air battles and shot down 59 enemy aircraft. In 1946-84 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1968-71 deputy. Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces, in 1972-81 before. Central Committee DOSAAF. Since 1976, a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In 1979-84 he was a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. since 1981 - in the Group of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Author of the memoirs Fighter Wings (1948) and War Sky (1980).
Used materials from the book: Zalessky K.A. Empire of Stalin. Biographical encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow, Veche, 2000
FZU school student Alexander Pokryshkin.
With wife Maria. 1942
Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich (1913-1985). Soviet military leader, Air Marshal (1972), three times Hero of the Soviet Union (May 1943; August 1943, 1944). Born in Novosibirsk. In the Red Army since 1932. He graduated from the Perm Aviation School of Aviation Technicians (1933), the Kachin Aviation School of Pilots (1939), the Military Academy. M.V. Frunze (1948), Military Academy of the General Staff (1957). Member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks since 1942. During the Great Patriotic War, he participated in battles on the Southern, North Caucasian, 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts: deputy commander and squadron commander, assistant commander and commander of a fighter regiment , from May 1944 he commanded a fighter air division. He proved to be an innovator and organizer in the development of air combat tactics: he developed and implemented many tactics that were successfully used in other aviation units. He especially distinguished himself in the battle for the Caucasus, in air battles in the Kuban, in the battle for the Dnieper (1943), in battles over the Prut, Jassy, in the Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder and Berlin operations.
In December 1941
After the war - in responsible positions in the air defense forces. In 1968-1971. - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country. Since 1972 - Chairman of the Central Committee of the USSR DOSAAF. Since 1981 - in the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1976-1985. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1946-1984, member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1979-1984. Streets in many cities of Russia are named after Pokryshkin.
A.I. Pokryshkin, G.K. Zhukov and I.N. Kozhedub.
For valor and courage shown in the performance of combat missions, Pokryshkin was the first in the country to be awarded three Gold Star medals. Thirty pilots, whom he commanded, trained and educated, became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and three were awarded this title twice.
According to official data, Pokryshkin made over 600 sorties, conducted 156 air battles, shot down 59 enemy aircraft. In the words of the hero himself: “Recorded sorties ... about seven hundred. There were more than one hundred and fifty air battles ... From memory - I shot down ninety cars. Officially - fifty-nine, and the rest went to the expense of the war ”(Chuev F. Soldiers of the Empire. M., 1998. P. 376).
Fighting friends congratulate A.I. Pokryshkin (first from right) on the award
the third medal "Gold Star". 1st Ukrainian Front, August 1944
Pokryshkin claims: “I was raised by Stalin and I believe that if during the war we were led weak people we would have lost the war." The Americans, on the other hand, did not miss the opportunity to emphasize that the Soviet pilot flew their Airacobra R-59 car. It is also known that President Roosevelt awarded Pokryshkin the Gold Medal of the US Congress and called him the best pilot in the world (Ibid., p. 374).
As you know, Stalin paid special attention to the development of aviation in the country. During the years of the "Stalinist five-year plans", experimental design bureaus were created, aircraft factories were built, flight schools and colleges were opened. There were massive campaigns to join the flying clubs. The 1930s is the golden era of Soviet aviation records. Pilots who broke world records became national heroes. Photos of famous pilots did not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines. Everyone heard the names of M. Gromov, 1) V. Chkalova, G. Baidukov, A. Belyakova, 2) M. Vodopyanova, 3) V. Kokkinaki, S. Levanevsky 4) etc. On the day of the 21st anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution(1938) 360 aircraft took part in the air parade in Moscow, in Leningrad - 220, in Kyiv - 200, in Minsk - 155, in Rostov-on-Don - 100, in Tbilisi - 111, in Odessa - 50, in Khabarovsk - 155, in Voroshilovsk ( Far East) - 315 aircraft (Pravda. 1938. November 11). They composed poems and songs about the pilots, created works of art. They were called "Stalin's falcons".
What happened during the Great Patriotic War? Why did Stalin's aviation turn out to be the most vulnerable and ineffective of all the military branches? Why did the German pilots actually dominate the air until the middle of 1943, and why were they not very afraid of retribution from the Soviet Air Force?
Aviation in the Red Army suffered huge losses on the first day of the war. Mostly at airports. But 400 aircraft were shot down in the air. During the first six months of the war we lost 6,400 aircraft. Many losses, despite the mass heroism of the pilots, were not only in 1941. Here are some comparative data that have long been known in the West, but which have appeared in our publications only in recent years.
The best Soviet ace - Colonel-General of Aviation, three times Hero of the Soviet Union I.N. Kozhedub (b. 1920) - made 330 sorties, conducted 120 air battles, shot down 62 enemy aircraft (at the front - from March 1943).
The best German ace - Eric Hartman (b. 1922) - made 1404 sorties, conducted 825 air battles, shot down 352 aircraft (on the Eastern Front - from August 1942).
During the war, 25 Soviet aces each shot down 30 or more enemy aircraft (together they destroyed 962 German aircraft).
34 German aces had 150 or more downed enemy aircraft on their personal combat account ( total number cars shot down by them - 6582). “104 Luftwaffe pilots shot down 100 or more aircraft. 300 German pilots shot down 24 thousand Soviet aircraft ”(Quoted from: Sulyanov A.K. Arrest in the Kremlin. M., 1991. P. 225). In the statistical study “Secrecy stamp removed. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, hostilities and military conflicts ”(M., 1993) states that during the Great Patriotic War we lost 88.3 thousand combat aircraft, of which 43.1 thousand aircraft died in battle (p. 366 ). It turns out that 300 German pilots shot down more than half of the Soviet aircraft. It is claimed that these figures impressed Stalin so much that he ordered Abakumov to immediately arrest the Minister of Aviation Industry and the Air Force Command (Sulianov A.K. Arrest in the Kremlin. M., 1991. P. 227).
“Not afraid to lose the modest reserves of my class instinct,” writes Colonel S. Gribanov, “I will quote the words of the Luftwaffe ace Johann Shteingof: “The chiefs of the Russian pilots did not prepare them well. Probably, they instilled in their pilots disdain for the enemy. And we shot them down like geese .. ." (Gribanov S. Hostages of time. M., 1992. S. 214; 206-228).
“The Germans had much higher training,” confirms the Soviet ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.I. Popkov. - Armament is more powerful. In addition, these pilots were engaged in free hunting and did not accompany, like us, bombers and attack aircraft ”(Quoted from: Chuev F. Soldiers of the Empire. M., 1998. P. 216).
Sulyanov adds: “Our pilots, after graduating from aviation schools, had a relatively small flight time due to a lack of aircraft, engines, gasoline, and ammunition. Many graduate cadets had ten to twelve hours of flight time on a combat aircraft and arrived at the front ill-prepared, often becoming prey. German aces on the first flights. Before the war, the main type of I-16 fighters was inferior to the Me-109 both in speed and in armament - the "messers" had cannons, and our "donkeys" had only machine guns, and even 7.62 caliber. Are the 20-millimeter shell of the Oerlikon cannon and the bullet of our ShKAS machine gun comparable? (Sulianov A. Arrest in the Kremlin. M., 1991. P. 225).
“It should be said that the Germans were very meticulous in statistics and very conservative in the calculation methodology ... The system of rewarding pilots by points was used only on the Western Front, since the Luftwaffe command believed that it was easier to shoot down Russian aircraft on Eastern Front than to fight Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Mosquitos in the West...” (Military Pilots: Aces of the Second World War / Compiled by N. Kryukov. Minsk, 1997. P. 312).
“Fifty years after the end of the Second World War, we must still pay tribute to the German pilots. Attempts to belittle their exploits as pilots by sticking labels "fascists" are not useful from the point of view of historical truth. The vast majority of German pilots, as it can now be argued, considered flights and airplanes to be their first love, and politics and patriotism were in their second place ”(Mitcham SV., Muller J. Commanders of the Third Reich. Smolensk, 1995; Toliver R.F. ., Constable T. J. Erich Hartman - the blond knight of the Reich. Yekaterinburg, 1998; Timokhovich I. V. Causes doubt ... // Military History Journal. 1990. No. 9).
IN AND. Pereyaslavets. A. Pokryshkin. 2005
Notes
1 M.M. Gromov (b. 1899) - Colonel-General of Aviation. Hero of the Soviet Union (1934). In 1934 he set a world flight distance record (over 12 thousand km); in 1937 he made a non-stop flight Moscow-North Pole-USA.
2 A.V. Belyakov (1897-1982) - lieutenant general of aviation (1943). Hero of the Soviet Union (1936). A participant in ultra-long flights as part of the crew of V.P. Chkalov.
3 M.V. Vodopyanov (1899-1980) - Major General of Aviation (1943). Hero of the Soviet Union (1934). Participant in the rescue of the crew of the steamer "Chelyuskin" (1934).
4 S.A. Levanevsky (1902-1937) - Hero of the Soviet Union (1934). Participant in the rescue of the crew of the steamer "Chelyuskin" (1934). Carried out an ultra-long flight Los Angeles-Moscow (1936). Killed while flying over the North Pole.
Materials of the book were used: Torchinov V.A., Leontyuk A.M. around Stalin. Historical and biographical reference book. St. Petersburg, 2000
Colonel-General A.I. Pokryshkin shares his experience in air combat tactics.
Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin
Literature:
Pokryshkina M.K. A life given to heaven. Novosibirsk, 1991.
Loading...
