Efimov Alexander Nikolaevich

Efimov A.N.
Born on February 6, 1923 in the village of Kantemirovka, now a village in the Voronezh Region, in the family of a railway worker. In 1940 he graduated from school number 2 in the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region. Since 1941, in the ranks of the Red Army, in 1942 he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation Pilot School.

In August 1942, with the rank of sergeant, he was assigned to the 198th ShAP, which operated on the Western Front. As an attack pilot, he participated in battles near Vyazma, Rzhev, Bryansk, Smolensk, in Belarus, Poland, and Germany. He was a flight commander, a squadron, an air regiment navigator.

By July 1944, the squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation Volkovysk regiment (233rd assault aviation division, 4th Air Army, 2nd Belorussian Front), senior lieutenant A.N. Efimov, made 100 successful sorties for reconnaissance and ground attack troops , airfields, crossings and railway echelons of the enemy.

On October 26, 1944, for courage and military prowess shown in battles with enemies, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

By April 10, 1945, the navigator of the 62nd Assault Aviation Grodno Order of the Suvorov Regiment (233rd Assault Aviation Yartsevskaya Red Banner Division), Captain A.N. Efimov, made 200 successful sorties. In total, he personally destroyed 28 enemy aircraft at airfields, 9 railway echelons, 65 guns, 47 tanks, up to 2000 Nazis. After 58 air battles, he shot down 7 enemy aircraft (1 personally and 6 as part of a group).

On August 18, 1945 he was awarded the second Gold Star medal.

In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy, and in 1957 from the Military Academy of the General Staff. Served in command positions in the Air Force. Since 1969 he was the first deputy commander-in-chief, since 1984 – the commander-in-chief of the Air Force – deputy minister of defense of the USSR. Honored military pilot. Since 1975 Air Marshal. Candidate of military sciences. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 2, 9 – 11 convocations. Lived and worked in Moscow. Author of books: “Over the battlefield”, “Soviet Air Force”.

Awarded with orders: Lenin (three times), Red Banner (five), Alexander Nevsky, Patriotic War 1st degree (twice), Red Star, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 3rd degree; medals, foreign orders. A bust was erected in the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region.

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In the square on the central street of the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region, surrounded by tall chestnut trees and silver fir trees, there is a bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, now Marshal of Aviation – Alexander Nikolayevich Efimov. During the first 100 sorties, he destroyed 12 enemy aircraft, 25 tanks, and many other equipment. He made his last, 222nd sortie, on May 8, 1945. For special merits in the development of aviation technology, high performance in the education and training of flight personnel and many years of flight work in the aviation of the Armed Forces of the USSR, he was awarded the honorary title “Honored Military Pilot of the USSR”.

The life path of Alexander Nikolayevich Efimov did not turn out the way his father, a hereditary railway worker, wanted. For decades, until the end of his days, Nikolai Gerasimovich worked as the head of the track distance. Naturally, he believed that his son would follow in his footsteps. But no. The son chose a different path – heaven. His passion for aviation was born in his school days, in the mid-1930s. And who did not dream then to become a pilot? Yes, almost all young people.

Sasha attended a school aviation club, where the boys made the simplest flying models with rubber motors. In Millerovo, under Osoviahim, a glider school operated, which had several US-4 gliders. It was attended by high school students. The children enthusiastically mastered the theory and looked forward to independent flights. Finally they took place. That day, August 18, 1938, Alexander Nikolayevich will never forget. He took to the air for the first time. Albeit at a small height, but rose, soared above the ground. The feeling is beyond words!

So Alexander laid, without exaggeration, the beginning of a new dynasty – the dynasty of the Efimov aviators. After all, not only his children, but also his grandson, Alexander, devoted his life to aviation.

Immediately after graduating from high school in 1940, Sasha entered the Voroshilovgrad flying club, and in May 1941, the Voroshilovgrad military aviation pilot school, which he graduated in July 1942 and immediately went to the front. He was assigned to the 198th Assault Aviation Regiment of the 233rd Assault Aviation Division.

Alexander, as they say, was lucky: he was assigned to the 2nd squadron of Captain V.A. Malinkin, who was rightfully considered one of the best commanders. Even before the war, Viktor Malinkin was an instructor at the flying club, then he flew fighter jets, then retrained as an attack pilot. Under his leadership, the formation of the pilot Efimov began. And very successfully: he quickly got into combat formation.

Like all front-line soldiers, Alexander Nikolaevich remembers his first flight on a combat mission. Stormtroopers then attacked the Osuga railway station in the Kalinin region.