We are from the Soviet Union
Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, a famous fighter pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the third of the Soviet aces in terms of the number of personally shot down aircraft during…

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Meeting with Zhukov. “We shoot few scoundrels!”
Meeting with Zhukov. “We shoot few scoundrels!” It was with Stalingrad and Marshal Zhukov that one of the most unpleasant and humiliating memories of the pilot Popkov about the war…

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Koldunov Alexander Ivanovich
From February 1941 in the ranks of the Red Army. In March 1943 he graduated from the Kachinsky military aviation school of pilots. From March to May 1943 he was…

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Member of the Great Patriotic War
Born May 1, 1922 in Moscow in a working class family. My father worked in a special purpose garage at the Council of People's Commissars. When he was transferred to…

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Alexander Pokryshkin

Three times Hero of the Soviet Union, who personally shot down 59 enemy aircraft and six aircraft in a group. He flew the MiG-3, Yak-1, P-39, Aerocobra.

The genius of flying received a baptism of fire in the first days of the war. Then he was the deputy squadron commander of the 55th air regiment. There was a misunderstanding: on June 22, 1941, Pokryshkin shot down a Soviet Su-2 short-range bomber. The plane landed on the fuselage in a field, the pilot survived, but the navigator died. Pokryshkin later admitted that he simply did not recognize the plane: “Dry” appeared in military units right before the war.

But the very next day, the pilot distinguished himself: during a reconnaissance flight, he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter. This was Pokryshkin’s first combat victory. And on July 3, he was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery over the Prut. By that time, the pilot had won at least five victories.

While in the hospital, Pokryshkin began to take notes in a notebook, which he entitled “Fighter tactics in battle.” It was in it that his science of winning was described. Many of Pokryshkin’s combat and reconnaissance sorties were unique. So, in November 1941, in conditions of limited visibility (the edge of the clouds dropped to 30 meters), he obtained information about tank divisions in the Rostov region. On the eve of the 1942 offensive, the pilot was awarded the Order of Lenin. Then he had already been shot down twice and had 190 sorties.

In the air battle in the Kuban in the spring of 1943, Pokryshkin for the first time widely used the Kuban bookcase battle formation, which was later distributed to all fighter air units. The pilot had many original tactics to win the battle. For example, he came up with a way out from under the blow of the enemy on a downward “barrel” turn, with a loss of speed. The enemy was then on target.

By the end of the war, Pokryshkin was the most famous pilot on the fronts. Then the phrase was spread: “Akhtung! Akhtung! Pokryshkin is in the air!”. The Germans actually warned the pilots about the flights of the Russian ace, warning them to be careful, to gain altitude so as not to risk it. Until the end of the war, the famous pilot was the only hero of the Soviet Union three times: he was awarded the third Golden Star on August 19, 1944, after 550 sorties and 53 official victories. Georgy Zhukov became a hero three times on June 1, and Ivan Kozhedub on August 18, 1945.

By the end of the war, Pokryshkin made more than 650 sorties and took part in 156 air battles. According to unofficial data, the ace had more victories – up to a hundred.

Better than Kozhedub, cooler than Hartman
Better than Kozhedub, cooler than Hartman The names of the Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin are known to everyone who is at least…

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Stepped into immortality: little-known heroes of the Great Patriotic War
During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the highest Soviet award - the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union - was awarded to 11,657 soldiers and…

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