TWICE HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION FIGHTER PILOT A.E.BOROVYKH

In the battles for Kursk, I was a squadron commander and I must say that all the pilots of the unit fought courageously, staunchly and selflessly. Of course, I was pleased that each subordinate devoted himself entirely to the creativity of the battle, but it was doubly pleased that we fought for the liberation of my hometown.

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Yes, I was born in Kursk. Here I spent my childhood. Here I fell in love once and for all with aviation. On a ticket from the Komsomol, he entered the flying club, successfully graduated from it. In the Kursk sky for the first time I took off on a training sports plane, not suspecting that relatively soon I would have to defend Kursk on a combat Yak-7B. The flying club of Osoaviakhim gave a ticket to the military aviation school, where teachers and instructors formed in us the qualities necessary for combat, for victory.

And here is the Kursk sky of fire in the summer of 1943, continuous sorties. Often they landed only to refuel and refuel. During the air battles near Kursk, I managed to destroy 8 enemy aircraft. But in one of the battles, I was shot down myself, slightly wounded and saved only thanks to a parachute.

By June 1943, the flight commander of the 157th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Junior Lieutenant A.E. Borovykh, had personally shot down 12 enemy aircraft and 14 in the group. At the end of August, he became a squadron commander, Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the Battle of Kursk, his regiment fought in the sky over Glukhov, Novgorod – Seversky, Nizhin, Chernigov, cities of Belarus and Poland.

In the fall of 1944, the regiment was re-equipped with the Yak-3, a fighter that outperformed most contemporary German types. On this machine, Borovykh participated in the Belarusian operation, in the liberation of Poland, in the battles in the Berlin direction. This fighter has not received a single hole.

In the battles for the liberation of Poland, he shot down 10 enemy aircraft and was awarded the Polish Order.

By December 1944, Captain A.E. Borovoykh shot down another 19 enemy aircraft and on February 23, 1945 was awarded the second Gold Star medal.

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In total, during the war years, Andrei Yegorovich Borovoy made about 600 sorties, conducted about 150 air battles, shot down 32 personally and as part of a group of 14 enemy aircraft. His combat path ran through Rzhev and Toropets, Oryol and Kursk, Gomel and Brest, Lvov and Warsaw, ending near Berlin. He flew to intercept enemy aircraft, escorted bombers behind enemy lines, and conducted aerial reconnaissance.

After the war, on the 23rd reception, among 20 twice Heroes, the so-called “golden horde”, Captain A.E. Borovoyh was enrolled in the Air Force Academy. After graduation, he commanded a regiment, a division. Mastered many types of combat jet aircraft. In 1957 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. In 1958 – 1977 he was in command positions in the Moscow Air Defense District, the Far Eastern Military District, and the Kiev Military District. Since 1968, Colonel General of Aviation A.E. Borovoykh was appointed commander of the air defense aviation of the country. Since 1977 he worked at the Institute of Military History.

He tragically died on November 7, 1989. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

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In the exposition hall of the Kursk Regional Museum of Local Lore, dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, there is a bust of Andrei Borovyh, his tunic, decorated with the Hero’s Golden Stars and order bars, a photograph, and in the museum’s funds – a headset, a deputy ticket in his name, a Diploma of an Honorary Citizen of the City Kursk, leaflet of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, numerous photographs of the war years, his personal belongings.

Fight a pair of fighters with superior enemy forces.
I started my combat activity as a fighter pilot as a wingman, and then gradually began to lead groups of fighters to perform all types of combat work of fighter aviation.

Remembering my combat path, I come to the conclusion that the free actions of a pair or a link can inflict tangible damage on the enemy. In support of what has been said, I will describe one air battle that I carried out in pairs against 10 enemy fighters in October 1944.

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Our troops reached the line of the Vistula River and occupied a bridgehead on its right bank. The Germans several times tried to throw our troops from their positions, for which they threw not only large forces of ground troops, but also aircraft.

Our regiment received the task of being on alert as a reserve of the Commander of the 16th Air Army to strengthen and build up air combat and repel attacks by small groups of enemy aircraft on call. Communication was direct – telephone and radio, as well as communication with the Redoubt installation, which notified us. We were armed with Yak-3 aircraft.

Throughout the day of October 21, our bomber and attack aircraft, under the cover of fighter aviation, carried out intense combat work.

Enemy fighters in small groups counteracted our aviation.