Finland pilot
Ground attack legend
There are no safe jobs in war. Everyone risks. But, in my opinion, there is nothing more terrible than the combat work of an attack pilot. Everything shoots at the attack aircraft. Starting from infantry rifles, ending with anti-aircraft artillery. An attack aircraft is a desirable prey for an enemy fighter. Almost all battles take place over enemy territory. But attack aircraft were not taken prisoner. The attack aircraft is the object of well-deserved hatred of the enemy. More than attack aircraft, they only hate snipers. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Double, Triple and Quadruple Heroes
The concept of “twice, thrice, four times Hero” today seems somewhat strange, probably it would be more correct to talk about awarding several Gold Star medals. But this is a fact of our history, and it cannot be bypassed.
For the first time, three pilots became Heroes twice for the feats of arms shown in battles with the Japanese interventionists on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939: Major Sergei Ivanovich Gritsevets and Colonel Grigory Panteleevich Kravchenko (Decree of August 29), as well as commander Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich (Decree dated 17 November). The fate of all three was tragic. Continue reading
