Since the spring of 1943, the words “Attention, attention, Pokryshkin is in the sky!”, heard from German warning posts, meant the urgent need to increase caution, get out of protracted air battles, “hunters” to gain altitude, young and inexperienced pilots to return to airfields.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that these words are one of the brightest signs of recognition of the flying skill and courage of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, a Soviet ace pilot, one of the most successful fighter pilots among the pilots of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin - the first three times Hero Soviet Union, holder of six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov II degree, the Order Patriotic War 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Star, Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR.” In addition, Pokryshkin was awarded medals “For Military Merit”, “For Defense of the Caucasus”, “For Victory over Germany”, “For the Liberation of Prague”, “For the Capture of Berlin” and many others. Pokryshkin was awarded orders and medals from the USA, the GDR, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia and other countries.
During the Great Patriotic War, Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin made 650 sorties, conducted 156 air battles, shot down 59 enemy aircraft personally and 6 in a group. Sometimes, however, they name a different number of planes shot down by Pokryshkin; some authors reduce their number, while others, on the contrary, increase it somewhat. At present, it is not possible to give the exact number of planes shot down by Pokryshkin for a number of reasons. First of all, because not all downed planes in the chaos of the war were properly documented; in addition, Pokryshkin sometimes “gifted” downed planes to his wingmen. But, be that as it may, Pokryshkin remains one of the greatest fighter pilots.
It all started before the war. Alexander Pokryshkin was born in 1913 in Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk), into a working-class family. He was passionate about aviation since childhood. After graduating from school, Alexander worked in construction for some time, and in 1932 he went to serve in the army. In 1933, Pokryshkin graduated from the Perm Aviation School, then attended advanced courses technical staff Red Army Air Force named after K. E. Voroshilov at the 1st military school aircraft technicians in Leningrad, and in the Krasnodar flying club. In November 1938, he was sent to study at the Kachin Red Banner Military Aviation School, which he graduated with honors in November 1939. With the rank of lieutenant, A.I. Pokryshkin was assigned to the position of junior pilot in the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was part of the Air Force of the Odessa Military District. In 1940, the regiment was redeployed to Moldova, the city of Balti.
Pokryshkin went through the entire war, from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945, participated in defensive operations in Molavia, in the Donbass, in the Rostov region, in air battles in the Kuban, in the Crimea, fought as part of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, participated in the liberation of Czechoslovakia, and took Berlin. In addition, in 1943, as part of the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment, he flew to Iran to entrust new equipment supplied under Lend-Lease, and tested American aircraft and new domestic types of fighters, starting with the Yak-1, in combat conditions.
However, this brilliant military career could have ended before it began. And that's why. Alexander Pokryshkin shot down his first plane on June 22, 1941. It was... a Soviet aircraft of the 211th Bomber Regiment - a light bomber SU-2. This disaster happened due to a pure misunderstanding. The fact is that such bombers appeared in our units just before the war and their appearance was unfamiliar to fighters. Pokryshkin, through a misunderstanding, mistook the SU-2 for an enemy aircraft. The future ace was saved by the chaos of the first day of the war and got off with a scolding. In addition, the pilot of our bomber survived the fall.
There was one more moment that could have cost Pokryshkin not only his career, but his freedom and, possibly, his life.
This was in 1942. Pokryshkin was already known as an excellent pilot and commanded a squadron. He had a serious conflict with the regiment commander N.V. Isaev. Pokryshkin was not just a brilliant pilot, he was an innovator and theorist air combat. He considered the tactics that had developed by this time to be outdated and worked a lot on more advanced and modern approaches. According to the recollections of his colleagues, he “drew diagrams, made calculations, applied formulas, the laws of aerodynamics of subsonic speeds. His famous album of standard attacks was widely known to the pilots. His dugout was called the “air academy.” Isaev criticizes outdated tactics Soviet aviation didn't accept. A series of conflicts led to Pokryshkin being expelled from the party and removed from office. Moreover, once there was a skirmish in the officers' mess, on the basis of which an entire case against Pokryshkin was fabricated. It was sent for consideration to a military tribunal. God knows how this story would have ended if not for the intercession of the regiment commissar and higher authorities. The case was dropped, Pokryshkin was returned his party card and reinstated in his position.
Pokryshkin’s innovation lay in the fact that he abandoned the construction of the battle in a horizontal plane, as had been the case until now. By this time, new aircraft and engines had appeared, horizontal and vertical speeds had increased, and the opportunity arose to “climb to heights,” as the pilots said. Pokryshkin’s formula for victory in air combat was as follows: “altitude - speed - maneuver - fire.”
Here is just one example of the application of this formula by Pokryshkin himself.
April 12, 1943 over Kuban, patrolling on high altitude, Guard Captain Pokryshkin saw two pairs of Messerschmitts that were above him. This was the favorite tactic of the German aces: deliver an unexpected stab in the back and escape again. But Pokryshkin sharply threw his fighter up. Having gained altitude, he crossed it and launched an attack from a dive. A well-aimed burst - and one “Messer” went to the ground.
Even at the moment of climbing, Pokryshkin saw that a couple of our fighters were being attacked by four Messerschmitts. He did not attack the fascist he had shot down, but rushed to the aid of his comrades. He hit one Messer with shells, jumped down, turned the plane around and went head-on at the third enemy fighter. Everything in this fight was decided by seconds. Tires carried out three effective attacks - and each one was unique. From above, from below, a frontal attack - it all happened. And in every situation he found only correct solution and instantly put it into action.
One of the merits of Alexander Pokryshkin should include this fact. That it was his idea to use highways as a landing strip. It played decisive role during the fighting in Germany.
After the war A.I. Pokryshkin graduated from the Military Academy named after. Frunze, received the rank of major general of aviation, and held positions in the country's high air defense command. Since January 1972, he was chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee, and since November 1981, he was a military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin died on November 13, 1985 at the age of 72 years.
“I ask my descendants to follow my example: to begin every undertaking with God’s blessing, to be faithful to the Fatherland until the end of your life, to flee luxury, idleness, greed and to seek glory through truth and virtue...”
A.V. Suvorov
Alexander Pokryshkin was born on March 19, 1913 in the city of Novonikolaevsk (now known as Novosibirsk). The grandfather of the future hero was named Pyotr Osipovich, and he was a well-known mason in the area, who built, in particular, the Novy Nikolaev station buildings. His son Vanya also mastered the same profession. In January 1907, the archpriest of the Ascension Church married twenty-three-year-old Ivan Pokryshkin and young Ksenia Mosunova. The young couple settled in the not very prosperous Zakamenskaya part of the city - it was a working-class outskirts famous for its dashing guys. Subsequently, Ivan and Ksenia had ten children, but only seven survived - six boys and one girl. Alexander was the second child in the family (after the first-born Vasily, born in 1910).
After an accident in 1908, Pokryshkin’s father received disability. I had to leave my job as a mason, Ivan Petrovich worked as a driver, stamper, and also, by agreement with the city government, cut ice holes on the Ob River. His wife Ksenia Stepanovna ran the household. Needless to say, I lived the large family Pokryshkin's life is not rich, it is cramped and difficult. Among other things, there was no running water in the city, and there was impassable mud. There were also large fires, for example, in 1908, more than six thousand people were left homeless, temporarily settling along Kamenka not far from the Pokryshkins’ house.
In one of his books, Alexander Ivanovich wrote: “As a twelve-year-old boy, I saw a propaganda plane fly to us for the first time. Among all the city residents who came running to the field and surrounded the flying machine, I was there... Touching its wings, I said to myself: “I’ll do anything, but I’ll become a pilot.” The parents disapproved of their son’s aspirations; in the words of the future ace, “only my grandmother seriously listened to my dream. Perhaps due to the fact that I told her about the plane with great enthusiasm... But the protection was reliable. She was the only one my father was afraid of...” The actions of “Sashka the Pilot” immediately revealed an exceptionally strong will. As a teenager, he suddenly quit smoking when his teacher showed him a picture of a smoker’s lungs, adding: “With people like that, it’s impossible to become a pilot.” Every morning Alexander went out into the yard - did gymnastics and worked out with weights, and in winter he added snow rubbing. Fellow countrymen laughed at his exercises, but nothing could stop Pokryshkin: “The image of a physically strong pilot haunted me.”
Alexander also stood out for his sharp mind - at school Pokryshkin was assigned straight to the second grade, and two years later he, having proved that he had nothing to do in the fourth, went straight to the fifth. Among school subjects, the future pilot gave preference to the exact sciences. In 1926, relatives first realized that Alexander was born, as they say, “in a shirt.” After scarlet fever, which Pokryshkin caught along with his fifteen-year-old brother Vasya, only he left the hospital.
In 1928, Alexander successfully completed the seven-year school and worked part-time as a roofer in various construction organizations. Two years later (in the spring of 1930), contrary to the wishes of his father, who wanted his son to become an accountant, he entered the local factory apprenticeship school. Due to a conflict that arose at home, he went to live in a hostel. Pokryshkin studied at the FZU school for two years, and after graduation, at the evening institute of agricultural engineering, working during the day at the Sibkombaynstroy plant as a toolmaker. It should be noted that, having received a specialty, the young man sent part of the proceeds home, helping to feed the family of his father, who at that time worked in an association of disabled people. The fate of Ivan Petrovich, by the way, was tragic. For trading in haberdashery, he was deprived of voting rights and became a “disenfranchised.” He was fired from his job, and for many years Pokryshkin Sr. tried to achieve justice to no avail. In those years, lists of deprived people were regularly published in the local press and posted in prominent places. Unable to bear the weight of the “seal of the outcast,” in December 1934 Ivan Petrovich hanged himself...
In June 1932 Pokryshkin voluntarily went to serve. On a Komsomol ticket young man were sent to an aviation school located in the city of Perm. However, upon arrival at the place, Alexander Ivanovich unexpectedly discovered that the flight department at the school had been abolished. The upset young man sent many reports about transferring to a flight school, but all the answers were brief - aviation also needed technical staff. Many years later, Alexander Ivanovich’s wife would write: “Once in a sanatorium we met a man to whose name Sasha had once sent forty-four reports asking to be transferred to a flight school. When Alexander Ivanovich reminded him of this, he said: “If I had known what kind of pilot you would become, I would have come for you after the first letter.”
Meanwhile, Pokryshkin had to master the craft of an aircraft technician. In accordance with his motto: “Know everything in aviation,” he studied this profession first-class. In December 1933, he graduated from the third Perm military school of aircraft technicians, and a year later in Leningrad, he graduated from the Red Army Air Force technical staff improvement course. From the end of 1934 to the autumn of 1938, Alexander Ivanovich worked as a senior aircraft technician in the seventy-fourth rifle division located in Krasnodar. During these years, he proposed a number of improvements to the design of the R-5 reconnaissance aircraft and the ShKAS aircraft machine gun, and developed a simulator for pilots. He sent some of his works to the capital, and in response received a letter of gratitude from Nikolai Polikarpov himself. Pokryshkin’s engineering knowledge, inquisitive mind and energy were noticed by the command - he was assigned to conduct classes with the technical staff of the unit. In addition, the young man led a gliding circle and taught at the Osoaviakhim flying club.
But the sky still attracted Alexander Ivanovich with incredible force. Pokryshkin regularly climbed into the clouds on a glider, as well as on the R-5 as an observer pilot. At the same time, he continued to improve his skills as an athlete - cyclist, shooter, gymnast. In addition, he became a recognized expert in military-historical literature devoted to the development of airspace. Bold dreams of heaven led to an unexpected act - formalizing another vacation In seventeen days, Pokryshkin passed the flying club’s annual flight training standards with flying colors. After this, the resistance of the Air Force personnel department was broken, and soon Alexander Ivanovich, with a feeling of great joy, went to the Red Banner Kachin Aviation School.
In 1939, Starley Pokryshkin successfully graduated from aviation school and went to the fifty-fifth fighter aviation regiment, based in Kirovograd. It was in this place that the flying career of the famous ace began. Already in the first months, Pokryshkin showed himself to be a supporter of energetic piloting with huge overloads, an initiator of shooting from short distances: “Weaklings shoot at two hundred meters, I will shoot at a hundred or less!” Pokryshkin based his desire to create a unique flight style on his knowledge of tactics and technology, as well as on the experience of Russian pilots who fought on the White Finnish front, in Spain, on Khasan and Khalkhin Gol. By the way, not all commanders reacted calmly to the young man’s daring flights, which violated outdated instructions. Alexander Ivanovich himself wrote: “In some cases, my actions led to conflict situations, they told me: “You are not Chkalov, you are Pokryshkin, you just jumped out of the technicians yesterday and you think that now you are a god?” However, Siberians are stubborn people, no matter what, I continued to stick to my line.”
Alexander Ivanovich met the war in Moldova. On the very first day of hostilities, June 22, 1941, flight commander Pokryshkin shot down an unfamiliar plane approaching from the west over the Odessa region. This aircraft turned out to be a Su-2 bomber returning from reconnaissance, which had recently entered service with the Soviet troops. Before the start of the war, fighters were shown photographs and silhouettes of foreign and Soviet aircraft, but the image of the new “Sushka” was not among them.
Alexander Ivanovich opened his account on June 23, shooting down the first Me-109. And by the third of July, he, who already had several air victories, was shot down over the Prut River by anti-aircraft fire. The plane was completely destroyed after falling on the edge of the forest. Pokryshkin himself survived, but received a severe leg injury. On the fourth day he managed to reach the location of his regiment. While lying in the hospital, Alexander Ivanovich started a notebook in which he began to write down his considerations, thoughts and calculations, which resulted in the famous work “Fighter Tactics in Battle.” This notebook was saved by Pokryshkin’s wife and subsequently transferred to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. In the first tactical sketches, the pilot proposed changes to the flight formation. Air groups, in his opinion, had to be composed of pairs, since the third aircraft in a flight worsened the group’s maneuver. It is worth noting that the pilot carefully analyzed the enemy’s equipment, trying not to miss a single opportunity to control captured aircraft, in order to personal experience learn about their weaknesses and strengths. As a result of long, painstaking mental work, the most important formula for air combat was gradually born, which was later called the “thunderstorm formula” and became known to all Soviet fighter aviation. It consisted of four elements: ALTITUDE-SPEED-MANEUVER-FIRE. In his science of winning, the outstanding pilot was one of the first to combine into one whole all the most important components of an offensive battle in the air: open battle formation, falcon strike (attack from above at speed) and the famous whatnot (dispersal of groups of fighters in height).
After two months of the war, Pokryshkin’s regiment, which flew I-153 and I-15, was re-equipped with MiGs. One of the first to new car Alexander Ivanovich took off. Retraining did not cause him any difficulties; by the way, he discovered a dangerous design defect, which was subsequently eliminated in the series. Pokryshkin’s creative character did not go unnoticed; the regiment command entrusted him with retraining young people to fly MiGs. In addition, he was charged with introducing his tactical findings to newly arrived pilots.
Once, in his declining years, Alexander Ivanovich said: “Whoever did not fight in 1941-1942 did not really see the war.” There was a bitter truth in this - what Soviet pilots did not experience in that difficult time: attack missions on fighters without armor protection, retreat in an environment of frequent loss of control and communication, overwork after many daily combat missions. Technicians repeatedly looked with surprise at the holes in Pokryshkin’s MiG. In one of the battles, a bullet, reflected from the right side of the cockpit, caught the shoulder straps of the parachute, scratched the pilot's chin, and splattered the windshield with blood. During another air battle, a bullet from a burst fired by the gunner of a Yu-88 bomber hit Alexander Ivanovich right in the sight. If it had deviated a centimeter to the left or right, it would have blown the pilot's head off. Twice, literally at Pokryshkin’s feet, bombs dropped on the airfield did not explode. These incidents, according to Alexander Ivanovich, made him “believe in fate.” He wrote in his memoirs: “I told myself that I would never hide from my enemies and would remain alive, and this is what I have always followed.”
At the beginning of October 1941, Pokryshkin was shot down for the second time. This happened in Zaporozhye, and for several days the pilot who miraculously survived the fall emerged from encirclement as part of a small detachment of soldiers. At the very end of the incredibly difficult 1941, Alexander Ivanovich was assigned to carry out reconnaissance operations in order to provide the command of the Southern Front with reliable information about the location of the enemy. In November, in incredibly difficult weather conditions (the lower edge of the clouds almost touched the ground, dropping to thirty meters), Pokryshkin, on a low-level flight, discovered the main forces of von Kleist’s tank army near Rostov-on-Don. Important, and most importantly accurate intelligence data allowed Soviet troops to oust tank divisions enemy from the region. It is difficult to imagine what huge losses this flight saved the Red Army. The command also understood this, and therefore, just before the New Year, Pokryshkin was awarded the Order of Lenin - according to the statute at that time, the highest order of the USSR.
In April 1942, Pokryshkin’s unit was based at a field airfield on the outskirts of Krasnodon. It was here that the pilot was accepted into the Communist Party. And in August 1942, Alexander Ivanovich’s air regiment, which by that time had become the sixteenth guards regiment, after heavy and bloody battles in the foothills of the Caucasus, was taken to the rear for the purpose of retraining for new vehicles. All the fighters’ plans for a quick return to war collapsed - military equipment there was still some waiting to be done. This long and forced break from hostilities became a time full of difficult experiences and drama for Pokryshkin. It is worth noting that Alexander Ivanovich, who did not tolerate injustice, cowardice and inertia, spoke what he thought, regardless of faces and ranks. Naturally, such behavior led to complications in the pilot’s relationship with his superiors. It was in the rear that the regiment’s leaders, using their power, decided to settle scores with him, remembering the flights not in accordance with the regulations, the downed Su-2, and the incident when he sheltered the children of a pilot who was an “enemy of the people.” Alexander Ivanovich's nomination for the title of Hero was withdrawn. A case was opened against the ace, accusing him of violating instructions and instructions on the actions of fighters. Pokryshkin, who is under investigation and sitting in the guardhouse, was expelled from the party membership and from the regular staff of the air regiment. The pilot himself, while awaiting the tribunal, continued to develop new tactics that could, in his words, “be useful to fellow pilots.” Fortunately, this whole unpleasant thing ended well. Already about bullying famous ace The division commander found out and took measures to rehabilitate the hero. The “case” was stopped at one point, and a party meeting of the regiment was also held, at which Alexander Ivanovich was publicly acquitted.
In his memoirs, Pokryshkin noted that in those difficult days he was thinking about suicide, but the support of his young man saved him nurse Mariy Korzhuk, whom he met in the summer of 1942, when he was visiting a wounded friend in the hospital. It was love at first sight, they soon got married, and the pilot retained his feelings for Maria Kuzminichna for the rest of his life. Subsequently, they had two children - Alexander and Svetlana.
By March 1943, the R-39s delivered under Lend-Lease, nicknamed “Airacobras,” finally arrived in the USSR. The Americans themselves considered these aircraft heavy and quite dangerous to fly (there were problems with getting the machines out of a flat spin). However, Soviet pilots were able to overcome these shortcomings, and the excellent radio communications and powerful armament of the Airacobras turned these aircraft into one of the most effective during the Second World War. At the same time, during a personal conversation with Pokryshkin, Major General Naumenko (commander of the Fourth Air Army) offered him the position of deputy regiment commander. This was a tempting offer, but Alexander Ivanovich asked the army commander to leave him as squadron commander. It was with this squadron, trained according to Pokryshkin’s own system, that Alexander Ivanovich, in excellent combat shape, returned to the front in the spring of 1943.
At this time, the air regiment's combat activities began new stage- the largest and most furious air battle in the skies over Kuban. This air battle had no analogues in the World War in terms of the concentration of aircraft on a narrow section of the front and the density of battles. To hold the strategically important Taman bridgehead, the German command concentrated over a thousand aircraft at the airfields of Taman, Crimea and southern Ukraine. Elite fighter squadrons arrived here - the third "Udet" and the fifty-first "Mölders", named after the national hero pilots of Germany. Every day, up to fifty group air battles took place over the enemy’s defense line with the simultaneous participation of up to two hundred aircraft. According to eyewitnesses, a “real meat grinder” was going on in the air. It was at this time that the initiative in the air passed to the “Stalinist falcons”, and lethargy and indecisiveness began to be observed for the first time in the actions of the Luftwaffe.
The 16th Guards Aviation Regiment, whose first squadron was led by Pokryshkin, gained particular glory in those battles. In one of the first battles in early April, Alexander Ivanovich, in front of the front air force commander Konstantin Vershinin, drove four Messerschmitts into the ground. For this feat, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In another legendary battle (April 29, 1943), eight “airacobras” led by Pokryshkin scattered three echelons of Yu-87s (by the way, this is about eighty aircraft), which were covered by a dozen Me-109s. While two Soviet pilots pinned down the enemy fighters, the six others, through a powerful fire barrier - the shooters of twenty-seven bombers sent over four hundred bullets per second towards them - with a twice repeated "falcon strike" they shot twelve "Junkers" (four of which were on Pokryshkin's account).
A few weeks later, the pilot’s name thundered in both the central and front-line press. Correspondents wrote: “He doesn’t shoot, he rushes in with all his fire and burns like a blast furnace.” Starting from Kuban, when Pokryshkin’s “airacobra” appeared, enemy warning posts sounded the alarm. There are cases when one of his comrades flew on Alexander Ivanovich’s plane, but it was difficult for them to find the enemy - the Luftwaffe pilots avoided battle. Alone against eight, three against twenty-three, four against fifty, the legendary pilot entered the battle. In each battle, the Siberian hero, omnipresent in the sky and withstanding overloads unimaginable for most pilots, took upon himself the attack of the leader of the enemy groups. Even from the battles of 1941-1942, he learned that with the enemy’s numerical superiority the only way Changing the course of the battle is the destruction of the enemy ace commander. This immediately deprived the Germans of confidence and control.
In addition to remarkable personal victories, Alexander Ivanovich became the author of many tactical innovations, which since 1943 have become the basis of the actions of Russian fighter aviation and ensured its superiority over the enemy. Pokryshkin himself, possessing a clear style, appeared in the military press with articles. Not stopping there, Alexander Ivanovich developed his own method of training aces. At the same time, he attached great importance to teamwork in squadrons and military friendship. More than once he had to leave a German already caught in the crosshairs in order to save his comrade. But until the end of his days, Pokryshkin was most proud not of his medals, but of the fact that not one of those whom he led into battle died through his fault.
On May 24, 1943, Alexander Ivanovich became the Hero of the Soviet Union for the first time. The war continued, and Pokryshkin also continued to increase the number of enemy aircraft shot down. At the end of August 1943, Alexander Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero for the second time. And in September, another memorable battle between the pilot and the Yu-88 group took place in the skies over Zaporozhye, which took place in front of hundreds of spectators from the ground. In one of his books, Pokryshkin wrote: “By that time, we had more than once witnessed the atrocities of the fascists. There was a ball of fierce hatred in my soul... I entered the formation of bombers and caught the leader in my sights. One burst, and in front of me there is a huge ball of fire. The wing of the exploded Yu-88 flew past me and hit a bomber walking nearby. Without having time to react, I pierced the center fireball and found himself in the ranks of German planes. The Junkers, throwing bombs in panic, began to turn around in reverse side. I threw the car onto the one closest to the right. There was a burst of fire along the right wing, and wisps of smoke appeared from the engine. However, the bomber is pulled towards the defense line. He took aim at the left engine and fired at point-blank range. Yu-88 falls on the steep bank of Molochnaya..." By the way, Pokryshkin, who returned to the airfield, was informed that the second bomber was not counted by the regiment commander as having spontaneously combusted from the explosion of the leader.
In November 1943, Pokryshkin, during a free hunting mission, shot down four Yu-52 transport aircraft on enemy air communications over the Black Sea. According to one fighter aviation historian, the discovery of these single aircraft two hundred kilometers from the coast “can only be explained by the genius of the pilot.” Alexander Ivanovich himself described these flights in a characteristic laconic style: “On the fourth flight I discovered a Yu-52 over the sea. He moved stealthily at a height of seventy meters, hiding in the fringe of clouds. I approached him from below and hit the cabin with a burst of everything. The enemy rushed sharply towards the water, and I immediately hit him in the “stomach” with the second burst. I jumped over the tail of a falling plane just a few meters away... I was in a nasty mood - I almost collided.” Lieutenant General Khryukin, the former commander of the Eighth Air Army, learned about this incident. Soon Pokryshkin was prohibited from any flights over the sea, which the ace greatly regretted.
In February 1944, Alexander Ivanovich was summoned to high authorities. The pilot was offered the position of general as head of the fighter aviation combat training department. Without even thinking, Pokryshkin refused and returned to the front. In the spring of 1944, he became commander of the sixteenth guards air regiment, and in July 1944, having received the rank of colonel, he became commander of the ninth guards fighter air division. Division commanders rarely flew on combat missions - aviation control and staff work did not allow them to conduct air battles. However, Pokryshkin became a flying division commander. For example, in July 1944, replacing a wounded comrade, he led a strike eight fighters against a group of Khsh-129 and Yu-87, numbering more than fifty aircraft. In that battle he scored three personal victories.
In August 1944, for fifty-three enemy aircraft shot down, Alexander Ivanovich was once again awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the third (!) time. The commander of the Eighth Air Army, Timofey Khryukin, wrote on the award sheet: “The best Soviet ace, the leader, the bravest of the brave.” And corps commander Alexander Utin, congratulating Pokryshkin, told him prophetic words: “I’m glad for you! You have rightfully earned this title. Wear it with pride, but remember - three Stars, this is a crown of thorns that will prick you painfully all your life...”
IN last years During the war, Alexander Ivanovich showed himself to be an excellent division commander. Despite all the prohibitions, he continued, albeit less frequently, to lead groups of fighters into air battles. In addition, he organized the training of pilots on the ground in the best possible way, organized the airfield service better than anyone else, and relocated more accurately and quickly than anyone else. The famous ace himself liked to repeat: “In order to act quickly in the air, you need to prepare on the ground.” In Germany in February 1945, when there were not enough stationary airfields, and the fields were mined or deteriorated, division commander Pokryshkin was the first to use areas as runways highways, in particular part of the Breslau-Berlin motorway. The width of the concrete or asphalt surface was three meters narrower and, despite a certain risk, an entire fighter air division successfully operated in such conditions for about two months, without a single accident. This innovation allowed fighters to provide reliable air support for ground troops, bombers and attack aircraft destroying Hitler's lair.
In total, during the war, Alexander Ivanovich made six hundred and fifty sorties, participated in one and a half hundred air battles, personally shot down fifty-nine enemy aircraft and six more in the group. It is worth noting that the unofficial list of victories of the pilot (as, indeed, of all aviators of the Red Army) is much longer. For example, during 1941 alone, the ace won fifteen victories, which were not included in the overall score. The reason for this was the destruction of all the papers of the headquarters of the fighter regiment during the retreat. In addition, until 1943, downed enemy aircraft were counted only when they fell on territory controlled by Soviet troops, and all vehicles shot down behind the front line were not taken into account. Pokryshkin, meanwhile, widely used the tactics of intercepting German bombers at a considerable distance from the front, until they teamed up with covering fighters. Another point was pointed out in his book by Grigory Dolnikov, Colonel General of Aviation: “Pokryshkin often shared his victories with his subordinates. This was a fairly common occurrence at the front, a kind of stimulation and support for young pilots... I’m sure that Alexander Ivanovich’s personal account was much more than a hundred.” By the way, the famous aviator himself never attached any importance to numbers: “Even if you didn’t shoot down the enemy, but forced him to drop bombs, thereby saving many soldiers on the ground, isn’t that a victory?”
The post-war life of Alexander Ivanovich began on June 24, 1945 with the Victory Parade, in which the ace was honored to carry the banner of the combined regiment of the first Ukrainian Front. And already in July of this year, Pokryshkin crossed the threshold of the Frunze Military Academy as a listener. He graduated from it, by the way, in 1948 with a gold medal. The pilot also studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff (in 1956), after which he defended his Ph.D. thesis and wrote many scientific papers, as well as a number of works of fiction.
It is worth noting that Lieutenant General Vasily Stalin, the former commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District, after the war invited Colonel Pokryshkin, the former commander of the air division, to take his place as one of his deputies. At the appointed time, the division commander came to Stalin to discuss this proposal, but in the reception room the adjutant told him that Vasily Iosifovich had left for the hippodrome. The war hero sat patiently in the waiting room for several hours, after which he left the room, telling the adjutant with Siberian directness everything he thought about such carelessness. Similar attitude to the leader’s son did not go unnoticed, and only after the death of Joseph Stalin, in August 1953, the Hero was given the first rank of general three times. During these years (from 1949 to 1951) he served as deputy commander of the thirty-third IAK air defense, and then (from 1951 to 1955) commander of the eighty-eighth IAK air defense in Rzhev, destroyed after the war. After that, he commanded fighters of the North Caucasus Air Defense Army for one year, and from 1959 to 1968 he served in Kyiv as commander of the Eighth Separate Air Defense Army. In 1968, Pokryshkin was transferred to Moscow as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the country's air defense. It is worth noting that all the formations under the command of Alexander Ivanovich became the best, however, the brave pilot was never appointed to the highest posts. The reason for this was his unbending character - he never made compromises, and always preferred to call things by their proper names. As an example, despite strong pressure, Pokryshkin refused to glorify Leonid Brezhnev and his role in the battles for Kuban.
In 1972, Alexander Ivanovich was finally awarded the rank of air marshal. In the summer of the same year, he became chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee and remained in this position for ten years, doing a lot to strengthen his prestige military service. Under the leadership of the legendary pilot, the airfield network was developed, the fleet of helicopters and airplanes was replenished, and the training of specialists for the aircraft was effectively improved. Two aviation schools were created in the DOSAAF system, which made it possible to solve most of the problems of air sports clubs. Pokryshkin devoted a lot of attention and time to military-patriotic work with the younger generation. Conducting such vigorous activity, Alexander Ivanovich continued to fly various types of jet aircraft available in the country's fighter aviation. Pokryshkin was also a prominent government and public figure- from 1946 to 1984 he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council, headed delegations on trips abroad, took part in the work of the commission on foreign affairs. His apartment was always full of fellow soldiers, friends, voters who arrived on parliamentary business. It is worth noting that Alexander Ivanovich greatly valued people, their work and initiative. When, after one complex operation, doctors recommended that he work no more than two hours a day, Pokryshkin submitted a report on his dismissal from his position. The report was returned with the words: “Continue to work, you have deputies...”. To this Pokryshkin replied: “No way. I don’t want people to look at my back when I go home before the end of my shift...”
The tactics of air combat developed by the famous ace did not lose relevance in the post-war period. The famous pilot Konstantin Sukhov told a story about how, during the Arab-Israeli war, while working in Syria as a military adviser on aviation, he suggested that local pilots organize a raid on enemy positions using certain tactics. In response, he heard: “We won’t do that, Pokryshkin suggests otherwise!” At Konstantin Vasilyevich’s questioning glance, they showed him a copy of the Arabic book. It turned out that the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Air Force translated and published, with his own money, five thousand copies of the book “Sky of War” by Alexander Ivanovich.
In 1983, Pokryshkin became a military inspector, advisor to the Group of Inspectors General at the Ministry of Defense. In this post, he visited various military units, communicated with military personnel, sharing his vast combat experience. At the same time, his health began to fail, and more and more often Alexander Ivanovich lay in the hospital ward. He left his last position on his own.
The legendary pilot died at the age of seventy-two on November 13, 1985. A few years earlier, doctors discovered Pokryshkin had cancer. Being seriously ill, Alexander Ivanovich went to the Kremlin hospital for a complex examination and, as a result of ill-considered actions of doctors, lost consciousness, and died a few days later. He was buried on Novodevichy Cemetery.
Based on materials from the book by A.V. Timofeev “Pokryshkin” and the site http://www.biografguru.ru
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin is an outstanding Soviet pilot ace, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. His talent as an unsurpassed master of air combat was most fully revealed during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
He was born on March 6, 1913 in Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk) in the family of a mason worker. At the age of 15, after finishing the 7th grade of school, he began his labor activity. He received the profession of a tool maker. Since June 1932 in the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). In 1933 he graduated from the 3rd Perm School of Aviation Technicians, in 1934 he graduated from the Improvement Course for Technical Staff of the Red Army Air Force named after K.E. Voroshilov in Leningrad.
Graduate of the Perm School of Aviation Technicians Alexander Pokryshkin
He began his service as an aviation communications technician in the 74th Infantry Division of the North Caucasus Military District. At the same time, he learned the basics of flying at the Krasnodar flying club. In 1939 he graduated with honors from the 1st Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School named after A.F. Myasnikov. As a junior pilot, he is sent for further service to the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP) of the Air Force of the Odessa Military District. He was one of the first to master the new MiG-3 fighter, which entered service with the regiment in April-May 1941.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found senior lieutenant A.I. Pokryshkina as deputy commander of the 55th IAP squadron of the Southern Front Air Force. Already on June 23, 1941, he opened the account of his future numerous victories, destroying in an air battle in the river area. Rod enemy fighter Me-109. Over the next months, in the zone of action of the Southern Front, the brave pilot shoots down several more enemy aircraft, actively participates in attacking enemy troops and conducting aerial reconnaissance.
A.S. Zakalyuk. Fight of A. Pokryshkin in the Zaporozhye region. 1941
During this period, according to the recollections of his colleagues, the formation of the future air master began. He recorded all his observations and thoughts in a special notebook, entitled “Fighter Tactics in Battle.” Later, its initial outlines acquire an analytical focus in assessing the successes and failures of air battles with the personal participation of A.I. Pokryshkin and his comrades. Based on the accumulated experience, Alexander Ivanovich developed many new tactical techniques for fighters, which became widespread in Soviet aviation during the war. He was one of the first in the Red Army Air Force to practice “free hunting” for enemy aircraft, skillfully using the tactics of the famous German air aces against themselves. In the crucible of fights and battles, the famous “Pokryshkin” science of winning was born.
Page of the notebook “Fighter Tactics in Combat”
By the end of 1941, the holder of the country's highest state award, the Order of Lenin, senior lieutenant A.I. Pokryshkin made 190 combat missions and was recognized as one of the best air reconnaissance officers in the aviation regiment.
In March 1942, the command of the air regiment, Captain A.I. Pokryshkin is nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the first time. In his award sheet it was noted that “during the hostilities he had 288 combat missions, of which: to attack enemy troops - 63; for reconnaissance of enemy troops - 133; to escort their bombers - 19; to cover their troops - 29; to intercept enemy aircraft - 36; for reconnaissance with attack - 8." Unfortunately, circumstances were such that the hero was bypassed by the high reward.
The commander of the squadron of the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment (216th Mixed Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, North Caucasus Front) Guard Captain A.I. received his first Gold Star medal. Pokryshkin was awarded on May 24, 1943 for numerous victories in the skies over Kuban. During fierce air battles, his extraordinary talent as a fighter pilot—an innovator in air combat tactics—is fully demonstrated.
Squadron commander Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Major A.I. Pokryshkin. Summer 1943
He was the first to widely use the combat formation called “Kuban Whatnot” and contributed to its introduction in all fighter aviation units of the KAAF. He also tested new air combat techniques: “scissors”, “falcon strike”, “pincers”, “swing”, “vertical fighting”. Acting as an active supporter of offensive combat, Alexander Ivanovich is constantly guided by a short battle formula: “Height, speed, maneuver, fire” and always emerges victorious.
By May 1943 A.I. Pokryshkin carried out 363 combat missions, destroying only 30 enemy aircraft according to official data (in reality there were much more air victories).
Alexander Ivanovich paid special attention to the training of pilots and their combat training. 30 pilots who completed the “school of A.I. Pokryshkin”, became Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 3 of them - twice.
On August 24, 1943, his chest was decorated with a second Gold Star medal. The Soviet state highly appreciated the skillful leadership of subordinate personnel, personal courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders. By this time, Guard Major A.I. Pokryshkin had 455 combat sorties, numerous air battles in the south of Ukraine.
In 1943, he was recognized as one of the most successful Soviet fighter pilots. It is about him that US President Franklin Roosevelt will say admiringly: “Pokryshkin is undoubtedly the most outstanding pilot of the Second World War.”
In February of the following year, the commander of the KA Air Force, Air Marshal A.A. Novikov offers Guard Lieutenant Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin to head the combat training structure of fighter aircraft (IA) of the Air Force. The prospect of a quick career growth. However, Alexander Ivanovich refuses a tempting offer with a request to continue serving in his native guards regiment.
In March 1944, he was appointed commander of the 16th Guards Air Regiment of the 4th Ukrainian Front, with which he fought from the first days of the war. Already in July of the same year, twice Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Pokryshkin assumes the position of commander of the 9th Guards Mariupol Aviation Division with the assignment of the next military rank. As part of the 2nd and then 1st Ukrainian Fronts, the division under his command participates in an air battle to destroy the enemy’s Brodsky group in the Yassy direction. Despite all the prohibitions and a lot of urgent matters, the famous division commander more than once found time for combat battles with the enemy in the air. During the year, he chalked up 7 more destroyed enemy aircraft.
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, Guard Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin was the first in the USSR to be awarded the third “Gold Star” Hero medal.
Bust of three times Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Pokryshkina at home in Novosibirsk. Sculptor - M.G. Manizer, architect - I.G. Langbard
During the Lvov-Sandomierz offensive operation, units of the 9th Air Division protected formations of the 3rd Tank Army from attacks by enemy aircraft. For exemplary performance of command tasks in battles during the breakthrough of German defenses in the Lvov direction, the division was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd degree. In Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian and Upper Silesian offensive operations its units as part of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Corps of the 2nd Air Army successfully carried out combat missions to cover the troops of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, 5th Guards and 52nd armies. For exemplary performance of command tasks in battles during the crossing of the river. Oder southeast of Breslau (Wroclaw), the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
At the final stage of the war, its units successfully operated in the Berlin and Prague offensive operations. For the capture of the city of Wittenberg, the division was awarded the Order of Lenin, and for its distinction in the battles for Berlin it was given the name “Berlin”. In total, the pilots of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division destroyed 1,147 enemy aircraft during the Great Patriotic War, and Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin flew more than 600 combat missions, took part in 156 air battles, and officially shot down 53 enemy aircraft personally and 6 as part of a group.
June 24, 1945 Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin takes part in the famous Victory Parade on Red Square. As a renowned hero, he is trusted to carry the standard of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
B. Mukhin. Stalin's falcons. Poster. 1947
After graduating in 1948 from the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (with a gold medal) receives an appointment to the country's Air Defense Forces. He successfully masters jet technology. He is among the first to take to the skies on the MiG-9 turbojet fighter, which entered service with the Air Force and the Air Defense Forces of the country.
Students of the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. Next to A.I. Pokryshkin in the classroom twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.D. Lavrinenkov
From January 1949 to June 1951, he was deputy commander of the 33rd (in June 1949 renamed the 88th) Air Defense Fighter Corps. In 1951-1955. - commander of the same unit. In August 1953, he was awarded the rank of Major General of Aviation. In February 1955 he headed the fighter aviation of the North Caucasus Air Defense Army. Then another study - a student at the aviation department of the Higher Military Academy named after K.E. Voroshilov (now the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces). Her A.I. Pokryshkin graduated in 1957 with honors.
In January of next year, he takes office as commander of the 52nd Air Defense Army of the Moscow Military District. In February he is awarded another military rank- Lieutenant General of Aviation. In August of the following year, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense No. 01393 A.I. Pokryshkin was appointed commander of the 8th Air Defense Army - deputy commander of the Kyiv Military District for air defense. Under his leadership, the association achieves high results in combat and political training, and successfully solves complex combat training tasks.
As during the Great Patriotic War, Alexander Ivanovich, as commander of the army, showed enviable perseverance, creativity and initiative in solving the problems at hand. Among the first commanders in the country's Air Defense Forces, he mastered flights on almost all types Soviet fighters 1950s - early 1960s
In July 1968, Colonel General of Aviation A.I. Pokryshkin was appointed to the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief - member of the Military Council of the country's Air Defense Forces. The following year, 1969, having successfully defended his dissertation on the use of network planning in the Air Defense Forces, he became a candidate of military sciences.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the country's Air Defense Forces, Aviation Colonel General A.I. Pokryshkin
December 24, 1971 VII All-Union Congress Voluntary Society assistance to the army, aviation and navy (DOSSAF) unanimously elects A.I. Pokryshkina as chairman central committee(Central Committee) of the society. By order of the USSR Minister of Defense No. 012 of January 8, 1972, he was seconded to DOSAAF with remaining on active duty. military service. On December 16 of the same year, for outstanding services to the Fatherland, he was awarded the high military rank of “air marshal”.
Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin
Over the years of Alexander Ivanovich’s work in the all-Union society, many interesting forms of patriotic education of Soviet youth have developed, aimed primarily at developing high civic positions in the younger generation and preparing them for military service. A creative approach to conducting mass defense work among young people has led to a significant increase in the number of training conscripts and increased the level of their training in 35 military specialties.
However, in 1981, due to deteriorating health, Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin was forced to resign as chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee. On November 11, 1981, by order of the Minister of Defense No. 01067, he was included in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense as a military inspector-adviser.
Service record card of Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkina
Alexander Ivanovich also actively participated in the socio-political life of the country, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-10th convocation, and a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 9th convocation.
Awarded 6 Orders of Lenin, 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 Armed Forces USSR" 3rd class, medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.
The creative heritage of the famous ace is represented by a number of works that reflect the glorious military path of the Soviet marshal and his comrades, views and thoughts on the use of fighter aircraft in war. The golden fund of Russian military literature includes books by A.I. Pokryshkina: “On a Fighter” (Novosibirsk, 1944), “Wings of a Fighter” (Moscow, 1948), “Sky of War” (Moscow, 1956-1975), which went through five editions, “Your honorable duty"(Moscow, 1976), "Know yourself in battle", published posthumously (and subsequently republished) in 1986.
In 1999, another unique work saw the light - “Fighter Aviation Tactics”, work on which Alexander Ivanovich began during the war years, but did not have time to complete. The manuscript of the book was kindly provided by his wife, Maria Kuzminichnaya Pokryshkina, and prepared for publication by representatives of the Novosibirsk A.I. Foundation. Pokryshkina.
Attack options for German aircraft different types. Pokryshkin A.I. Fighter aircraft tactics. — Novosibirsk, Publishing House “Sibirskaya Gornitsa”, 1999
The famous marshal died on November 13, 1985, and was buried with military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery. The Fatherland sacredly honors the bright memory of him. Name of Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin is immortalized in the names of streets and squares, educational institutions, in monuments and memorial plaques Moscow, Rzhev, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Novokuznetsk and other cities of Russia and neighboring countries. Minor planet No. 3348, discovered by Soviet astronomer N.I., is named after him. Chernykh, an island in the Far East, new station Novosibirsk metro.
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Monument to Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin in Novosibirsk. Sculptor - People's Artist of Russia M. Pereyaslavets, architect - Yu. Burika
The material was prepared by the Research Institute ( military history) Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Pilot, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, air marshal, Honorary citizen of the city of Novosibirsk.
A.I. Pokryshkin is an outstanding Russian pilot, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, whose name is associated with innovative approaches to the tactics of using combat aviation.
Born on March 6, 1913 in Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk) into a poor family of immigrants from the Vyatka province.
In 1928, Pokryshkin successfully completed the seven-year school. For some time he worked as a roofer, and in the spring of 1930, against the will of his father, he entered the school of the Sibkombaynstroy factory school and left home for a dormitory. After 4 years, on a Komsomol ticket, he was sent to Perm, to an aviation school. In September 1938, during his vacation, in 17 days he mastered the two-year flying club program and passed the exam as an external student. Pokryshkin was sent to flight school, and again, with excellent marks, less than a year later he graduated from the famous Kachin pilot school and was assigned to the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Pokryshkin met the war in Moldova and already on June 23 opened a personal account - he shot down the first Me-109. But soon - on July 3 - he himself was hit by anti-aircraft fire. While in the medical unit, he began keeping an album, “Fighter Tactics in Combat,” in which he developed new tactical techniques for air combat.
A.I. Pokryshkin went on the attack with eight fighters against 91 enemy aircraft, four against 50, three against 23, alone against eight and did not know defeat. They reported to Goering about his battle tactics, and the Nazis started a real hunt for him - to no avail. German observers on the ground and in the air warned their pilots: “Attention! Attention! Pokryshkin is in the sky! Alexander Ivanovich always remembered himself and never tired of repeating Suvorov’s rule to his subordinates: “Die yourself, but save your comrade,” and therefore in every battle with the enemy he took upon himself the most dangerous thing - the attack of the leader.
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin not only mastered the highest personal art of air combat, he not only superbly led these battles in the air, each time choosing the most advantageous battle formations and destroying maximum amount enemy aircraft, but was still able on the ground to best prepare the flight crew for operations in the air.
Air Marshal Pokryshkin became the only three times Hero of the Soviet Union to receive all three Gold Stars during the war.
In 1948 he graduated from the Military Academy named after. Frunze, and then the Academy General Staff. A fearless warrior, a patriot of his Motherland and his people, a man of honor and decency - he never pursued glory. Only in 1953 A.I. Pokryshkin received the rank of general, although he already commanded a division during the war.
At the end of the 60s, Alexander Ivanovich became deputy commander-in-chief of air defense, having worked in this position for about four years, and then, in 1972, he was appointed chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee and was awarded the rank of marshal.
Having headed the defense society, A.I. Pokryshkin held this post for almost ten years and played a special role in the history of DOSAAF.
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Pokryshkin was awarded six Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov II degree, Order of the Patriotic War I degree, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” III degree, 11 foreign orders, many medals.
Both during the war and after its end, Alexander Ivanovich’s connection with his native Novosibirsk was not interrupted. On every visit to the city where he spent his childhood and teenage years, the famous pilot always visited the Sibselmash plant-Here he worked in his youth and here he received a ticket to a flying school.
Despite his busy career and social activities, Alexander Ivanovich also found time to engage in literary work. In 1966, his book of memoirs, “The Sky of War,” was published, and much later (after his death) the story “Knowing Yourself in Battle.” Books by A.I. Pokryshkin’s works are still popular not only among war veterans, but also among young people.
LITERATURE:
- The man from the legend Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin. Biobibliographic index. - Novosibirsk, 2013. - 113 p.
- Golden names of Novosibirsk: Honorary citizens and residents of the city (1910-2007). - Novosibirsk, 2008. - P. 38-45.
- Kronich G. High destiny // Creators: Essays about people who wrote their names in the history of Novosibirsk. T.1. - Novosibirsk, 2003. - P. 358-366.
- Petrushin N. The height of his feat // Soviet Siberia. - 2003. - March 5. - P. 3.
- Shumilov V.N. Pokryshkin A.N. // Novosibirsk: Encyclopedia. - Novosibirsk, 2003. - P. 681-682.
ISSUE LIST:
- Pokryshkina, M.K. In the sky - Pokryshkin: [Fragm. book memoirs of M.K. Pokryshkina "Rise, star of memories!" about the thrice Hero of the Owls. Union Air Marshal A.I. Pokryshkin]
- Ustinov, Yu. S. "Falcon Strike" Pokryshkina: [Major General, member. society All-Russian Council in memory of three times Hero of the Owls. Union of A.I. Pokryshkin about some episodes of the combat biogr. pilot]
- Pokryshkina, M.K. Ace in the epicenter of a muddy thunderstorm: [Conversation with the widow of A.I. Pokryshkin, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Union (Novosibirsk)] / M.K. Pokryshkina; prepared text by A. Timofeev
- Koshelev, A. Family of the hero: little-known pages: To the 85th anniversary of the birth of A.I. Pokryshkin, [three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Union, a native of Novosibirsk (1913-1985): About the history of the family (from the moment of the birth of parents, I.P. Pokryshkin and K.S. Mosunova, in the 2nd half of the 80s of the 19th century in Vyatka provinces)
Colonel A.I. Pokryshkin. 1945
Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich (1913, Novonikolaevsk - 1985, Moscow) - Sov. military pilot. Genus. in a working-class family. In 1932 he was drafted into the army. He graduated from the Perm Aviation School of Aviation Technicians (1933) and the Kachin Aviation School of Pilots (1939). During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945, he fought in fighter aviation, going through the path of a squadron, regiment, and division commander. He made more than 600 combat missions, 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). In 1948 he graduated from the Military Academy. M. B. Frunze, in 1957 - Military Academy of the General Staff. He held 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 “Wings of a Fighter”, “Sky of War”, etc. He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.
Book materials used: Shikman A.P. Figures national history. Biographical reference book. Moscow, 1997
Major A.I. Pokryshkin.
End of May 1943.
POKRYSHKIN Alexander Ivanovich (21.2.1913, Novosibirsk - 1985), pilot, air marshal (1972), three times Hero of the Soviet Union (24.5.1943, 28.8.1943, 19.8.1944). Son of a worker. He received his education at the aircraft technician school (1933), the Kachin pilot school (1939), the Frunze Military Academy (1948), and the General Staff Military Academy (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). Since May 1944 commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. He flew over 600 combat missions, conducted 156 air battles and shot down 59 enemy aircraft. In 1946-84, 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 of DOSAAF. Since 1976, candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1979-84, member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. from 1981 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Author of the memoirs "Wings of a Fighter" (1948) and "Sky of War" (1980).
Materials used from the book: Zalessky K.A. Stalin's Empire. Biographical encyclopedic dictionary. Moscow, Veche, 2000
Alexander Pokryshkin, a student at the FZU school.
With his 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. Graduated from the Perm Aviation School of Aircraft Technicians (1933), the Kachin Aviation School of Pilots (1939), and the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze (1948), Military Academy of the General Staff (1957). Member of the All-Union Communist Party (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 aviation regiment , since May 1944 he commanded a fighter air division. He showed himself to be an innovator and organizer in the development of air combat tactics: he developed and implemented many tactical techniques successfully used in other aviation units. He particularly 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, Iasi, 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 country's Air Defense Forces. Since 1972 - Chairman of the Central Committee of DOSAAF of the USSR. Since 1981 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee 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 Russian cities are named after Pokryshkin.
A.I. Pokryshkin, G.K. Zhukov and I.N. Kozhedub.
For the valor and courage shown during 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 combat missions, conducted 156 air battles, and shot down 59 enemy aircraft. In the words of the hero himself: “Recorded combat 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 account for the war” (Chuev F. Soldiers of the Empire. M., 1998. P. 376).
Military friends congratulate A.I. Pokryshkin (first on the right) on his award
third medal "Gold Star". 1st Ukrainian Front, August 1944
Pokryshkin states: “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 did not miss the opportunity to emphasize that the Soviet pilot flew their Airacobra R-59. 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 Special attention devoted to the development of aviation in the country. During the years of Stalin's Five-Year Plans, experimental design bureaus were created, aircraft factories were built, and flight schools and colleges were opened. There were massive campaigns to join flying clubs. The 1930s were the golden era of Soviet aviation records. Pilots who broke world records became national heroes. Photographs of famous pilots never left the pages of newspapers and magazines. Everyone heard the names of M. Gromov, 1) V. Chkalova, G. Baidukova, 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, 220 in Leningrad, 200 in Kiev, 155 in Minsk, 100 in Rostov-on-Don, in Tbilisi - 111, in Odessa - 50, in Khabarovsk - 155, in Voroshilovsk ( Far East) - 315 aircraft (Pravda. 1938. November 11). Poems and songs were written about the pilots, and works of art were created. 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 German pilots virtually dominate the air until mid-1943, and in the future were not very afraid of retaliation from the Soviet Air Force?
Aviation in the Red Army suffered huge losses on the first day of the war. Mainly at airfields. But 400 planes were shot down in the air. In the first six months of the war we lost 6,400 aircraft. There were many losses, despite the massive heroism of the pilots, not only in 1941. Let us present some comparative data that has long been known in the West, but has appeared in our publications only in recent years.
The best Soviet ace is Colonel General of Aviation, three times Hero of the Soviet Union I.N. Kozhedub (b. 1920) - flew 330 combat missions, conducted 120 air battles, shot down 62 enemy aircraft (at the front - since March 1943).
The best German ace - Eric Hartmann (b. 1922) - made 1404 combat missions, conducted 825 air battles, shot down 352 aircraft (on the Eastern Front - since 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 in their personal combat accounts (the total number of aircraft they shot down was 6582). “104 Luftwaffe pilots shot down 100 or more aircraft. 300 German pilots shot down 24 thousand Soviet planes” (Quoted from: A.K. Sulyanov, Arrest in the Kremlin. M., 1991. P. 225). In the statistical study, “The classification of secrecy has been removed. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, hostilities and military conflicts" (M., 1993) it is indicated that during the Great Patriotic War we lost 88.3 thousand combat aircraft, of which 43.1 thousand aircraft were killed in battle (p. 366 ). It turns out that 300 German pilots shot down more than half of the Soviet aircraft. They say that these figures struck Stalin so much that he ordered Abakumov to immediately arrest the Minister of Aviation Industry and the Air Force command (Sulyanov A.K. Arrest in the Kremlin. M., 1991. P. 227).
“Without fear of losing the modest reserves of my class sense,” writes Colonel S. Gribanov, “I will quote the words of the Luftwaffe ace Johann Steinhof: “The commanders of the Russian pilots did not prepare them well. They probably instilled in their pilots a disdain for the enemy. And we shot them down like geese... "(Gribanov S. Hostages of Time. M., 1992. P. 214; 206-228).
“The Germans had much better training,” confirms the Soviet ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.I. Popkov. - The weapons are 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: “After graduating from aviation schools, our pilots had relatively little flying time due to a shortage of aircraft, engines, gasoline, and ammunition. Many graduating cadets had ten to twelve hours of flight time on a combat aircraft and arrived at the front poorly prepared, often becoming prey to German aces on their first flights. Before the war, the main type of fighter, the I-16, was inferior to the Me-109 both in speed and in armament - the Messers had cannons, while our donkeys had only machine guns, and even 7.62 caliber ones. Are the 20-mm Oerlikon cannon shells and the bullet from our ShKAS machine gun comparable?” (Sulyanov 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 their calculation methods... The system of awarding pilots by points was used only on the Western Front, since the Luftwaffe command believed that it was easier to shoot down Russian planes on Eastern Front than to fight with “Mustangs”, “Thunderbolts” and “Mosquitoes” 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 World War II, we must still pay tribute to the German pilots. Attempts to belittle their exploits as pilots by labeling them “fascists” are not useful from the point of view of historical truth. The overwhelming number of German pilots, as can now be argued, considered flying and airplanes their first love, and politics and patriotism came second” (Mitcham SV, Muller J. Commanders of the Third Reich. Smolensk, 1995; Toliver R.F. ., Constable T.J. Erich Hartmann - the blond knight of the Reich. Ekaterinburg, 1998; Timokhovich I.V. Raises doubt... //Military Historical 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 record for flight distance (over 12 thousand km); in 1937 he carried out 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). Participant of ultra-long-distance flights as part of the crew of V.P. Chkalova.
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 steamship "Chelyuskin" (1934).
4 S.A. Levanevsky (1902-1937) - Hero of the Soviet Union (1934). Participant in the rescue of the crew of the steamship "Chelyuskin" (1934). Carried out an ultra-long flight from Los Angeles to Moscow (1936). Died during a flight over the North Pole.
Book materials 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.