G ritsevets Sergei Ivanovich - commander of a fighter squadron in the ranks of Republican Spain; commander of a separate aviation group of the latest I-153 fighters of the 1st army group, major; the first twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Born on July 6, 1909 in the village of Borovtsy, Grodno province (now Baranovichi district, Brest region of the Republic of Belarus) into a peasant family. Belarusian.

During World War I, the family of S.I. Gritsevets moved to the village of Shumikha, Kurgan region, where the future pilot spent his childhood and youth. Here, after graduating from a seven-year school, he worked for railroad, and from here in 1927 he left for the city of Zlatoust Chelyabinsk region, where he worked as a mechanic at a mechanical plant.

In the ranks of the Red Army since 1931, on a Komsomol ticket, he is sent to study at the Orenburg military pilot school, forever linking his life with military aviation. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1931. After completing his studies in September 1932, he served in the Kiev Fighter Squadron, and a year later - as a flight commander in the 1st Red Banner Fighter Squadron in Far East... The success of the young pilot was noticed by the command, so in 1936 he was sent to study at the Odessa Air Combat School, and upon completion of his studies he was left there as an instructor pilot. Since 1938 S.I. Gritsevets at the Kirovabad Aviation School prepares Spanish Republican pilots for air battles, and he himself writes reports with a request to send him to Spain, which is fighting fascism.

Finally, in June 1938, with a foreign passport in the name of Sergei Ivanovich Gorev, as part of a group of 34 volunteer pilots, he joined the ranks of the Republicans. During the 116 days of his stay on Spanish soil, the commander of the fighter squadron S.I. Gritsevets had to participate in 57 air battles. On some days, the pilots made 5-7 flights. In Spain, all the best qualities of the fighter pilot Gritsevets were clearly manifested. A man of extraordinary courage and courage, he improved his flying skills from battle to battle. Thirty downed enemy aircraft personally and seven in the group on his combat account. On other days, the squadron commander Gritsevets managed to destroy two or three and once even seven fascist vultures with his "snub-nosed" (as the Spaniards fondly called the Soviet I-16 fighter). On October 15, 1938, Soviet volunteers received an order to return to their homeland. At the end of December S.I. Gritsevets was awarded the rank of major ...

Have By the Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 22, 1939 "for exemplary fulfillment of special tasks of the Government to strengthen the defensive power of the Soviet Union and for displayed heroism" Major Sergei Ivanovich Gritsevets was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin.

Having refused the proposed position of the head of the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots, he was sent to a combat unit in the Far East. On May 28, 1939, Japanese troops invaded Mongolian territory near the Khalkhin-Gol River. In response to this act of aggression, the Soviet government sent equipment, weapons and the most experienced military personnel to help the Mongolian People's Republic, among whom was the Hero of the Soviet Union S.I. Gritsevets.

Here, on Khalkhin Gol, the talent of fighter pilot S.I. Gritsevets. He flew an I-16 fighter plane, then commanded a separate group of the latest I-153 (Chaika) fighters. During the period from June 22 to August 30, 1939, in the skies of the Mongolian People's Republic, he performed one hundred and thirty-eight successful sorties, shooting down twelve enemy aircraft and performed an amazingly daring feat in his courage: he rescued the commander of the 70th aviation fighter regiment, Major V.M. Zabaluev, who was knocked out by the Japanese. ... In front of the Japanese, seventy kilometers behind the front line, S.I. Gritsevets sat down in the steppe, squeezed Zabaluev between the left side and the armored seat of his invulnerable I-16 and successfully delivered him to his airfield.

Have By the Kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 29, 1939 "for exemplary performance of combat missions and outstanding heroism shown in the performance of combat missions, giving the right to receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union", it was decided "to build bronze busts and put them on a pedestal in the homeland of those awarded : 1. Hero of the Soviet Union, Major Sergei Ivanovich Gritsevets. 2. Hero of the Soviet Union, Major Kravchenko Grigory Panteleevich ".

These were the first twice Heroes of the Soviet Union.

But it was not destined to the most productive Soviet fighter pilot, who had on his account forty-two shot down enemy aircraft, twice Hero of the Soviet Union S.I. Gritsevets receive special insignia ...

The Gold Star medal was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 16, 1939, but a month earlier, on September 16, 1939, Major S. Gritsevets. died in a plane crash near the village of Bolbasovo, Orsha District, Vitebsk Region, flying to a new destination when a landing fighter crashed into his plane.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of the Mongolian People's Republic.

At the place of death of S.I. Gritsevets, a monument is erected. A bronze bust in the city of Baranovichi, a monument and a memorial plaque in the hero city of Minsk. Streets in Moscow (since 1994 renamed into Bolshoi Znamensky Lane), St. Petersburg, in the Belarusian cities of Minsk, Orsha, Baranovichi, as well as the aviation and sports club DOSAAF of Belarus are named after the Hero. A memorial plaque with a relief portrait of the twice Hero is installed on the facade of the building of the Minsk secondary school number 22 at the address: Minsk, Gritsevets street, house number 9.

The Russians had a reputation for skillful combat pilots - their opponents noted in the first world war. Our aces increased their fame during the Second World War. And yet the brilliance of the national air school was most clearly manifested in the thirties. The wars in Spain (1936-1939), in China (began in 1937 and lasted until 1945), the battles in Khalkhia-Gol (1939), the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), as you know, were characterized by an acute air combat... In fierce battles, the pilots of the Air Force of many countries learned the skill and prowess of our pilots. However, the reader can be convinced of this for himself.

SERGEY GRITSEVTS WAS NOT EQUAL

War Record Book

1. The front line was crossed by 60 bombers that time. They walked confidently towards Madrid. But their slender ranks were disrupted immediately after they were attacked by a group of fighters, led by Sergei Gritsevets. He himself flunked the flagship aircraft from the first attack. From close range, he struck with an aiming burst, first at the right engine of the Junkers, then at the cockpit. The bomber pecked his nose, fell to one side and exposed the wing to the blow. And then four more enemy planes engulfed in flames flew to the ground.

And although the Soviet I-15 and I-16 were only two links, the pilots of the Junkers, turning around, began to randomly throw bombs, and at the Franco positions, just to get away as soon as possible. And the "snub-nosed" and "midges" - "chatos" and "moskas", as the Spaniards sympathetically called the I-15 and I-16 fighters, continued to press, knocking down five more Junkers in subsequent attacks. The next day, Franco bombers once again tried to break through to the city, but, having lost four aircraft, were again forced to retreat. And this time their path was blocked by the group of captain Sergei Gritsevets. A pilot who received his baptism of fire in the skies of Spain during the most intense period of hostilities, in 1938, when Madrid was already in the siege ring, and in a matter of days he became a famous ace.

REFERENCE. In June 1936, a military mutiny broke out in Spain against the republican government, led by General Franco. Started Civil War... The Francoists were assisted by Germany, Italy, Portugal, and some other states. Volunteers from 50 countries of the world came to the aid of the Republicans, including more than 160 volunteer pilots from the Soviet Union.
In Spain, for the first time, views on the tactics of using the air force of the two main opponents in the Second World War - the USSR and Germany - clashed. The Luftwaffe command viewed the war as a good opportunity to test aircraft. This task was entrusted to the pilots of the so-called Condor Legion and Werner Melders, the main developer of the "new tactics" of German fighter aircraft. The same task was set by the command of the Soviet Air Force. Taking part in hostilities, commander Yakov Smushkevich said at one of the meetings of the Military Council of the NCO, “we were able to check our people, check the material part and, mainly, experience what the enemy is, the enemy with whom we have to fight”.

Sergei Gritsevets not only skillfully led groups of fighters into battle, but also skillfully fought himself. There was no aerial combat from which he would not return victorious. In one of the sorties, the Soviet ace destroyed seven enemy aircraft at once! A record unrivaled in the thirties.

In the group of Sergei Gritsevets, the entire set of tactical techniques developed by Soviet pilots at that time was practiced. For example, the option of echeloning different types of fighters in height. The I-16s located at the top were the first to rush at the enemy and press him down, where the I-15s were. Thus, the group achieved success in several battles.

For three months of fighting in the most difficult - the final period of the war in Spain, in battles with the aces of Melders, Sergei Gritsevets personally shot down more than 20 aircraft. And in total in the skies of Spain, he destroyed 30 enemy bombers and fighters. On February 22, 1939, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Other Soviet pilots also fought effectively in Spain. Ivan Lakeev destroyed 12 enemy aircraft, 8 - Anatoly Serov, 6 aerial victories on the account of Pavel Korotkov and Pavel Rychagov.

The highest result during air battles in Spain, according to some sources, was achieved by the Spanish pilot Joaquin Garcia Morato, who fought on the side of the Francoists. He destroyed 40 enemy aircraft.

2. ON KHALKHIN-GOAL Sergei Gritsevets grabbed the Spanish baggage: acute observation, lightning-quick resourcefulness, masterly mastery of piloting technique. Together with him, Ivan Lakeev, Yevgeny Stepanov, Boris Smirnov, and other Soviet air aces arrived from the distant Iberian Peninsula, from China - pilots Grigory Kravchenko, Leonid Orlov and their colleagues, who had victories over Japanese pilots, from Moscow - test pilot Viktor Rakhov. And even among this cohort, which was headed by "General Douglas" corps commander Yakov Smushkevich, Sergei Gritsevets was a star.

REFERENCE. On May 28, 1939, Japan, after capturing part of China and the formation of the puppet state of Manchukuo on this territory, brought its troops to the borders of the Mongolian People's Republic and began military operations in the area of ​​the Khalkhnn-Gol River.
The Soviet Union, fulfilling the Protocol on Mutual Assistance between the USSR in the Mongolian People's Republic in 1936, at the request of the Mongolian government sent its troops into the republic and began military operations.
By that time, Japanese aviation had destroyed the airfields known to it on the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic with unexpected raids, where many Soviet aircraft were burned. At that time, one of the prominent pilots, Morimoto, was at the head of the Japanese aviation.
From the Japanese side, the Nakajima AN-1 and Boeing-281 fighters (licensed version of the American aircraft) took part in the air battles. Then the newest fighters Mitsubishi S-00 "Zek" (I-97) were introduced into the battle. In horizontal maneuver and rate of climb, the I-97 were superior to the Soviet I-16 fighters. Therefore, at the beginning of June, the USSR sent units of the latest I-16 fighters and new maneuverable fighters with retractable landing gear I-153 "Chaika" to the Mongolian People's Republic. Pilots with experience of fighting in Spain and China were also sent.

In June, Sergei was appointed commander of the Seagull squadron, before that he flew an I-16. And already in the first sortie he goes to the trick. The Seagulls approached a group of Japanese fighters with their landing gear unstuck. The Japanese pilots, mistaking the new aircraft for the I-15, inferior to the I-97 in speed, confidently entered the battle. Before the attack, the Chaeks' landing gear was removed, and the Japanese noticed this, but it was too late. Gritsevets' nine shot down four I-97s from the very first approach, the rest retreated.

In each sortie the "Chaeks" group was headed by Sergei Gritsevets, and each time the group achieved success. Including August 25, when intense battles unfolded both on the ground and in the air. 7 air battles, and fierce ones, began that day. More than 200 Soviet and Japanese aircraft took part in one of them. The battle unfolded at an altitude of six thousand meters. According to eyewitnesses, motors roared over the river valley, machine-gun bursts thundered, and burning planes fell down. And in this whirlwind "The Seagull" by Sergei Gritsevets stood out.

In the midst of the battle, the pilot noticed how a Japanese fighter was attached to the tail of his friend Leonid Orlov's car. Our pilot, carried away by the attack, did not see this, and then Sergei went head-on to the Japanese. He could not stand the oncoming attack and soared up. Gritsevets gave a short aiming burst. The pilot threw his car this time in a steep dive, pretended to be hit and fell. The trick did not work, it was well known to Gritsevets from the battles in Spain. He immediately dived down for the samurai, caught up with him and shot him at close range.

In the battles in the area of ​​the Khalkhin-Gol River, Sergei Gritsevets shot down 12 Japanese aircraft and brought the score to 42 air victories, having achieved the highest result among fighter pilots in wars and military conflicts of the thirties. On Khalkhin Gol, he performed an amazing feat - he saved his commander, Major Vyacheslav Zabaluev, who was knocked out over the territory occupied by the enemy. On June 26, he landed on an I-16 at the enemy's location and took his commander.

Sergei Gritsevets was one of the first Soviet fighter pilots to become twice Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the second Gold Star medal on 29 August. If he had to take part in the Great Patriotic War, his name would undoubtedly be better known today. But ... an outstanding Soviet pilot died on September 16, 1939 in a plane crash.

Other Soviet pilots also fought effectively in the sky of Khalkhin-Gol. For example, Viktor Rakhov, who has 8 aerial victories. On July 22, 1939, 95 Soviet fighters and 120 Japanese fighters took to the air in the Khalkhin Gol area. The group of planes of the Land of the Rising Sun was led by the famous Japanese ace Fukuda Takeo. His name did not leave the pages of the world press. But that time he did not have to lead for long. In the first minutes of the battle, he was shot down by a young Russian pilot, Viktor Rakhov. In total, the Japanese lost 31 aircraft, the Russians 12.

3. The BATTLE was already drawing to a close when Anton Gubenko saw a lone Japanese fighter hurrying towards its territory, apparently having used up all its ammunition. Gubenko chased him, aiming to land him at his airfield. Imperceptibly he approached the enemy and showed with his hand: go to the landing. The Japanese maneuvered swiftly, tried to break away from the pursuit. But Anton at that moment brought his I-16 to the aileron of the right wing of the Japanese fighter and destroyed it with the propeller of the aircraft. He tilted and slid to the ground. Gubenko landed successfully at his airfield.

The duel took place on May 31, 1938 over the city of Hankou. And in total, the brave Soviet pilot destroyed 5 enemy aircraft in the sky of China (according to other sources - 7). However, he did not own the primacy in the dispute between the aces during the Sino-Japanese war. To whom?

REFERENCE. The Sino-Japanese War began in July 1937. Japan initially succeeded in occupying a significant part of China's territory. During that period, the Chinese aviation carried great losses. The Japanese Air Force reigned supreme in the air, bombing civilians as well. At the request of the Chinese leadership, the Soviet Union provided China with military assistance. From October 1937 to June 1941, the USSR supplied China with 985 aircraft, 31.6 thousand bombs of various calibers, and many other aviation equipment. Aviation advisors and over 700 pilots and mechanics were also sent.

The most productive of our compatriots in the course of the Japanese-Chinese war, according to the author of this essay, was Pyotr Kozachenko. He destroyed 11 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat. The second on this list is the famous pilot Alexei Blagoveshchensky. He shot down 9 enemy aircraft personally and in a group. The third result belongs to Anton Gubenko, which I have already mentioned. On account of his 5 aerial victories.

The priority among the aces in the Japanese-Chinese war belongs to the Japanese pilots who fought for a long time (recall, the war lasted until 1945), and fought skillfully. On account of Mechtsuoshi Tarui - 28 aerial victories, Tetsutso Iwamoto - 14. The highest result among the Chinese aces belongs to Li Chi Sun - 11 destroyed aircraft.

In the SHORT Soviet-Finnish war, none of the pilots could become one of the aces - to achieve five air victories. At the same time, many Soviet and Finnish pilots fought effectively. So, in the Soviet-Finnish war, Pyotr Kozachenko shot down four enemy aircraft and brought the total score of his air victories to 15. Viktor Talalikhin, known to many for his night ramming in the fall of 1941 on the outskirts of Moscow, achieved four success.

Anatoly Dokuchaev, "Krasnaya Zvezda", July 19, 1995. _____________________________________________________________________

War Record Book

SERGEY GRITSEVTS WAS NOT EQUAL. AND INDEED IT IS

It's nice to know that your materials are read, they are responded to. Several calls at once rang out in the editorial office on the day of publication of the essay about the air aces of the thirties "Sergei Gritsevets had no equal" ("Krasnaya Zvezda" of July 19 of this year). The motives of the callers were different. Some thanked for the publication, others clarified the given figures, and still others offered their services in providing the editors with relevant information. But almost all the callers were unanimous in the fact that the "Red Star" to face to publish the table of the ranks of the air aces of the thirties. As one of the students of the Moscow Aviation technological university, for the domestic press it will be a novelty.

Well, the editors have such an opportunity. Today we publish two tables in which Soviet and foreign pilots who distinguished themselves in the thirties - in the wars in Spain (1936-1939) and China (began in 1937 and lasted until 1945), in which "rivalry among themselves" are conducted by Soviet and foreign pilots, in battles on Khalkhin Gol (1939), during the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940).

WITH I'll make a clarification once. Air victories of Soviet pilots in the table are given according to archival documents of the thirties - submissions for awards, reports, historical forms of units, and they can be considered reliable. I did not take other sources into account. For example, in domestic literature there are publications in which

Sergei Gritsevets lived a short but unusually bright life and left a noticeable mark in the history of Russian aviation. The son of a poor Belarusian peasant, he was born on July 19, 1909 in the village of Borovtsy, now the Baranovichi district of the Brest region. He graduated from 7 classes in 1927. He worked as a laborer in the service of the track on the railway, in "Lnotorg", a locksmith's apprentice in the hilt shop of a mechanical plant in Zlatoust. He graduated from FZU, studied at the evening department of the metallurgical technical school. Since 1931 in the ranks of the Red Army.

In June 1931, on a Komsomol ticket, he arrived at the 3rd Orenburg Military Pilot School, where he was considered one of the most initiative and capable cadets. Fighting sheets of those years called to be equal in study to Sergei. After graduating from aviation school in September 1932, Gritsevets became a fighter pilot. First he served in the Kiev air brigade, and from December 1933 in the 1st Red Banner IAE in Gatchina. As part of this squadron, he then served in the Far East, became the chief of the air rifle service of the squadron, and then was appointed flight commander. From August 1, 1936, he studied at the Odessa School of Air Combat and Aerobatics, then was an instructor pilot there.

A military pilot with a small suitcase was waiting for the tram number 13, as it was called "aviation" here, to go from the Odessa-Glavnaya railway station in the direction of Lustdorf, a seaside children's climate station. The sultry day of the end of July 1936 was approaching, but the morning was not yet hot, and Sergei felt cheerful and light, enjoying the fresh and humid sea air. The mood was excellent.

Almost empty at an early hour, the carriage, having accepted the lonely passenger, ran through the deserted streets, lined with trees in the middle lane, interspersed with subtropical ones. In front of Lyustdorf the tram turned onto Ulyanovka and stopped near the checkpoint of the aviation school. Sergei Gritsevets got out, and the car, rattling and ringing, turned into the city.

The core of the aerobatics school was the aviation squadron special purpose... Talented career pilots of the Red Army Air Force, under the guidance of experienced instructors - methodologists, honed the skills of conducting aerial combat here, increased the accuracy of aerial fire, in a word, mastered full course the use of the latest aircraft in combat - the I-16 fighter.

By the end of July 1936, most of the first set of fighter pilots had gathered at the Odessa Air Combat School ...

Sergei wrote to his brother Ivan in Moscow:

"Since August 1, I have been in Odessa and study at school. By the way, the theory is presented very well. I fly a new fighter. I have to work a lot: 7 hours a day and during extracurricular hours we study until 1 - 2 am. This is true , it happens on some days. Our study, it turns out, is designed for a year, but they also say that with an increased pace of study we will finish school in 6 - 8 months. That would be very good. If so, then Galya will live for this time it will be boring for my mother to live apart, but we are no stranger to her. This is the case with us. So far, all the best. Your brother Seryozha ... "

Then it happened in the aviation units. The rank of senior lieutenant was the Acting Flight Commander of the 8th Odessa Pilot School of the Kiev Military District.

In June 1938, as part of a group of 34 pilots, he arrived in Spain to provide assistance to the Republican Air Force. He had the pseudonyms "Sergio" and "Commander Serge".

In battles with enemy aircraft in unequal conditions, when the ratio between republican and Franco aircraft was often 1: 5, he came to the conviction that the only correct tactic of fighting in such conditions could only be a group "falcon strike" - a sudden attack of the enemy by the entire squadron from above, behind.

On August 14, 1938, a group of aircraft, which he commanded, used this new tactical technique for the first time in an air battle. The blow was so unexpected and overwhelming for the enemy that the enemy group lost control. Several enemy vehicles fell to the ground, engulfed in flames. Gritsevets' group in full force returned to the airfield.

In total, in the skies of Spain, Sergei Gritsevets made 88 sorties with a total flight time of 115 hours, in 42 (according to other sources in 24) air battles he shot down 30 enemy aircraft (6 personally and 24 as part of a group).

The pilots of the group under his leadership shot down 85 aircraft. The news of one of his combat missions spread all over the world ...

An air battle with German He-51s and Italian Cr-32s began near the Ebro River over the positions of Lister's corps, to which Spanish and foreign journalists were invited that day. Senior Lieutenant Gritsevets fought in the sky with superior enemy forces. But how! On the "donkey" - as the maneuverable I-16 was nicknamed - Sergey impudently attacked a group of enemy aircraft. The central newspaper of the Spanish communists "Mundo Obrero" reported about this unequal battle: "Sergio, a brave pilot of the Republic, faithful to his military duty, fighting heroically, in one sortie shot down 7 (seven!) Nazi planes (of which 5 Fiats CR-32), but his car was also badly damaged. "

He-51

Fiat CR-32

Many foreign newspapers also wrote about this feat. Among others - the English "Daily News", whose correspondent watched the air battle and even managed to find out the real name of Camarado Sergio. The newspaper came out with a catchy headline: "Russian pilot Sergei Gritsevets is a man of amazing courage." [According to S. V. Abrosov's data, in reality, during one of the sorties to escort the Security Council, Sergei had to fight off 7 Fiats alone, but, according to official documents, he did not declare victories in this battle. Most likely, this is just a beautiful legend. ]

Sergei Gritsevets especially distinguished himself in the final and most difficult battles for the Ebro, where the Germans used the experienced Messera armed with cannons and significantly superior to the I-16 in speed. In just 20 days in August 1938, Soviet and Spanish pilots shot down 72 enemy aircraft.

battle of I-16 with Bf-109

In one of the battles on August 13, 1938, together with the Spanish pilot Sergeant Luis Margalef, he knocked out and forced the German He-111 bomber, whose crew was captured, to land on the republican territory.

August 18, 1938 - on the day of Aviation, Gritsevets shot down 2 Italian Fiats. With his pilots, Gritsevets sometimes climbed without oxygen devices to an altitude of up to 7 km, in order from there to unleash a blow on the enemy.

The last time the pilots of Sergei Gritsevets' group participated in the battle on October 15, 1938, when about 100 republican aircraft in 7 squadrons were taken into the air at once. Then, over the Ebro River in a tense air battle, by the joint efforts of Soviet and Spanish pilots, 3 Messera and 5 Fiats were shot down. Our losses amounted to 3 aircraft (all pilots escaped by parachute).

However, by the time the 113-day battle for the Ebro ended, of the 34 pilots who arrived with Gritsevets in June 1938, only 7 remained in the ranks.

List of famous victories of Senior Lieutenant S.I.Gritsevets:

Otto Bertram

On February 22, 1939, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree stating that for the exemplary fulfillment of special tasks of the government to strengthen the defensive power of the Soviet Union and the personal courage and courage shown at the same time, Senior Lieutenant S.I.Gritsevets was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin himself presented Gritsevets with a certificate of conferring this high title. It should also be noted that the rank of captain Sergei Gritsevets never had: from a senior lieutenant he immediately became a major (December 31, 1938).

In full force, the strengths of the character and flying skills of Sergei Gritsevets manifested themselves in the Khalkhin-Gol sky in the summer of 1939: lightning-quick resourcefulness, keen observation, a sense of comradely revenue, masterly mastery of piloting technique. In air battles, personally and as part of a group, he shot down 12 Japanese aircraft.

At first, Gritsevets flew the I-16, and when the new I-153 ("Seagulls") were received at the end of June, he was appointed squadron commander of these machines.

In most of the combat missions of the Seagulls, the squadron of which Gritsevets was always in the lead, ended with the victory of the Soviet pilots.

So it was in the memorable air battle on August 25, when ground troops pounded the encircled units of the 6th Japanese Army. On this day, 7 air battles took place over Khalkhin-Gol. More than 200 Soviet and Japanese aircraft took part in one of them.

The battle took place at altitudes up to 6,000 meters. Engines roared over the river valley, machine-gun bursts crackled, planes fell down, leaving plumes of black smoke behind them. And in this whirlwind the "Seagull" of the squadron commander stood out.

In the midst of the battle, Gritsevets noticed how a Japanese fighter was attached to the tail of Leonid Orlov's car. Carried away by the attack, Orlov did not notice this, and then Sergei Gritsevets went head-on to the Japanese. The enemy could not withstand the oncoming attack and soared upward with a candle. Gritsevets gave a short aiming burst at the Japanese pilot. He threw his car into a steep dive, pretended to be hit and falls. But such a trick of the enemy was well known to Gritsevets from the battles in Spain. He immediately dived down for the samurai, caught up with him and shot him at close range. The Japanese fighter, without leaving the dive, crashed into a sand dune.

On June 26, 1939, in the area of ​​Lake Buir-Nur, an air battle with the Japanese began, which lasted about two hours and ended with the complete victory of the Soviet pilots. The enemy lost 15 aircraft. On this day, Sergei Gritsevets performed a feat that became famous throughout the country.

I-153 and I-16 in Mongolia

In the battle, the plane of the commander of the 70th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major V.M.Zabaluev, was shot down and he parachuted down on the territory occupied by the enemy.

All this was seen by Sergei Gritsevets. Without thinking twice, he landed his car near the landing comrade, helped him get into the cockpit and took off under the fire of the Japanese infantry. This was the first such case in Soviet aviation.

Sergey Ivanovich Gritsevets and Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zabaluev

In the sky Khalkhin - Gola S. I. Gritsevets made 138 sorties. In air battles, he shot down 12 enemy aircraft (according to some sources - 10 personally and 2 in a group, according to others - all 12 personally).

List of famous victories of Major S.I.Gritsevets in the skies of Mongolia:

On August 29, 1939, Sergei Gritsevets was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union for victories in aerial battles and the rescue of the commander. He was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner (1939) and the Mongolian Order of the Battle Red Banner, 1st degree (08/18/1939).

He was not only an excellent air fighter, but also a wonderful mentor. Dozens of young pilots learned the art of air combat from Gritsevets. He conducted debriefings with them, tactical classes, taught them to combine maneuver and fire: "Only a second is given to the pilot for an aiming burst," he said, "Only one second!"

He really knew how to be the first to give a turn, for some fraction of a second ahead of the enemy. He always attacked unexpectedly, never allowing a template in tactics. By the beginning of World War II, it was Gritsevets who was the most productive Soviet fighter pilot with 42 air victories!

At the beginning of September 1939, Major S. I. Gritsevets, together with a group of pilots headed by corps commander Ya. V. Smushkevich, left for Moscow.

He was appointed an advisor to one of the air brigades of the Belarusian Military District. There was a march of the Red Army troops in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

On September 16, Gritsevets with a group of pilots attended a meeting of the District Military Council in Minsk. We returned to our airfield near Orsha at dusk. Gritsevets landed first. Major PI Khara, who was going to land as the second, did not see the letter "T" laid out, began to land on the opposite side of the airfield and crashed into the parked car of Gritsevets at high speed.

As a result of the collision, both planes were destroyed, Khara received serious injuries, and Gritsevets was cut off by a propeller blow. So, an absurd accident caused the death of an outstanding Soviet pilot.

Representatives of the Soviet air force... Many pilots gave their lives for the freedom and independence of our Motherland, many became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Some of them forever entered the elite of the Russian Air Force, the famous cohort of Soviet aces - the thunderstorm of the Luftwaffe. Today we will recall the 10 most successful Soviet fighter pilots, who chalked up the most enemy aircraft shot down in air battles.

On February 4, 1944, the outstanding Soviet fighter pilot Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was awarded the first star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, he was already three times Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war years, only one more Soviet pilot was able to repeat this achievement - it was Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin. But these two most famous aces of the Soviet fighter aviation did not end with the war. During the war, another 25 pilots were twice nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, not to mention those who were once awarded this highest military award of the country in those years.

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub

During the war, Ivan Kozhedub flew 330 sorties, conducted 120 air battles and personally shot down 64 enemy aircraft. He flew on planes La-5, La-5FN and La-7.

Official Soviet historiography included 62 downed enemy aircraft, but archival research showed that Kozhedub shot down 64 aircraft (for some reason, there were no two air victories - April 11, 1944 - PZL P.24 and June 8, 1944 - Me 109) ... Among the trophies of the Soviet ace pilot were 39 fighters (21 Fw-190, 17 Me-109 and 1 PZL P.24), 17 dive bombers (Ju-87), 4 bombers (2 Ju-88 and 2 Non-111), 3 attack aircraft (Hs-129) and one Me-262 jet fighter. In addition, in his autobiography, he indicated that in 1945 he shot down two American P-51 Mustang fighters, which attacked him from a long distance, mistaking it for a German plane.

In all likelihood, had Ivan Kozhedub (1920-1991) started the war in 1941, his number of downed planes could have been even higher. However, his debut came only in 1943, and the future ace shot down his first plane in a battle on Kursk Bulge... On July 6, during a combat mission, he shot down a German Ju-87 dive bomber. Thus, the pilot's performance is really amazing, in just two military years he managed to bring the score of his victories to a record in the Soviet Air Force.

At the same time, Kozhedub was never shot down during the entire war, although he several times returned to the airfield on a badly damaged fighter. But the last could have been his first air battle, which took place on March 26, 1943. His La-5 was damaged by a burst of a German fighter, the armored backrest saved the pilot from an incendiary projectile. And upon returning home, his plane was fired upon by its own air defense, the car received two hits. Despite this, Kozhedub managed to land the plane, which could no longer be fully restored.

The future best Soviet ace made his first steps in aviation while studying at the Shotkinsky flying club. In early 1940, he was drafted into the Red Army and in the fall of the same year he graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilot School, after which he continued to serve in this school as an instructor. With the outbreak of the war, the school was evacuated to Kazakhstan. The war itself began for him in November 1942, when Kozhedub was seconded to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 302nd Fighter Aviation Division. The formation of the division was completed only in March 1943, after which it flew to the front. As mentioned above, he won his first victory only on July 6, 1943, but a start was made.

Already on February 4, 1944, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Kozhedub was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, at that time he managed to make 146 sorties and shoot down 20 enemy aircraft in air battles. He received his second star in the same year. He was presented for the award on August 19, 1944 for 256 completed combat missions and 48 downed enemy aircraft. At that time, as a captain, he served as deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.

In air battles, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was distinguished by fearlessness, composure and automatic piloting, which he brought to perfection. Perhaps the fact that he spent several years as an instructor before being sent to the front played a very large role in his future success in the sky. Kozhedub could easily conduct aimed fire at the enemy at any position of the aircraft in the air, and also easily performed complex aerobatics. Being an excellent sniper, he preferred to conduct aerial combat at a distance of 200-300 meters.

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub won his last victory in the Great Patriotic War on April 17, 1945 in the skies over Berlin, in this battle he shot down two German FW-190 fighters. Three times the Hero of the Soviet Union, the future Marshal of Aviation (rank awarded on May 6, 1985), Major Kozhedub became on August 18, 1945. After the war, he continued to serve in the country's Air Force and went through a very serious career path, bringing still a lot of benefits to the country. The legendary pilot died on August 8, 1991, and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin

Alexander Ivanovich Tires fought from the very first day of the war to the last. During this time, he flew 650 sorties, in which he conducted 156 air battles and officially personally shot down 59 enemy aircraft and 6 aircraft in the group. He is the second most effective ace of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition after Ivan Kozhedub. During the war years he flew on the MiG-3, Yak-1 and the American P-39 Airacobra.

The number of downed planes is very relative. Quite often, Alexander Pokryshkin made deep raids behind enemy lines, where he also managed to win victories. However, only those of them were counted that could be confirmed by ground services, that is, if possible, over their territory. He could have had 8 such unaccounted victories only in 1941. At the same time, they accumulated throughout the war. Also, Alexander Pokryshkin often gave the planes shot down by him at the expense of his subordinates (mainly wingmen), thus stimulating them. This was quite common in those years.

Already during the first weeks of the war, Pokryshkin was able to understand that the tactics of the Soviet Air Force were outdated. Then he began to enter his notes on this account in a notebook. He kept an accurate record of air battles in which he and his friends took part, after which he made a detailed analysis of what was written. At the same time, at that time he had to fight in very difficult conditions of constant retreat. Soviet troops... Later he said: "Those who did not fight in 1941-1942 do not know a real war."

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and massive criticism of everything related to that period, some authors began to "cut" the number of Pokryshkin's victories. This was also due to the fact that at the end of 1944, the official Soviet propaganda finally made the pilot "a bright image of a hero, the main fighter of the war." In order not to lose the hero in a random battle, it was ordered to limit the flights of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, who by that time was already in command of the regiment. On August 19, 1944, after 550 sorties and 53 officially won victories, he became three times Hero of the Soviet Union, the first in history.

The wave of “revelations” that swept over him after the 1990s also swept over him because after the war he managed to take the post of Commander-in-Chief of the country's air defense forces, that is, he became a “major Soviet official”. If we talk about the low ratio of victories to completed sorties, then it can be noted that for a long time at the beginning of the war, Pokryshkin on his MiG-3, and then Yak-1 flew to attack enemy ground forces or perform reconnaissance flights. For example, by mid-November 1941, the pilot had already completed 190 combat missions, but the overwhelming majority of them - 144 were aimed at attacking enemy ground forces.

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was not only a cold-blooded, brave and virtuoso Soviet pilot, but also a thinking pilot. He was not afraid to criticize the existing tactics of using fighter aircraft and advocated its replacement. Discussions on this matter with the regiment commander in 1942 led to the fact that the ace pilot was even expelled from the party and the case was sent to the tribunal. The pilot was saved by the intercession of the regiment commissar and higher command. The case against him was dropped and reinstated in the party. After the war, Pokryshkin clashed with Vasily Stalin for a long time, which had a detrimental effect on his career. Everything changed only in 1953 after the death of Joseph Stalin. Subsequently, he managed to rise to the rank of Air Marshal, which was awarded to him in 1972. The famous pilot-ace died on November 13, 1985 at the age of 72 in Moscow.

Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov

Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov fought from the very first day of the Great Patriotic War. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war, he flew more than 450 sorties, shooting down 56 enemy aircraft personally and 6 in a group in 122 air battles. According to other sources, the number of his personal aerial victories could exceed 60. During the war years he flew on the I-153 "Chaika", I-16, Yak-1, P-39 "Airacobra" aircraft.

Probably no other Soviet fighter pilot had such a variety of downed enemy vehicles as that of Grigory Rechkalov. Among his trophies were Me-110, Me-109, Fw-190 fighters, Ju-88, He-111 bombers, Ju-87 dive bomber, Hs-129 attack aircraft, Fw-189 and Hs-126 reconnaissance aircraft, and such a rare machine as the Italian "Savoy" and the Polish PZL-24 fighter, which was used by the Romanian Air Force.

Surprisingly, the day before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Rechkalov was suspended from flights by the decision of the medical flight commission, he was diagnosed with color blindness. But upon returning to his unit with this diagnosis, he was still allowed to fly. The outbreak of the war forced the authorities to simply close their eyes to this diagnosis, simply ignoring it. At the same time, he served in the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment since 1939, together with Pokryshkin.

This brilliant military pilot was distinguished by a very contradictory and uneven character. Being an example of determination, courage and discipline in one sortie, in another he could distract himself from the main task and just as decisively start pursuing a random opponent, trying to increase the score of his victories. His combat fate in the war was closely intertwined with the fate of Alexander Pokryshkin. He flew with him in the same group, replaced him as squadron commander and regiment commander. Pokryshkin himself considered frankness and directness to be the best qualities of Grigory Rechkalov.

Rechkalov, like Pokryshkin, fought on June 22, 1941, but with a forced break for almost two years. In the very first month of the fighting, he managed to shoot down three enemy aircraft on his outdated I-153 biplane fighter. He also managed to fly on an I-16 fighter. On July 26, 1941, during a combat mission near Dubossary, he was wounded in the head and in the leg by ground fire, but managed to bring his plane to the airfield. After this injury, he spent 9 months in the hospital, during which time the pilot underwent three operations. And once again the medical commission tried to put an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the future famous ace. Grigory Rechkalov was sent to serve in a reserve regiment, which was equipped with U-2 aircraft. The future twice Hero of the Soviet Union took this direction as a personal insult. At the district air force headquarters, he managed to ensure that he was returned to his regiment, which at that time was called the 17th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. But very soon the regiment was recalled from the front for rearmament with the new American Airacobra fighters, which were sent to the USSR as part of the Lend-Lease program. For these reasons, Rechkalov began to beat the enemy again only in April 1943.

Grigory Rechkalov, being one of the domestic stars of fighter aviation, could perfectly interact with other pilots, guessing their intentions and working together as a group. Even during the war years, a conflict arose between him and Pokryshkin, but he never sought to throw out any negative about this or accuse his opponent. On the contrary, in his memoirs, he spoke well of Pokryshkin, noting that they managed to unravel the tactics of the German pilots, after which they began to use new techniques: they began to fly in pairs, not in units, it is better to use radio for guidance and communication, to echelon their so-called “ whatnot ".

Grigory Rechkalov scored 44 victories on the Aircobra, more than other Soviet pilots. After the end of the war, someone asked the renowned pilot what he valued most in the Airacobra fighter, on which so many victories were won: the power of a volley, speed, visibility, engine reliability? To this question, the ace pilot replied that all of the above, of course, mattered, these were the obvious advantages of the aircraft. But the main thing, he said, was in the radio. The Aerocobra had excellent radio communication, which was rare in those years. Thanks to this connection, the pilots in battle could communicate with each other, as if by telephone. Someone saw something - all the members of the group are aware of it at once. Therefore, in combat missions, we did not have any surprises.

After the end of the war, Grigory Rechkalov continued his service in the Air Force. True, not as long as other Soviet aces. Already in 1959, he went into the reserve with the rank of Major General. Then he lived and worked in Moscow. He died in Moscow on December 20, 1990 at the age of 70.

Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulaev

Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev ended up on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War in August 1942. In total, during the war years, he made 250 sorties, conducted 49 air battles, in which he personally destroyed 55 enemy aircraft and 5 more aircraft in the group. These statistics make Gulaev the most effective Soviet ace. For every 4 sorties, he had a downed plane or, on average, more than one plane for every air battle. During the war he flew on I-16, Yak-1, P-39 "Airacobra" fighters, most of his victories, like Pokryshkin and Rechkalov, he won on "Aerocobra".

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev shot down not much fewer planes than Alexander Pokryshkin. But in terms of the effectiveness of the battles, he far surpassed both him and Kozhedub. At the same time, he fought for less than two years. At first, in the deep Soviet rear, as part of the air defense forces, he was engaged in the protection of important industrial facilities, protecting them from enemy air raids. And in September 1944, he was almost forcibly sent to study at the Air Force Academy.

The Soviet pilot made his most effective battle on May 30, 1944. In one air battle over Sculeni, he managed to shoot down 5 enemy aircraft at once: two Me-109, Hs-129, Ju-87 and Ju-88. During the battle, he himself was seriously wounded in his right arm, but having concentrated all his strength and will, he was able to bring his fighter to the airfield, bleeding to death, landed and, having taxied into the parking lot, lost consciousness. The pilot came to his senses only in the hospital after the operation, and here he learned about the awarding of the second title of Hero of the Soviet Union to him.

All the time Gulaev was at the front, he fought desperately. During this time, he managed to make two successful rams, after which he managed to land his damaged plane. Several times during this time he was wounded, but after being wounded he invariably returned back to duty. In early September 1944, the ace pilot was forcibly sent to study. At that moment, the outcome of the war was already clear to everyone and they tried to protect the famous Soviet aces, sending them to the Air Force Academy by order. Thus, the war ended unexpectedly for our hero as well.

Nikolai Gulaev was called the brightest representative of the "romantic school" of air combat. Often, the pilot dared to commit "irrational actions" that shocked the German pilots, but helped him gain victories. Even among other far from ordinary Soviet fighter pilots, the figure of Nikolai Gulaev stood out for his colorfulness. Only such a person, possessing unparalleled courage, would be able to conduct 10 super-productive air battles, recording two of his victories on a successful ramming of enemy aircraft. Gulaev's modesty in public and in his self-esteem was discordant with his extremely aggressive and persistent manner of conducting aerial combat, and he managed to carry openness and honesty with boyish spontaneity throughout his life, preserving some youthful prejudices until the end of his life, which did not prevent him from reaching the rank of Colonel-General of Aviation. The illustrious pilot died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow.

Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev

Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev is twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Like Kozhedub, he began his combat path relatively late, only in 1943. During the war years, he flew 296 combat missions, conducted 120 air battles, personally shooting down 53 enemy aircraft and 3 in the group. He flew the La-5 and La-5FN fighters.

The almost two-year "delay" in appearing at the front was due to the fact that the fighter pilot suffered from gastric ulcer, and with this disease he was not allowed to the front. Since the beginning of World War II, he worked as an instructor at a flight school, and after that he overtook Lend-Lease "Airacobras". His work as an instructor gave him a lot, as well as another Soviet ace Kozhedub. At the same time, Evstigneev did not stop writing reports to the command with a request to send him to the front, as a result, they were still satisfied. Kirill Evstigneev received his baptism of fire in March 1943. Like Kozhedub, he fought as part of the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment, flew on a La-5 fighter. On his very first sortie on March 28, 1943, he won two victories.

For the entire time of the war, the enemy did not manage to shoot down Kirill Evstigneev. But he got it twice from his own people. For the first time, the Yak-1 pilot, who was carried away by air combat, crashed into his plane from above. The Yak-1 pilot immediately jumped out of the plane, which had lost one wing, with a parachute. But Evstigneev's La-5 suffered less, and he managed to drag the plane to the positions of his troops, landing the fighter next to the trenches. The second case, more mysterious and dramatic, occurred over its territory in the absence of enemy aircraft in the air. The fuselage of his plane was pierced by a line, damaging Evstigneev's legs, the car caught fire and went into a dive, and the pilot had to jump out of the plane with a parachute. In the hospital, doctors tended to amputate the pilot's foot, but he overtook them with such fear that they abandoned their venture. And after 9 days, the pilot escaped from the hospital and with crutches reached the location of his home unit 35 kilometers away.

Kirill Evstigneev constantly increased the number of his aerial victories. Until 1945, the pilot was ahead of Kozhedub. At the same time, the unit's doctor periodically sent him to the hospital to heal an ulcer and a wounded leg, which the ace pilot terribly opposed. Kirill Alekseevich was seriously ill since the pre-war times, in his life he underwent 13 surgical operations. Very often the famous Soviet pilot flew overcoming physical pain. Evstigneev, as they say, was obsessed with flying. In his spare time, he tried to train young fighter pilots. He was the initiator of training air battles. For the most part, Kozhedub was his opponent. At the same time, Evstigneev was completely devoid of a sense of fear, even at the very end of the war, he cold-bloodedly went into a frontal attack on the six-gun Fokkers, winning victories over them. Kozhedub spoke about his comrade in arms like this: “Flint Pilot”.

Captain Kirill Evstigneev finished the war of the guards as navigator of the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The pilot spent his last battle in the skies of Hungary on March 26, 1945, in his fifth La-5 fighter during the war. After the war, he continued to serve in the USSR Air Force, in 1972 he retired with the rank of Major General, lived in Moscow. He died on August 29, 1996 at the age of 79, and was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery in the capital.

Sources of information:
http://svpressa.ru
http://airaces.narod.ru
http://www.warheroes.ru

Nikolai Mikhailovich Skomorokhov, Soviet ace, fighter pilot of the Great Patriotic War, Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union
Nikolay Skorokhodov. He flew 605 combat missions. Personally shot down 46 enemy aircraft.
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Nikolai Mikhailovich was born on May 19, 1920 on the Volga, in the village of Lapot (now the village of Belogorskoe), Saratov province. He was barely 10 years old when his family moved to Astrakhan in search of work. Here he graduated from FZU, worked at the plant named after the III International. When he received a 7-grade education in the evening school, he was admitted to the library technical school, and soon to the Astrakhan flying club. Here, in December 1940, the young man was drafted into the army and received a referral to the Bataysk military aviation school. Immediately after graduating from the flight school, Junior Sergeant Skomorokhov was sent to the 164th IAP, armed with LaGG-3 aircraft.

Nikolai Skomorokhov got to the front only in November 1942, when there were fierce battles on the Volga near Stalingrad and in the Caucasus mountains. He made his first sorties over the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus when the 164th Fighter Aviation Regiment (295th Fighter Aviation Division under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Balanov) was based at the Adler airfield.

Experienced pilots were sent to combat operations, and he, a beginner, most often had to do reconnaissance flights with someone. And although they were also responsible combat missions, Nikolai wanted a real job. In one of the sorties, he almost died when his fighter was cut off from a group of their planes and squeezed Messers. Only Skomorokhov's exceptional natural talent as a pilot allowed him then to get away from his pursuers. The most pronounced was its ability for spatial orientation, based on the special stability of the vestibular apparatus and the optimal vasomotor reaction of the body in critical conditions.

Nikolai opened his combat account in January 1943 on one of the sorties over the mountains north of Lazarevskaya. Above the front line, Skomorokhov spotted an FW-189 scout and attacked him from above. It seemed like a long line riddled "Rama". But when Nikolai turned around to follow the fall of the enemy vehicle, he was surprised to notice that it was in the air and even maneuvering, dodging another attack. The fight lasted for several minutes. Finally Skomorokhov, aiming his LaGG-3 at the enemy's forehead, shot him. As it seemed to him then, he found the key to victory.

Soon Nikolai was appointed flight commander and began flying as the leader of the group. Skomorokhov performed the very first task at the head of the four La-5 brilliantly. Here is what is recorded about this combat mission in the hero's personal file:

"12/04/1943. Carried out the task of escorting the Il-2 group. In the target area, attack aircraft were attacked by 8 Me-109 aircraft. Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, Skomorokhov bravely entered the battle. the battle formations of enemy fighters thwarted their plan and enabled the Ilyushins to complete their combat mission in full. In an air battle, Skomorokhov personally shot down 2 Messers, forcing the rest to leave the battlefield. arranged a ceremonial welcome to Senior Lieutenant Skomorokhov. "

In the battles over the Dnieper and in Zaporozhye, Skomorokhov continued the list of the Messers and Fokkers shot down by him, and won his 13th victory.

At the beginning of 1944, of the best pilots of the 295th IAD, a "hunter squadron" was created, and Nikolai Skomorokhov was appointed its deputy commander (Nikolai Krasnov). The squadron included such aces as V. Kirilyuk, O. Smirnov, A. Volodin. The squadron was based on the same airfield with the 31st IAP, closely interacting with its pilots in the air. For 3 months of its existence, the squadron destroyed several dozen enemy aircraft in air battles, but was disbanded, since the regiments that gave the best fighters there suffered heavy losses in battles, and the commanders insisted on returning their "eagles". Skomorokhov was transferred to the position of squadron commander of the first squadron in the 31st IAP, commanded by Onufrienko.

In the Yassko-Chisinau operation, Senior Lieutenant Skomorokhov shot down several Me-109s. At the end of August, he was instructed to accompany the Li-2, where Marshal Zhukov was flying. Skomorokhov already had experience of such flights: earlier he accompanied Vasilevsky's plane and even decisively fired at the Yak, which made an attempt to approach him. Zhukov expressed his displeasure appearance I blamed the aces who had gone to bed for the lack of a cover plan ...

In the battles for the liberation of Ukraine and Donbas, in the skies of Moldova and in the Balkans, he makes hundreds of sorties, in dozens of air battles he hones his combat skills. He is trusted personally and at the head of the group to conduct aerial reconnaissance. Here his organizational talent and tactical skill were fully manifested.

At the end of 1944, Skomorokhov took part in the liberation of Romania and Bulgaria. In November, in the skies of Yugoslavia, the four La-5s under the command of Skomorokhov received the task to cover the advancing ground forces in the Apatin region. In full view of thousands of ground forces, the Lavochkin rushed to an armada of FW-190 fighter-bombers. Within 10 seconds Skomorokhov shot down 2 of them, mixing the formation and disrupting the bombing. For this battle, he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

His battles in Hungary were especially successful, where the intensity of air battles can be comparable to the intensity of battles in the Kuban, Kursk Bulge, over the Dnieper. In December 1944, in a battle over Szekesfehervar, in a long exhausting duel with a Me-109, piloted by a German ace, at an altitude of more than 9000 meters in the 3rd frontal attack, he shot down the Messer, his pilot escaped with a parachute and was captured. A few days later, in the very first combat sortie on the first in the La-7 division, N. Skomorokhov and his wingman I. Filippov, successively attacking 3 groups of Focke-Wulfs, shot down 5 of them ...
By the end of December 1944, the squadron commander of the 31st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Captain N.M.Skomorokhov, had 25 enemy aircraft shot down by him personally, and 8 in the group. By this time, the fearless ace wore 3 Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree ...

Soon Nikolai Skomorokhov had to conduct an air battle, which the history of the Great Patriotic War does not know. On January 16, 1945, Captain Skomorokhov flew out in a pair for a free hunt. In the Tariai area, northwest of Budapest, the pilots met 3 groups of Ju-52 transport aircraft (16 vehicles) and 38 Me-109 cover fighters in the air. Two against 54! As a result of bold attacks, the leader personally shot down 2 Ju-52s and one fighter, and his wingman destroyed 2 more aircraft.

Later, in the battles for Budapest, Skomorokhov shot down 16, and for Vienna - 9 more enemy aircraft.

While escorting attack aircraft to strike at enemy tanks and motorized infantry, Nikolai and his subordinates fought many brilliant battles and returned to their airfield without loss. So, accompanying the "Ilov" group to the area north of Budapest, Captain Skomorokhov, at the head of the six "Lavochkin", entered into battle with a group of enemy fighters. In a short but stubborn struggle on the verticals, our pilots shot down 8 enemy vehicles without losing a single one. At the same time, Nikolai Skomorokhov personally drove 3 planes into the ground.

Describing Skomorokhov, the commander of the 31st Fighter Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel GD Onufrienko, wrote: “In air battles Nikolai Mikhailovich is unhurried, but decisive, calculating and cold-blooded. does not know fatigue at work ... "

In the fighting Skomorokhov was a lot of new, original. He was a zealous champion of the new combat formations of fighters, the basis of which was not a unit of 3 aircraft, but a pair and a unit of 4 aircraft. His squadron was the first in the regiment to move to battle formations, echeloned in height and dispersed along the front. The famous rule: "a fighter defends itself only by attack" - was the law in the combat work of the Soviet ace and his pets.

On January 14, 1945, the commander of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Tolbukhin and a member of the Military Council, Colonel General Zheltov, approved the command of the 17th Air Army to award Captain N.M.Skomorokhov the highest sign of military valor - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On February 22, 1945, for the skillful command of the squadron, courage and courage shown in battles, this title was awarded to him.

By March 1945, Captain N.M.Skomorokhov, being in the same regiment, made 520 sorties, conducted 119 air battles, personally shot down 35 enemy aircraft.

On April 10, 1945, already in battle over the Austrian Alps, the ace attacked several dense groups of FW-190s. Two "Fokkers" Skomorokhov "knocked down" in the first attack within a few seconds: the first - on the move from behind - from above, the second - by sharply changing the trajectory of the flight, from below. Continuing to attack fighters - bombers, the pilot shot down another plane. Although the supremacy of Soviet aviation in the air was unconditional, the battles were extremely stubborn and bloody. Skomorokhov's slave died in one of them - Ensign Filippov. Nikolai himself barely managed to land his car, which was damaged by anti-aircraft guns and at the end of the run on the priest.

The last "Fokker" was shot down by Skomorokhov in the Brno region, in Czechoslovakia, during a "transport" flight, when, having demonstrated to young pilots a masterful attack, he then conducted " practical lesson", bringing the novice to effective fire range ...

Twice the Hero returned to his native land, summer 1945
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During the war, Nikolai Skomorokhov passed all stages of aviation - he was a pilot, senior pilot, flight commander, deputy commander and squadron commander. He fought on the Transcaucasian, North Caucasian, Southwestern and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. During this time, he flew more than 605 sorties, conducted 143 air battles, personally shot down 46 enemy aircraft in a group of 8, and also destroyed 3 bombers on the ground. Incredibly, Skomorokhov himself was never wounded, his plane did not burn, was not shot down, during the entire war he did not receive a single hole.

On August 18, 1945, for military services shown during the liberation of Hungary and Austria, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the war, N.M.Skomorokhov graduated from the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. He commanded aviation units and formations. He flew various types of combat jet aircraft. In 1958 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. At 39 he became a General. In 1973 he was appointed head of the Air Force Academy. He defended his thesis of Doctor of Military Sciences. In 1981, N.M.Skomorokhov was awarded the title of Air Marshal. Honored Military Pilot of the USSR. The author of many books - memoirs. Died tragically in a car accident on October 16, 1994