the story of three fighter pilots in world war ii
2024-09-30
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[global times comprehensive report] among the allied forces fighting against german fascism, some soviet heroes stood out and became the most outstanding fighter pilots. their heroic deeds left an indelible mark.
alexander pokryshkin"attention! attention! pokryshkin is coming!" when the famous soviet ace pilot alexander ivanovich pokryshkin appeared in the p-39 "air cobra" fighter with the tactical number "100" on the horizon, german guard posts would remind their air force pilots like this. german pilots would take extra care to exit long dogfights, while junior pilots were expected to return immediately.
three-time "hero of the soviet union", air marshal, pilot alexander pokryshkin
during world war ii, pokryshkin flew more than 650 sorties, participated in 156 air battles, shot down 59 enemy planes alone, and shot down 6 enemy planes in cooperation with his comrades. it is also estimated that his number of aerial combat victories exceeded 100.
pokryshkin is not only a talented pilot, but also the inventor and top pilot of new tactical formations and air combat maneuvers such as "scissor maneuver", "falcon impact", "clamp action" and "pendulum maneuver". because of his innovation, the efficient "kuban air combat" combat formation was widely used in the soviet red army, giving fighter jets more room to maneuver when searching for targets.
as soon as the war broke out, pokryshkin went to the front line. he was one of the first pilots to be allowed to fly german "freedom hunt" aircraft alone, including on combat missions behind enemy lines where the enemy had complete air superiority. this practice only became popular among soviet pilots in 1943.
pilot mikhail vodopyanov recalled: "pokryshkin's fighting talent was best demonstrated during the battles in the kuban area. there he fought with a fanaticism fighting from a high altitude, he would swoop down on messerschmitt, junkers, and heinkel fighters impatiently, launch high-speed attacks on them, and fire short, accurate machine-gun fire at them. they fell to the ground as flaming hunks of metal. our soldiers in the frontline trenches marveled at his devastating storms of attack so many times that they began to recognize pokryshkin's 'movements' during the battle. , even though his plane was flying high in the sky, the white number '100' painted on the fuselage could not be seen from the ground. his 'sotka' (meaning '100' in russian) was nowhere to be seen on the front line. people don’t know it, but fascist pilots are terrified of it.”
although pokryshkin had commanded an air division since 1944, he personally flew and shot down enemy aircraft until victory. after world war ii, pokryshkin, who was awarded the title of "hero of the soviet union" three times, was promoted to the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the soviet air defense forces. in 1972, he was promoted to air marshal.
grigory rechkalov grigory rechkalov was a comrade-in-arms of alexander pokryshkin. during the war, he flew a total of 452 sorties, participated in 122 air battles, and shot down 56 enemy aircraft (some say 61 aircraft) and cooperated with his comrades to shoot down 5 enemy planes. he has flown many fighter jets, but the air cobra is his favorite.
hero of the soviet union, air force major general, pilot grigory lechkalov
rechkalov is a master of piloting "free hunting". he usually hunts at high altitudes (up to 6,000 meters). finding prey is no problem for him because his eyesight is exceptionally sharp. he is a brave, forthright and frank man, but at the same time has a very contradictory and changeable character. sometimes, he would strictly abide by discipline and execute orders meticulously, but sometimes he would easily deviate from the main purpose of the mission and pursue enemy aircraft at will.
participating in the large-scale air battle in the kuban area in the spring of 1943 was the highlight of rechkarov's combat career. he shot down 17 enemy planes. he recalled: "we did not miss a single air battle. at first, the fascists were very bold, and a group of enemy planes would appear from nowhere and attack us. you would see that one after another our planes were on fire, and then falling to the ground. however, we soon saw through the tactics of the fascist pilots and began to approach things differently. we flew in pairs rather than in formations, making better use of radios for communication, targeting, and arranging the aircraft into what was called a formation. 'layered circles'."
almost no other soviet pilot shot down as many types of enemy aircraft as grigory. his record includes the heinkel he 111, junkers ju 88, junkers ju 87, messerschmitt bf 109 and fokker -focke-wulf fw 190, as well as various transport and reconnaissance aircraft, and even a savoia s-21 hydroplane.
after the war, grigory rechkarov, who twice became a hero of the soviet union, served as a flight examiner of the 6th guards fighter regiment. after 1945, he continued to serve in the air force and was promoted to the rank of major general.
ivan kozhedubivan nikitovich kozhedub defined the essence of air combat this way: "precise maneuvers, overwhelming rapid attacks and extremely close strikes." this famous pilot shot down the enemy with 62 aircraft, he was not only the pilot who shot down the most enemy planes among the red army air force, but also the pilot who shot down the most enemy planes among all the countries in the anti-fascist alliance. since he only arrived at the front line in the spring of 1943, kozhedub's number of flights and the number of air battles he participated in were 330 and 120 respectively, which was less than lechkarov and pokryshkin. but his initiative, courage, shrewdness, courage and wisdom made him the soviet union's number one ace pilot.
three-time winner of the title "hero of the soviet union", air marshal, pilot ivan kozhedub
kozhidub is good at fighting and always strives to launch a fierce attack on the enemy first. he can also act cautiously and calmly if the situation calls for it. the following is kozhedub’s description of an air battle during the battle of kursk: “during the fierce battle, i was carried away and made the mistake of losing altitude… to correct my mistake, i quickly started climbing again. two messerschmitts followed me... i calmly continued my spiral with the germans following behind me at an angle that was too steep. i immediately realized that climbing this way the germans would either fall behind or fall behind. stalled. i started to take a closer look at the messerschmitt fighter closest to me. sure enough, the germans quickly lost speed and stalled. i quickly put my lavochkin on the hammer. head-turned (an aerobatic maneuver that allows one to quickly change the direction of flight), flew straight toward the germans, and set them on fire with my first great burst of fire."
kozhedub was one of the first allied pilots to successfully shoot down a german messerschmitt me 262 jet fighter. unfortunately, kozhedub's record also included (according to his own account) two american p-51 mustang fighter jets, which accidentally attacked his aircraft in april 1945. the soviet ace pilot learned too late that the two planes were friendly and the battle was over.
during the korean war from 1950 to 1953, kozhedub, who was awarded the title of "hero of the soviet union" three times, commanded the 324th combat aviation division and achieved 216 air combat victories. he subsequently went on to serve in leadership roles in the air force. in 1985, he was promoted to air marshal.
this article is published in the "russia insights" special issue of global times, and the content is provided by rossiya gazeta.
