Red Star Airacobra: Memoirs of a Soviet Fighter Ace 1941-45

Preface: The Regiment of Aces

This book is about the men of a fighter regiment that followed in the footsteps of many similar fighter regiments formed just before the Great Patriotic War and disbanded soon after the end of this war. There were dozens of front-line regiments just like it that faithfully did their duty as soldiers. But this regiment without any special status became one of the most effective in the Soviet Air Forces: according to the official records its pilots brought down 546 enemy planes in aerial combat, killed hundreds of enemy soldiers and officers and destroyed dozens of pieces of combat equipment and vehicles on the ground. Ten pilots of this regiment received the rank of Hero of Soviet Union: one pilot received this award twice.

The 27th Fighter Regiment with four squadrons began to be formed in May 1938 in the Moscow Military District Air Force on the base of a separate special fighter squadron. The Regiment was equipped with I-14, I-15bis and I-16 fighters. Major Ivan Dmitrievich Klimov commanded the 27th FR from the moment of formation till June 1941.

In December 1939 two squadrons of the Regiment (3rd and 4th) were equipped with I-153 aircraft and directed to the Karelian Isthmus where they took part in the war against Finland. In view of the small number of Finnish aircraft, pilots of the 27th FR were mainly engaged in air-to-ground attacks. The Squadrons’ crews conducted 747 operational sorties and as a result of air strikes on the enemy front line destroyed, according to the Soviet data, 4 field guns, 3 antiaircraft batteries and up to 700 enemy soldiers and officers.

On 20 June 1941 the 27th FR with a 3-squadron structure joined the Moscow Air Defense’s newly formed 6th Fighter Corps. Lieutenant-Colonel P.K.Demidov took charge of the Regiment. Before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the Regiment was at the stage of rearming with new materiél and had a double set of I16 and MiG-3 planes. 36 of the 53 pilots in the Regiment had already mastered a new fighter of Mikoyan and Gurevich’s design.

In the summer of 1941 the Regiment became involved in the aerial defence of the capital from enemy air raids. In July the crews carried out operational sorties from the Kalinin airfield, then from an airfield in the town of Klin. Despite the complexities inevitably related to reequipment with new materiél, the Regiment, which had not participated in the fierce frontier battles of the first month of the war, and was manned by skilled aircrew and technical personnel, managed to make a worthwhile contribution to the protection of Moscow from the first and most intensive strikes from German aircraft.

The fighting account of the Regiment was opened on 17 July 1941 by Senior Politruk (political officer) Desyatnichenko, who brought down (according to Soviet records) a German Ju-88 bomber whilst flying his MiG-3. During the first week of the Luftwaffe night strikes on Moscow (22–29 July) 6 German bombers (all were identified as Ju-88) were assigned to the Regiment’s account and it is noteworthy that five of them fell victim to pilots flying I-16s. The reason for a ratio so unfavourable to the MiGs was that the pilots of the 27th FR had mastered night flights on new planes to an insufficient degree and the main load of work at nights was carried by the seasoned, tried and true workhorses: the I-16s.

The pilots of the Regiment also held undisputed pride of place in the development of the weapon of heroes – aerial ramming (while not denying the real heroism of the Soviet pilots it is necessary to note that the rams were frequently a consequence of insufficient mastery of new equipment). The first night ram in history was carried out on 31 July 1941 by a squadron commander Senior Lieutenant Petr Vasilyevich Yeremeyev, who destroyed an enemy bomber. Above the village of Golovino, near Moscow, the Soviet pilot attacked a He-111 in his MiG-3 at 1.36 a.m. He expended all of his ammunition but the enemy plane continued flying. Then Yeremeyev approached the bomber from below and chopped off its stabilizer and control surface with his propeller. Then the enemy plane crashed. The crew commanded by Unteroffizier A. Tsarabek died. The Soviet pilot bailed out of his uncontrollable plane and landed by parachute. For this feat Petr Yeremeyev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

On August 11th, 1941 Lieutenant Alexey Katrich distinguished himself. At 9.30 a.m. he was flying a MiG-3 in a pair with Lieutenant Medvedev to intercept a Do-215 reconnaisance plane which was flying towards the Bologoye railway junction. Soon the engine of his wingman’s plane overheated and Katrich continued the pursuit alone. Before reaching Bologoye the enemy turned around and went along the Moscow–Leningrad railway. Katrich caught up with the German plane above Ostashkov at a height of about 8000m and from a distance of 100m opened fire from his machine guns, piercing the enemy plane with a long burst of fire from tail to engine. Katrich set ablaze one of the engines with his second burst and killed the gunner with his third one. The Soviet pilot intended to shoot at the cockpit to finish the enemy off but ran out of ammo. The Dornie continued its flight. Then Katrich decided to ram the enemy. He approached it at a narrow angle from the left and damaged the enemy’s stabilizer with the ends of the blades of his propeller. The German plane wavered, then fell over on its wing and went down. Soon it smashed into the ground near the village of Staritsa and burned up. The whole crew from 1/Aufkl.Gr. Ob.d.L. (the strategic reconnaissance aircraft group operated by the German Oberkommando) led by Lieutenant R. Roeder was killed. Lieutenant Katrich safely landed on the airfield. This was the first high-altitude ram in the world history of military aviation.

By October 1941 the German Command had rejected the tactics of massed night strikes on Moscow and the pilots of 27th FR and all 6th AD Fighter Corps were assigned other tasks. The Germans approached close to the capital and the Soviet Army and national home guard barely restrained the Wehrmacht onslaught, allowing the German tactical air force to reach Moscow. Therefore aerial defense pilots were compelled to carry out tasks unusual for AD fighters – to battle enemy fighters and to carry out bombing and strafing attacks on the approaching enemy. I-16 Donkeys again were very useful because their air-cooled engines could cope better with ground fire than the MiG motors which were more vulnerable, even to a rifle bullet. In addition, the pilots of the I-16s could better use the more powerful armament and better manoeuvrability of their planes when strafing.

In November 1941 Major V.A. Ivanov took charge of the Regiment. On 21 November 1941 the unit re-deployed from Klin to the airfield in Zagorsk because of the approach of the front line. The sorties were continued: some of them were carried out at night. Then by order of command the 6th AD Fighter Corps, the Regiment was transferred to Staritsa, and on 8 February 1942 returned to Klin airfield: the Germans were drawn away from Moscow, and an essential contribution to this was made by the pilots of the 27th FR. The unit was one of Moscow AD’s most effective: per Soviet data the pilots of the Regiment destroyed 59 enemy planes in aerial combat.

From the beginning of operations on 1 April 1942 the aircrew of the Regiment carried out 5250 sorties including 456 at night. Besides the victories in aerial combat the pilots of the 27th FR destroyed in strafing 24 enemy planes on airfields, 27 tanks, 200 motor vehicles, 12 motorcycles, 113 horse-drawn vehicles with military property, 3 fuel tanks, up to 9 infantry companies and up to a squadron of cavalry, and the field staff of one German unit.

The Regiment irrecoverably lost 12 planes. The first Heroes of the Soviet Union appeared in the 27th FR. Alexey Nikolayevich Katrich and Vasiliy Nikolayevich Matakov received this rank for heroism and courage in the struggle against the German invaders. Many pilots and technicians of the Regiment were awarded orders and medals.

Liquidation of the direct threat to Moscow allowed the withdrawal of many Fighter Regiments from the complement of the 6th AD Fighter Corps, and their redirection to the front-line, in the most intense sectors of Soviet-German front line. Among these Regiments was the 27th. In February 1942 the Regiment was changed to a 2-squadron structure (20 planes). In June 1942 it was equipped with English Hurricane fighters and became part of the 287th Fighter Division of the 1st Air Army.

From July 1942 the 27th FR operated on the Bryansk Front. The duties of the pilots included support of the bombers and air cover of the battle formations of the Red Army’s ground force. They brought down 17 enemy planes according to Soviet data. But in less than 20 days the Regiment lost 10 planes (half of its aircraft) in the fierce aerial combat. The heavy losses were because of the full moral and technical air superiority of the enemy aircraft. Besides, many skilled pilots of the 27th FR had been transferred to other regiments which remained in the Moscow Air Defence system.

Because of the heavy losses the 27th FR was withdrawn to the rear at the end of July 1942. It joined with the 2nd Reserve Air Brigade to bring personnel up to strength and reequip with new equipment. In August 1942 at the Seyma railway station in the Gorky Region the best-trained pilots and technicians from the disbanded 292nd FR joined the 27th FR. The Regiment received the newest equipment – La-5 fighters. Then, after accelerated re-training, the Regiment went to the Stalingrad Front under A.A.Slutskov’s command, where they participated in combat operations from 18 August until 24 December 1942 as part of the 8th Air Army’s 287th FR.

Near Stalingrad the duties of the Regiment, besides those listed above, were interception of enemy bombers on approaches to that city and reconnaissance of German airfields and dispositions. In aerial combat the pilots of the 27th FR were credited with 60 enemy planes. But the actions of the unit in planes of Lavochkin’s design could not be recognized as successful. The reasons were the imperfection of construction and numerous industrial defects of the first-series La-5, and the small time given to training the pilots on a new type of fighter. 14 planes were lost as a result of combat, that is about three quarters of the initial amount. In aerial combat near Stalingrad many pilots of the Regiment were killed, among them one of the most skilled air fighters, commander of a squadron, Captain Fedor Sergeyevich Chuykin who distinguished himself during the battles near Moscow. At the moment of his death his score was 11 enemy planes personally brought down along with 6 other joint claims.

In this period two pilots of the Regiment – Arcadiy Kovachevich and Alexandr Chilikin were most succesful. Both had fought in the unit since 1941. Near Stalingrad Lieutenant Chilikin brought down two German planes personally and 4 jointly with other pilots. The personal score of Senior Lieutenant Kovachevich had already reached ten enemy aircraft. He was promoted to the rank of Hero of Soviet Union on 1 May 1943. When the 27th FR was withdrawn to the rear both of the skilled pilots were transferred to the newly formed ‘Regiment of Aces’ – the 9th Guards Fighter Regiment under command of a veteran of the Spanish War, the Hero of the Soviet Union L.L.Shestakov.

On 24 December 1942, the 27th FR was withdrawn from the front line to the 13th Reserve Fighter Regiment. The rest of its equipment (5 La-5s) and 13 pilots were transferred to other units of the Division. The Regiment received reinforcement of personnel from the Kachinsk, Chguyev and Borisoglebsk Higher Pilot Schools and technical personnel from the Volsk Higher Air Technical School. In actual fact the Regiment was formed anew. Now it had nothing in common with the previous 27th FR except for the number and the banner. The type of planes was changed again: now the pilots were going to join battle with the enemy in Yak7B fighters. However on 22 March 1943 the Regiment was transferred to the 16th RFR and equipped with Yak-1s. On 4 April 1943 Guards Lieutenant Colonel V.I. Bobrov took command of the 27th FR. He had gained fighting experience during the Spanish Civil War and was certainly not an ‘ordinary person’ in the Soviet Air Forces.

In April 1943 the unit was based at the Nikolsk airfield complex and the aircrew carried out sorties from there for the interception of enemy reconnaissance planes during the phase of formation and consolidation of the armies of the Steppe Front. During one such sortie the 27th FR’s pilot Sergeant Kotrusov attacked and shot down a Junkers Ju-88 long-range German reconnaissance aircraft which fell near the Talovaya railway station. Three crew members of the enemy plane were captured.

On 10 May 1943 the 27th FR arrived on the Voronezh Front (the Belgorod sector) where it joined with the 5th Fighter Corps of the Red Army High Command Reserve, which was assigned to the 2nd Air Army to strengthen it. The Regiment formed part of the 205th Fighter Division with which its fighting career would be connected all the way through to the victorious month of May 1945. The Regiment was based on the Pravorot airfield. The combat activity of the Regiment in the spring and the summer 1943 could be roughly divided into two phases. In the first phase – from 10 May until 4 July – the primary tasks were the interception of single reconnassaince aircraft and groups of bombers near the concentration area of the 6th Guards Army and the covering of ground forces and military objects in the immediate rear. For this period the pilots of the 27th FR scored 30 confirmed air victories. The losses of the Regiment were as many as 10 planes.

It was in May 1943 that one of the Soviet Air Force’s most outstanding fighter pilots’ star began to rise: Lieutenant Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulayev, later to be twice Hero of the Soviet Union and the most effective pilot of the Regiment. He began fighting after June 1941 in another Regiment and gained only one air victory before his arrival at the 27th FR. During May-June he was credited with 6 enemy aircraft(3 bombers and 3 fighters). It was the best result in the Regiment for that period. One of the enemy planes (a Ju-87 dive-bomber, on 14 May 1943) was destroyed by a ram from Gulayev.

The second phase of the combat action of the Regiment – from 5 to 18 July – was connected with repulsing the massed German offensive on the central sector of the Soviet-German front. Later it was named the Battle on the Orel-Kursk Salient. The primary task of the aircrew of the Regiment was repelling the massed blows of the enemy bombers and ground-attack aircraft on the defensive lines of the Soviet forces. In July the pilots of the 27th FR brought down, according to Soviet data, 55 enemy planes of different types. The losses of the Regiment were as many as 11 aircraft. The most effective fighter of the unit was Senior Lieutenant Gulaev again, who gained 13 personal and 2 joint victories. On 28 September 1943 he was awarded the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union for sorties over the Orel-Kursk Salient.

On 18 July 1943 the Regiment was withdrawn from the front line to the rear. Surviving equipment (18 Yak-1s) was transferred to the 737th RF. The 205th Fighter Division joined with the 7th Fighter Corps of the High Command Reserve and the pilots and technicians of its Regiments began training on the American Airocobra Bell Ð-39 fighters in the 22nd Reserve Fighter Regiment in the town of Ivanovo. The brightest pages in the history of the 27th RF related to this American-made plane. Just like any design this plane had some defects but it was loved by the overwhelming majority of the Soviet pilots who fought the war in it. The pilots appreciated the hardy all-metal airframe of the plane, reliable and well thought-out armoured protection, and comfortable spacious cockpit with a good field of view. Aircrew who had previously flown in Soviet planes especially liked the stronger armament with greater ammunition supply and the powerful and reliable radio transceiver which allowed the pilot to keep in contact with his comrades in the air and on the ground: previously, Soviet pilots could only dream about this.

At this time the young 20-year-old Junior Lieutenant Evgeniy Pahomovich Mariinskiy (the author of this book) came to the Regiment among routine reinforcements. At first he was not notable for anything in a group of green beginners who arrived alongside him. But by the end of the war he had achieved fine results and became one of the best pilots of the Regiment.

In many respects this was made possible because during the bloody fighting of the summer of 1943 the Regiment managed to keep a backbone of the most skilled pilots who became good teachers for their juniors. Evgeniy joined the 1st Squadron, whose commander was Senior Lieutenant Fedor Fedorovich Arkhipenko. He was at war from 22 June 1941 and although younger than many of his subordinates (he was only 22 years old) in two years of heavy aerial combat acquired not only all the qualities of a skilled aerial fighter but also proved to be a talented commander and tutor. He was quick-tempered and rough sometimes but nevertheless he cared about the young pilots. He preferred to not take beginners on dangerous tasks and so frequently went in direct conflict with Regimental Command. But he used any opportunity for intense training of the pilots of the squadron in quieter conditions during breaks in combat. Junior Lieutenant Mariinskiy was lucky in his leader too. He was taken as wingman by the second in command of the Squadron, Lieutenant Victor Korolev, who was also a skilled pilot and had combat experience.

The 27th FR ended re-training and re-equipment on 18 September 1943. The Regiment, along with the whole Division, was redeployed on the Voronezh airfield complex where the pilots studied an additional course of piloting the Aircobra and coordination in aerial combat. On 2 October 1943 the Regiment was directed to the field army. On 8 October the unit joined the Steppe Front (on 20 October 1943 it was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front) and literally next day there was a significant event: for the courage shown in fighting for the Motherland against the German aggressors, for firmness, discipline and orderliness, for the heroism of its personnel, the 27th Fighter Regiment, by order of the Narkomat (Ministry) of Defence of USSR No. 293 dated 09 October 1943, was transformed into the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment.

In this period the main combat task of the Regiment was aerial cover of the ground forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during the developing offensive in the direction of the cities of Krivoy Rog and Kirovograd. The Soviet tank and infantry units advanced very fast. So the pilots of the Regiment had to operate in extremely difficult conditions and made sorties from airfields located 150–180 km distant from the areas of operation. Nevertheless the combat missions were successfully carried out in the majority of sorties. Aircobras were adapted for the performance of such tasks better than any other type of fighter in service with the Soviet Air Force – because of the potential to install auxiliary fuel tanks. From 8 October until 10 February 1944, aircrews of the 129th GuFR, according to Soviet data, brought down 103 enemy planes and lost 15 of their own aircraft. The combat action of the pilots received high appreciation from ground forces command.

The following is from a response of the 25th Guards Rifle Corps regarding the combat action of the 129th GuFR when covering of the Corps’ units:

During the combat operations of the Corps from the 14th till 18 December 1943 on the Novgorodka – Varvarovka line the enemy supported their counterattacking ground forces with massed strikes from the air on the right flank of the Corps. The pilots of the 129th GuFR were covering the battle positions of the units from the air and showed examples of skill in conducting aerial combat against the Fascist carrion-crows. We observed and admired many times the exceptional courage of the aircrew. The pilots of the 129th GuFR brought down in aerial combat 28 enemy planes in just two days of fighting on 15 and 17 December … All personnel of the 25th Guards Rifle Corps thank officially the aircrew of the 129th GuFR and hope that in the future strikes on the Fascist carrion-crows will be even more powerful, even braver and that our ground forces will be reliably covered from the aerial robbers. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the 25th GuRC Guards Major Kvirchishvili, the deputy chief of operational section of the 25th GuRC Guards Major Ivanov.

In this period Junior Lieutenant Mariinskiy personally brought down three German planes. The first of them, a FW-189 spotter plane was brought down on 6 January 1944. It was a ‘trophy’ very highly valued among the Soviet fighter pilots. Three months of previous battles fought under the command of Arkhipenko and Korolyov had not been wasted and yesterday’s beginner had become a skilled fighter.

On 21 February 1944 Hero of the Soviet Union Guards Major V.A. Figichev took charge of the Regiment. He was a skilled fighter pilot and commander. At the beginning of war the best-known Soviet pilot A.I. Pokryshkin served in the Squadron which was under Figichev’s command.

The Regiment was transferred towards Uman and took an active participation in the rout of the Korsun-Shevchenkoskiy grouping of the enemy. The 129th GuFR carried out some 289 operational flights and brought down in 65 aerial combats some 86 enemy planes up to 15 May (per Soviet data). In the first months of 1944 the commanders of the Squadrons, Senior Lieutenants Arkhipenko, Gulayev and Bekashonok, and the pilots Lusto, Koshelkov, Karmin, Karlov, Nikiforov, and Bukchin each brought down several enemy planes and so especially distinguished themselves in combat.

Then the 7th FC took an active participation in the Yassy defensive operation at the end of May-beginning of June 1944. The German command concentrated a powerful offensive grouping on the borders of Romania and Moldova, including large forces of aircraft. Besides the main opponent of the 129th GuFR during the two last years of the war – the JG52 Fighter Group equipped with Messerschmitt Me-109s, the Focke-Wulf FW-190s from the SG2 and SG10 Ground Attack Groups had to be taken seriously too. The pilots of these well-armoured and armed aircraft got involved in combat without hesitation when the conditions were favorable for them. Romanian pilots also periodically appeared in the air. Hitherto, they had been at war against the Soviets in an allied rôle but now the war had come to their homeland and the motivation of the pilots of planes with yellow crosses on their wings had changed essentially. Perhaps up to the end of the war the pilots of the 129th GuFR and the 22nd GuFD as a whole did not have to wage any harder combat, the peak of which was on 30 May/1 June.

During a brief operation in repulsing the enemy offensive, the pilots of the 129th GuFR completed 201 operational flights and fought 10 aerial combats, in which participated a great many planes from both sides, and during which (per Soviet data) 35 enemy aircraft (9 bombers and 26 fighters) were brought down. The losses of the Regiment in these intensive fights were also rather sizeable and came to 12 Aircobras. Four pilots were lost and several more received severe wounds.

Junior Lieutenant Mariinskiy also made a contribution to the Regiment’s ‘piggy bank’ of destroyed German planes. Between March and June 1944, he brought down some 12 enemy machines. In addition, Evgeniy took command of a flight because Lieutenant Michail Lusto was appointed as the second in command of the Squadron instead of Victor Korolyov, who had not returned from a sortie on 2 May.

After the end of the Yassy operation the 129th GuFR and the whole 7th FC were transferred to the 1st Ukrainian Front where they took part in decisive battles to clear the Western Ukraine of Fascist aggressors (the Lvov-Yaroslav operation). Then began the battles for the Sandomir bridgehead on Polish territory. The pilots of the Regiment operated very succesfully in these operations and brought down 33 enemy planes (per Soviet data). By Order of the Narkomat of Defence of the USSR dated 1 September 1944, the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment – as one of the most distinguished in combat on the territories of the Western Ukraine and Poland – had been awarded the honourable name ‘Sandomir’.

The ground forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front were firmly established on the occupied lines by the end of August 1944 and began a thorough training and consolidation of forces before the subsequent determined blows on the