City Ufa
Head: Dyagilev Alexander Vasilievich (history teacher at the Ufa Cadet Corps)
Research work “Air ram - is it exclusively a Russian weapon?”
Plan:
I. IntroductionA Classification of air rams
B. First air ram
A. Reasons for using rams
IV. Conclusion
V. Bibliography
I. Introduction
We very often talk about heroes, but rarely about how they achieved victories that immortalized their names. I was interested in the proposed topic because ramming is one of the most dangerous types of air combat, leaving the pilot with minimal chances of survival. The topic of my research is not only interesting, but important and relevant: after all, the topic of the exploits of heroes who protected our grandparents at the cost of their own lives will never become obsolete. I would also like to compare our pilots with pilots from other countries.
II. What is an air ram
The ram is divided into 2 types
1) a targeted collision of an aircraft with a target in the air, causing enormous damage to it directly by the attacker’s aircraft itself
2) ramming a ground object or ship, otherwise known as a “fire ram”.
A. Classification of air rams
For clarity, I compiled a table in which I showed the type of ram depending on the types of aircraft on which and against which this air combat technique was performed. I also want to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of each technique and method of air ramming
B. First air ram
The world's first ram was carried out on September 8, 1914 by Pyotr Nikolaevich Nesterov
. Baron F. Rosenthal boldly flew on a heavy Albatross at a height beyond the reach of shots from the ground. Nesterov boldly went to cross him in the light, high-speed Moran. His maneuver was quick and decisive. The Austrian tried to escape, but Nesterov overtook him and crashed his plane into the tail of the Albatross. A witness to the ramming wrote:
“Nesterov came from behind, caught up with the enemy and, like a falcon hitting a clumsy heron, so he hit the enemy.”
The bulky "Albatross" continued to fly for some time, then fell on its left side and fell rapidly. At the same time, Pyotr Nesterov also died.
.
A. Reasons forcing the pilot to ram:
What were the reasons that forced the pilot to ram in order to destroy an enemy plane, despite the mortal danger?
The heroism and patriotism of the Soviet people, clearly manifested during the Great Patriotic War, are interconnected. These two concepts are sides of the same coin. The country would not have withstood such a terrible and severe test if it had not lived with one thought: “Everything for the front, everything for victory!” Not only during the war, but also to this day, the reasons that prompted pilots to ram were not properly analyzed.Even in the works of A.D. Zaitsev in 1985, where 636 aerial rams are described, there is not a single mention of the pilot’s lack of training in air combat. battle. The entire emphasis was placed only on the propaganda of heroism, based on the fact that every ram was necessary. Yes, heroism is indisputable. A ram is the highest form of manifestation of heroism. Honor and praise to every pilot who decided to carry out this deadly technique in the name of defending his homeland air combat.
The impossibility of a second attack, and therefore the need to destroy the enemy aircraft immediately. For example, when a bomber has already broken through to the target and can start bombing; an enemy reconnaissance officer returning to his airfield after completing a mission is about to disappear into the clouds; real danger looms over a comrade who is being attacked by an enemy fighter, etc.
- Expending all ammunition in an air battle, when circumstances forced the pilot to fire from a long range and from large angles or when conducting a long air battle, a battle with several enemy aircraft.
- Exhaustion of ammunition due to the inability to carry out an attack, the inability to conduct aimed fire and, first of all, shooting from an unreasonably long distance.
- Failure of weapons due to design and manufacturing defects of weapons, installations or ammunition,
- Failure of weapons due to unsatisfactory training by the technical staff.
- Weapon failure due to the pilot's fault.
- Low effectiveness of weapons.
- The desire to use the last opportunity to hit the air enemy. For example, the pilot’s plane is shot down, most often it is on fire, although the engine is still running, but it cannot reach the airfield, and the enemy is nearby.
Why did our pilots more often use rams to destroy the enemy? Trying to figure this out, I compiled a table and added a couple of diagrams to compare the aviation of the USSR and Germany during the Second World War
In 1941 
In 1943 
Thus, I came to the conclusion that many of our pilots tried to compensate for their lack of preparedness for combat operations and lack of training in terms of acquiring flying skills with their heroic confidence that the enemy should not bring harm to their native country. Therefore, the enemy must be destroyed at any cost, even at the cost of one’s own life.
B. Aerial rams during the Great Patriotic War
The air ram became widespread during the Great Patriotic War
The aerial ram was repeated many times by Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War, turning into a means of decisively destroying enemy aircraft.
The rams terrified enemy pilots!
Already on the 17th day of the war, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 8, 1941, three pilots were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. They were the valiant defenders of the city of Lenin, pilots junior lieutenants P.T. Kharitonov, S.I. Zdorovtsev and M.P. Zhukov, who carried out air rams in the first days of the war. (3 heroes of the USSR)
Much later we learned that on the first day of the war, Soviet pilots rammed planes with fascist swastikas 16 times. The first to ram on June 22, 1941 at 4:25 a.m. was the flight commander of the 46th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Southwestern Front, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov.
It is significant that this feat was accomplished in the area of the city of Zhovkva, Lviv region, that is, where for the first time in the history of aviation Pyotr Nesterov carried out a ram. Almost simultaneously with him, the enemy plane D.V. Kokarev hit.
Let's look at the most noticeable rams of the war years.
On the night of August 7, 1941, having consumed all his ammunition and was wounded in the arm, fighter pilot Viktor Talalikhin rammed a German bomber. Victor was lucky: his I-16, which cut off the tail of the Non-111 (enemy plane) with its propeller, began to fall, but the pilot was able to jump out of the falling plane and land by parachute. Let us pay attention to the reason for this ram: due to injury and lack of ammunition, Talalikhin had no other opportunity to continue the battle. Undoubtedly, by his actions, Viktor Talakhin demonstrated courage and patriotism. But it is also clear that before the ramming, he was losing the air battle. The ram became Talalikhin’s last, albeit very risky, means of seizing victory. (First night ram)
On September 12, 1941, the first aerial ramming attack by a woman took place. Ekaterina Zelenko and her crew on a damaged Su-2 were returning from reconnaissance. They were attacked by 7 enemy Me-109 fighters. Our plane was alone against seven enemies. The Germans surrounded the Su-2. A fight ensued. The Su-2 was shot down, both crew members were injured, and the ammunition ran out. Then Zelenko ordered the crew members to leave the plane, and she continued to fight. Soon she also ran out of ammunition. Then she took the course of the fascist attacking her and led the bomber to approach. When the wing hit the fuselage, the Messerschmitt broke in half, and the Su-2 exploded, and the pilot was thrown out of the cockpit. Thus, Zelenko destroyed the enemy vehicle, but at the same time died herself. This is the only case of aerial ramming committed by a woman!
On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain N. F. Gastello, consisting of Lieutenant A. A. Burdenyuk, Lieutenant G. N. Skorobogaty and Senior Sergeant A. A. Kalinin, flew on a DB-3F aircraft to bomb a German mechanized column on the Molodechno-Radoshkovichi road as part of a flight of two bombers. Gastello's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. An enemy shell damaged the fuel tank, and Gastello made a fiery ram - he directed the burning vehicle at the enemy's mechanized column. All crew members died.
Boris Kovzan rammed enemy planes three times in 1942. In the first two cases, he returned safely to the airfield on his MiG-3 plane. In August 1942, on a La-5 plane, Boris Kovzan discovered a group of enemy bombers and fighters. In a battle with them, he was shot down and injured in his eye, and then Kovzan directed his plane at an enemy bomber. The impact threw Kovzan out of the cabin and from a height of 6,000 meters, with his parachute not fully opening, he fell into a swamp, breaking his leg and several ribs. The partisans who arrived in time pulled him out of the swamp. The heroic pilot was in the hospital for 10 months. He lost his right eye but returned to flying duty.
How many air rams were carried out by Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War?
In 1970, there were more than 200, and in 1990, 636 air rams, and there were absolutely 350 fire rams
34 pilots used an air ram twice, Hero of the Soviet Union A. Khlobystov, Zdorovtsev - three times, B. Kovzan - four times
B. Rams of pilots from other countries
In Soviet times, only domestic and Japanese air rams were always mentioned; Moreover, if the ramming of Soviet pilots was represented by communist propaganda as a heroic, conscious self-sacrifice, then for some reason the same actions of the Japanese were called “fanaticism” and “doom.” Thus, all Soviet pilots who committed a suicide attack were surrounded by a halo of heroes, and Japanese kamikaze pilots were surrounded by a halo of “anti-heroes”.
Although the ram was used the greatest number of times in Russia, it cannot be said that it is exclusively a Russian weapon, because pilots from other countries also resorted to the ram, albeit as an extremely rare method of combat.
For example, the most amazing air ram in World War I was performed by the Belgian Willie Coppens, who rammed the German Draken balloon on May 8, 1918. Coppens hit the Draken's hull with the wheels of his Anrio fighter; the propeller blades also slashed across the tightly inflated canvas, and the Draken burst. At the same time, the HD-1 engine choked due to gas gushing into the hole in the ruptured cylinder, and Coppens literally miraculously did not die. He was saved by the oncoming air flow, which forcefully spun the propeller and started the Anrio engine when it rolled off the falling Draken. This was the first and only ram in the history of Belgian aviation.
And about a year later (in July 1937) on the other side of the globe - in China - for the first time in the world, a sea ram was carried out, and a massive ram at that: at the very beginning of Japan's aggression against China, 15 Chinese pilots sacrificed themselves by attacking enemy landing forces from the air ships and sinking 7 of them!
On June 22, 1939, the first ram in Japanese aviation was carried out over Khalkhin Gol by pilot Shogo Saito. Caught in pincers and having shot through all the ammunition, Saito made a breakthrough, cutting off part of the tail of the fighter closest to him with his wing, and broke out of the encirclement.
In Africa, on November 4, 1940, the pilot of the Battle bomber, Lieutenant Hutchinson, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire while bombing Italian positions in Nyalli (Kenya). And then Hutchinson sent his Battle into the midst of the Italian infantry, destroying about 20 enemy soldiers at the cost of his own death.
British fighter pilot Ray Holmes distinguished himself during the Battle of Britain. During the German raid on London on September 15, 1940, one German Dornier 17 bomber broke through the British fighter barrier to Buckingham Palace, the residence of the King of Great Britain. Spikirova on his Hurricane on top of the enemy, Holmes, on a collision course, cut off the tail of the Dornier with his wing, but he himself was so seriously injured that he was forced to escape by parachute.
The first American pilot to actually carry out a ram was Captain Fleming, commander of the Vindicator bomber squadron of the US Marine Corps. During the Battle of Midway on June 5, 1942, he led his squadron's attack on Japanese cruisers. On approaching the target, his plane was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and caught fire, but the captain continued the attack and bombed. Seeing that the bombs of his subordinates did not hit the target, Fleming turned around and again dived at the enemy, crashing the burning bomber into the cruiser Mikuma. The damaged ship lost its combat capability, and was soon finished off by other American bombers
A few examples of German pilots who carried out aerial ramming missions:
If at the beginning of the war the ramming operations of German pilots, who were victorious on all fronts, were a rare exception, then in the second half of the war, when the situation was not in Germany’s favor, the Germans began to use ramming strikes more and more often. For example, on March 29, 1944, in the skies of Germany, the famous Luftwaffe ace Hermann Graf rammed an American Mustang fighter, receiving serious injuries that put him in a hospital bed for two months.
The next day, March 30, 1944, on the Eastern Front, the German assault ace, holder of the Knight's Cross Alvin Boerst repeated the “feat of Gastello”. In the Iasi area, he attacked a Soviet tank column in an anti-tank Ju-87 variant, was shot down by anti-aircraft guns and, dying, rammed the tank in front of him.
In the West, on May 25, 1944, a young pilot, Oberfenrich Hubert Heckmann, in a Bf.109G rammed Captain Joe Bennett's Mustang, beheading an American fighter squadron, after which he escaped by parachute. And on July 13, 1944, another famous ace, Walter Dahl, shot down a heavy American B-17 bomber with a ramming attack.
D. Subsequent aerial rams in the USSR
After the Victory over Nazi Germany, rams continued to be used by Soviet pilots, but this happened much less frequently:
1951 - 1 ram, 1952 - 1 ram, 1973 - 1 ram, 1981 - 1 ram
The reason is due to the absence of wars on the territory of the Soviet Union and the fact that powerful vehicles equipped with firearms and maneuverable and light interceptor aircraft appeared.
Here are some examples:
During the battle, Subbotin won one aerial victory, but then his plane was shot down by enemy fire. According to the official version, after this Subbotin deliberately rammed the Saber pursuing him, releasing the brake flaps, which led to a collision of the planes. After that he ejected. A number of sources refer to this episode as the first aerial ramming on a jet aircraft in the history of aviation.
2) On November 28, 1973, air defense systems recorded another violation of the state border. Noticing the target, Eliseev began to approach. Having reached the targeted shooting range, the pilot fired two R-3S missiles at the intruder, but the Phantom released heat traps, and the missiles, having captured them, flew 30 meters from the plane and self-destructed. Then Eliseev hit the enemy plane not with the wing, but with the entire body. The MiG-21 exploded in the air. Eliseev failed to eject, and both enemy pilots, sadly enough, survived.
3) Another successful ram was carried out later. It was performed by Guard Captain Valentin Kulyapin on July 18, 1981 on a Su-15. He struck the fuselage on the right stabilizer of the Canadair CL-44 transport aircraft. CL-44 went into a tailspin and fell two kilometers from the border. The crew of the intruder died, reserve colonel Valentin Aleksandrovich Kulyapin is still alive.
VI. Conclusion
Here is what the twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Chief Marshal of Aviation A.A. Novikov, wrote about the ram:
“As for my opinion about the role and significance of the ram in battle, it has been and remains unchanged...
It is known that any air combat technique that ends with a decisive attack by the enemy requires courage and skill from the pilot. But a ram places immeasurably higher demands on a person. An aerial ram is not only masterful control of a machine, exceptional courage and self-control, it is one of the highest forms of manifestation of heroism, that very moral factor inherent in the Soviet man, which the enemy did not take into account, and could not take into account, since he had very vague idea."
Thus The goal of my work was to demonstrate the air and fire ram as a weapon used not only by Russians, but also by pilots of other countries at moments when the fate of the battle is being decided. At the same time, I want to emphasize that if in other countries pilots resorted to ramming as an extremely rare method of combat, then Soviet pilots used ramming when they could not otherwise destroy the enemy, therefore only in the Red Army did the ram become a permanent combat weapon.
VII. Bibliography
1. L. Zhukova “Choosing a battering ram” (Essays) “Young Guard” 1985. http://u.to/Y0uo
2. http://baryshnikovphotography.com/bertewor/Taran_(air)
3. Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. Air ram - a nightmare for German aces. //topwar.ru;
4. Stepanov A., Vlasov P. Air ram is a weapon not only of Soviet heroes. //www.liveinternet.ru;
5. D/f “I’m going to ram.” (2012 Russia)
6. Immortal feats. M., 1980;
Vazhin F.A. Air ram. M., 1962;
7. Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. Air ram - a nightmare for German aces. //topwar.ru;
Zalutsky G.V. Outstanding Russian pilots. M., 1953;
8. Zhukova L.N. I choose a ram. M., 1985;
9. Shingarev S.I. I'm going to ram. Tula, 1966;
Shumikhin V.S., Pinchuk M., Bruz M. Air power of the Motherland: essays. M., 1988;
10. Vazhin F.A. Air ram. M., 1962;
For a long time, the authorship of the first air ram of the Great Patriotic War was attributed to various pilots, but now the studied documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation leave no doubt that the first at 04:55 on the morning of June 22, 1941 was the flight commander of the 46th IAP, Senior Lieutenant I. I. Ivanov , who destroyed a German bomber at the cost of his life. Under what circumstances did this happen?
The details of the ram were examined by the writer S.S. Smirnov back in the 60s of the last century, and 50 years later, a detailed book about the life and feat of a fellow countryman-pilot was written by Georgy Rovensky, a local historian from Fryazino near Moscow. However, in order to objectively cover the episode, both lacked information from German sources (although Rovensky tried to use data on Luftwaffe losses and a book on the history of the KG 55 squadron), as well as an understanding of the general picture of the air battle on the first day of the war in the Rivne region, in the area Dubno – Mlynów. Taking as a basis the research of Smirnov and Rovensky, archival documents and memories of participants in the events, we will try to reveal both the circumstances of the ram and the events that took place around.
The 46th Fighter Wing and its enemy
The 46th IAP was a personnel unit formed in May 1938 in the first wave of deployment of Red Army Air Force regiments at the Skomorokhi airfield near Zhitomir. After the annexation of Western Ukraine, the 1st and 2nd squadrons of the regiment were relocated to the Dubno airfield, and the 3rd and 4th to Mlynow (modern Mlynov, Ukrainian Mlyniv).
By the summer of 1941, the regiment arrived in pretty good shape. Many commanders had combat experience and had a clear idea of how to shoot down the enemy. Thus, the regiment commander, Major I. D. Podgorny, fought at Khalkhin Gol, the squadron commander, Captain N. M. Zverev, fought in Spain. The most experienced pilot, apparently, was the deputy commander of the regiment, Captain I. I. Geibo - he even managed to take part in two conflicts, flew more than 200 combat missions at Khalkhin Gol and Finland and had downed enemy aircraft.
High-altitude reconnaissance aircraft Ju 86, which made an emergency landing in the Rovno area on April 15, 1941, and was burned by the crew
Actually, one of the proofs of the fighting spirit of the pilots of the 46th IAP is the incident with the forced landing of a high-altitude German reconnaissance aircraft Ju 86, which occurred on April 15, 1941 northeast of Rivne - the flag navigator of the regiment, senior lieutenant P. M. Shalunov, distinguished himself. This was the only case when a Soviet pilot managed to land a German reconnaissance aircraft from the “Rovel group”, which flew over the USSR in the spring of 1941.
By June 22, 1941, the regiment was based with all units at the Mlynów airfield - construction of a concrete runway had begun at the Dubno airfield.
The weak point was the condition of the equipment of the 46th IAP. The 1st and 2nd squadrons of the regiment flew I-16 type 5 and type 10, whose service life was ending, and their combat characteristics could not be compared with the Messerschmitts. In the summer of 1940, the regiment, according to the plan for the rearmament of the Red Army Air Force, was among the first to receive modern I-200 (MiG-1) fighters, but due to delays in the development and deployment of mass production of new machines, the unit never received them. Instead of the I-200, the personnel of the 3rd and 4th squadrons in the summer of 1940 received the I-153 instead of the I-15bis and rather sluggishly worked on mastering this “newest” fighter. By June 22, 1941, there were 29 I-16s (20 serviceable) and 18 I-153 (14 serviceable) available at the Mlynów airfield.
Commander of the 46th IAP Ivan Dmitrievich Podgorny, his deputy Iosif Ivanovich Geibo and commander of the 14th SAD Ivan Alekseevich Zykanov
By June 22, the regiment was not fully provided with personnel, since at the end of May - beginning of June 12 pilots were transferred to newly formed units. Despite this, the unit’s combat effectiveness remained virtually unchanged: of the remaining 64 pilots, 48 served in the regiment for more than a year.
It so happened that the 14th Air Force Aviation Division of the 5th Army KOVO, which included the 46th IAP, was right at the forefront of the German attack. The two main “Panzerstrasse”, allocated by the German command for the movement of the 3rd and 48th motorized corps of the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South, passed through the directions Lutsk - Rivne and Dubno - Brody, i.e. through populated areas where the division's command and control and its 89th IAP, 46th IAP and 253rd ShAP were based.
The opponents of the 46th IAP on the first day of the war were the bomber group III./KG 55, which was part of the V Air Corps of the 4th Air Fleet of the Luftwaffe, whose formations were supposed to operate against the KOVO Air Force. To do this, on June 18, 25 Heinkel He 111 groups flew to the Klemensov airfield, 10 km west of the city of Zamosc. The group was commanded by Hauptmann Heinrich Wittmer. The other two groups and the squadron headquarters were located at the Labunie airfield, 10 km southeast of Zamosc - literally 50 km from the border.
Commander of Bomber Group III./KG 55 Hauptmann Heinrich Wittmer (1910–1992) at the helm of the Heinkel (right). On November 12, 1941, Wittmer was awarded the Knight's Cross and ended the war with the rank of colonel.
The headquarters of the V Air Corps, the fighter group III./JG 3 and the reconnaissance squadron 4./(F)121 were located in Zamosc. Only units of JG 3 were based closer to the border (headquarters and II group 20 km away at the Khostun airfield, and I group 30 km away at the Dub airfield).
It is difficult to say what the fate of the 46th IAP would have been if all these German units had been sent to gain air superiority over the axis of advance of the 48th Motorized Corps, which ran through the Dubno-Brody area. Most likely, the Soviet regiments would have been destroyed like the ZapOVO Air Force units that came under crushing blows from the aircraft of the II and VIII Air Corps, but the command of the V Air Corps had broader goals.
Hard first day of the war
Units concentrated in the Zamosc area were to attack airfields from Lutsk to Sambir, focusing on the Lvov area, where the Messerschmitts from JG 3 were first sent on the morning of June 22, 1941. In addition, for some fantastic reasons I. /KG 55 was sent in the morning to bomb airfields in the Kyiv area. As a result, the Germans were able to detach only III./KG 55 to attack airfields in Brody, Dubno and Mlynów. A total of 17 He 111s were prepared for the first flight, each equipped to attack airfields and carrying 32 50-kg SD-50 fragmentation bombs . From the combat log of III./KG 55:
“...The start of 17 cars of the group was envisaged. Due to technical reasons, two cars were unable to start, and another one returned due to engine problems. Start: 02:50–03:15 (Berlin time - author's note), target - airfields Dubno, Mlynov, Brody, Rachin (north-eastern outskirts of Dubno - author's note). Attack time: 03:50–04:20. Flight altitude – low level flight, method of attack: links and pairs...”
As a result, only 14 aircraft out of 24 combat-ready ones took part in the first flight: six aircraft from the 7th, seven from the 8th and one from the 9th squadrons, respectively. The group commander and headquarters made a serious mistake when they decided to operate in pairs and units to maximize target coverage, and the crews had to pay a high price for it.
Takeoff of a pair of He 111s from the KG 55 squadron on the morning of June 22, 1941
Due to the fact that the Germans operated in small groups, it is impossible to determine exactly which crews attacked which Soviet airfield. In order to restore the picture of events, we will use Soviet documents, as well as the memories of participants in the events. Captain Geibo, who actually led the regiment on June 22 in the absence of Major Podgorny, indicates in his post-war memoirs that the first collision occurred on the approaches to the Mlynow airfield at about 04:20.
A combat alert was declared in all units of the KOVO Air Force around 03:00–04:00 after the district headquarters received the text of Directive No. 1, and the personnel of the units and formations managed to prepare equipment for combat operations even before the first raids of German aviation. The planes were dispersed at the airfields as early as June 15. However, it is not possible to talk about full combat readiness, primarily due to the controversial text of Directive No. 1, which, in particular, stated that Soviet pilots should not succumb to “provocations” and have the right to attack enemy aircraft only in response to fire from the German side.
These instructions on the morning of the first day of the war were literally fatal for a number of units of the Kaliningrad Air Force, whose aircraft were destroyed on the ground before they could take off. Several dozen pilots died, shot down in the air while trying to oust Luftwaffe aircraft from Soviet territory with evolutions. Only a few commanders of various ranks took responsibility and gave orders to repel German attacks. One of them was the commander of the 14th SAD, Colonel I. A. Zykanov.
Aerial photograph of Mlynów airfield taken on June 22, 1941 from a He 111 bomber from the KG 55 squadron
In the post-war years, through the efforts of unscrupulous authors, this man was unfairly denigrated and accused of non-existent mistakes and crimes. It should be noted that there were reasons for this: in August 1941, Colonel Zykanov was under investigation for some time, but was not convicted. True, he was not restored to his previous position, and in January 1942 he headed the 435th IAP, then commanded the 760th IAP, was an inspector pilot of the 3rd Guards IAK and, finally, became the commander of the 6th ZAP.
In the post-war memoirs of Aviation Major General I. I. Geibo, it is clearly seen that the division commander announced the alarm in time, and after the VNOS posts reported that German planes were crossing the border, he ordered them to be shot down, which brought even such an experienced fighter as Geibo into a state of prostration. It was this firm decision of the division commander that literally at the last moment saved the 46th IAP from a sudden attack:
“The interrupted sleep came back with difficulty. Finally, I began to doze off a little, but then the telephone came to life again. Cursing, he picked up the phone. Divisional commander again.
- Announce a combat alert to the regiment. If German planes appear, shoot them down!
The phone rang and the conversation was interrupted.
- How to shoot down? – I got worried. - Repeat, Comrade Colonel! Not to expel, but to shoot down?
But the phone was silent..."
Considering that we have before us memoirs with all the inherent shortcomings of any memoir, we will make a short comment. Firstly, Zykanov’s order to sound the alarm and shoot down German planes actually consists of two, received at different times. The first, an alarm, was apparently given around 03:00. The order to shoot down German planes was clearly received after receiving data from VNOS posts, around 04:00–04:15.
I-16 fighters type 5 (above) and type 10 (below) from the 46th IAP (reconstruction from photo, artist A. Kazakov)
In this regard, the further actions of Captain Geibo become clear - before this, the duty unit was raised into the air in order to expel border violators, but Geibo took off after him with the order to shoot down German planes. At the same time, the captain was clearly in great doubt: within an hour he was given two completely contradictory orders. However, in the air he understood the situation and attacked the German bombers they met, repelling the first strike:
“At approximately 4:15 a.m., the VNOS posts, which were constantly monitoring the airspace, received a message that four twin-engine aircraft at low altitude were heading east. The duty unit of Senior Lieutenant Klimenko rose into the air according to routine.
–You know, commissioner,–I told Trifonov,–I'll fly myself. And then you see, the darkness is falling, as if something, like Shalunov, had been messed up again. I'll figure out what kind of planes it is. And you are in charge here.
Soon I was already catching up with Klimenko’s flight in my I-16. As he approached, he gave the signal: “Get close to me and follow me.” I glanced at the airfield. A long white arrow stood out sharply at the edge of the airfield. It indicated the direction to intercept unknown aircraft... A little less than a minute passed, and ahead, a little lower, in the right bearing, two pairs of large aircraft appeared...
“I’m attacking, cover!”–I gave a signal to my people. A quick maneuver - and in the center of the crosshairs is the leading Yu-88 (an identification error typical even for experienced pilots of all countries - author's note). I press the trigger of the ShKAS machine guns. Tracer bullets rip open the fuselage of the enemy plane, it somehow reluctantly rolls, makes a turn and rushes towards the ground. A bright flame rises from the place of its fall, and a column of black smoke stretches towards the sky.
I glance at the onboard clock: 4 hours 20 minutes in the morning...”
According to the combat log of the regiment, Captain Geibo was credited with victory over the Xe-111 as part of the flight. Returning to the airfield, he tried to contact division headquarters, but was unable to do so due to communication problems. Despite this, further actions of the regiment command were clear and consistent. Geibo and the regiment's political commander no longer doubted that war had begun, and they clearly assigned their subordinates tasks to cover the airfield and the settlements of Mlynow and Dubno.
Simple name - Ivan Ivanov
Judging by the surviving documents, by order of the regiment headquarters, the pilots began to take off for combat duty at about 04:30. One of the units that was supposed to cover the airfield was led by Senior Lieutenant I. I. Ivanov. Extract from the ZhBD regiment:
“At 04:55, being at an altitude of 1500–2000 meters, covering the Dubno airfield, we noticed three Xe-111s going to bomb. Going into a dive, attacking the Xe-111 from behind, the flight opened fire. After expending its ammunition, Senior Lieutenant Ivanov rammed the Xe-111, which crashed 5 km from the Dubno airfield. Senior Lieutenant Ivanov died the death of the brave during the ramming, having defended the Motherland with his chest. The task of covering the airfield was completed. Xe-111s went west. 1500 pcs used. ShKAS cartridges."
The ram was seen by Ivanov’s colleagues, who at that moment were on the road from Dubno to Mlynow. This is how the former technician of the 46th IAP squadron, A. G. Bolnov, described this episode:
“...Machine gun fire was heard in the air. Three bombers were heading towards the Dubno airfield, and three fighters dived at them and fired. A moment later the fire stopped on both sides. A couple of fighters fell off and landed, having shot all their ammunition... Ivanov continued to pursue the bombers. They immediately bombed the Dubna airfield and went south, while Ivanov continued the pursuit. Being an excellent shooter and pilot, he did not shoot - apparently there was no more ammunition: he shot everything. A moment, and... We stopped at the turn of the highway to Lutsk. On the horizon, to the south of our observation, we saw an explosion - clouds of black smoke. I shouted: “We collided!”– the word “ram” has not yet entered our vocabulary ... "
Another witness to the ram, flight technician E.P. Solovyov:
“Our car was rushing from Lviv along the highway. Having noticed the exchange of fire between the “bombers” and our “hawks”, we realized that this was war. The moment when our “donkey” hit the “Heinkel” on the tail and it fell down like a stone, everyone saw it, and so did ours. Arriving at the regiment, we learned that Bushuev and Simonenko had left in the direction of the subsided battle without waiting for the doctor.
Simonenko told reporters that when he and the commissar carried Ivan Ivanovich out of the cabin, he was covered in blood and unconscious. We rushed to the hospital in Dubno, but there we found all the medical staff in panic - they were ordered to urgently evacuate. Ivan Ivanovich was nevertheless accepted, and the orderlies carried him away on a stretcher.
Bushuev and Simonenko waited, helping to load equipment and patients into cars. Then the doctor came out and said: “The pilot died.” "We buried him in the cemetery,–recalled Simonenko,–They put up a post with a sign. We thought that we would drive the Germans away quickly,–Let's erect a monument."
I. I. Geibo also recalled the ram:
“Even in the afternoon, during a break between flights, someone reported to me that the flight commander, senior lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, had not returned from the first combat mission... A group of mechanics was equipped to search for the fallen aircraft. They found the I-16 of our Ivan Ivanovich next to the wreckage of the Junkers. An examination and stories from the pilots who took part in the battle made it possible to establish that Senior Lieutenant Ivanov, having used up all the ammunition in the battle, went to ram..."
With the passage of time, it is difficult to establish why Ivanov carried out the ramming. Eyewitness accounts and documents indicate that the pilot fired all the cartridges. Most likely, he piloted an I-16 type 5, armed with only two 7.62 mm ShKAS guns, and it was not easy to shoot down a He 111 with a more serious weapon. In addition, Ivanov did not have much shooting practice. In any case, this is not so important - the main thing is that the Soviet pilot was ready to fight to the last and destroyed the enemy even at the cost of his own life, for which he was deservedly posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Senior Lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov and the pilots of his flight on the morning flight on June 22: Lieutenant Timofey Ivanovich Kondranin (died 07/05/1941) and Lieutenant Ivan Vasilyevich Yuryev (died 09/07/1942)
Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov was an experienced pilot who graduated from the Odessa Aviation School back in 1934 and served for five years as a light bomber pilot. By September 1939, already as a flight commander of the 2nd Light Bomber Aviation Regiment, he took part in the campaign against Western Ukraine, and at the beginning of 1940 he carried out several combat missions during the Soviet-Finnish War. After returning from the front, the best crews of the 2nd LBAP, including Ivanov’s crew, took part in the May Day parade of 1940 in Moscow.
In the summer of 1940, the 2nd LBAP was reorganized into the 138th SBAP, and the regiment received SB bombers to replace the outdated P-Z biplanes. Apparently, this retraining served as a reason for some of the pilots of the 2nd LBAP to “change their role” and retrain as fighters. As a result, I. I. Ivanov, instead of the SB, retrained on the I-16 and was assigned to the 46th IAP.
Other pilots of the 46th IAP acted no less bravely, and the German bombers were never able to bomb accurately. Despite several raids, the regiment's losses on the ground were minimal - according to the report of the 14th SAD, by the morning of June 23, 1941 “...one I-16 was destroyed at the airfield, one did not return from the mission. One I-153 was shot down. 11 people were wounded, one was killed. Regiment at the Granovka airfield." Documents from III./KG 55 confirm the minimal losses of the 46th IAP at the Mlynów airfield: “Result: Dubno airfield is not occupied (by enemy aircraft - author’s note). At the Mlynow airfield, bombs were dropped on approximately 30 biplanes and multi-engine aircraft standing in a group. Hit between planes..."
Downed Heinkel He 111 from the 7th squadron of the KG 55 Greif bomber squadron (artist I. Zlobin)
The greatest losses in the morning flight were suffered by 7./KG 55, which lost three Heinkels due to the actions of Soviet fighters. Two of them did not return from the mission along with the crews of Feldwebel Dietrich (Fw. Willi Dietrich) and Non-Commissioned Officer Wohlfeil (Uffz. Horst Wohlfeil), and the third, piloted by Oberfeldwebel Gründer (Ofw. Alfred Gründer), burned out after landing at the airfield Labunie. Two more bombers of the squadron were seriously damaged, and several crew members were injured.
In total, the pilots of the 46th IAP declared three aerial victories in the morning. In addition to the Heinkels shot down by Senior Lieutenant I. I. Ivanov and Captain I. I. Geibo’s flight, another bomber was credited to Senior Lieutenant S. L. Maksimenko. The exact timing of this application is not known. Considering the consonance between “Klimenko” and “Maksimenko” and that there was no pilot with the surname Klimenko in the 46th IAP, we can confidently say that in the morning it was Maksimenko who headed the duty unit mentioned by Geibo, and as a result of the attacks it was his unit that was shot down and burned “ Heinkel" Chief Sergeant Major Gründer, and two more aircraft were damaged.
Hauptmann Wittmer's second attempt
Summing up the results of the first flight, the commander of III./KG 55, Hauptmann Wittmer, had to be seriously concerned about the losses - out of 14 aircraft that took off, five were out of action. At the same time, entries in the group’s ZhBD about supposedly 50 Soviet aircraft destroyed at airfields seem to be a banal attempt to justify heavy losses. We must pay tribute to the commander of the German group - he made the right conclusions and tried to take revenge on the next flight.
Heinkel from the 55th squadron in flight over Mlynów airfield, June 22, 1941
At 15:30, Hauptmann Wittmer led all 18 serviceable Heinkels of III./KG 55 in a decisive attack, the only target of which was the Mlynów airfield. From the ZhBD group:
“At 15:45, a group in close formation attacked the airfield from a height of 1000 m... Details of the results were not observed due to strong attacks by fighters. After the bombs were dropped, no further launch of enemy aircraft took place. It was a good result.
Defense: a lot of fighters with retreat attacks. One of our vehicles was attacked by 7 enemy fighters. Boarding: 16:30–17:00. One I-16 fighter was shot down. The crews watched him fall. Weather conditions: good, with some clouds in places. Ammo used: 576SD 50.
Losses: Corporal Gantz's plane disappeared, being attacked by fighters after dropping bombs. He disappeared downstairs. The further fate could not be observed due to strong attacks by fighters. Non-Commissioned Officer Parr has been wounded."
A later note in the description of the raid mentions a real triumph: “According to clarification on the spot, after the capture of Mlynów, complete success was achieved: 40 aircraft were destroyed in the parking lot.”
Despite another “success” both in the report and later in the note, it is obvious that the Germans again received a “warm welcome” over the Mlynów airfield. Soviet fighters attacked the bombers as they approached. Due to the continuous attacks, the German crews were unable to record either the results of the bombing or the fate of the lost crew. This is how I. I. Geibo, who led the interception group, conveys the atmosphere of the battle:
“At an altitude of about eight hundred meters, another group of German bombers appeared... Three of our flights went out to intercept, and with them I did. As we approached, I saw two nines in the right bearing. The Junkers also noticed us and instantly closed ranks, huddled together, preparing for defense - after all, the denser the formation, the denser, and therefore more effective, the air gunners’ fire...
I gave the signal: “We go on the attack all at once, everyone chooses their own target.” And then he rushed at the leader. Now he's already in sight. I see flashes of return fire. I press the trigger. The fiery path of my bursts goes towards the target. It’s time for the Junkers to fall on its wing, but as if enchanted it continues to follow its previous course. The distance is rapidly closing. We need to get out! I make a sharp and deep turn to the left, preparing to attack again. And suddenly - a sharp pain in the thigh..."
Results of the day
Summing up and comparing the results, we note that the pilots of the 46th IAP managed to cover their airfield this time, not allowing the enemy to stay on the combat course and bomb accurately. We must also pay tribute to the courage of the German crews - they acted without cover, but the Soviet fighters did not manage to break up their formation, and they were able to shoot down one and damage another He 111 only at the cost of the same losses. One I-16 was hit by rifle fire, and Junior Lieutenant I.M. Tsibulko, who had just shot down a bomber, jumped out with a parachute, and Captain Geibo, who damaged the second He 111, was wounded and had difficulty landing the damaged plane.
I-16 fighters type 5 and 10, as well as training UTI-4, were destroyed as a result of flight accidents or abandoned due to malfunctions at the Mlynów airfield. Perhaps one of these vehicles was piloted by Captain Geibo in the evening battle on June 22, and then made an emergency landing due to combat damage
Together with the downed Heinkel from 9./KG 55, the crew of Corporal Ganz (Gefr. Franz Ganz) of five people was killed, another aircraft of the same squadron was damaged. This effectively ended the fighting of the first day of the war in the air in the area of Dubno and Mlynów.
What have the opposing sides achieved? Group III./KG 55 and other units of the V Air Corps failed to destroy the materiel of the Soviet air units at the Mlynów airfield, despite the possibility of a first surprise strike. Having destroyed two I-16s on the ground and shot down another one in the air (except for Ivanov’s plane, which was destroyed during the ramming), the Germans lost five He 111s destroyed, and three more damaged, which is a third of the number available on the morning of June 22. In fairness, it should be noted that the German crews operated in difficult conditions: their targets were located 100–120 km from the border, they operated without fighter cover, being about an hour above the territory controlled by Soviet troops, which, along with the tactically illiterate organization of the first flight, led to big losses.
The 46th IAP was one of the few air force regiments whose pilots were able to not only reliably cover their airfield on June 22 and suffer minimal losses from assault strikes, but also inflict serious damage on the enemy. This was a consequence of both competent management and the personal courage of the pilots, who were ready to repel enemy attacks at the cost of their lives. Separately, it is necessary to note the outstanding leadership qualities of Captain I. I. Geibo, who fought superbly and was an example for young pilots of the 46th IAP.
The pilots of the 46th IAP who distinguished themselves on June 22, 1941, from left to right: deputy squadron commander, senior lieutenant Simon Lavrovich Maksimenko, an experienced pilot who took part in combat operations in Spain. In the memoirs, Geibo is listed as Klimenko’s “commander.” Later - squadron commander of the 10th IAP, died on 07/05/1942 in an air battle; junior lieutenants Konstantin Konstantinovich Kobyzev and Ivan Methodievich Tsibulko. Ivan Tsibulko died in a plane crash on 03/09/1943, being the commander of the 46th IAP squadron with the rank of captain. Konstantin Kobyzev was wounded in September 1941, and after recovery did not return to the front - he was an instructor at the Armavir pilot school, as well as a pilot at the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry
The number of victories declared by Soviet pilots and actually destroyed German aircraft is almost the same, even without taking into account damaged aircraft. In addition to the losses mentioned, in the afternoon in the Dubno area a He 111 from 3./KG 55 was shot down, along with which five members of the crew of non-commissioned officer Behringer (Uffz. Werner Bähringer) were killed. Probably the author of this victory was junior lieutenant K.K. Kobyzev. For his successes in the first battles (he was the only pilot of the regiment to claim two personal victories in the June battles), on August 2, 1941, he was awarded the highest award of the USSR - the Order of Lenin.
It is gratifying that all other pilots of the 46th IAP, who distinguished themselves in the battles of the first day, were awarded government awards by the same decree: I. I. Ivanov posthumously became a Hero of the Soviet Union, I. I. Geibo, I. M. Tsibulko and S. L. Maksimenko received the Order of the Red Banner.
Ramming as a method of air combat remains the last argument that pilots resort to in a hopeless situation. Not everyone manages to survive after it. Nevertheless, some of our pilots resorted to it several times.
The world's first ram
The world's first aerial ram was carried out by the author of the “loop”, staff captain Pyotr Nesterov. He was 27 years old, and having flown 28 combat missions at the beginning of the war, he was considered an experienced pilot.
Nesterov had long believed that an enemy airplane could be destroyed by hitting the planes with its wheels. This was a necessary measure - at the beginning of the war, planes were not equipped with machine guns, and aviators flew on missions with pistols and carbines.
On September 8, 1914, in the Lvov region, Pyotr Nesterov rammed a heavy Austrian aircraft under the control of Franz Malina and Baron Friedrich von Rosenthal, which was flying over Russian positions on reconnaissance missions.
Nesterov, in a light and fast Moran airplane, took off into the air, caught up with the Albatross and rammed it, striking it from top to bottom in the tail. This happened in front of the local residents.
The Austrian plane crashed. Upon impact, Nesterov, who was in a hurry to take off and was not wearing his seat belts, flew out of the cockpit and crashed. According to another version, Nesterov jumped out of the crashed plane himself, hoping to survive.
First ram of the Finnish War
The first and only ram of the Soviet-Finnish War was carried out by senior lieutenant Yakov Mikhin, a graduate of the 2nd Borisoglebsk military aviation school of pilots named after Chkalov. This happened on February 29, 1940 in the afternoon. 24 Soviet I-16 and I-15 aircraft attacked the Finnish Ruokolahti airfield.
To repel the attack, 15 fighters took off from the airfield.
A fierce battle ensued. Flight commander Yakov Mikhin, in a frontal attack with the wing of the aircraft, hit the fin of the Fokker, the famous Finnish ace Lieutenant Tatu Gugananti. The keel broke off from the impact. The Fokker crashed to the ground and the pilot died.
Yakov Mikhin, with a broken plane, managed to reach the airfield and safely landed his donkey. It must be said that Mikhin went through the entire Great Patriotic War, and then continued to serve in the Air Force.
The first ram of the Great Patriotic War
It is believed that the first ram of the Great Patriotic War was carried out by 31-year-old senior lieutenant Ivan Ivanov, who on June 22, 1941 at 4:25 am in an I-16 (according to other sources - on an I-153) over the Mlynov airfield near Dubno rammed a Heinkel bomber ", after which both planes fell. Ivanov died. For this feat he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
His primacy is disputed by several pilots: junior lieutenant Dmitry Kokorev, who rammed a Messerschmitt in the Zambro area 20 minutes after Ivanov’s feat and remained alive.
On June 22 at 5:15, junior lieutenant Leonid Buterin died over Western Ukraine (Stanislav), ramming a Junkers-88.
Another 45 minutes later, an unknown pilot on a U-2 died over Vygoda after ramming a Messerschmitt.
At 10 am, a Messer was rammed over Brest and Lieutenant Pyotr Ryabtsev survived.
Some pilots resorted to ramming several times. Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Kovzan made 4 rams: over Zaraisk, over Torzhok, over Lobnitsa and Staraya Russa.
The first "fire" ram
A “fire” ram is a technique when a pilot directs a downed aircraft at ground targets. Everyone knows the feat of Nikolai Gastello, who flew the plane towards a tank column with fuel tanks. But the first “fiery” ram was carried out on June 22, 1941 by 27-year-old senior lieutenant Pyotr Chirkin from the 62nd assault aviation regiment. Chirkin directed the damaged I-153 at a column of German tanks approaching the city of Stryi (Western Ukraine).
In total, during the war years, more than 300 people repeated his feat.
First female ram
Soviet pilot Ekaterina Zelenko became the only woman in the world to perform a ram. During the war years, she managed to make 40 combat missions and participated in 12 air battles. On September 12, 1941, she made three missions. Returning from a mission in the Romny area, she was attacked by German Me-109s. She managed to shoot down one plane, and when the ammunition ran out, she rammed the enemy plane, destroying it. She herself died. She was 24 years old. For her feat, Ekaterina Zelenko was awarded the Order of Lenin, and in 1990 she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
First ram by jet
A native of Stalingrad, Captain Gennady Eliseev carried out his ramming attack on a MiG-21 fighter on November 28, 1973. On this day, the Iranian Phantom-II, which was carrying out reconnaissance on behalf of the United States, invaded the airspace of the Soviet Union over the Mugan Valley of Azerbaijan. Captain Eliseev took off to intercept from the airfield in Vaziani.
The air-to-air missiles did not produce the desired result: the Phantom released heat traps. To carry out the order, Eliseev decided to ram and struck the tail of the Phantom with his wing. The plane crashed and its crew was detained. Eliseev's MiG began to descend and crashed into a mountain. Gennady Eliseev was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The crew of the reconnaissance aircraft - an American colonel and an Iranian pilot - were handed over to the Iranian authorities 16 days later.
The first ramming of a transport aircraft
On July 18, 1981, a transport plane of the Argentine airline Canader CL-44 violated the USSR border over the territory of Armenia. There was a Swiss crew on board the plane. The deputy of the squadron, pilot Valentin Kulyapin, was tasked with imprisoning the violators. The Swiss did not respond to the pilot’s demands. Then the order came to shoot down the plane. The distance between the Su-15TM and the “transport aircraft” was small for the launch of R-98M missiles. The intruder walked towards the border. Then Kulyapin decided to go for the ram.
On the second attempt, he hit the Canadara's stabilizer with his fuselage, after which he safely ejected from the damaged aircraft, and the Argentine fell into a tailspin and fell just two kilometers from the border, his crew was killed. It later turned out that the plane was carrying weapons.
For his feat, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
Ramming as a method of air combat has never been and will not be the main one, since a collision with an enemy very often leads to the destruction and fall of both vehicles. A ramming attack is only permissible in a situation where the pilot has no other choice. The first such attack was carried out in 1912 by the famous pilot Pyotr Nesterov, who shot down an Austrian reconnaissance aircraft. His light Moran hit the heavy enemy Albatross, on which the pilot and observer were located, from above. As a result of the attack, both planes were damaged and fell, Nesterov and the Austrians were killed. At that time, machine guns had not yet been installed on airplanes, so ramming was the only way to shoot down an enemy airplane.
After the death of Nesterov, the tactics of ramming strikes were carefully worked out; the pilots began to strive to shoot down an enemy aircraft while preserving their own. The main method of attack was hitting the tail of the enemy aircraft with the propeller blades. The rapidly spinning propeller damaged the plane's tail, causing it to lose control and crash. At the same time, the pilots of the attacking aircraft often managed to land their planes safely. After replacing the bent propellers, the aircraft were ready to fly again. Other options were also used - impact with the wing, keel, fuselage, landing gear.
Night rams were especially difficult, since it is very difficult to carry out a strike in conditions of poor visibility. For the first time, a night air ram was used on October 28, 1937 in the skies of Spain by the Soviet Yevgeny Stepanov. At night over Barcelona on an I-15 he managed to destroy an Italian Savoia-Marchetti bomber with a ramming attack. Since the Soviet Union did not officially take part in the civil war in Spain, they preferred not to talk about the pilot’s feat for a long time.
During the Great Patriotic War, the first night air ram was carried out by fighter pilot of the 28th Fighter Air Force, Pyotr Vasilyevich Eremeev: on July 29, 1941, on a MiG-3 aircraft, he destroyed an enemy Junkers-88 bomber with a ramming attack. But the night ram of fighter pilot Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin became more famous: on the night of August 7, 1941, on an I-16 plane in the area of Podolsk near Moscow, he shot down a German Heinkel-111 bomber. The Battle of Moscow was one of the key moments of the war, so the pilot’s feat became widely known. For his courage and heroism, Viktor Talalikhin was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. He died on October 27, 1941 in an air battle, having destroyed two enemy aircraft and was mortally wounded by a fragment of an exploding shell.
During the battles with Nazi Germany, Soviet pilots carried out more than 500 ramming attacks; some pilots used this technique several times and remained alive. Ramming attacks were also used later, already on jet vehicles.
Exactly 75 years ago, on the night of August 7, 1941, junior lieutenant Viktor Talalikhin was one of the first in Soviet aviation to ram an enemy bomber at night. The air battle for Moscow was just beginning.
Sinister plane
That night, the deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, Viktor Talalikhin, received an order to intercept the enemy who was heading towards Moscow. At an altitude of 4800 meters, the junior lieutenant overtook the enemy plane, came up behind it with lightning speed and began shooting at it.
However, it was not easy to shoot down the Heinkel 111 long-range bomber. Of the five crew members, three fought with the fighters. During flight, the ventral, rear and side gunners constantly kept their field of fire in sight and, if a target appeared, opened furious fire on it.
The ominous silhouette of Heinkel-111 was well known to residents of Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, and Great Britain. This bomber was considered one of the main ones in the Luftwaffe and took an active part in all military campaigns of the Third Reich in Europe. He took an active part in the attack on the USSR from the very first minutes.
Deprive the USSR of Moscow
In 1941, the Germans tried to bomb Moscow. They pursued two strategic objectives: firstly, to deprive the Soviet Union of its largest railway and transport hub, as well as the center of command and control of troops and the country. Secondly, they hoped to help their ground troops break the resistance of the defenders of Moscow.
This task was entrusted by Hitler to the commander of the German 2nd Air Fleet, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. This task force, numbering 1,600 aircraft, supported the advance of Army Group Center, whose main target, according to Plan Barbarossa, was the Soviet capital.
The bomber crews had extensive combat experience in attacking large cities, including at night.
Unpleasant surprises for the Luftwaffe
The Fuhrer demanded that the pilots “strike the center of the Bolshevik resistance and prevent the organized evacuation of the Russian government apparatus.” Strong resistance was not expected, and therefore the military and political leadership of Germany was confident in their imminent parade on Red Square.
On the night of July 22, 1941, the first raid on Moscow took place. The Germans discovered that the Russians had many anti-aircraft guns, barrage balloons, which were installed much higher than usual, and a lot of air defense fighter aircraft, which were actively operating at night.
Having suffered significant losses, the Luftwaffe pilots began to rise to new heights. Heinkeli-111 also actively participated in massive raids.
Trophies of the 177th Fighter Regiment
The German Air Force command did not learn a lesson from the air Battle of Britain in 1940, in which the Germans lost two and a half thousand aircraft. Of these, almost 400 are Heinkel 111s. Like a gambler, in the battles over Moscow the Nazis bet on their own luck, ignoring the combat potential of the enemy.
Meanwhile, the air defense fighter regiment under the command of Major Mikhail Korolev, in which Talalikhin served, opened a combat account of enemy losses on July 26, 1941.
On this day, the deputy regiment commander, Captain Ivan Samsonov, shot down a German bomber. Soon this military unit acquired other “trophies”.
Young but experienced pilot
The “impenetrable” Heinkel-111, which Talalikhin met in the night battle, did not have time to drop bombs on the target and began to leave. One of its engines caught fire. The Soviet pilot continued to shoot, but soon the air machine guns fell silent. He realized that the cartridges had run out.
Then the junior lieutenant decided to ram the enemy plane. At almost 23 years old, Victor had a low rank, but by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he was already an experienced pilot. Behind him was the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939/40 and the Order of the Red Star for four downed Finnish aircraft.
There, a young pilot fought on an obsolete I-153 biplane, nicknamed the “Chaika”. However, in the first battle he won an aerial victory. Another enemy plane was shot down by him when Talalikhin was covering his commander Mikhail Korolev.
Don't let the bastards get away
In a lightning-fast battle in the Moscow night sky, when the Soviet pilot aimed his plane to ram, his hand was suddenly burned. One of the enemy shooters wounded him.
Talalikhin later said that he “made the decision to sacrifice himself, but not to let the reptile go.” He gave full throttle and crashed his plane into the enemy’s tail. Heinkel 111 caught fire and began to fall down randomly.
The damaged I-16 fighter lost control after a terrible impact, and Talalikhin left it by parachute. He landed in the Severka River, from where local residents helped him get out. The entire German crew was killed. The next day, Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Hellish air defense
Having lost 172 Heinkel-111 aircraft in a short time (not counting a significant number of bombers of other types), by the tenth of August 1941, German aviation abandoned the tactics of attacking in large groups from one or two directions.
Now the Luftwaffe pilots tried to “infiltrate” Moscow from different directions and often attacked the target, entering in turn, one after another. They had to strain all their strength and skill in the fight against the hellish air defense of the USSR capital for the Nazis.
The air struggle reached its apogee in the fall of 1941, when a grandiose ground battle unfolded on the outskirts of Moscow. The Germans relocated their airfields closer to the city and were able to increase the intensity of sorties, alternating night raids with daytime ones.
Death in battle
In fierce battles, the ranks of the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment thinned. On October 27, 1941, Viktor Talalikhin died in an air battle, and on December 8, Ivan Samsonov died.
However, the Germans also suffered significant losses, breaking through a wall of anti-aircraft fire and fighting off Soviet fighters. During the period from July 26, 1941 to March 10, 1942, 4% of enemy aircraft broke through to the city. During this period, Moscow's air defense systems destroyed over a thousand enemy aircraft.
Those of the crews of German bombers who managed to drop bombs did so chaotically, rushing to quickly free themselves from the load and leave the shelling zone.
Failure of the air blitzkrieg
British journalist Alexander Werth, who was in the USSR since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, wrote that in Moscow the shrapnel of anti-aircraft shells drummed through the streets like hail. Dozens of spotlights illuminated the sky. He had never seen or heard anything like this in London.
The pilots, and not only the fighters, did not lag behind the anti-aircraft gunners. For example, the squadron commander of the 65th Attack Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Georgy Nevkipely, during his 29 combat missions, burned not only six enemy aircraft, but also several tanks, and more than a hundred vehicles with infantry.
He died a heroic death on December 15, 1941 and was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The power of the air defense of the capital of the Soviet Union turned out to be generally insurmountable for the Luftwaffe. The air blitzkrieg that Goering's pilots were counting on failed.