As a rule, in life, the most difficult questions are to answer the simplest questions. It was this "simple" question of what prompted us to turn to the topic of air rams committed by Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War, and was asked to the authors when preparing this article for publication. I would like to give an answer in one capacious and chased phrase, but, alas, we will have to spend a little more space on the answer.
First, the authors believe that any stroke in the history of the Great Patriotic War simply cannot be superfluous. The fewer ambiguities and ambiguities in the description of the events of those years, the easier it is for us, descendants, to assess the scale of our Victory. Secondly, accurate knowledge of the fact is especially important when covering heroic deeds, which, without a doubt, include the highest manifestations of courage and will of a pilot - air rams. Finally, thirdly, it is simply our duty to those who fought for our Motherland in the fiery military sky.
We do not claim to provide an absolutely complete coverage of the topic. At the same time, our conscience is reassured by the fact that even General A. D. Zaitsev, who had much greater opportunities, in his research (A. D. Zaitsev, Weapons of the strong in spirit. Monino, 1984) could not find comprehensive information on a number of combat episodes. There is no doubt that in some cases we may have factual errors. Readers have the right to both agree with us and reasonably refute our arguments. On the German side, we used daily reports of casualties from the German Bundesarchive. These documents are very valuable source material for the historian. However, the full summaries were preserved only until the end of 1943. In addition, like any documents compiled "in hot pursuit", they are not free from various errors. An additional difficulty is created by the fact that quite often the reports lack not only the cause of death, but even an approximate place.
And one more important remark. It is practically impossible to carry out one hundred percent identification of episodes of an air war under conditions of massive use of aviation in certain sectors of the front. In this regard, in some cases, we did not take the liberty of attributing the enemy losses known to us to the account of one or another Soviet pilot who rammed the enemy in the air. Although the probability of the death of an enemy vehicle from a ramming strike is often much higher than from other causes.
The first mention of the "Russian" method of air combat is contained in the Luftwaffe documents dated July 1, 1941. On this day, in the area of Mogilev, as a result of a ram, He-111H-5 (serial number w / n 4057, board code A1 + CN) from 5./KG53 was lost. Everyone on board, including the war correspondent, went missing. In the work of A. D. Zaitsev, there is no information about rams on this day. However, in the book of R. S. Irinarhova (Western special … Minsk, 2002), there is a mention that on July 1, in the Mogilev area, senior lieutenant Nikolai Vasilyevich Terekhin from the 161st IAP rammed an enemy bomber. A. D. Zaitsev, this episode takes place on July 10. However, a careful study of both messages leads to the conclusion that in this case the respected author is mistaken. In general, this ram was "lucky". No less famous D. B. Khazanov in his recently published book “Unknown battle in the skies of Moscow. Defensive period "claims that this" Heinkel "on July 2 rammed the pilot of the 11th IAP Lieutenant S. S. Goshko. * [Unfortunately, the fact that the plane from KG53 Goshko did not ram is absolutely true. But we have not yet been able to find "his German"] The documents from the Bundesarchive do not allow us to join this version.
German bomber "Heinkel" He-111
On July 9, 1941, the SB bomber from the 208th SBAP, piloted by Lieutenant Alexander Vasilyevich Kurochkin, near the city of Sebezh was attacked by German fighters and caught fire. Then Lieutenant Kurochkin directed his burning car at the enemy fighter. Navigator Konstantin Dmitrievich Stepanov and air gunner Sergei Konstantinovich Salangin were killed along with the commander. Air rams committed by bombers are rare. Nevertheless, the enemy documents recorded a ramming of the Martin Bomber, as the Germans called our SB, which, together with two pilots, destroyed Bf-110E-1 (w / n 4084, 3U + DM) from 4./ZG26.
On July 18, 1941, the flight commander of the 71st IAP of the KBF Air Force, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Aleksandrovich Mikhalev, patrolling on an I-153 in the area of the bridge over the Narva River, attacked a close reconnaissance aircraft Hs-126. After making several attacks and shooting all the ammunition, he rammed it. "Henschel" crashed into the ground, and Mikhalev was able to land the damaged "seagull" at his airfield. According to German documents, Hs-126 (w / n 4026) from 2. (H) / 21 was rammed. True, the crew of the "crutch" was lucky, the pilot and the pilot survived unharmed.
Soviet bomber SB
On July 23, 1941, junior lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Novikov rammed over the city of Smila, the plane he took for the "Heinkel-111". In fact, in this attack, Ju-88A-5 (w / n 8256, B3 + AH) from 1./KG54 suffered (damage 55%, according to the German classification). Its pilot, Lieutenant Yarov, managed to bring his plane to the field airfield. He safely survived the war, and, despite his considerable age, is still in full health. Fortunately, Mr. Yarov does not know Russian and cannot read what was written in the domestic press about the ram on 23 July.
On July 25, 1941, two Ju-88A-5s did not return from reconnaissance flights to the area of the Soviet capital. One of them (w / n 0285, F6 + AK) belonged to 2. (F) / 122, the second (w / n 0453, F6 + AO) belonged to Erganzungstaffel / 122. Both vehicles were destroyed by fighters of the 6th IAC Air Defense. One of them was rammed by Lieutenant Boris Andreevich Vasiliev from the 11th IAP. The German plane fell and crashed, and our pilot safely landed at his airfield. * [We are inclined to think that Vasiliev was responsible for the second Ju-88]
German bomber "Junkers" Ju-88
On the night of July 28-29, 1941, in the skies of Moscow, the Germans lost the He-111Н (w / n 4115, 1H + GS) from III./KG26. In this case, the data of both parties coincide. The enemy bomber was rammed by Senior Lieutenant Pyotr Vasilyevich Eremeev from the 27th IAP of the 6th IAC Air Defense.
On the night of August 9-10, 1941, Senior Lieutenant Viktor Aleksandrovich Kiselev from the 34th IAP of the 6th Air Defense IAC on the outskirts of the capital rammed an enemy bomber. According to German data, on August 9, He-111N-5 (w / n 4250, A1 + NN) from the 1st detachment of the 53rd bomber squadron, which was shot down over Moscow by anti-aircraft fire, did not return to its airfield. Some discrepancy in this episode, in our opinion, is not so serious as to exclude the version of a successful ram.
On August 11, 1941, the deputy squadron commander of the already mentioned 27th IAP, Lieutenant Alexei Nikolaevich Katrich, performed a high-altitude ram on a MiG-3 aircraft. German sources confirm on this day the loss of a Do-215 reconnaissance aircraft (w / n 0075, L5 + LC) from 1./ObdL, on a reconnaissance flight along the Orel-Tula route, for an unknown reason. Its crew, led by Lieutenant R. Roder, are listed as missing.
On August 15, according to German documents, an enemy fighter, in the Nikolaev area, shot down a Ju-88A-4 (w / n 1236) bomber from the 3rd detachment of the 51st bomber squadron. This episode clarifies the history of the 51st Squadron published after the war. In fact, the Junkers was rammed "off the western coast of the Crimea" by a Soviet fighter. But, despite the damage, the crew of Lieutenant Unrau managed to "hold out" their car to Romania, over which he, in full force, including the wounded gunner of non-commissioned officer Polok, safely left the plane by parachute. It is possible that this episode is associated with the feat of Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Fedorovich Grek from the 9th IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force. Covering a floating dock towed from Nikolaev by sea, he rammed an enemy plane. The pilot himself was killed *.[In the book of A. D. Zaitseva somewhat uncertainly named the date of the feat] In the Soviet chronicle of events on the Black Sea, the ram is not mentioned. According to her, on that day, the Black Sea Fleet Air Force pilots conducted several air battles off the western coast of Crimea. At the same time, two Junkers were shot down and one Yak-1 was lost.
A. N. Katrich near his MiG-3. July 1941
On August 20, 1941, he did not return to his airfield from a weather reconnaissance flight in the Orel-Vyazma-Kalinin region He-111N-3 (w / n 3183, 5M + A) from the 26th meteorological detachment. It is very likely that it was he who was destroyed by ramming by Lieutenant of the 24th IAP of the Air Defense Pavel Vasilyevich Demenchuk. He went to the ram, already seriously wounded by the Heinkel shooters. Both planes crashed northwest of Medyn. Our pilot was killed, the Germans are missing.
On September 9, 1941, the pilot of the 124th iap, junior lieutenant Nikolai Leontyevich Grunin, rammed an enemy bomber on the approaches to Tula. According to German data, Ju-88A-5 (w / n 0587, 6M + DM) of long-range reconnaissance detachment 4. (F) / 14 did not return from reconnaissance along the Vyazma-Tula-Oryol route. Our pilot landed by parachute. From the crew of the German intelligence officer, only the pilot escaped and was captured.
On September 14, the 124th IAP fighters again distinguished themselves. Junior lieutenants Vladimir Ivanovich Dovgy and Boris Grigorievich Pirozhkov were raised to intercept the next air reconnaissance aircraft. To destroy the enemy vehicle, they had to double ram. Both pilots landed safely at the airfield. The reconnaissance aircraft Ju-88A-4 (w / n 1267) from 1. (F) / 33 turned out to be almost "unbreakable". He did not return from his flight to the Vyazma-Tula region.
Soviet fighter I-16
On September 28, 1941, the senior lieutenant of the 32nd IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force Semyon Evstigneevich Karasev rammed an enemy scout over Sevastopol. Let's risk assuming that it was Do-215 (w / n 0045, T5 + EL) from 3. (F) / ObdL, missing in an unidentified area. Since earlier this detachment had already lost its aircraft over Sevastopol, then we would not be very wrong against common sense if we assume that on September 28 a German intelligence officer was working in the same area.
On the same day, junior lieutenant Georgy Nikandrovich Startsev from the 171st IAP rammed an enemy bomber near the Skuratovo station of the Tula region. Startsev had to leave his damaged fighter in the air, and he landed safely with a parachute. The post-war history of the 100th bomber group (later squadron) "Viking" colorfully describes how on this day one of the "Heinkels" of the 1st detachment (He-111H-6, w / n 4441), flew to the Oryol-Gorbachevo region, was rammed by a Soviet I-16. However, the bomber did not fall immediately, but was able to cross the front line. During a forced landing, the pilot lost control and crashed into a rural house. Three crew members were injured, including two seriously. According to German data, this is a 60% loss.
German bomber "Dornier" Do-215
On October 18, 1941, he disappeared in an unidentified area Do-215 (w / n 0063, P5 + LL) from 3. (F) / ObdL. On the same day, Lieutenant Nikolai Ivanovich Savva from the 32nd IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, piloting a MiG-3, was rammed over Balaklava by an enemy reconnaissance officer identified by him as "Dornier-215". In this case, there are even more coincidences than in the ramming of his brother-soldier S. E. Karasev on September 28, 1941.
On the night of November 4-5, a German bomber, Junior Lieutenant Alexei Tikhonovich Sevastyanov from the 26th IAP, rammed in the sky of Leningrad. He himself landed by parachute, and the enemy plane rammed by him crashed into the Tauride Garden. That night, the 1st Detachment of the 4th Bomber Squadron "General Vever" was missing He-111H-5 (w / n 3816, 5J + DM) along with five crew members.
On December 4, 1941, near Medvezhyegorsk, senior lieutenant Nikolai Fedorovich Repnikov from 152nd IAP destroyed the enemy aircraft with a head-on ram on an I-16 fighter. The pilot himself was killed. On this day, the loss of the Morane-Saulnier MS.406 fighter (tail number MS-329) and its pilot Sergeant T. Tomminen from the LeLv28 squadron of the Finnish Air Force was recorded.
On the first day of 1942, the first enemy aircraft was destroyed in the Stalingrad region. Not far from the village of Ilovlinskaya, sergeant of the 788th IAP of the 102nd Air Defense IAD, Yuri Vitalievich Lyamin, chopped off the tail assembly of the Junkers-88 with a screw. Two German pilots jumped out with a parachute and were captured. It was probably the missing Ju-88 (w / n 1458, E6 + NM) from 4. (F) / 122.
On January 24, 1942, Lieutenant Vasily Averkievich Knizhnik, deputy squadron commander of the 65th Shap, rammed the Finnish Brewster with his I-153 on a head-on course *, attacking his wingman *. [At A. D. Zaitsev, the date of the ramming was probably erroneously indicated on 02.24.1942] At the same time, he was able to land in his car. Finnish sources report the death of a Brewster B-239 fighter (tail number BW-358) from the LeLv24 squadron along with the pilot in an air battle.
On February 7, 1942, in the area of Cherepovets, senior political instructor Alexei Nikolaevich Godovikov, commissar of the squadron of the 740th iap, rammed. Unfortunately, the pilot died along with his MiG-3 fighter. On that day, the Germans lost a Ju-88D-1 (w / n 1687, F6 + EN) belonging to 5. (F) / 122 who had not returned from the Vologda-Cherepovets reconnaissance area.
HE-111 shot down by A. T. Sevastyanov. Leningrad, November 1941
On March 29, 1942, six Curtiss O-52 aircraft received under Lend-Lease were ferried from Ivanovo to Leningrad for the 12th separate correction squadron. When approaching the Plekhanovo airfield, the slow-moving spotters were suddenly attacked by Messerschmitts. Rescuing his comrades, the flight commander, junior lieutenant Pyotr Kazimirovich Zhilinsky, with a head-on battering ram destroyed one of the attacking fighters. Both aircraft fell to the ground from a low altitude. Zhilinsky died, and his pilot-observer Samuil Izrailevich Novorozhkin was thrown out of the cockpit by a blow and managed to open his parachute. The Germans admit the loss for an unknown reason of Bf-109F-4 (w / n 7487) from 8./JG54. Its pilot, corporal J. Hofer, is listed as missing (according to Soviet data, he was also able to use a parachute and was captured). Some foreign sources additionally report that Messerschmitt died in a collision with a downed Soviet plane *. [Specifically on the Grünhertz history website
On May 20, 1942, in the Yelets area, junior lieutenant Viktor Antonovich Barkovsky from the 591st air defense IAP destroyed an enemy bomber with a ramming strike. The pilot himself was killed. According to the enemy, that day the reconnaissance aircraft Ju-88D (w / n 2832, TL + BL) from 3. (F) / 10 did not return from the reconnaissance route Kastornoye-Lipetsk-Livny.
May 31, 1942 distinguished himself, the future twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Amet-Khan Sultan. On the approaches to Yaroslavl, he destroyed an enemy plane with a ram, and landed his fighter safely at the airfield. German archives confirm the death of Ju-88D-1 (w / n 1604, 5T + DL) from 3. (F) / ObdL, who did not return from the Vologda-Rybinsk area reconnaissance.
O-52 ml. l-ta P. K. Zhilinsky from the 12th OKRAE. March 1942
The next episode confirms that the archival documents cannot always be trusted. According to German reports, on June 3, 1942, a Ju-88 (w / n 721) scout from 3. (F) / 10 disappeared with the entire crew in the Poltava region. However, the pilot of this aircraft D. Putter did not die. Once captured, he survived the war and published his memoirs of the events of that day several years ago. In fact, Lieutenant Mikhail Alekseevich Proskurin, pilot of the 487th Air Defense IAP, rammed the German car south of Lipetsk. By the way, our hero also successfully fought to the Victory.
Day 3 June is marked by another ram. Near Maloyaroslavets, junior lieutenant Mikhail Aleksandrovich Rodionov from the 562nd IAP of the air defense, at the cost of his own life at low altitude, destroyed an enemy bomber. The enemy did not return from a reconnaissance flight along the Kirov-Kaluga route a Ju-88D-5 (w / n 1764, 6M + LM) belonging to the long-range reconnaissance detachment 4. (F) / 11.
On July 16, 1942, at the Shatalovo airfield, he boarded an emergency bomber Ju-88A-4 (w / n 3711) from the 2nd detachment of the 3rd bomber squadron. Its damage was so great (80%) that the aircraft could not be repaired and was written off. According to Soviet data, senior lieutenant of the 18th Guards IAP Mikhail Vasilyevich Kulikov rammed that day.
Soviet fighter Yak-1
On July 27, 1942, on the outskirts of Gorky, near the town of Pavlova-on-Oka, a senior lieutenant of the 722th Air Defense IAP Pyotr Ivanovich Shavurin rammed a Junkers-88. After the ramming himself, he landed safely by parachute. According to archival data, his opponent was Ju-88D-5 (w / n 430022) from 1. (F) / ObdL. Exactly five months later, day after day, Pyotr Ivanovich again inflicted damage on the air reconnaissance group of the Luftwaffe command. This time he rammed a reconnaissance officer in the area of Povorino station, "landing" Ju-88D (w / n 1730, T5 + AK) from 2. (F) / ObdL. Soon, on February 14, 1943 P. I. Shavurin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
On August 2, on the Karelian front, sergeant of the 760th iap Boris Andreevich Myasnikov rammed an enemy fighter with the wing of his Hurricane, but he himself died. Finnish researcher Hannu Valtonen believes that in this attack Bf-109E-7 (w / n 5559) from 4./JG5 was destroyed, the pilot of which, NCO V. Tretter, survived and was captured *. [NS. Valtonen works in close contact with the historian from Murmansk Yu. V. Rybin. The competence of this duo in matters of air warfare in the Arctic does not cause the slightest doubt, therefore all episodes related to the events in this sector of the Eastern Front are given according to their materials]
On August 4, 1942, in the area of Chertolino (Kalinin Front), senior lieutenant of the 5th guards iap Ibragim Shagiakhmedovich Bikmukhammedov rammed an enemy fighter with a wing on a LaGG-3 plane. He himself managed to land on his own airfield in a damaged car. If we assume that a small error crept into the German reports, then our pilot Bf-109F-4 (w / n 9541) from 11./JG51, listed as damaged (40%) as a result of a ram on August 3, was on the account of our pilot.
German fighter "Messerschmitt" Bf-109E
On August 4, 1942, in the area of Chertolino (Kalinin Front), senior lieutenant of the 5th guards iap Ibragim Shagiakhmedovich Bikmukhammedov rammed an enemy fighter with a wing on a LaGG-3 plane. He himself managed to land on his own airfield in a damaged car. If we assume that a small error crept into the German reports, then our pilot Bf-109F-4 (w / n 9541) from 11./JG51, listed as damaged (40%) as a result of a ram on August 3, was on the account of our pilot.
On August 10, 1942, on the outskirts of Novorossiysk on a burning LaGG-3 fighter, Junior Lieutenant Mikhail Alekseevich Borisov, flight commander of the 62nd IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, went into his last attack. At the cost of his own life, he destroyed the Non-111H-6 (w / n 7063), which belonged to the headquarters of the 55th Bomber Squadron.
On August 28, 1942, junior lieutenant Kostikov from the 729th IAP Air Defense rammed an enemy bomber on the Hurricane plane on the outskirts of Arkhangelsk. To our shame, we do not even know the name of the hero. The enemy has a dead Ju-88A-4 (w / n 2148, 4D + AN) from the 6th squadron of the 30th bomber squadron.
On September 8, 1942, German documents note the loss over Kamyshin, as a result of a ram, of a He-111H-6 (w / n 4675, 6N + HH) bomber from 1./KG100. According to Soviet data, the enemy plane, at the cost of his own life, was destroyed by Senior Lieutenant Arkady Stepanovich Kostritsyn, squadron commander of the 431st IAP.
The next day, on the other side of the huge front, the pilot of the 145th IAP, Lieutenant Efim Avtonomovich Krivosheev, rammed. In the air battle over Murmansk, his "Airacobra" smashed to smithereens Bf-109F-4 (w / n 8245) of Chief Corporal G. Hoffman from 6./JG5.
On September 11, 1942, senior sergeant Dmitry Vasilyevich Gudkov, pilot of the 976th IAP, flew to intercept a German reconnaissance officer discovered near the Pollasovka station, north of Stalingrad. As a result of the search, the enemy was found and destroyed by the ram. A German plane crashed near the village of Kaisatskoye, two pilots were captured. Gudkov himself left the damaged plane and landed by parachute. According to the Bundesarchiv, the Ju-88D-1 (w / n 430333, T1 + DL) aircraft from the long-range reconnaissance detachment 3. (F) / 10 did not return from the Kamyshin-Stalingrad area reconnaissance that day. Four crew members are reported missing.
"Aircobra I" of the guard of l-that E. A. Krivosheev from the 19th Guards. IAP, September 1942
On September 14, 1942, near Stalingrad, pilot of the 237th IAP Sergeant Ilya Mikhailovich Chumbarev cut off the tail of the enemy spotter Focke-Wulf-189 with the propeller blades of his fighter. "Rama" crumbled in the air, and her crew was captured. Chumbarev himself, in spite of the wound received in the ram, safely sat down at his airfield *.[By the way, this battering ram was also unlucky in terms of dating. In the article by V. Kotelnikov and D. Khazanov "The legendary" frame "in the magazine" World of Aviation "it was even assigned to December 17, 1942] According to German data, on that day in the Stalingrad region was lost with the entire crew of FW189 (w / n 2331, 2T + CH), belonging to the close reconnaissance detachment 1. (N) / 10.
On September 15, 1942, a junior lieutenant from the 721st IAP Stepan Fedorovich Kyrchanov rammed a Junkers-88 bomber over Stalingrad. German documents confirm that Ju-88A-4 (w / n 5749, F1 + VT) of the commander of the 9th detachment of the 76th squadron was destroyed by a battering ram near the mouth of the Tsaritsa River. The commander himself and one of the crew members, although they were injured, were able to land by parachute on German territory. Two more Germans were found on the other side of the front line and are considered missing.
THEM. Chumbarev near the "frame" he rammed. September 14, 1942
On September 18, 1942, a naval pilot from the 62nd IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force distinguished himself again. Over Gelendzhik, Captain Semyon Stepanovich Mukhin rammed a German "frame" in his Yak-1. Jumping out with a parachute, our pilot managed not only to save himself, but (here you can't throw out words from the song) shoot two German pilots from the plane he shot down. According to German data, the crew of the FW-189 (w / n 2278, M4 + CR) from detachment 7. (H)./ 32 that flew to the Kabardinka region was unlucky that day. All German pilots are reported missing.
The next day, two air rams were carried out in the Stalingrad area. Major Lev Isaakovich Binov, military commissar of the 512th IAP, destroyed the Messerschmitt-110 with a ram. Captain Vladimir Nikiforovich Chensky, squadron commander of the 563rd IAP - Messerschmitt-109. Enemy archives also report two rams. One of them killed Bf-110E (w / n 4541, S9 + AH) from 1./ZG1. In the second case, Do-17 (w / n 3486), belonging to Detachment 2. (F) / 11, was damaged (according to the German classification - 40%), but managed to land at the Tatsinskaya airfield.
On October 4, 1942, Sergeant 802 IAP Nikolai Fedorovich Shutov flew out to intercept the enemy scout. Not far from Syzran, he rammed a German car, but he died. Two of the scout's crew were taken prisoner. It can be assumed that this episode is about the missing in an unknown area Ju-88D-1 (w / n 1635, T5 + EL) from the already mentioned 3. (F) / ObdL.
Fw189 from 7. (H) / 132. Taranen 18.09.42 by captain S. M. Mukhin from the 62nd IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force
October 10, 1942 Senior Lieutenant Ivan Filippovich Kazakov, flight commander of the 572nd IAP, having no ammunition, rammed an enemy reconnaissance aircraft on his LaGG-3. The German car crashed to the ground 60 km north-west of Astrakhan, and Ivan Filippovich safely sat down at his airfield. According to the German archives, that day Ju-88D-1 (w / n 1613, T1 + KL) from 3. (F) / 10 did not return from reconnaissance along the Astrakhan-Elan route.
On December 14, 1942, at the village of Soldatskaya, Krasnodar Territory, junior lieutenant Viktor Nikolaevich Makutin, pilot of the 84th IAP, rammed an enemy fighter. According to the enemy, Bf-109G-2 (w / n 13881) from 7./JG52 was shot down as a result of the ram. Both pilots were killed.
On March 28, 1943, Senior Lieutenant Boris Petrovich Nikolaev from the 768th IAP 122nd Air Defense IAD, which defended the skies of Murmansk, destroyed an enemy fighter with a ram attack from his Kittyhawk. The Germans are believed to have lost Bf-109F-4 (w / n 7544) from 7./JG5 as a result of this attack. Our pilot escaped by parachute.
On May 21, 1943, in the area of Lavensari Island, I-153 from the 71st IAP of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force and the Finnish Messerschmitt met in a frontal attack. The waves of the Gulf of Finland took in what was left of the "seagull" of Sergeant Anatoly Vasilyevich Sitnikov and the Bf-109G-2 (tail number MT-228), which he destroyed at the cost of his own life, with pilot Lieutenant T. Saalasti from the LeLv34 squadron of the Suomi Air Force.
On the night of June 7-8, 1943, Senior Lieutenant Boris Sergeevich Tabarchuk from the 722th Air Defense IAP rammed an enemy bomber over Gorky. Tabarchuk landed his damaged fighter on the airfield. However, the German plane did not die either. Non-111 from 5./KG4 (5J + KN) was able to reach Orel and safely land at the airfield. This episode is not found in archival documents, but is given in the post-war history of the 4th Bomber Squadron "General Vever".
German fighter "Messerschmitt" Bf-109F
On July 24, 1943, German documents recorded death in a ramming along with three crew members of FW-189A-3 (w / n 2228) from the 15th short-range reconnaissance group of the 6th Luftwaffe Air Fleet. According to Soviet data, on this day, in the area of the village of Lomovets, Oryol Region, an enemy plane was rammed by the squadron commander of the 53rd Guards IAP Guards Lieutenant Pyotr Petrovich Ratnikov. The Soviet pilot also died.
The day of August 7, 1943 was marked by two rams in the sky over the Taman Peninsula. In the Anapa area, with a head-on ram on a Yak-1, Lieutenant Vasily Aleksandrovich Kalinin, pilot of the 9th IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, destroyed the Messerschmitt-109. Lieutenant Kalinin himself was killed. Enemy documents confirm the death of Bf-109G-6 (w / n 15844) from 4./JG52. True, the Germans believed that the collision of the aircraft was unintentional. Another enemy vehicle was rammed over the Blue Line by Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Ivanovich Lobachev from the 812th IAP. Having made a ram, he safely descended by parachute and even helped to capture three German pilots shot down by him. According to German data, his victim was a spotter FW189A-2 (w / n 2256) from the NAGr 9 short-range reconnaissance group. Three crew members of the "frame" are listed as missing.
On August 23, 1943, Ju-88D-5 (w / n 430231, 7A + WM) from 4. (F) / 121 did not return from reconnaissance. The alleged area of his death coincides with the place where the ram was committed by the pilot of the 383rd IAP of the 36th Air Defense IAD, Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Nikolaevich Korolev. Korolev shot down an enemy vehicle southeast of Efremov.
German reconnaissance aircraft "Focke-Wulf" FW-189
On November 10, 1943, in an air battle in the Koivisto region, the pilot of the 13th IAP of the KBF Air Force, Lieutenant Vasily Ivanovich Borodin, rammed an enemy fighter on a Yak-7 plane. Borodin died in the ram. According to Finnish data, the victim of the ram was Brewster B-239 (tail number BW-366) from the LeLv24 squadron of the Finnish Air Force. The Brewster's pilot escaped and was captured.
In conclusion, we note that we have so far managed to identify (with varying degrees of reliability) about fifty cases of air rams committed by Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War. This work is not finished, and we look forward to new findings. We are convinced that they will definitely be, the presence in German documents of more than two dozen episodes with confirmed facts of ramming, which have not yet been identified by domestic publications. We hope that the topic of air rams will be of interest not only to the authors, but other historians will also join our research.
B-239 from LeLv24 of the Finnish Air Force. Taranen 10.11.43 l-volume V. I. Borodin from the 13th IAP of the Air Force KBF
P. S I didn't want to write this postscript, but for people with alternative brain development, who see propaganda of fascism, communism, etc. everywhere, it is explained separately!
- Red stars and swastikas in the pictures are not propaganda of the political views of the authors, dock, but were identification marks of the warring parties and are considered in the news only in a historical context!
