Red Star Airacobra

by Evgeniy Mariinskiy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  The ground forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front were firmly established on the occupied lines by the end of August 1944 and began a thorough training and consolidation of forces before the subsequent determined blows on the enemy on European territory. The 129th GuFR also conducted training, prepared for combat the young pilots who arrived with reinforcements from
pilot schools, whilst the technical service was engaged in the repair of equipment and preparation of planes for fighting work. During this period there was one more joyful and significant event for all personnel of the unit on 14 November 1944: the deputy commander in charge of politics of the 2nd Air Army, the Air Force Major General Ramazanov, handed over to the Regiment a Guards banner.

  On 12 January 1945 forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front went onto the offensive after a long artillery preparation and overcame during the day the two very powerful lines of defensive installations, penetrating German territory. In the January operation the 129th GuFR covered the advance of Soviet ground units onto the territory of Poland and Germany. The fighting proceeded in extremely complex meteorological conditions but despite that none of the missions assigned by command was foiled.

  By the end of February the frontline forces reached the natural water boundary of the river Neisse and suspended further advances due to the necessity of tightening the lagging rear lines, replenishing manpower, equipment and ammunition and thus readying for a decisive blow on the enemy, planned for the middle of April, 1945. During this period the aircrew of the Regiment covered from the air the movement of the Soviet forces on a motorway in the area between the German cities of Liegnitz and Freiwaldau.

  In the period from 1 January until 14 April 1945 the 129th GuFR completed 830 operational flights, and fought in 30 aerial combats in which were brought down (per Soviet data) 19 enemy planes. Besides this strafing destroyed 4 enemy planes on airfields, 10 steam locomotives, 17 railway carriages with ammunition, 21 lorries and 18 horse vehicles with military property. At the same time the Regiment was engaged in the training of young pilots and repair of equipment.

  On 16 April 1945 a determined offensive on Berlin began. In the beginning of the Berlin operation the last flash of Luftwaffe activity was observed. Earlier the Germans had very seldom appeared in the air, mostly because of a chronic shortage of fuel. They threw all their surviving forces into a last fight: there was no need to spare them.

  As the whole operation continued the Regiment covered ground forces on the battlefield and on the march and river crossings, and carried out sorties to clear air space, fighter sweeps, ground attack and reconnaissance of the enemy forces. The Regiment had 20 group aerial combats in which 22 German planes were brought down. The fierce resistance of the Luftwaffe cost the 129th GuFR the loss of six pilots (two of them were found in captivity later). By the end of the month the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front together with forces of the 1st Belorussian Front surrounded the capital of Hitlerite Germany and occupied about half its territory. On 2 May Berlin fell and on 4 May the Soviet armies completely seized the cities of Dresden and Breslau. On 8 May 1945 at 20.00, Germany capitulated.

  The war for the pilots of the 22nd GuFD and the 129th GuFR lasted four more days. German troops in the area of Prague refused to lay down their arms and the pilots of the Division covered with larger groups the rush of two Soviet Tank Armies to the aid of the inhabitants of the Czech capital, who had risen in revolt. In one of the sorties on 8 May the Regiment suffered its last combat loss in the war – Junior Lieutenant Sergey Stepanov did not return from the sortie.

  In the closing battles of the war, among the aircrew of the Regiment, Guards Lieutenant Nikolay Glotov (he personally brought down 5 enemy planes) and the commanders of the Squadrons, Guards Senior Lieutenants Valentin Karlov and Michail Lusto (3 personal victories each) excelled the most. A few other pilots got two wins in the air each. Guards Lieutenant Evgeniy Mariinskiy also closed his personal account: on 18 April 1945, in combat in the Spremberg area, he brought down the 18th German plane in his account – a Focke-Wulf FW-190.

  By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 25 May 1945 the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment was awarded the Order of Alexandr Nevskiy and on 4 June 1945, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy 2nd degree.

  The next month, after the end of Great Patriotic War, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 27 June 1945 the whole group of the pilots of the 129th GuFR who had distinguished themselves on the fronts of struggle against German fascism were awarded the high rank of Hero of the Soviet Union:

  Guards Captain Arkhipenko Fedor Fedorovich;

  Guards Captain Bekashonok Michail Vasilyevich;

  Guards Captain Lusto Michail Vasilyevich;

  Guards Captain Nikiforov Petr Pavlovich;

  Guards Senior Lieutenant Karlov Valentin Andreyevich;

  Guards Senior Lieutenant Mariinskiy Evgeniy Pahomovich;

  Guards Lieutenant Glotov Nikolay Ivanovich.

  In the summer of 1945 the 22nd GuFD was incorporated into the Central Group of Forces (it was formed from the units and formations of the disbanded 1st Ukrainian Front) and transferred to Austria. The Regiments of the Division, including the 129th GuFR, were based in airfields on the outskirts of Vienna. Civilian life began, which people took a long time to get used to.

  Unfortunately, however, the post-war life of the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment did not last long. The 22nd GuFD and its Regiments including the 129th GuFR were disbanded during February-May 1947 in connection with the general post-war reduction of the Soviet Armed Forces. Some of the pilots and planes were distributed to neighbouring units of the Corps, whose regiments had more luck, and some were sent to the Soviet Union for further service. The banner of the Regiment was forwarded to the perpetual custody of Moscow’s Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

  Mikhail Bykov

  1

  Heavy losses

  Victor Korolev and I were the first to come up to the squadron command post. I am Evgeniy (Eugene) or Zhen’ka.

  “Hell, it’s perishing here!”

  Although it was only the middle of October 1943, before dawn it had become very cold, and the pilots were feeling rather uncomfortable in their lightweight cotton overalls.

  “If you can’t handle the cold, Cossack, you’ll never be ‘ataman’!”

  “What about lighting a fire?” I suggested.

  On this spot, about twenty-five metres behind where the planes were parked, we would usually set up a campfire out of dry corn and sunflower stalks. Sitting on empty petrol and oil cans, we passed the time warming ourselves by the fire, smoking, exchanging news, discussing events in the Regiment and at the front. We questioned the guys who had been in combat about their dogfights, and the habits of the Fascist fighter pilots, and we just chewed the fat. Unharvested plantations of sunflowers were nearby, and we used to roast the seeds on a large tin sheet. All technicians and mechanics, free from work, would come round to have a cigarette and a chat. Generally, people crowded here as well as at the Regimental Command Post. Thus this place was named the CP. But here, in contrast to the real Command Post, any serious conversations would frequently erupt in laughter over the latest tall story, which would never happen near the regimental CP. The guys felt constrained in the presence of the Regimental Commander, the zampolit, i.e. the Commander’s Deputy in Political Work, the Chief of Staff, and especially the Head of the Special Department. It had been called SMERSH, i.e. Death to Spies, since the beginning of the war. You wouldn’t say one extra word there. We had been taught that even before the war!

  “Well, let’s wait a bit before we have a fire. What if some Junkers come over? They used to turn up about now near Prokhorovka.” Korolev recalled the fighting at the Kursk Salient.

  “Like they’re going to bomb a campfire!”

  “Why wouldn’t they? Don’t they know that there is a new airstrip here? Their reconnaissance planes were here today.”

  The reminder of a possible bombing made me remember my first sortie at the front.

  “Listen, Victor, back then, before the flight, we had flown over the area. We thought we would come across the Fascists but saw no one. Maybe there aren’t any here at all.”

  After we flew up to the Steppe Front, which after 20 October 1943 was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front, our Fighter Aviati
on Corps joined the 5th Air Army. We, the younger pilots, were waiting impatiently for fighting and sorties. A sortie was being set up to assault the German tanks trying to liquidate our bridgeheads on the right hand bank of the Dniepr. Battle-seasoned pilots had been prepared for this operation. They even replaced the ammunition set for the 37mm cannons, removing the mines and fragmentation shells. But the sortie never took place. Apparently, ground attack squadrons of IL-2 had got there in time.

  Once, after lunch, the Regimental Commander lined up the personnel and announced that permission to fly around the battle area for reconnaissance had been obtained. He appointed his deputy, the Regimental Navigator as the leader. By that time the Regiment had already been equipped with the American-made “Bell Airacobra” fighters with excellent radio-sets. All thirty pilots, of all three squadrons, could hear each other really well. The regiments by that time had become three-squadron units.

  Ovchinnikov lined up the flyers before the sortie. He explained the take-off and battle order, and the guidelines of combat interaction. After all, we were flying towards the frontline and there was no guarantee we would not encounter enemy planes. “Bear in mind, Zhen’ka, we are on the right flank. It means we’re the closest to the Germans. You need to keep both eyes open.” Korolev was then telling me. “Well, the visibility is fine now. A million by a million.”

  “Fine is fine, but it’s fine for the Germans as well. It will be easier for them to see our armada of thirty planes than for us to see some pair of ‘hunters’ or even a single Messerschmitt. You’ll have to turn your head 360 degrees. Otherwise you won’t notice a ‘skinnie’ latching on to you.” ‘Skinnie’ was a nickname for the Messerschmitt 109 fighter planes, as well as ‘Schmitts’ and ‘Messers’. “He’ll strike from a height at a high speed, chop you up, and run away to his territory. And our superior numbers will not help. He’ll have a higher speed, a better moment for attack, and his choice of target. And we won’t be able to do anything about it unless we spot the enemy well beforehand.” Victor’s misgivings turned out to be unfounded. No one tried to latch on to us. Nobody saw any Fascist planes.