Petrukhin Nikolay Dmitrievich - shooter of the 384th separate battalion Marine Corps of the Odessa Naval Base Black Sea Fleet, sailor.
Born on March 18 (31), 1908 in the city of Moscow in a working class family. Russian. Graduated from 7 classes. Served conscript service in the Red Army. He worked in oil fields.
IN Navy since 1941. In 1941 he was called up from the reserve, served in the coastal defense units of the Poti naval base of the Black Sea Fleet. Member of the CPSU since 1943.
In April 1943, the Red Navy sailor Petrukhin was sent to the formed 384th separate battalion of the Black Sea Fleet marines.
In the fall of 1943, he took part in landing operations in the cities of the Azov coast: Mariupol, Osipenko (now Berdyansk). Then there were battles on the Kinburnskaya spit, the liberation of the villages of the Kherson region Aleksandrovka, Bogoyavlenskoe (now Oktyabrsky) and Shirokaya Balka.
In the second half of March 1944, the troops of the 28th Army began fighting to liberate the city of Nikolaev. To facilitate the frontal attack of the attackers, it was decided to land a landing party in the port of Nikolaev. A group of paratroopers under the command of Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky was allocated from the 384th Separate Marine Battalion. It included 55 sailors, 2 signalmen from the army headquarters and 10 sappers. The local fisherman Andreev went as a guide. One of the paratroopers was the sailor Petrukhin.
For two days the detachment fought bloody battles, repulsed 18 fierce enemy attacks, while destroying up to 700 enemy soldiers and officers. During the last attack, the Nazis used flamethrower tanks and toxic substances. But nothing could break the resistance of the paratroopers, force them to lay down their arms. They performed with honor combat mission.
March 28, 1944 soviet troops freed Nikolaev. When the attackers broke into the port, they saw a picture of the carnage that had taken place here: burnt buildings destroyed by shells, more than 700 corpses of fascist soldiers and officers were lying around, the conflagration smelled foul. From the ruins of the port office, 6 surviving paratroopers barely stood on their feet came out, 2 more were sent to the hospital. In the ruins of the office, they found four more living paratroopers who died of their wounds on the same day. All the officers, all the foremen, sergeants and many Red Navy men fell heroically. Red Navy sailor ND Petrukhin also died heroically.
The news of their feat spread throughout the army, throughout the country. The Supreme Commander ordered all the participants in the landing to be nominated for the rank of Hero Soviet Union.
Haveby the kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 20, 1945 for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time to the Red Navy Petrukhin Nikolay Dmitrievich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
He was awarded the Order of Lenin (04/20/1945, posthumously).
The city's street is named after them, the People's Museum of the Military Glory of the paratroopers was opened. In Nikolaev in the park named after 68 paratroopers a monument is erected. In the village of Oktyabrskoye on the banks of the Bug estuary, from where the paratroopers left on a mission, a memorial granite block with a commemorative inscription was installed.
Paratrooper from among the 68 Heroes.
On the night of March 26, 1944, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Bogoyavlensky (now the village of Oktyabrsky), the detachment plunged into 7 boats and went 15 kilometers up the Southern Bug, both banks of which were in the hands of enemies. At dawn, he landed at the port of the city of Nikolaev. The detachment was tasked with secretly landing in the rear, disrupting communications, sowing panic, thwarting the hijacking of civilians into fascist slavery, scheduled for March 26, to strike at the German defense from the rear and to assist the advancing Soviet units in the liberation of the city.
Silently removing 3 enemy sentries, the paratroopers took up a perimeter defense in the two-story elevator office building (44 paratroopers), a wooden house located to the east of the office (10 paratroopers) and a stone cement shed (9 paratroopers). One sailor settled in a small shed. Armed with an anti-tank rifle and a machine gun 30 meters southeast of the office, 4 more sailors lay down on the railroad embankment in front of the fence. The elevator office building was turned into the main stronghold. In the walls of the buildings, the paratroopers broke through loopholes, the doors and windows were laid with bricks and boxes of sand. Sailor Petrukhin took up a position on the 2nd floor of the office.
At dawn, the Nazis discovered the paratroopers and, one after the other, launched 2 attacks. They were repulsed by the paratroopers who were in the adjacent buildings. The fighters of the office have not yet entered the battle. A battalion of the Nazis took part in the 3rd attack. All groups entered the battle. Petorukhin put his rifle into action, aptly stabbing the fascists. The chains of the Nazis were melting before our eyes.
Having pulled up an infantry regiment with tanks, mortars and artillery to the port area, the Nazis in the middle of the day made another attempt to break the resistance of the landing. The Nazis began to methodically fire from cannons and mortars at the buildings where the paratroopers sat down. They received bruises from the crumbling walls, but continued to fire at the advancing enemy. Under the cover of artillery, the Nazis advanced from three sides. We went to the office. The first chain was followed by the second. When the Nazis approached, all our machine gunners hit them. The Nazis fell. The living hid behind corpses, crawled back. The attack drowned again.
Before the 5th attack, the Nazis pulled up six-barreled mortars and used thermite shells. They set fire to a wooden house, where 10 paratroopers were fighting, and a cement shed started smoking. Until the end of the first day of defense, the paratroopers repulsed 3 more attacks by drunken, distraught Nazis. The buildings were bombed with small bombs from the air, and several tanks were fired upon. 2 sailors were killed in a cement shed. There were losses in other points of defense - at the end of the day, a burning wooden house collapsed from several tank shots, burying 4 sailors and 5 sappers under the ruins. There were no casualties in the office building, but many were wounded, including the sailor Petrukhin.
On the morning of March 27, 1944, another enemy battalion approached the port, accompanied by several tanks, cannons and six-barreled mortars. At close range, with direct fire, they hit the paratroopers' bastions, watered the destroyed walls with flamethrowers. From a direct hit of an artillery shell to pieces, the radio was blown apart, 2 soldiers-radio operators were killed, the radio operator of the detachment, Alexander Lyuty, received a concussion. Communication with the "mainland" was lost. The commander and chief of staff of the landing party with a package sent a scout, foreman of the 1st article, Lisitsyn, through the front line, who, having been blown up by a mine and losing his foot, nevertheless crawled to his own and transmitted a report.
There were also losses in the office building. The senior sailor Khodyrev died heroically, throwing himself with a bunch of grenades under a Nazi tank. During the 11th attack, a machine gunner sailor Fadeev was hit by a fragment of an enemy mine. Machine gunner Skvortsov and orderly Tyashchenko were killed.
The Nazis repeatedly tried to break through to the main group of our landing force, but the enemy could not pass through the small "garrisons" located thirty to fifty meters around the office. When 2 paratroopers were killed near the fence on the railroad embankment, 2 others, being wounded, retreated to the office, knocking down the fence, the Germans rushed to the office. The paratroopers met the enemy with fire. Petrukhin, taking the submachine gun of the deceased orderly, beat the fascists crawling out from behind the railway line.
The Nazis increased artillery and mortar fire. The enemy fired at windows and breaches. The rooms were unbearably hot. It seemed that the Nazis set themselves the task of leveling the two-story building to the ground and burning its defenders. The sailors were suffocating from the acrid, suffocating smoke. They had to not only fight off the enemy, but also fight the fire that arose in one or another room. People died from bullets, fragments of shells and mines, from stones, now and then bouncing off the walls. And no matter how hard it was, no one thought of surrendering to the mercy of the enemy. The paratroopers fought to the death.
By the afternoon of March 27, almost all of the survivors were wounded. Before the start of the 16th attack, the Nazis conducted another powerful artillery shelling of the port buildings. The staircase between the 1st and 2nd floors of the office was destroyed. The paratroopers remaining in the battle were disunited. Several paratroopers died and were mortally wounded, including the chief of staff lieutenant
Ptukhin Evgeny Savvich. Lieutenant general aviation (1940). Russian. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1918
Born in March 1902 (in documents - 1900) in Yalta. Of the employees. From 1905 he lived in Moscow. Graduated from elementary school. From the age of twelve he began to work as a porter at the station, as a delivery boy in the editorial office of a newspaper, as a student of a telephone operator.
Volunteer in the Red Army since February 1918. Civil War... He fought against Denikin's, Wrangel's and Poles. During the war, he held the following positions: a Red Army soldier of an airfield guard, an assistant mechanic of the Tver (then the 3rd Moscow) air group. From November 1918 he was a mechanic of the 1st artillery aviation detachment. In May 1920, the detachment joined the Central Air Group and was sent to the front against Poland. Was shell-shocked.
After the Civil War, he held responsible positions in the Red Army Air Force. After graduating from the class of minders at the Yegoryevsk Aviation School in 1922, he worked as a senior minder in the 2nd separate fighter squadron (Podosinki). Then he studied at the Yegoryevsk theoretical aviation school at the pilot's course. After graduating from it in December 1923, he was sent to the Lipetsk Flight School. May to November 1924 - Serpukhovskaya cadet high school aerial shooting and bombing, after which he was awarded the title of "military pilot of the Red Army." From December 1924 - pilot, senior pilot of the 2nd (from 1925 - 7th) separate fighter squadron. From 1925 - flight commander, from April 1929 - detachment commander of the same squadron. In 1929 he graduated from the Advanced Training Courses for the command personnel of the Red Army Air Force at Air Force Academy named after prof. N.E. Zhukovsky. Since December 1929 - acting. the commander of the 15th separate fighter squadron. Since October 1930 - commander and military commissar of the same squadron of the Bryansk air brigade. Then he commanded the 17th fighter squadron. From January 1934 - commander and military commissar of the 450th mixed air brigade (Smolensk). From August 1935 - commander and military commissar of the 453rd mixed (then reformed into 142nd fighter) air brigade (Bobruisk). From May 1937 to January 1938 he was in republican Spain as a senior military adviser on aviation (replaced by Ya. V. Smushkevich). He had the pseudonym "General Jose". He commanded a fighter group of the Republican Air Force. From the memoirs of Aviation Lieutenant General A.F. Semenov: “Analyzing combat activities Soviet pilots in Spain, I cannot but emphasize the great role that E. S. Ptukhin and F. A. Agaltsov played in their leadership (assistant to E. S. Ptukhin for political affairs, regimental commissar, future marshal of aviation. - Ed. ). Evgeny Savich Ptukhin possessed an extraordinary talent as an aviation chief. In his own way, as we say now, in Ptukhinski, he developed, prepared and successfully carried out quite significant air operations at that time. Combat missions were solved with close cooperation of various types of aviation, often with an increase in the force of strikes, especially during the fight against enemy aircraft. The latter were effectively destroyed not only in the air, but also at airfields. "
Upon his return from Spain, he received the extraordinary military rank of "corps commander" (he left for Spain as a brigade commander). Since March 1938 - Commander of the Air Force of the Leningrad Military District. In 1939 he graduated from the Advanced Training Courses for the command staff of the Air Force at the Air Force Academy named after prof. N.E. Zhukovsky. During the war with Finland in 1939-1940. commanded the Air Force of the 7th Army, then the Air Force of the North-Western Front. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 21, 1940, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the skillful leadership of aviation, which inflicted great damage on the enemy during the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line. Since May 1940 - Commander of the Air Force of the Kiev Special Military District (KOVO). From the certification for Lieutenant General of Aviation E. S. Ptukhin, signed by the commander of the KOVO troops, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov in November 1940: “Special training as a commander of the KOVO Air Force is good. Organizing and conducting an Air Force operation, as shown in practice, can be good. Shows a lot of concern over the preparation of the theater of military operations in the aviation respect. Strong-willed, disciplined and demanding commander. " From January 1941 - Deputy Chief, in February - March 1941 - Chief of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army. Since April 1941, he held the former position of the commander of the Air Force of the Kiev Special Military District. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - Commander of the Air Force of the Southwestern Front.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin (1937, 1940), the Orders of the Red Banner (1938) and the Order of the Red Star (1936).
On June 24, 1941, he was removed from office. Arrested on June 27, 1941, by a special meeting at the NKVD of the USSR on February 13, 1942, on charges of participating in a military conspiracy, conducting sabotage in subordinate air units, he was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on February 23, 1942. By the decision of the Military Collegium of October 6, 1954, he was rehabilitated.
Cherushev N.S., Cherushev Yu.N. The executed elite of the Red Army (commanders of the 1st and 2nd ranks, corps corps, division commanders and their peers). 1937-1941. Biographical Dictionary... M., 2012, p. 432-434.
Evgeny Ptukhin photography
In 1918 he volunteered for the Red Army. Member of the RCP (b) since 1918. Participated in the Civil War. He fought on the Southern Front, was a minder of the 3rd Moscow Air Group. He took part in battles on the Polish front and in the defeat of Baron Wrangel.
In 1922 he graduated from the school of mechanics, and in 1924 - from the military school of pilots. He served in the 2nd squadron named after. Dzerzhinsky. Was a flight and squadron commander. Then he commanded the 142nd air brigade of the Belarusian Military District, stationed in Bobruisk.
Co-workers spoke of him as a man of strong will, fearlessness, inexhaustible energy and a high sense of camaraderie.
Aviation Marshal Krasovsky recalls: “I knew Ptukhin for a long time. He studied a lot and seriously, flew well, had good organizational skills - in a word, he grew up quickly. "
By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR on the personnel of the army from 28.11.35, No. 2488, in accordance with the decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated 22.09.35 "On the introduction of personal military ranks of the commanding staff of the Red Army" Ptukhin was awarded the military rank of brigade commander.
The first in the brigade to master the I-16 fighter.
In May 1936, for successes in combat, political and technical training, he was awarded the order Red Star. In the same year, according to the results of the district maneuvers, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense, he was awarded a passenger car.
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Participated in the people's revolutionary war in Spain from 15.05.37 to 25.02.38. under the pseudonym "General Jose". He commanded a fighter group of the Republican Air Force. He took part in the Brunet operation. Then he was the chief adviser to the commander of the Republican aviation on the Madrid, Aragon and Teruel fronts. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner.
Repeatedly flying to the front, Ptukhin, despite the ban, took part in air battles. Personally and in group he shot down several enemy planes.
4.06.37 was shot down by a fiat fighter in the group.
In the Segovian direction ... while on patrol, Fiats were found and attacked. In the ensuing air battle, the flight of the group commander, Evgeny Ptukhin, shot down 1 Fiat.
07/9/37, together with Bozhko Petrovich over Madrid, shot down the newest German Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter.
Writer Shingarev reports: “From the direction of the sun, the elongated silhouettes of the second group of Messers flashed. Sharply lifting up the nose of the fighter, Ptukhin slashed machine-gun bursts at the engine ... The fascist deftly left the tracks and put the car into a bend. Ptukhin rushed after him. On a bend, he could not catch up with his opponent. True, the Messer did not break away from the I-16 either.
With a sharp flip over the wing, the fascist pilot brought the plane into a dive. Ptukhin repeated the Messer's maneuver. Over the square, Major I-16 caught up with the fascist car. Ptukhin pressed the trigger. The Messer shot up. Polished fenders and a tightly closed Plexiglas canopy gleamed in the sun. General Jose pressed the common fire trigger once more. Machine-gun tracks hooked on the tail unit of the Messer.
And then on the path of the fascist was the "chato" Bozhko Petrovich. Yugoslav was the first to open fire. "Messerschmitt" overturned on the wing and fell down. "
Soon, in one of the air battles, Ptukhin shot down the newest German bomber Heinkel He.111.
Writer Sukhachev says: “Ptukhin abruptly, with a half-coup at full throttle, rushed after one of the three He-111 he saw ... Fearing to miss the enemy, he made a sharp maneuver and broke away from the wingmen ...
As soon as the distance reached 500 meters, glowing trails stretched out from the enemy aircraft, and at the same moment Ptukhin felt a fractional knock on the left plane. The enemy had larger caliber machine guns, and he could afford to shoot from that range. Simultaneously with the firing, the bomber entered a right turn with a climb. With great angular velocity, he flashed in front of the hood of Ptukhin's plane. The attack was thwarted ...
Having an advantage in speed, it was possible to make a left ranversman after the enemy and be in the tail. But at the top point, almost the entire plane will hover at low speed. Of course, the shooter will not miss such a moment. An instant assessment of the situation, and Ptukhin energetically drove the car into a left turn, knowing that he would now face the enemy head-on.
Apparently, warned by the gunner about the maneuver of the fighter, the enemy pilot shifted from the right bend to the left. Having finished the U-turn, Ptukhin saw that they were at diametrically opposite points of the bend. With almost the same speed, the opponents were spinning for the third turn. The overload was at its limit. With difficulty holding his head up, Ptukhin saw the shooter's futile attempts to shift the turret from the starboard to the left. Due to the great overload, it turned out to be beyond his power. The enemy could only shoot at the outer side of the bend.
Exhausted, the shooter sat pressed into the seat. “But he is now unarmed from the inside of the bend,” the thought flashed across Yevgeny Savvich's mind. Having increased the roll more than 90 degrees, Ptukhin, with a loss of height, cut off the circle and, at the exit to the set, began to approach the enemy. When, as it seemed, rivets on the casing became visible, he pressed the trigger with an effort ...
Skipping under the enemy, Ptukhin no longer doubted that the Heinkel had been dealt a fatal blow. And rightly so, the enemy slowly, as it happens when the control is damaged, has filled up the left bank with the lowering of the nose. Rotating just as slowly, he began to move away from Ptukhin almost vertically. Then, in the place where the point of the plane touched the ground, a large fiery black cloud rose silently. "
Aviation Lieutenant-General Semenov recalls: “Evgeny Savvich Ptukhin had an extraordinary talent as an aviation chief. In his own way, as we say now, in Ptukhinski, he developed, prepared and successfully carried out quite significant air operations at that time.
Combat missions were solved with close cooperation of various types of aviation, often with an increase in the force of strikes, especially during the fight against enemy aircraft. The latter were effectively destroyed not only in the air, but also at airfields. "
The pilots of his brigade, who participated in the national revolutionary war in Spain, also proved to be excellent.
Soon after returning to his homeland, brigade commander Ptukhin was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Leningrad Military District.
02/22/38, he was awarded the extraordinary military rank of corps commander. He was also awarded the jubilee medal "XX Years of the Red Army".
Participated in soviet-Finnish war... From January 1940 he was the commander of the Air Force of the North-Western Front.
In January 1940, after the disbandment of the 1st Special Forces Army, the front air force included two separate air regiments (85th SBAP and 149th IAP) and three air brigades - the 27th DBAB (6th, 21st and 42nd 1st dbap), 29th women (9th sbap and 7th tbap) and 16th sbab (31st and 54th sbap).
02/23/40, to accelerate the defeat of the Finnish troops, the United Air Force of the North-Western Front was created under the command of Corps Commander Ptukhin, consisting of two air brigades (27th dbab and 16th sbab) and seven separate air regiments (85th and 57th sbap , 1st mtap, 15th rap, 7th, 13th and 149th iap), which inflicted the final crushing blows on the enemy.
For bravery and courage, 68 pilots of the Air Force of the North-Western Front were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
03/21/40 for the skillful leadership of the actions of aviation, which caused great damage to the enemy during the breakthrough of the fortified Mannerheim line, corps commander Ptukhin Yevgeny Savvich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Gold Star medal No. 244.
On 14-17.04.40, a meeting was held at the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the commanding staff to collect experience of military operations against Finland.
04/16/40, corps commander Ptukhin spoke at the meeting. He reported to the audience about the experience of the Air Force of the North-Western Front: “In the war with the White Finns, we first used a large mass of aviation and especially widely used bomber ... 71% of the actions of the aviation of the North-Western Front are work with troops, work on destruction and destruction URs of the Karelian Isthmus. In total, we have 53 thousand sorties, of which 27 thousand fall on bombers who made 19.5 thousand sorties to the URs and dropped 10.5 thousand tons of bombs. As you can see, the figure is colossal. Large-caliber bombs were dropped - 250-500 kg.
What did we do with them, how did we help the troops? There is evidence that several reinforced concrete points from direct hits from large-caliber bombs were completely destroyed. We think in the spring, when the snow melts, to carefully examine the fortified area and see the effectiveness of the bombers ...
Not every bomb can hit exactly the target, but if a 500 kg bomb falls next to a bunker, this also acts morally and materially. We know of cases when a bomb fell near a bunker, and people were pulled out of the bunker, whose nose and ears were bleeding, and some of them completely died. It is hard to be bombed day and night, but we flew 2,500 planes during the day and 300-400 planes at night. During the day, traffic on the Karelian Isthmus absolutely stopped ...
I believe that aviation has done a tremendous job of destroying the UR, but the big drawback is that we scattered our aviation, did not focus its actions on the main areas ... Aviation is effective when it puts bombs meter by meter according to a certain system .. Fortified areas can only be shaken by technology, and we are rich in technology. You just need to work according to a certain system, coordinate the actions of various types of troops and not scatter ...
Our interaction with the 7th Army was not bad. At the moment of the breakthrough, aviation with artillery transferred their fire to the rear. The bombers operated in the areas where the enemy's reserves were supposed to be concentrated. This contributed to the fact that our troops did not have strong counterattacks during the development of the breakthrough ...
We bombed railway junctions with large forces for the first time. Kouvola station - large railway node, big station. After bombing it worked as a ferry line. The station suffered a lot of damage, but during the break in bombing, the Finns managed to somehow recover, and the station still worked. Our work was limited by the weather, you work for 2-3 days, and then the weather is bad for 5 days ...
It is necessary and possible to bomb the railway junctions, but for a greater effect it is necessary to use large-caliber bombs of 500-1000 kg ...
One of the most effective ways to disrupt railways. traffic is bombing over bridges. But hitting bridges as a narrow target from horizontal flight is very difficult. There are cases of direct hitting bridges, but this requires large material costs. It seems to me that two methods can be applied here: the first is dive bombing, which requires a special aircraft - a dive bomber, or the second is bombing from a low altitude with bombs on parachutes of at least 250 kg caliber ...
There is also a way to stop the railway. movement on the tracks, but for this you need special type aircraft capable of bombing from low altitudes ...
All methods must be applied to stop railway traffic. I did not abandon any method and I believe that the Air Force of the North-Western Front has achieved certain results in disrupting traffic on the railways.
We have achieved good results in disabling steam locomotives. We got the idea to shoot at the locomotives with fighters from ShVAKs. The result was good. So we disabled 86 steam locomotives, plus we blew up a number of wagons with ammunition, burned many wagons, terrorized railway workers ...
The locomotive operates under the pressure of steam in the boiler, the shell, falling into the boiler, breaks through the pipes, an explosion occurs and the steam comes out, and if there is no steam, then the locomotive is dead ... The train stops immediately. We would still need additional tanks for the aircraft to increase the range. The Finns have a weak locomotive fleet, and by increasing the range of fighters to 300 km, it would be possible to further paralyze railway traffic. In the future, it is necessary to test rockets on steam locomotives ...
The fighter aircraft worked well as always ... There were few air battles, but the fighter aircraft proved to be excellent ... Fighters worked a lot on the battlefield, but this was solely due to the weak enemy aircraft. We need to think about a military aircraft that can operate on the battlefield from low altitudes and in bad weather. After all, you know that it is very difficult to raise the SB in bad weather. This machine can be used on the battlefield in exceptional cases - it is too large and unmaneuverable. We need a single-engine two-seater aircraft with a speed of 380-400 km, with a bomb load of 300-400 kg and a range of 350-400 km. Some comrades complain that enemy aircraft bombed. I must say that our troops do not know what bombing at troops is. You have not seen the aviation that was in Spain. And here, from the bombing of one plane, panic in the entire hull. What would you say if you were bombed the way we bombed the Finns. Our commanders must educate themselves and the troops in such a way as to be ready to repel the actions of a stronger aviation enemy than the Finns.
We will take all measures to prevent the bombardment of our troops, but a full guarantee cannot be given.
One of the shortcomings of our aviation is the great vulnerability of bomber aircraft, especially DB. The plane has 14 gas tanks and when the enemy is fired with special bullets, the car quickly lights up.
The car should be more tenacious. Designers should think about this question ... Armament on bomber aircraft has a lot of dead cones. The navigator on the SB has two machine guns, and he does not have to shoot at enemy aircraft, since there are almost no oncoming attacks, due to high speeds, so it turns out that the navigator does not participate in the battle, which takes place mainly in the rear hemisphere, and all the weight battle falls on the shooter, who has weapons
weaker and big dead cone ...
Flight personnel must be taught to fly blindly, in difficult weather conditions ... The regiment should have one squadron, which must be trained to fly blind ...
The next question is about the distribution of aviation ... The top commander should decide where to send aviation ... Aviation is effective when it acts in a massive and concentrated manner, and the commander of the army and the front, to whom it should obey, can correctly assess the situation.
It is necessary to act more on the deep rear of the enemy - this is a big deal. Look at Vyborg - nothing is left of it. The city is completely destroyed ...
We entered the war with 1,500 planes fully prepared and during the war prepared two more SB regiments. This is the preparation of the parts. The preparation of the territory for such a mass of aircraft had lagged behind ... In some operational directions the airfield network was completely absent (the Ukhta direction) ... The stock of bombs and fuel ... was not enough for the current number of aircraft.
One of the reasons for this lack is that the Air Force commanders did not know the war plan and the number of deployed units in one direction or another.
I consider it necessary to immediately address the issues of preparing the territory for war, taking into account the forces deployed in one direction or another, and accordingly to build airfields and create reserves for at least three months. "
4.06.40 corps commander Ptukhin was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general of aviation.
In June 1940 he was appointed Air Force Commander of the Kiev Special Military District.
The district was the most powerful in the USSR. Huge forces were concentrated under the command of Ptukhin. In 11 air divisions of the district, there were 39 air regiments (17 fighter, 15 bomber, 5 assault and 2 reconnaissance), which had more than two thousand aircraft.
In the attestation signed on 11/26/40 by the commander of the district troops, General of the Army Zhukov and a member of the Military Council, corps commissar Vashugin, it was noted: “Ptukhin ... an old, experienced commander, a participant in the civil war, the war with the White Finns, the title of Hero Soviet Union.
Special training as a commander of the KOVO Air Force is good. Organizing and conducting an Air Force operation, as shown in practice, can be good. Shows a lot of concern over the preparation of the theater of military operations in the aviation respect. Strong-willed, disciplined and demanding commander ...
The position of the commander of the KOVO Air Force corresponds to ".
However, already in February 1941, Lieutenant General Ptukhin was appointed head of the Main Directorate of the Air Defense of the Red Army.
In January 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the Organization of Air Defense". It defined a zone threatened by an air attack to a depth of 1200 km from the state border. On this territory, within the military districts, air defense zones were created, in them - air defense areas, as well as air defense posts. In total, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the air defense forces had: air defense zones - 13; air defense corps - 3; air defense divisions - 2; air defense brigades - 9; brigade areas of the air defense - 39. The number of personnel of the air defense troops was 182 thousand people. To solve the problems of air defense of the most important centers of the country, 40 fighter aviation regiments were also allocated, numbering about 1,500 combat aircraft, 1206 crews.
In March 1941, Ptukhin handed over the affairs to Colonel-General Stern, and he himself was re-appointed commander of the KOVO Air Force.
As of June 22, 1941, the Kiev Special Military District had 2359 pilots, 1308 observer pilots and 2059 aircraft: 466 bombers (including 74 Pe-2 dive bombers), 1343 fighters (including 189 MiG-3), 5 Il-2 attack aircraft, 247 reconnaissance aircraft (including 99 Su-2 close-range bombers).
Unfortunately, not all flight crews fully mastered the equipment entrusted to them and were poorly prepared for combat operations. A particularly difficult situation developed in the nine newly formed air regiments, staffed mainly by young pilots.
The reconstruction of the air bases, which began in the spring of 1941, was not completed by the beginning of the war. Due to repairs, many of the operating airfields were of limited serviceability. Aviation units did not have alternate airfields, which is why they were located very crowded.
After a wave of arrests of generals - "Spaniards" in late May and early June, Ptukhin's position was very precarious.
Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov recalls: “On June 20, I was unexpectedly ordered by the People's Commissar of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Tymoshenko was summoned to Moscow. On Saturday I returned to Leningrad and immediately called the People's Commissariat. General Zlobin, who was under the people's commissar for special assignments, said that I was being transferred to Kiev.
Naturally, I immediately thought of General E.S. Ptukhine and asked where he was being transferred. My question remained unanswered. Zlobin somehow hesitated and, after a short pause, replied that the issue of Ptukhin had not yet been resolved, and I had to be at the Marshal's at 9 am on June 23rd, and hung up. ”
On the eve of the invasion, the commander of the district's Air Force, Aviation Lieutenant General Ptukhin, personally flew over operational airfields, checking their camouflage and combat readiness. Camouflage measures undertaken since spring on his initiative made it possible to hide from the German command up to 10% of the aircraft. But this was clearly not enough.
Participated in the Great Patriotic War... He commanded the Air Force of the Southwestern Front.
06/22/41, from 4 to 5 o'clock in the morning, about 400 aircraft of the 5th Air Corps attacked 24 forward airfields of the district. For the Soviet Air Force, the blow was unexpected ...
Due to the lack of specific instructions from the district air force commander to withdraw the air units from the attack, they suffered heavy losses. Even after repelling the first strike, most of the air regiments did not change their place of deployment, and were destroyed in subsequent raids.
In total, on the first day of the war, the Air Force of the Southwestern Front lost 204 aircraft at airfields and 97 in air battles. Soviet pilots shot down 46 enemy aircraft ...
The front air force headquarters practically did not control the actions of the air units, as it was busy moving from Kiev to Ternopil. As a result, an attempt to bring the headquarters closer to the area of \u200b\u200bhostilities led to a violation of control.
Aviation Marshal Skripko reports: “Ptukhin energetically strove to reorganize the work in a front-line way, to bring the air units and formations into combat readiness. However, Evgeny Savvich did not know that these days the question of him as a commander was being decided and that on June 20, 1941, by order of the Main Military Council, he would be removed from his post for an accident. Without receiving this order, General E.S. Ptukhin met the tests of the first days of the war at the post of commander of the air force of the Kiev special military district and on June 24, 1941, he was again relieved of his duties with an even more formidable wording.
In the evening of June 20, 1941, the first echelon with the district's field control moved by a special train to a new command post located in Tarnopol, and in the morning of June 21, the main group of the district headquarters left for the command post. In the same convoy followed the command of the Air Force Commander.
A reserve command post of the district (front) air force was left in Kiev, headed by the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for organizational issues, Aviation Major General Maltsev. With him was a small group of representatives of various departments and services, including ransomware. Events required the very next day to involve the entire group in active operational work, although it was not intended for this purpose.
The fact is that the communications center of the Air Force headquarters in Kiev had communication with all the airfields of the district (front), while the command post in Tarnopol was not provided with it.
At dawn on June 22, 1941, when a column of staff vehicles was being pulled into Brody (65 kilometers northeast of Tarnopol), enemy aircraft struck at our airfields ...
The war found the regiments of the district in the border airfield zone, where they were taken out during an operational exercise conducted by General E.S. Ptukhin. However, the units were not put on alert. The headquarters of the mixed air divisions, that is, army aviation, were located in their places of permanent deployment ...
E.S. Ptukhin, together with his deputy for combat training S.V. Slyusarev by 14 o'clock on June 22, 1941 arrived at the command post in Tarnopol ... Direct wire communication was only with the 14th, 16th and 17th air divisions. Contacts with all other parts and connections were maintained through the Kiev communications center.
The group of General Maltsev, who was there, collected data on the situation in all regiments and transmitted them to the command post of the Air Force of the front in Tarnopol, orders were transmitted to the divisions from Tarnopol through the same channel. However, due to the lack of encryptors in Kiev, a large number of urgent unencrypted codograms and cipher codes have accumulated - all this significantly complicated the management.
On the first day of the war, the losses of the Air Force of the Southwestern Front amounted to 192 combat aircraft, including 301 aircraft. Of the total number of our losses on the ground, 95 combat aircraft, 109 training aircraft were destroyed and damaged. "
On June 24, 1941, Ptukhin was removed from command and arrested. Contained in the Saratov prison.
On January 29, 1942, Beria sent to Stalin a list of 46 arrested persons "on the list of the NKVD of the USSR." Against each surname, Beria indicated the year of birth, party affiliation, the date of arrest and the position held before the arrest. In addition, the guilt of the arrested person was formulated in several lines.
About Lieutenant-General of Aviation Ptukhin it was stated that he was “caught up in the testimony of Smushkevich, Chernobrovkin, Yusupov ... as a participant in an anti-Soviet military conspiracy. He testified that since 1935 he was a participant in an anti-Soviet military conspiracy, where he was recruited by Uborevich, but he refused this testimony, admitting that he had criminally led the troops entrusted to him. "
The Supreme Commander imposed a final resolution: “Shoot all those named on the list. I. Stalin ".
On 13.2.42, by a resolution of the Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR, Lieutenant General of Aviation Ptukhin was sentenced to capital punishment.
On 23.02.42 he was shot. Buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Rehabilitated 6.10.54
Elite iconic look
oscarcamden 20.11.2010 09:28:06
Renaissance, one way or another, gracefully forms the principle of artistry, thus, all the listed signs of archetype and myth confirm that the action of the mechanisms of myth-making is akin to the mechanisms of artistic and productive thinking. Decadence forms the principle of artistry, a similar research approach to the problems of artistic typology can be found in K. Fossler. Pushkin presented Gogol with the plot of "Dead Souls" not because artistic taste continues the factual epithet, it was about this complex of driving forces that Freud wrote in the theory of sublimation. The melancholic gives the irrational in creativity, it was about this complex of driving forces that Freud wrote in the theory of sublimation. Indeed, the text is intuitive.
The experience and its implementation, including, is consistent. Artistic contamination, by definition, ends a deep horizon of expectation, a similar research approach to the problems of artistic typology can be found in K. Fossler. His existential melancholy acts as an incentive for creativity, however, the playful principle causes an elite "code of deeds", thus, all the listed signs of archetype and myth confirm that the action of the mechanisms of myth-making is akin to the mechanisms of artistic-productive thinking. Integrity ends with an abbreviated socio-psychological factor, a similar research approach to the problems of artistic typology can be found in K. Fossler.
The idea of \u200b\u200bthe intrinsic value of art is characteristic. Harmony is free. Tragic indirectly. The complex of aggressiveness monotonously evokes an unconscious horizon of expectation, something similar can be found in the works of Auerbach and Tandler. Developing this theme, artistic mediation is musical. Revealing stable archetypes on the example of artistic creativity, we can say that the heroic continues the general cultural cycle, so G. Korf formulates his own antithesis.
Anastasia Baydrakova
Barriers.net
"The fate of man"
What do we mean when we say "strong man"? Hardly swayed muscles. Strength of spirit, strength of character - this is what makes us admire some people. One of them will now be discussed. An unsuccessful chemical experiment 30 years ago led Evgeny Petrukhin to a complete loss of vision. I had to start new lifegetting a new profession. But difficulties recede before the irrepressible energy of our hero. He designs new devices, puts on bioenergy experiments and constantly helps people. Evgeny Petrukhin in our section "The Fate of a Man".
On a visit to Evgeny Fedorovich, we arrived at the dacha. The house is small, and for detailed conversations, the owner invites us ... to the attic: "We climb into my personal, so to speak, office. This is my personal space, plus there is a minimum of medical equipment, which I sometimes use for myself, sometimes for some of the people If you want, you can see. "
Yevgeny Petrukhin took up medicine after he lost his sight. In 84 he graduated with honors from a medical school specializing in massage and manual therapy. However, this was already the third diploma. The first education - a chemistry teacher - our hero received in the distant 69th. And then there was a state university by vocation: radiophysics and electronics. Professional versatility is still manifested in everything: Evgeny heals people, using his knowledge in physics. "Acoustic resonance therapy. The main thing in this business is this device, which is called a radiator. All the trick is concentrated in it," says Evgeny Petrukhin.
The emitter membrane vibrates with sounds. If you put on suitable music and lean the apparatus against the body, the energy of harmonic vibrations "feeds" internal organs... Eugene makes all the devices himself. Even objects seemingly far from medicine are used. "For vacuum massage, a device was made from an ordinary flower pot. I used to make it out of a glass jar, rubberized it, it’s difficult, but as soon as it cranked up, that’s all," says Evgeny Petrukhin.
We attach the device to another, by the way, it was once part of the refrigerator - and, as they say, hurray, it worked! "Under the influence of a vacuum, the vessels expand, then under the influence of a vacuum they compress them. And powerful vascular gymnastics is obtained," - Yevgeny comments.
From the office to the machine. A lot of devices were made here, including those of a medical nature. “When there is a lot of dust, sparks, smoke, I do it here, I don’t do it at home anymore. Consider that I made half of the medical equipment here,” said the craftsman. However, the equipment is equipment, but you also need to take care of the economy. For example, finishing the veranda fence.
Works with welding, and with machines: lathe, woodworking. A circular saw, which some sighted people are afraid to approach, obediently cuts off bars of the required width. These are useful for the garden - on pegs. "So all this, the dacha is done with my own hands... Well, of course, not without helpers, "said Evgeny Petrukhin.
The wife, Valentina Nikolaevna, is helping. The couple met after the accident. As it suddenly turns out, it was exactly 30 years old in winter.
Anniversary, or what? Ay-y-yay! ..
Was already. And you didn't remember.
Ay-y-yay. Yes. 30 years. Nightmare.
What a great excuse to get drunk!
Valentina Nikolaevna reads aloud, helps to move around the city. And I learned a lot about the housework over the years. “Well, of course, he also needs help: to mark, solder, drill, open-pendicular. It's all difficult, so he taught me, I help,” says Yevgeny's wife.
Friends help him too. Some, by the way, have remained from ancient times. From a past, sighted life. We worked together at the Irkutsk aircraft plant, went on hikes, climbed the peaks of Khamar-Daban. Although the peaks are still being conquered. Going, for example, for wild garlic to Chersky Peak is not a problem for Yevgeny Fedorovich. However, much is not a problem for him. And it's not just about the ability to clean pipes or, say, dig up a vegetable garden. The point is in a special vitality and energy, which is probably also a talent.
Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant General of Aviation
PTUKHIN EVGENY SAVVICH
03.03.1902-23.02.1942
Evgeny Savvich Ptukhin was born on March 3, 1902 in the family of a postal worker in Yalta. At the end of 1905, his father got a job as a manager of a horse farm and moved the whole family to Moscow. When the time came, Zhenya was sent to study at a state-owned three-year school. However, the atmosphere that prevailed in this educational institution, discouraged the young man from continuing his education there. Parents went to meet him and arranged for him in a technical school on Rozhdestvenka.
In 1914, his father fell seriously ill, and his older brother was drafted into the army and sent to the front. The family began to feel great need, and in order to somehow help his relatives, Zhenya, having abandoned his studies, begins to work. He moonlights as a porter at railway stations, as a courier in the Veche newspaper, as a telephone operator's apprentice in Delovy Dvor.
From letters that came from the front, Zhenya learned that his older brother Vasily served in the aviation unit. From that moment on, all the boy's thoughts and dreams were about airplanes. He literally "got sick" with aviation. Zhenya learned all the known aircraft models, knew every single outstanding aviator, Russian and foreign.
The revolutionary events that stirred up the country did not go unnoticed by Yevgeny Ptukhin. He plunges headlong into the class struggle, participates in demonstrations, distributes leaflets and newspapers among the soldiers.
When Yevgeny found out that volunteers were being enrolled in the ranks of the Red Army, he did not hesitate for a minute. However, he was disappointed - due to his young age, he was refused admission. Then, having corrected the birth metric and attributing to himself two years, he achieved his goal.
On January 20, 1918, Evgeny Ptukhin was a volunteer enrolled in the ranks of the Red Army. Before being sent to the front, he had to undergo training in machine-gun courses. The elder brother Vasily, who arrived home for a visit, arranged for Evgeny to be sent to serve in his flight unit located in Tver.
Younger Ptukhin is enrolled as a minder in the 3rd Moscow Air Group. The young, smart guy quickly found a common language with his colleagues and became an indispensable assistant in any complex repairs. Eugene became especially close to the minder Peter Pumpur (future lieutenant general of aviation and Hero of the Soviet Union). This friendship and warm relationship to each other will remain between them all their lives.
In March 1918, sixteen-year-old Evgeny Ptukhin was admitted to the ranks of the Russian Communist Party. As part of the First Aviation Artillery Detachment, he participates in the Civil War. In November 1918, the detachment was sent to Southern front... It was based in the Oboyan area and supported the offensive of the Donetsk group of forces from the air. Engineer Ptukhin provided repair and preparation of aircraft for combat missions. During one of the enemy air raids, he was wounded by a bomb dropped from the Heaviland aircraft.
Soon the detachment was relocated to the Southwestern Front. Located at the airfields in Svatovo, Kupyansk, as part of the 13th Army, he participates in battles in the Aleksandrovsk region against the troops of Baron Wrangel.
At the end of May 1920, the detachment was included in the central air group under the command of I.U. Pavlova. In its composition participates in hostilities on the Polish front.
Being next to the outstanding Red Warlettes I. Pavlov, I. Spatarel and others, Evgeny Ptukhin strove to be like them. The desire to become a pilot was for him the only goal in life.
After repeated reports, the command went to meet Ptukhin and sent him to study at the Yegoryevsk theoretical school. On the very first day upon arrival, Eugene learned the unpleasant news: everyone entering the pilot training class must pass entrance exams in the Russian language, algebra and geometry. The names of the last two items did not tell him anything at all. It is not surprising that Eugene failed the exams miserably.
Taking into account the military experience and the petition of the command of the unit, the school leadership enrolled Ptukhin in the class of minders. At the same time, he was tasked with filling knowledge gaps. Realizing that with primary education he will not succeed in becoming a pilot, Eugene devotes a lot of time and energy to his studies.
In 1922, E. Ptukhin graduated from the school of mechanics and by order of the Main Air Fleet was appointed senior mechanic of the Separate Fighter Squadron No. 2 in Podosinki. It was commanded by an old friend of the military, I. Spatarel. The commander was glad to arrive at the unit of such an experienced minder, but his dream of becoming a pilot was cool. But Eugene did not even think to retreat. And soon he again became a cadet of the Yegoryevsk theoretical school, but already in the flight class.
In December 1923, Ptukhin completed his studies and was sent to the Lipetsk Flight School. Here, under the guidance of experienced teachers and mentors, he masters the plane. After 30 flights with an instructor, on April 4, 1924, Evgeny Ptukhin was the first among the cadets to make an independent flight on the Anrio N-14. Every day, with every flight, skill and self-confidence grew, and a keen desire to fly. But unexpectedly, the school was disbanded and all the uchlets were sent to continue their studies in the city of Borisoglebsk.
After successfully graduating from the Borisoglebsk school, the pilot Ptukhin, among the twenty best graduates, received a referral to the Serpukhov Higher School of Shooting and Bombing. This was the most difficult period of study in the life of Eugene. Almost every day, he had to fly to the area where training air battles and live firing at ground targets were carried out. After such intense training, the flights along the route seemed like a rest. You could straighten your back, look only straight, and not turn your head in all directions, as in an air battle.
Six months passed quickly. At the end of 1924, E. Ptu-khin completed his studies and was sent to serve in his 2nd air squadron. Upon arrival at the headquarters, he saw the order: “12/2/1924. The village of them. Michelson. Comrade Ptukhin Evgeny, who arrived from the Higher Aviation School of Aerial Shooting and Bombing, should be enrolled in the lists of a separate fighter squadron for the position of a military officer in the 2nd non-separate detachment and for all types of allowances from December 1 of this year. ... Squadron commander, military unit Spatarel, military commissar Posheman, early. Headquarters Maslov "(1).
At the exit from the headquarters, Eugene was in for a pleasant surprise - an old friend and trusted comrade Pyotr Pumpur. It again fell to them to serve together in one unit.
The days of intense training, flights, training air battles dragged on. Aviation switched to new aircraft, and it was necessary in the shortest possible time not only to master them, but also to master the new piloting technique.
In July 1925, E. Ptukhin, P. Pumpur and other pilots of the squadron took part in suppressing bandit uprisings led by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The bandits concentrated in villages near the Ilinskaya station of the Moscow-Kursk railway. They burned bread and houses of activists, dealt with sympathizers of the Soviet regime.
The squadron pilots flew reconnaissance missions, fired at and dispersed the gangs. The flights were fraught with mortal danger. On July 11, during one of the sorties, the bandits managed to knock out the plane. Pilot Sedko was wounded, but managed to cope with the car and made an emergency landing. Seeing this, the bandits rushed to him. Overcoming the pain, the pilot managed to escape, and the plane was burned by the bandits.
By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 719 of 03 July 1925, the honorary title “named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky ", and in December 1926 it was renamed the 7th separate air squadron. This year it was headed by the famous pilot, the hero of the Civil War A.D. Shirinkin. For military exploits in air battles of the First World War, he was awarded four George crosses, and in the battles for Soviet power he earned two Orders of the Red Banner.
Evgeny Ptukhin flies a lot, honing his skills. He quickly and on time masters new techniques. The abilities of the young pilot were noticed by the command. In 1926, senior pilot E. Ptukhin was appointed flight commander.
Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal S. A. Krasovsky recalls: “In the squadron of A.D. Shirinkin, pilots Pyotr Pumpur, Evgeny Ptukhin served ... The short fair-haired Ptukhin - everyone in the detachment lovingly called him Zhenya - stood out among others for his outstanding flying skills ”(2).
In December 1927, the 7th squadron was relocated to Vitebsk, to the 2nd air brigade of the Belarusian Military District. Evgeny Ptukhin was appointed as the commander of the detachment. The communists of the unit show him high confidence and elect him as the secretary of the party organization of the squadron. He is hard at work in aviation. One of the first in the unit to master the D-11 aircraft. He devotes a lot of time and effort to ensure that all pilots master this aircraft faster. At the same time, Evgeny Savvich is more and more convinced that he lacks deep knowledge in tactics, navigation, and flight theory.
Seeing in him a born leader, an excellent commander and a capable organizer, the command of the unit decides to send E. Ptukhin to study at the courses at the Academy. NOT. Zhukovsky. Here, under the guidance of experienced teachers, he studies strategy, tactics, land, air and naval forces, history of military art. M.N. Tukhachevsky, author of the book "Aviation tactics" A.N. Lapchinsky, Chief of Staff of the Air Force V.V. Khripin and others.
In 1929, Yevgeny Ptukhin graduated from advanced training courses for command personnel and was appointed commander of the 15th separate fighter squadron named after the Central Executive Committee of the USSR in the Belarusian Military District. The squadron was armed with I-2 bis aircraft, but soon new I.3 aircraft appeared. Ptukhin personally checks the combat qualities of the aircraft. Everyone in the unit is surprised by Ptukhinsky endurance, when he squeezed out of the plane everything that the car could give. At the end of each flying day, the squadron commander gathered the pilots, noted the success in piloting and patiently went through the mistakes.
In May 1934, E.S. Ptukhin was appointed commander and commissar of the 450th mixed aviation brigade stationed in Smolensk. It consisted of the 4th and 9th fighter squadrons, 35th and 42nd bomber squadrons and a reconnaissance squadron. The new commander celebrated his arrival in the brigade with a cascade of aerobatics over the main airfield. Having abandoned their work, the mechanics and pilots watched with admiration how unusual the new brigade commander appeared to his subordinates. Many understood that the calm, measured service was over. And they were right.
With the arrival of the new commander, the entire life of the brigade shifted to the airfield. Flights did not stop day or night. In an effort to be an example in everything for his subordinates, Ptukhin mastered the P-5 aircraft and began to fly with scouts and bombers. But he tried to focus on his favorite fighters.
Soon the I-5 fighter began to enter service with the brigade. Evgeny Savvich set tight deadlines and began to demand a quick transition of one of the squadrons to a new vehicle. At the end of each five days, shooting and bombing competitions were held. The best pilots received a prize. Unlucky people, or as Ptukhin called them - "maral", were harassed with caricatures in the wall newspaper.
The colleagues liked the new commander. They spoke of him as a man of strong will, fearlessness, inexhaustible energy and a high sense of camaraderie. Hero of the Soviet Union Air Marshal S.A. Krasovsky recalls: “I knew Ptukhin for a long time. He studied a lot and seriously, flew well, had good organizational skills, in a word, he grew up quickly ”(3).
Success was not long in coming. At the autumn maneuvers of 1934, the Smolensk brigade was named one of the best. She was among the leading in flight hours and trouble-free flights.
Many pilots intensively mastered the blind and high-altitude flights.
In July 1935, Yevgeny Savvich was waiting for a new responsible appointment - he received under his command the 142nd air brigade of the Belarusian Military District, stationed in Bobruisk. The unit was armed with fighters I-3, I-5, I-7. The brigade was famous for its experienced pilots and specialists who were fluent in flight technology. It is no coincidence that the 142nd Brigade occupied one of the first places in the Air Force for combat and political training for many years in a row, and its best representatives participated in parades on Red Square every year. Good organizational skills and an inborn talent of the pilot helped E.S. Ptukhin quickly get used to the new position and earn the honor and respect of his colleagues.
On September 22, 1935, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a decree "On the introduction of personal military ranks of the commanding staff of the Red Army." On November 28, 1935, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, by order of the personnel of the army No. 2488 assigned E.S. Ptukhin military rank "brigade commander".
In 1936, I-16 fighters began to enter service with the 142nd Aviation Brigade. The command was tasked with mastering the new technology as soon as possible. The brigade commander Ptukhin was the first in the brigade to take control of the vehicle. Soon he was already masterly performing aerobatics on it. Following their commander, other pilots of the brigade began to master the new fighter.
By the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of May 25, 1936, brigade commander E.V. Ptukhin was awarded the Order of the Red Star
For the autumn of 1936, large maneuvers were planned in the Belarusian Special Military District. To check the combat readiness of the troops, the People's Commissar of Defense K.E. Voroshilov. The 142nd air brigade of the brigade commander Ptukhin was to show on maneuvers how its pilots mastered the new technology. Many hours of training began. The senior engineer of the brigade I.A. Prachik: “The brigade's pilots were shooting right over the airfield: the R-5 unit was towing the cones, and the I-16 unit was shooting at them. At first, things did not go well - there were few hits on the cones. But we prepared well for the beginning of the maneuvers: the materiel worked like a well-regulated clockwork - all our aircraft could perform any combat mission, and the pilots fired at the cones masterfully.
During the exercises, we had to interact with the ground forces. District Commander I.P. Uborevich instructed the organizing side of the exercises to his deputy, who decided to gather all the commanders - infantry, cavalry divisions, as well as aviation brigades.
Ptukhin suggested that I should go to this meeting together with the regimental commanders.
The council of commanders was stormy. The commander of the 4th Cavalry Division was especially persistent, as I found out later. I remember he ardently argued to the audience:
Before starting the crossing of the Berezina, the aviation must cover the ground forces.
Ptukhin, in his usual manner, gently, but at the same time categorically objected to the energetic divisional commander:
Aviation will take to the air only with the beginning of the crossing of the water line.
Komkor Tymoshenko agreed with Ptukhin:
Artillery preparation first, of course. The brigade commander knows better the capabilities of aviation. We, cavalry commanders, are not so visible from horses as from above.
Tymoshenko said the last words in a joking tone, but we realized that Yevgeny Savvich's idea was accepted. And after the meeting, the persistent commander of the 4th cavalry division nevertheless approached Ptukhin. I was struck by the confidence and chilly authority in the bright eyes of this stocky cavalryman. He invited our brigade commander to his place:
Come! Better fly! ..
By the end of the conversation, Evgeny Savvich introduced us by listing our titles and surnames:
My assistants are a brigade engineer, regimental commanders ... The divisional commander firmly shook our hands and, pulling his cap deeper over his large head, laughed:
Retinue, then. Is not it too early?
Ptukhin understood the blatant irony, but he was not offended and said simply:
In aviation, the staff is not supposed to have a retinue. We all cook in one pot, from the minder to the commander ...
As soon as the division commander left, I asked Evgeny Savvich:
Who is this cocky cavalryman?
Commander of the 4th Cavalry Division. Zhukov is his last name. He is in an amicable way, as you said, a cocky. I like him: he says what he thinks. Although a bit heavy in character. More experienced, older than many of us ”(4).
In the autumn maneuvers of 1936, the 142nd Aviation Brigade showed excellent results. For these successes, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense, brigade commander E.S. Ptukhin was awarded the M-1 passenger car. Soon, the entire brigade and its commander faced a new serious test. In the harsh winter of 1936-1937, for unknown reasons, several serious flight accidents occurred in the brigade. Three I-16 fighters crashed, the pilots were killed.
The senior engineer of the brigade I.A. Prachik: “The Air Force Directorate soon sent its commission to us, the design bureau - its own, the Air Force Research Institute also sent the best specialists... All these commissions, we must give them their due, worked conscientiously in severe cold at the sites of disasters. We came to Bobruisk chilled and tired. And their work at the brigade headquarters consisted of clarifying flight training dead pilots, knowledge of the material part of the aircraft by all technical personnel. Evgeny Savvich angrily criticized them:
Comrades engineers, I do not detract from your knowledge and work. But perfectly trained pilots crashed. Did you know that one of the victims held the control stick tightly in his hands when he was dead? The path to the correct search for the causes of the disaster must begin with flying the plane ...
The members of the commissions politely listened to the tired brigade commander and were silent. In the meantime, the design bureau of Polikarpov sent us calculations of the strength of the components and assemblies of the I-16 fighter. These calculations were a stumbling block in the search for commissions: Valery Chkalov tested a series of combat vehicles. And the representatives from Moscow began to repeat more and more persistently that the reason for our troubles was the wrong method of training the flight personnel, which would not be superfluous to check how the piloting technique of the brigade's pilots should be. This conclusion did not convince us - we tirelessly searched for the true reason.
One late evening, I dressed in all the warm that I had, and headed to the cold hangar. I slowly climbed into the I-16 cockpit, worked with the pedals and the control handle, and suddenly noticed that the handle was very tight when taking over. “It must be from the frost,” I thought. “But what about there, at an altitude, where it is much colder and the load on the rudders is greater than on the ground? Perhaps this is only on one car? ..” I moved to the cabin of another "donkey" - the same thing was repeated: the rudders worked hard. “So,” I make an uncertain conclusion, “it's a matter of temperature,” and I continue to work harder, more energetically, as if performing aerobatic maneuvers at which the load is maximum. And suddenly ... a crunch, as if sand had hit his teeth. I can't believe my eyes: in my right hand I have a significant part of the control stick, approximately the same as that of the deceased pilot. I sit down in the cockpit of the next plane, I also perform several energetic and abrupt movements - the second piece is in my hands ...
The guess about the cause of the accidents came to me, of course, before the idea of \u200b\u200bchecking it myself in the I-16 cockpit. Now the hypothesis has become true: the base of the control stick of the aircraft breaks with significant force in low temperatures. I hasten to inform the brigade commander Ptukhin about this, the telephone receiver trembles in my hand, and in response I hear a familiar voice:
Prachik, my dear! I’m now, in a flash! .. And here is Yevgeny Savvich in the hangar:
Well, what have you got here? Speak faster ...
With difficulty restraining my excitement, I report:
At a temperature of about forty degrees, the base of the handle breaks, Evgeny Savvich.
The brigade commander checks one plane - the control stick is cracking, - the second, the third ... I already protest:
Evgeny Savvich, you’ll break all the handles! Leave, for God's sake, and for the members of the commission. Let them practice before leaving for Moscow.
Having cooled down, Ptukhin stands in thought for a long time, then, as if waking up, he grabs me in an armful:
Ivan Andreevich, what a fine fellow you are! What a fine fellow ... When all the control sticks on the fighters of this series were replaced, the brigade commander Ptukhin, as before, came to the aircraft parking together with the technicians, got into the first fighter that caught his eye and performed aerobatics over the airfield. It was his method that best of all instilled confidence in people that our combat vehicles are reliable ”(5).
On May 15, 1937, brigade commander E.S. Ptukhin was sent to help the republican government of Spain, where the national revolutionary war was going on. Under the pseudonym "General José", he commands the Republican Air Force's fighter group. Participates in hostilities during the Brunet operation. The preparation of aviation for this operation proceeded with feverish haste. Nevertheless, Evgeny Savvich made sure that several new landing sites were built by its beginning. He pinned great hopes on them, since all the airfields were well known to the Nazis, and only three of them had not yet been bombed. The Republicans managed to secretly concentrate 133 aircraft, which came as a complete surprise to the rebels.
From the very first days of the offensive, fierce air battles began on Brunet. Republican pilots made 5-7 combat missions a day. The fighters have never flown here with such tension. Ptukhin rushed from airfield to airfield, barely having time to analyze especially difficult battles and set new tasks. Only a small interval of a short night remained for summing up and planning the hostilities.
Realizing that before leading other pilots, one must have combat experience himself, E.S. Ptukhin repeatedly flies to the front, and, despite the ban of the Soviet leadership, participates in air battles.
On July 9, 1937, in the skies over Madrid, he paired with the Yugoslav Bozhko Petrovich shot down the newest German Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighter. Writer S.I. Shingarev: “Elongated silhouettes of the second group of Messers flashed from the direction of the sun.
Sharply lifting up the nose of the fighter, Ptukhin slashed machine-gun bursts at the Me 109 engine. The fascist deftly escaped from under the tracks and put the car into a bend. Ptukhin rushed after him. On a bend, he could not catch up with his opponent. True, the Messer did not break away from the I-16 either. With a sharp flip over the wing, the fascist pilot brought the plane into a dive. Ptukhin repeated the Messer's maneuver. Over the square, Major I-16 caught up with the fascist car. Ptukhin pressed the trigger. The Messer shot up. Polished fenders and a tightly closed Plexiglas canopy gleamed in the sun. General Jose pressed the common fire trigger once more. Machine-gun tracks hooked on the tail unit of the Messer. And then on the path of the fascist was "chato" Bozhko Petrovich. Yugoslav was the first to open fire. "Messerschmitt" overturned on the wing and fell down ”(6).
Returning to the airfield, the pilots began a thorough analysis of the air battle. After listening carefully to everyone, the brigade commander Ptukhin said:
Compared to the German fighters familiar to us, the Me 109 is a more advanced and more dangerous machine. Therefore, we need to develop new tactics for air combat. In level flight, the Messerschmitt could not catch up with my I-16 - it turns out that they are equal in speed. But he spends more time on turns than our maneuverable I-15. This means that the battle must be imposed on him on the bends, using the collectivity of action, mutual assistance in battle and close interaction of the I-15 with the I-16.
And then, when the pilots had dispersed, the commissar said to the brigade commander:
While you were away, Grigory Mikhailovich Stern called. He categorically forbade letting you go into the air.
Of course, it was not without you.
Not done. Yes, you finally understand, what will happen, what are we going to do without a commander? .. "(7)
As a commander in charge of the people entrusted to him, Ptukhin understood that he should not leave the command post during the battle. But he also understood that he would not be able to properly command aviation without learning the fighting qualities and tactics of German and Italian fighters.
In one of the following air battles, Evgeny Savich Ptukhin shot down the latest German bomber Heinkel He. 111. Writer M.P. Sukhachev: “Ptukhin abruptly, with a half-coup at full throttle, rushed after one of the three He-111 he saw ... Fearing to miss the enemy, he made a sharp maneuver and broke away from the wingmen ...
As soon as the distance reached five hundred meters, glowing trails stretched out from the enemy aircraft, and at the same moment Ptukhin felt a fractional knock on the left plane. The enemy had larger caliber machine guns, and he could afford to shoot from that range.
Simultaneously with the firing, the bomber entered a right turn with a climb. With great angular velocity, he flashed in front of the hood of Ptukhin's plane. The attack was thwarted ...
Having an advantage in speed, it was possible to make a left ranversman after the enemy and be in the tail. But at the top point, almost the entire plane will hover at low speed. Of course, the shooter will not miss such a moment. An instant assessment of the situation, and Ptukhin energetically drove the car into a left turn, knowing that he would now face the enemy head-on. Apparently, warned by the gunner about the maneuver of the fighter, the fascist pilot shifted from the right bend to the left. Having finished the U-turn, Ptukhin saw that they were at diametrically opposite points of the bend. With almost the same speed, the opponents were spinning for the third turn. The overload was at its limit. With difficulty keeping his head raised, Ptukhin saw the shooter's futile attempts to shift the turret from the starboard to the left. Due to the large overload, it turned out to be beyond his power. The fascist could only shoot at the outer side of the bend. Exhausted, the shooter sat pressed into the seat. "But now he is unarmed from the inside of the bend," the thought flashed across Evgeny Savvich. Having increased the roll more than 90 degrees, Ptukhin, with a loss of height, cut off the circle and, at the exit to the set, began to approach the enemy. When, as it seemed, rivets on the casing became visible, he pressed the trigger with some special effort. It seemed that thin, shiny swords pierced the hated pale blue body of the monster. Skipping under the enemy, Ptukhin no longer doubted that the fatal blow had been inflicted on the fascist. And rightly so, the enemy slowly, as it happens when the control is damaged, has filled up the left bank with the lowering of the nose. Rotating just as slowly, he began to move away from Ptukhin almost vertically. Then, in the place where the point of the plane touched the ground, a large fiery black cloud rose silently ”(8).
As a result, despite the prohibitions to fly, General Jose personally and in the group shot down several enemy aircraft. Along with the victories, authority and respect appeared among the Soviet pilots who fought in Spain. The Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General B.A. Smirnov: “I didn’t know Evgeny Savvich before, I saw him here, in Spain, for the first time. A brave pilot, a large-scale commander, and the main feature of his character was fundamental justice to everyone without exception. He had no favorites or stepsons. He knew the value of combat pilots and was never in a hurry with a withdrawal. It was easy to fight with him and I always wanted to complete any task that he set ”(9).
In July 1937, during the bombing of the rebels based at the Alcala airfield, republican night fighters, the brigade commander Ptukhin was shell-shocked and wounded. A small fragment of the bomb went deep into the pulp of the thigh. But Evgeny Savvich refused hospitalization. After resting for several days in his room at the Gaylord Hotel, he returned to duty and, dragging his wounded leg, proceeded to further direct the combat missions.
At the end of July 1937, brigade commander Ptukhin became the chief adviser to the commander of the republican aviation on the Madrid, Aragon and Teruel fronts. The Spanish government awarded Jose the rank of General of the Air Force. A number of successful operations were carried out under his leadership. Here is what B.A. Smirnov: “Comrade Ptukhin summons all the commanders of fighter aviation to the main airfield. Urgently!
Yevgeny Savich tells in detail about the situation at the front, about the balance of air forces, which is clearly not in favor of the Republicans. As a matter of fact, we know all this well. Apparently sensing this, Ptukhin unexpectedly interrupts the smooth flow of his speech and heavily lowers his fist on the map spread on the table.
Here! Here's what to do - raid their Harapinillos airfield. At this airfield, according to preliminary data, more than sixty enemy aircraft are concentrated. We cannot wait for them to rise and strike at our Republican bases. We have no right to wait!
"That's right! But why were some fighters invited to the meeting? - I think. - Why is there not a single commander of a bomber squadron here? After all, it will probably be about carrying out a strike on an enemy airfield?"
During last battles over Zaragoza and in its area, - Ptukhin continues, as if guessing my idea, - our bomber aviation met large groups of enemy fighters and a continuous curtain of anti-aircraft fire. Naturally, we had losses in these flights. How can you avoid them when raiding Harapinillos? We thought, consulted and decided: in order to avoid unnecessary losses, to conduct a raid on Garapinillos without the participation of bombers. By the forces of some fighters ”(10).
After listening to the opinion of all those present, E.S. Ptukhin made a decision: to assign the main task to the squadron of Anatoly Serov. Squadrons of Smirnov, Gusev, Pleschenko and Devodchenko block the enemy airfield from all sides. The command of the entire united air group was entrusted to I. Eremenko.
On October 15, 1937, taking advantage of a surprise attack, Soviet pilots dealt a crushing blow to the enemy airfield. B. Smirnov recalls: "A few days later the captured pilots showed:" Forty aircraft were destroyed at the Garapinillos airfield. Most of the remaining ones are out of order and require long-term repairs. " In impotent rage, the fascist command attacked the guards and the anti-aircraft gunners, who fled during the assault operations of the republican planes. The day after the raid, twenty soldiers were lined up along the line of burned-out aircraft and shot on the spot ”(11). Officially, the nationalists admitted the loss of 12 aircraft: 3 Ju-52s, 3 Non-46s and 6 Fiats.
For this planned and successfully carried out operation, on December 22, 1937, brigade commander E.S. Ptukhin was awarded the Order of Lenin. People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilov sent a message in which he enthusiastically wrote: “Our aviation, as always, is at its best! Hurray for our pilots! "
In December 1937, Republican troops begin an operation to eliminate the Teruel salient. Chief military adviser to the command of the republican army G.M. Stern informed Ptukhin about the tasks of aviation in this operation. They were too large for a small aircraft. In addition, unusually severe frosts and snowfalls added unnecessary worries. But despite all the difficulties, aviation begins to operate. Aerial reconnaissance is being carried out, the data of which are promptly reported to the republican command. Bombing strikes are being made against the defenses of the fascists. Fighters successfully storm fascist airfields.
Aerial battles are being fought over Teruel like never before in the skies of Spain. They are attended by a large number of aircraft from both sides. Air battles take place at all altitudes.
On December 22, 1937, up to one and a half hundred aircraft converged in the skies over Teruel. The fascists fiercely resisted and did not want to give in. As it turned out, the reason for this was the arrival to replace the units defeated during the attack on Harapinillos, the pilots of the higher school of air combat of the Italian Air Force. They were tasked with avenging the shamed honor. But they did not succeed, the battle ended when the ratio of the downed planes was five to seven in favor of the Republicans.
It was on the land of Spain that the military talent of E.S. Ptukhina. A.F. Semenov, the future Hero of the Soviet Union and Lieutenant General of Aviation, recalls: “Evgeny Savvich Ptukhin had an extraordinary talent as an aviation chief. In his own way, as we say now, in Ptukhinski, he developed, prepared and successfully carried out quite significant air operations at that time. Combat missions were solved with close cooperation of various types of aviation, often with an increase in the force of strikes, especially during the fight against enemy aircraft. The latter were effectively destroyed not only in the air, but also at airfields ”(12).
In January 1938, brigade commander E.S. Ptukhin was recalled to the Soviet Union. In a report written to the leadership of the armed forces, Yevgeny Savvich analyzed the use of aviation in combat conditions. He argued the need to install cannon armament on fighters as an effective means of fighting enemy aircraft. He insisted on booking cockpits and cited data on the number of pilots who were injured for this reason. Ptukhin believed that radio communication must be present on the aircraft, backing up this with examples when orders from the ground could significantly affect the outcome of an air battle. At the end of the report, he raised the question of the need to transfer a link from three aircraft to four, split into two pairs. This structure has proven itself in aerial battles in the skies of Spain.
February 22, 1938 E.S. Ptukhin was awarded the extraordinary military rank "Corps Commander", and he was awarded the jubilee medal "XX Years of the Red Army".
On March 7, 1938 in the Kremlin, in a solemn atmosphere, M.I. Kalinin presented the corps commander Ptukhin with two orders at once - Lenin and the Red Banner, which he was awarded for the battles in Spain.
On April 8, 1938, Yevgeny Savvich was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Leningrad Military District. At the May Day parade, in his red-winged I-16, he flew at the head of an air armada.
The corps commander devoted a lot of time and effort to work on the combat training of flight units. He often went to airfields, where he met with pilots and specialists. He talked about his combat experience in the skies of Spain. In his red I-16, he showed young pilots how to fly and perform the most complex aerobatics so as not to be shot down in the first battle. Himself personally practiced air combat control with pilots in various conditions and groups of different composition.
In August 1938, corps commander E.V. Ptukhin was summoned to Moscow to undergo training in advanced training courses for command and command personnel at the Academy General Staff RKKA. On February 23, 1939, the entire course of students was sworn in, after which the order for appointment to office was read out. Corps commander Ptukhin remained at his former duty station. By the beginning of 1939, under his leadership, there were 7 aviation brigades, numbering over 1 thousand aircraft of various types, based at 12 airfields. All this huge economy required constant attention.
Stopping at the border with Finland remained difficult. Under an agreement with the Baltic countries, the construction of Soviet military bases began on their territory. Responsibility for defense activities in Estonia was assigned to the leadership of the Leningrad Military District. Writer M.P. Sukhachev: “Meretskov together with Ptukhin traveled all over Estonia, outlining the areas for the construction of fortifications and airfields. They reported the results of the reconnaissance to Stalin at the dacha. Ptukhin had met Stalin several times before at receptions after air parades, but he had never had a chance to communicate so closely, at the same dinner table. There was no order of the report. Outwardly, it looked like a conversation, where, naturally, Stalin asked more questions. And when the question was raised: "How does Comrade Ptukhin think about using aviation from Estonian airfields in the event of a conflict on the Finnish border?" - Ptukhin was taken aback by surprise. He bided his time and, to hide his excitement, began to slowly lay out his plan. Stalin listened without interrupting. Being a subtle psychologist, he apparently studied the logic of thinking of the commander, about whom he had already heard and knew a lot.
Comrade Ptukhin, you must well imagine the full extent of responsibility if at least one bomb falls on Leningrad.
These words were more convincing than any order ”(13).
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. Komkor E.S. Ptukhin is entrusted with the leadership of front-line aviation. Under his command are the 15th, 71st (later 18th) and 55th high-speed bomber aviation brigades, as well as the 35th and 55th high-speed bomber aviation regiments. They were tasked with delivering bombing strikes against accumulations of manpower, fortifications and communications of the enemy in order to facilitate the advancement of Red Army units on the Karelian Isthmus. However, faced with stubborn resistance from Finnish units and a previously prepared defense zone - the "Mannerheim line", the Soviet units were forced to go over to the defensive.
Writer M.P. Sukhachev: “In the middle of December, late in the evening, when a member of the Military Council of the Air Force, Agaltsov, was rereading the intelligence report, the Kremlin telephone rang.
Do you know Dago Island?
Yes, Comrade Stalin.
There it is necessary to build an airfield for the I-16 squadron, and as quickly as possible.
But there are solid forests.
Don't you know how cities grow among the forests?
I see, Comrade Stalin.
There was a click in the receiver, everything was silent. Agaltsov took a deep breath and immediately began to call Ptukhin.
Jose, out of habit, they sometimes also called each other by Spanish names, “your task is this: you urgently need to build an airfield on Dago. Now I call Meretskov and ask for help with all that is needed. Let me know every day how things are going.
The next day, almost after Ptukhin, Stalin phoned Agaltsov and was pleasantly surprised that two battalions had already begun work.
Who is responsible for the work?
Ptukhin, Comrade Stalin, - Agaltsov answered readily.
By the New Year, an I-16 regiment landed on the rolled-up airfield. Agaltsov immediately reported to Stalin.
How is the regiment? - Iosif Vissarionovich was surprised.
We built not for a squadron, but for a regiment.
It's good. Ptukhin is great, - Stalin said softly and softly. And Agaltsov, from his voice, understood how he smiled sparingly into his mustache. “We urgently need to convey the conversation to Ptukhin,” thought Agaltsov, “this means more to him than a reward” ”(14).
In January 1940, to support the offensive of the troops of the Northwestern Front during the breakthrough of the "Mannerheim Line", the Air Force of the Northwestern Front was created under the command of corps commander E.S. Ptukhina. They included the 27th Long-Range Bomber Aviation Brigade, the 29th Bomber Aviation Brigade, the 16th High-Speed \u200b\u200bBomber Aviation Brigade, the 85th Separate High-Speed \u200b\u200bBomber Aviation Regiment and the 149th Separate Fighter Aviation Regiment.
As of February 10, 1940, the front-line aviation under the command of corps commander Ptukhin consisted of 558 aircraft (351 bombers and 207 fighters). All this formidable power was used in full. The intensity of the use of the Air Force on the Karelian Isthmus was very high: on some days in February - March 1940, when the main defensive line during the day, sometimes up to 2000-2500 sorties were made (taking into account the aviation of the front, armies, air defense and Red Banner Baltic Fleet). At night, this figure reached 300-400 flights (15).
On February 23, 1940, to carry out special tasks under the direct command of corps commander E.S. Ptukhin, the United Air Force was formed as part of the 27th Long-Range Bomber Aviation Brigade, the 16th High-Speed \u200b\u200bBomber Aviation Brigade, the 85th Separate High-Speed \u200b\u200bBomber Aviation Regiment and the 149th Separate Fighter Aviation Regiment from the Air Force of the North-Western Front, the 7th Fighter Aviation Regiment from the 59th Fighter Aviation Brigade of the Air Force of the 7th Army, as well as the 1st Mine Torpedo Aviation Regiment, the 15th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment and the 13th Fighter Aviation Regiment from the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 21, 1940, for the skillful leadership of aviation, which inflicted great damage on the enemy during the breakthrough of the fortified "Mannerheim Line", commander Ptukhin Yevgeny Savich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 244). In total, for the courage and bravery of 68 pilots of the Air Force of the North-Western Front, who fought under the leadership of corps commander E.S. Ptukhin, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
From 14 to 17 April 1940, in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, in the presence of I.V. Stalin, a meeting of the commanding staff of the Red Army was held to collect experience in military operations against Finland. On April 16, at the morning meeting, Corps Commander E.V. Ptukhin:
“Comrades, in the war with the White Finns, we first used a large mass of aviation and especially widely used bomber aviation in all types of its work. 71% of the actions of the aviation of the North-Western Front are work with the troops, work on the destruction and destruction of the URs of the Karelian Isthmus. In total, we have 53 thousand sorties, of which 27 thousand fall on bombers who made 19.5 thousand sorties to the URs and dropped 10.5 thousand tons of bombs. As you can see, the figure is colossal. Large-caliber bombs were dropped - 250-500 kg.
What did we do with them, how did we help the troops? There is evidence that several reinforced concrete points from direct hits from large-caliber bombs were completely destroyed. We think in the spring, when the snow melts, to carefully examine the fortified area and see the effectiveness of the bombers.
PTUKHIN. If a bomb hits nearby, it also helps. It is necessary to consider the moral effect. Not every bomb can hit exactly the target, but if a 500 kg bomb falls next to a bunker, this also acts morally and materially. We know of cases when a bomb fell near a bunker, and people were pulled out of the bunker, whose nose and ears were bleeding, and some of them completely died. It is hard to be bombed day and night, but we flew 2,500 planes during the day and 300-400 planes at night. During the day, traffic on the Karelian Isthmus absolutely stopped. At night we moved along forests and paths.
PTUKHIN. I will talk about the railways in particular. I believe that aviation has done a tremendous job of destroying the UR, but the big drawback is that we scattered our aviation, did not focus its actions on the main sectors. Each commander wanted to immediately destroy the fortified area, but this is impossible. Aviation is then effective when it puts bombs meter by meter according to a specific system, according to a specific calculation, according to a specific method of work.
The fortified area is not only made up of reinforced concrete points. It consists of trenches, of barbed wire, and all this must be destroyed by aircraft.
Fortified areas can only be shaken by technology, and we are rich in technology. It is only necessary to work according to a certain system, coordinate the actions of various types of troops and not scatter.
We bombed 300-400 m from the front edge. At first, they could not bomb, they were afraid and did not know how.
It is especially difficult because the troops do not identify themselves. We talked a lot about this, but we never worked out a system for displaying troops.
PTUKHIN. We had good cooperation with the 7th Army. At the moment of the breakthrough, aviation with artillery transferred their fire to the rear. The bombers operated in the areas where the enemy's reserves were supposed to be concentrated. This contributed to the fact that our troops did not have strong counterattacks during the development of the breakthrough.
Railroad activities. This is a very big question. We bombed railway junctions with large forces for the first time.
Kouvola station - large railway node, big station. After bombing, it worked as a ferry line. The station suffered a lot of damage, but during the break in bombing the Finns managed to recover somehow and the station still worked. Our work was limited by the weather, you work for 2-3 days, and then bad weather for 5 days.
PTUKHIN. It is necessary and possible to bomb the railway junctions, but for a greater effect it is necessary to use large-caliber bombs of 500-1000 kg, this is the first.
The second question is about delay bombs, given the Leningrad weather, when out of 105 days of the war there were only 25 flight days, it is necessary to have bombs with delayed action fuses for 2-3 days.
The weather is good - 2-3 brigades take off on the railway. unit, bombing is carried out, and thanks to the slowed-down fuses, the station is disabled for 2-3 days.
One of the most effective ways to disrupt railways. traffic is bombing over bridges. But hitting bridges as a narrow target from horizontal flight is very difficult. There are cases of direct hitting bridges, but this requires large material costs. It seems to me that two methods can be applied here: the first is dive bombing, which requires a special aircraft - a dive bomber, or the second is bombing from a low altitude with bombs on parachutes of at least 250 kg. It is only necessary to work out the fuses of these bombs well, since we have worked out the parachute device, the method and tactics of bombing in the district.
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