Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin (May 21, 1900, village Borkino, now Sanchursky district of the Kirov region - December 30, 1973, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the USSR, Chief Marshal of Aviation (1959), Hero Soviet Union (1944).
Biography
Comes from the ancient Vyatka family of Vershinins. Born in the village of Borkino, Vyatka province, now the Kirov region. Russian.
For several years, starting in 1915, Konstantin Vershinin worked as a seasonal worker in a brigade from the Vyatka province in the Zvenigovsky backwater.
In the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army since 1919. He graduated from the Simbirsk Infantry Command Courses (1920), the Higher Tactical Shooting School of the Command Staff of the Red Army named after V. Comintern "Shot" (1923), the Air Force Academy of the Red Army named after prof. N.E. Zhukovsky (1932).
Civil War
Member of the Civil War. The first position in the Red Army was a Red Army soldier of the Simbirsk Infantry Reserve Regiment, in which he participated in the suppression of a peasant uprising in the Voronezh province. After completing the courses (1920) - the commander of a rifle company in a marching infantry regiment in the city of Dorogobuzh, Smolensk province, fought against the formations of Bulak-Balakhovich in the provinces bordering Poland. In 1921, the regiment was transferred to the Tambov province, where it fought fierce military operations during the suppression of the Tambov uprising.
Interwar period
After the Civil War, from 1923, he commanded a training company of the 12 Red Banner Infantry Courses of the Volga Military District, from 1928 - commander infantry battalion in Kazan. In 1929 he entered Military academy named after M.V. Frunze, successfully completed the first course, after which in 1930 he was transferred to the air force by order and sent to continue his studies at the Air Force Academy of the Red Army named after prof. N.E. Zhukovsky.
After graduating from the academy in 1932, he was the head of the technical department of the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force, from January 1933, the chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the aviation brigade, from 1934, the squadron commander of the High Flight Tactical Courses of the Red Army. In the same place, together with the cadets, he mastered piloting a bomber, and in 1935 he passed the external exams for the rank of military pilot at the Kachin Higher Aviation Pilot School. From August 1938 - flight training assistant to the head of the Higher Aviation Advanced Training Courses for flight personnel.
In 1940, following an urgent order from the Air Force Headquarters, he ordered to send to Moscow a group of 5 bombers with crews from the course personnel. In difficult weather conditions, three aircraft crashed on the route, there were casualties. Vershinin was brought to trial by the military tribunal of the district, which fully acquitted him. But in the disciplinary order, Colonel Vershinin was demoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and transferred to the post of deputy commander of an aviation division. However, in May 1941, he was returned to the same Higher Aviation Advanced Training Courses for flight personnel, and to the position of their chief. Simultaneously restored to military rank.
The Great Patriotic War
Colonel Vershinin met the Great Patriotic War as the head of the same courses and restructured their work in wartime. In September 1941 he was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front. He directed the combat operations of the front air force in the Donbass defensive operation in September-November 1941, in the Rostov defensive operation (November 1941) and the Rostov offensive operation in November-December 1941. The actions of the front air force in last operation, where Vershinin managed to achieve the concentration of his small aviation in a decisive direction in violation of the then existing principle of giving the Air Force individual armies, and ensured albeit temporary, but air superiority in the direction of the main attack of the front forces. In the first half of 1942 he took part in the Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya and Kharkov defensive operations. Major General of Aviation (10/22/1941).
-
born May 22 (June 3) 1900
in the village of Borkino, Yaransky district, Vyatka province
(now - Sanchursky
district of the Kirov region)
in the family of a poor peasant
Vershinin Andrey Galaktionovich (died 1929).
-
Konstantin graduated from a rural parish school
from a certificate of commendation.
Despite on abilityto studying father,
a lifelong carpenter
by to hire,
i decided,
that he will teach his son his craft:
family needs breadwinners.
FROM eleven years old
Konstantin Vershinin worked as a carpenter
, then - worked
on rafting and shipyardin Zvenigovsky backwater
(
in Vyatskaya
provinces, now - the city of Zvenigovo - the administrative center of Zvenigovsky
district of the Republic of Mari El
)
and studied at the same time
in evening schoolfor workers.
-
February 24, 1919
Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin
became a member of the RCP
(b).
-
June 1919 to mobilization he was calledin ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants'
Red Army.
-
He began his servicein reserve infantry regimentin simbirsk, where was
directed on Simbirsk infantry courses.
-
After nine months of study, in the summer of 1920 young red commander
K.A. Vershinin got an appointment
on rifle Commander
companiesin spare cruising regiment in the city of Dorogobuzh, Smolensk province.
-
In October 1920 during he arrived at the head of the company on Western front
,
but fighting were soon completed.
-
Since January 1921
K.A. Vershinin was
Commander of the 49th Infantry Battalion
6th regiment rifle division
and participated in battles against armed units
Bulak-Balakhovich
in borderfrom Poland provinces.
In 1921 the regiment was transferredin Tambov provincewhere fought fiercely at suppression of the Tambov uprising,
one of leaders
which was the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Rebel Army
Alexander Antonov
.
-
In July 1921 Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin was
directedon study
in The Comintern Higher Tactical and Shooting School of the Commander of the Red Army
(courses "Shot").
After leaving school he servedin Volga Military District,
Where served as the commander of a training company of the 12th Red Banner Infantry Courses
(
in 1923-1928 )
and Commander of the 2nd rifle battalion infantry regiment
Kazan rifle division
(
in 1928-1929 )
.
-
In 1929 after successful delivery entrance exams
K.A. Vershinin was
enrolled as a student of the Frunze Military Academy.
After completing the 1st year, he was transferredfor continuing education
in Air Force Engineering Academy of the Red Army named after
Professor N.E. Zhukovsky.
-
-
After graduation from the academy
, in 1932 Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin
was
appointed on the position of the Head of the Technical Department of the Research Institute of the RKKA Air Force, and in January 1933 he was appointed
Chief of the Operations Department of the Headquarters of the 20th Aviation Brigade
in Ukrainian military district.
-
In 1934 he was appointed squadron commander of the Lipetsk higher
flight tactical courses of the Red Army.
IN this period
K.A. Vershinin mastered piloting a bomber
and in 1935
passed an external examon military pilot rankin 1st Kachinskaya
Higher Aviation School of Pilots named after A.F. Myasnikova.
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November 15, 1937 Lieutenant Colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the military rank "colonel"
.
-
Since August 1938 he was an assistant by flight training of the Head of the Lipetsk Higher Aviation Advanced Training Courses.
-
In 1940 in group accidentin difficult weather conditions
three planes crashed.
Crews manned by course personnel - killed.
Colonel
K.A. Vershinin was tried by the Military Tribunal
,
which thenot found
in his actions corpus delictiand fully justified himbut in
disciplinary order
Konstantin Andreevich was downgraded in military rank
on one step and translated on deputy Commander position
49th Aviation Division.
-
But already in May 1941 K.A. Vershinin was restored
in military rank "colonel"and appointed on the position of Head of Lipetsk Higher Aviation Courses
flight personnel improvements.
-
IN the first months of the Great Patriotic War
Konstantin Andreevich
continued
course guidance, rebuilding their work in wartime conditions
.
-
September 1941 to May 1942 he was the Air Force Commander of the Southern Front
.
-
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of October 22, 1941
No. 2152 to Colonel was assigned
military rank "Major General of Aviation"
.
-
IN during this period he led the frontline air forces in donbass time
defensive operation
(
in September-November 1941)
,
Rostov defensive
(
in November 1941 )
and Rostov offensive operation
(
in November-December 1941)
.
In the first half of 1942
K.A. Vershinin supervised aviation
Red Army
in Barvenkovsko-Lozovskoyand Kharkiv
defensive operations.
-
May to September 1942 he was the Commander of the 4th air army
, participated in defensive battleson Donbass,
Don and North Caucasus.
September 1942 to May 1943 he commanded the aviation of the Transcaucasian Front.
-
By the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of March 17, 1943
No. 287 to Major General of Aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the military rank "Lieutenant General of Aviation"
.
-
In May 1943 lieutenant general of aviation
K.A. Vershinin reappointed
Commander of the 4th Air Army
,
includedin composition of the North
Caucasian front.
April-May 1943 he successfully led unprecedented and fierce air battlesin the sky of the Kubanand on Taman Peninsula.
Then the 4th Air Armyunder his command distinguishedin Novorossiysko
Taman,
Kerch-Eltigen landing and Crimean Strategic
offensive operations.
-
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of October 23, 1943
No. 1167 to lieutenant general of aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the military rank "Colonel General of Aviation"
.
-
May-June 1944 4th Air Army Colonel General Aviation
K.A. Vershinin was transferred on Central section 2nd Belarusian
frontwhere participatedin Belarusian
(operation Bagration)
,
East Prussian,
East Pomeranian and Berlin strategic offensive operations.
-
-
After the great Patriotic war Konstantin Andreevich
continued service
in the position of Commander of the 4th Air Army
(
in as part of the Northern Group of Forces, in Poland
)
.
-
In 1946 the so-called "Aviation case" was initiated - one
of first political affairs post-war period Stalinist political
repression, in as a result of which the leaders of the aviation
industryand air Force Command.
IN among those subjected to repression was the Air Force Commander
Air Chief Marshal
Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov
.
After his arrest, in March 1946 position of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy
Colonel-General of Aviation was appointed Minister of the USSR Armed Forces
Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin
.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from
June 3, 1946
Colonel General of Aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the military rank "Marshal of Aviation"
.
-
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Introduction in position coincidedfrom completion of the transfer of the Air Force
from peacefulon war time and the beginning of the rearmament of the Air Forceon jet technology.
By the initiative of the new Commanderby the end of 1946 the first
in Air force centerfor flight personnel trainingon jet technology, and in August 1947
on air paradein Tushino under pilots,
slave twice
Hero of the Soviet Union,
lieutenant general of aviation
E. Ya. Savitsky, demonstrated group aerobaticson jet technology.
-
In September 1949 Air Force Commander-in-Chief Air Marshal
K.A. Vershinin
and Chief of the Air Force General Staff Colonel-General of Aviation
V.A. Sudets were suspended
from positions held.
Onlyin February 1950 his appointment will followin Lviv on position
Commander of the 57th Air Force of the Carpathian Military District,
and then after a few monthsSeptember 15, 1950 it was translated
on the post of Commander of the 24th Air Army of the Group of Soviet
occupation forces in Germany.
-
A year later, on September 17, 1951, on the wave of air defense reform
Air Marshal
K.A. Vershinin was appointed
on commander position
air defense border line.
-
In 1953 the next reorganization of the Air Defense Forces follows - troopsand air defense areas of the border line were eliminatedand
in April 1953 air Marshal
K.A. Vershinin got an appointment
on position of the first deputy commander of the troops
Air defense of the country.
In June 1953 he was appointed Commander of the country's Air Defense Forces.
-
but and in take off this timein marshal's career was short-lived.
Already in May 1954, in less than a year,
Konstantin Andreevich was released
from Commanderand appointedfrom downward on commander position
troops of the Baku Air Defense District,
transformedin August of the same year
in Baku Air Defense District.
-
In April 1956 air Marshal
K.A. Vershinin summoned
in Moscow, in air force headquartersand was assignedon position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force
by HEIs, and less than a year later in January 1957 he was reappointed on position
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy
Minister of Defense of the USSR and holds this postin for 12 years and two months.
-
Behind this periodon Air Force weapons were adopted by fighters,
bombers,
military transport aircraftand helicopters of the 2ndand 3rd generation.
Aviation became rocket-carrying,
equipped with conventionaland nuclear weapons.
Under the leadership of the Air Force Commander did a lot of workby raising
aircraft survivabilityon airfieldsand strengthening air defense of areas
its base from taking into account the experience of local wars of that time,
improved
tactical issues and air Force operational art, during annual exercises
practically worked out the issues of interaction of all types
combat aviationfrom troops.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 8, 1959, the Air Marshal
was awarded a higher
for aviation chiefs military rank "Air Chief Marshal".
-
IN air Force Commander-in-Chief
Konstantin Andreevich actively participated
in birthand the formation of Soviet manned cosmonautics.
For successful solution of the issue about human flightin space Chief designer
OKB-1
Sergey Pavlovich Korolev considered it necessary to establish the Center
for training future spacecraft pilots.
Togetherfrom Air Force Commander-in-Chief Air Chief Marshal
K.A. Vershinin
he petitioned the Government
about formation of the cosmonaut corps.
By the end of 1959 the final decision was madeabout creatingin Air Force Special Center for human training
to space flight.
-
On on the basis of the Resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR
"On the preparation of man for space flights"
(
january and May 1959)
January 11, 1960
K.A. Vershinin the order was signed
about creation of military unit No. 26266, subsequently transformedin Cosmonaut Training Center Military
air forces of the USSR
(
now - Federal State Budgetary
Institution "Research Testing Training Center
cosmonauts named after Yu.A. Gagarin "
)
.
Together with his first deputy, Hero of the Soviet Union
Air Marshal
Rudenko Sergey Ignatievich, as well as
with his assistantsby space, Legendary Soviet pilot,
one of first Heroes of the Soviet Union, while, lieutenant general
Kamanin Nikolai Petrovichand Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation
Grieving Leonid Ivanovich Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin participated in creation of the firstin USSR cosmonaut corps,
and also in subsequent recruitment in detachment
Air Force Cosmonaut Training Center.
-
-
Air Force Commander, air Chief Marshal
K.A. Vershinin entered in composition
State Interdepartmental Commissionby launching the first
manned spacecraft "Vostok" and subsequent
spaceships "East", "Sunrise"and "Union".
-
-
-
In March 1969 air Chief Marshal
Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin
was released
from positions
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force
forces - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and translated on the position of Inspector General of the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry
defense of the USSR, on which remainedbefore last day,
devoting to military
service 54 years of his life, including 44 years - aviation.
-
-
IN my diaries-memories in recordsdated March 17, 1969 colonel General of Aviation
N.P. Kamanin remembers about the wires of the air chief marshal
K.A. Vershinin:
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|
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Konstantin Andreevich Vershinintook an active part
in public life,
was elected Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the 2ndand 4th - 7th convocations.
He was elected as a Candidate Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU
(
since October 14, 1952
to February 14, 1956)
and member of the CPSU Central Committee
(
since October 31, 1961
to 30 March 1971)
.
-
He is the author of a book of memories
"Fourth Air"
(
moscow, Military Publishing, 1975)
:
-
open link
-
Hagrades:
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 27, 1942
major general of aviation
.
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By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 13, 1942
"For exemplary performance of combat missions of the Command at the front in the struggle
with the German invaders and displayed valor and courage "
major general of aviation
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
.
-
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 22, 1943
"For exemplary performance of combat missions of the Command at the front in the struggle
with the German invaders and displayed valor and courage "
major general of aviation
was awarded the Order of the Patriotic WarI degree.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 25, 1943
general aviation colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
II degree.
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By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 1, 1944
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the
general aviation colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus"
.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 11, 1944
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the
as a result of these operations, successes in battles with the German fascist invaders "
general aviation colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of SuvorovI degree.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 21, 1944
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the
as a result of these operations, successes in battles with the German fascist invaders "
colonel general aviation
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of Lenin.
-
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 19, 1944
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the achieved
as a result of these operations, successes in battles with the German fascist invaders "
colonel General of Aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevichit was
awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin
(№ 19445
)
and medals "Gold Star"(№
3869
)
.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 3, 1944
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the
as a result of these operations, successes in battles with the German fascist invaders "
colonel general aviation
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 21, 1945
colonel general aviation
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of Lenin.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 10, 1945
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the successes achieved as a result of these operations in the battles against the German fascist invaders"
general aviation colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of SuvorovI degree.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 29, 1945
"For the skillful and courageous leadership of military operations and for the successes achieved as a result of these operations in the battles against the German fascist invaders"
general aviation colonel
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the Order of SuvorovI degree.
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By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 20, 1960
from
sixtieth birthday " Air Chief Marshal
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the order
Lenin.
-
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 22, 1970
"For a great contribution to construction Armed Forces USSR and in connection
happy seventieth birthday " Air Chief Marshal
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
was awarded the order
Lenin.
-
In addition, he was awarded
order of the October Revolution
(22.02. 1968
)
,
another Order of the Red Banner(15.11. 1950
)
, many medals, foreign orders and medals.
-
03.06.1900 - 30.12.1973
Hero of the Soviet Union
| Monuments | |
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich - Commander of the 4th Air Army (2nd Belorussian Front), Colonel General of Aviation.
Born on May 21 (June 3) 1900 in the village of Borkino of the Pritykinskaya volost of the Yaransk district of the Vyatka province (now it does not exist; the territory of the Shishovsky rural settlement of the Sanchursky district of the Kirov region). Russian. In 1911 he graduated from the 3rd grade of a rural school. He was a handyman and carpenter in the villages of Zaozerie and Pritykino (1911-1912), the village of Argamach (1912-1913), the village of Borkino (June-October 1913), the village of Coverbuy (1913-1914) and the village of Argamach (June-October 1914) (now - the territory of the Sanchursky district of the Kirov region and the Medvedevsky district of the Republic of Mari El).
In 1914-1916 he worked as a carpenter at the shipyard of the Rus steamship company in the Zvenigovsky backwater (now the city of Zvenigovo, Republic of Mari El). In 1916-1917 he worked as a timber rafting on the Bolshaya Kokshaga and Volga rivers, as well as a lumberjack-carter in the Tsarevokokshaisk forestry (now the city of Yoshkar-Ola, Republic of Mari El). In 1917-1919 he again worked as a carpenter at a shipyard in the Zvenigovsky backwater.
In the army since June 1919. Until October 1919, he served as a Red Army soldier in the Simbirsk reserve infantry regiment. In 1920 he graduated from the Simbirsk Infantry Command Courses (now the city of Ulyanovsk). In July-October 1920 - commander of a marching company of a reserve regiment (the city of Dorogobuzh, now in the Smolensk region).
Member of the Civil War: in October 1920 - July 1921 - company commander and battalion commander of the 49th Rifle Regiment (Western Front, since March 1921 - Oryol Military District). He participated in battles with the troops of S.N. Bulak-Balakhovich in Belarus and the detachment of I.S. Kolesnikov in the Voronezh province.
In 1923 he graduated from the courses "Shot". In 1923-1928 - company commander of the Simbirsk (since 1924 - Ulyanovsk) infantry school, in 1928-1930 - battalion commander of a rifle regiment (in the Volga Military District; the city of Ulyanovsk).
In 1930 he graduated in absentia from the 1st course of the Frunze Military Academy, in 1932 - from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. He served as chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the air brigade (in the Ukrainian military district), in January 1933 - February 1934 - assistant chief of the tactical department of the Air Force Scientific Testing Institute. From 1934 - commander of an air squadron, and in 1938-1940 - assistant chief for flight training of the Lipetsk Higher Tactical Flight School of the Air Force. In 1935 he graduated from the Kachin military aviation school of pilots as an external student.
1940-1941 - Deputy Commander of the 49th Aviation Division (in the Kharkov Military District). In May-September 1941 - head of the Lipetsk higher aviation advanced training courses for the Air Force.
Member of the Great Patriotic War: from September 1941 - Commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front, in May-September 1942 - Commander of the 4th Air Army, in September 1942 - March 1943 - Commander of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Front, in March-May 1943 - Commander of the Air Force of the North Caucasian front, in May 1943 - May 1945 - again the commander of the 4th Air Army. He fought on the South (September 1941 - July 1942), North Caucasian (July-September 1942 and March-November 1943) and Transcaucasian (September 1942 - March 1943) fronts, as part of the Separate Primorsky Army (November 1943 - April 1944) and 2nd Belorussian Front (April 1944 - May 1945).
The formations under his command participated in the defense of Donbass and Rostov-on-Don, the Barvenkovo-Lozovskaya operation, the battle for the Caucasus, the air battle in the Kuban, Novorossiysko-Taman, Kerch-Eltigen, Crimean, Belorussian, East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations.
For the successful leadership of the air army and the courage and heroism shown at the same time by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 19, 1944 to the Colonel General of Aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
After the war, until March 1946, he continued to command the 4th Air Army (in the Northern Group of Forces, Poland). In March 1946 - September 1949 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR.
In February-September 1950 - Commander of the 57th Air Army (in the Carpathian Military District; Lviv, Ukraine), in September 1950 - September 1951 - Commander of the 24th Air Army (in the Group soviet troops in Germany). September 1951 - April 1953 - Commander of the Troops Air Defense border line - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, in April-June 1953 - 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.
June 1953 - May 1954 - Commander of the country's Air Defense Forces. From May 1954 - Commander of the Baku Air Defense District, in June 1954 - April 1956 - Commander of the Baku Air Defense District.
From April 1956 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for military educational institutions, and in January 1957 - March 1969 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Since March 1969 - Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1961-1971, candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1952-1956. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd and 4th-7th convocations (in 1946-1950 and 1954-1970).
Air Chief Marshal (1959). He was awarded 6 Orders of Lenin (13.12.1942; 21.07.1944; 19.08.1944; 21.02.1945; 20.05.1960; 22.05.1970), the Order of the October Revolution (22.02.1968), 3 Orders of the Red Banner (27.03.1942; 3.11. 1944; 11/15/1950), 3 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree (05/16/1944; 04/10/1945; 05/29/1945), Orders of Suvorov 2nd degree (10/25/1943), Patriotic War 1st degree (02/22/1943 ), medals, Polish orders of the Renaissance of Poland 2nd degree, "Virtuti Militari" and "Grunwald Cross", other foreign orders and medals.
Honorary citizen of the village of Sanchursk (Kirov region).
The busts of K.A. Vershinin were installed in the city of Kirov and the village of Bolshaya Shishovka (Sanchursky district of the Kirov region). Streets in the cities of Moscow, Volgograd, Kirov, Zvenigovo (Republic of Mari El), Lisichansk (Lugansk region, Ukraine), the village of Sanchursk and the village of Bolshaya Shishovka (Kirov region), a street and a lane in the village of Novopodkletnoe (Ramonsky district of Voronezh region) are named after him ... In Moscow, on one of the buildings of the former Air Force Engineering Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky, where he studied, and in Zvenigovo on the building of the shipyard where he worked, memorial plaques were installed. The name of K.A. Vershinin in 1974-1999 was borne by the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots.
Military ranks:
Colonel (11/15/1937);
Major General of Aviation (10/22/1941);
Lieutenant General of Aviation (03/17/1943);
Colonel General of Aviation (10/23/1943);
Air Marshal (06/03/1946);
Air Chief Marshal (05/08/1959)
Air Chief Marshal Konstantin VERSHININ
A telegram from Moscow to Colonel Vershinin, the head of the Higher Aviation Advanced Training Courses for flight personnel, was reported in the midst of another flying day. It was on the twentieth of September 1941. Actually, it is possible to call that day another flight day only with a certain stretch. The two summer months of that summer and the beginning of the first month of autumn could well be mistaken for one endless flying day: the instructors and the leadership of the courses did not seem to leave the airfield, all this time, from dawn to dawn, the roar of bomber engines shook the neighborhood. Some took off and went to the starting point of the route and then to work out the flight assignment, then to the training ground for training bombing, others, after completing the given exercises, returned to the airfield area, got up in a circle and came in for landing.
With the outbreak of World War II, the courses were given the task of preparing bomber regiments for the front. The center, through its representatives-inspectors, members of various commissions who came to check the progress and quality of manning and retraining of units, put forward only one demand: faster! Form, train and send new aviation units to the front as soon as possible!
Most of the aircraft with which the newly formed regiments were armed were SB - high-speed bombers, much smaller - Pe-2, front-line dive bombers of the latest design. It would be preferable, of course, to have the opposite proportion, for the SB was an excellent combat vehicle for its time, created by a group of aircraft designers headed by A.A. Arkhangelsky and surpassing the best domestic and foreign bombers. By 1941, despite modernization, it was outdated. In addition, many aircraft and engines had already exhausted the resource set for them, and there was nothing to replace them with, it was necessary to repair individual parts and assemblies on their own, as they say, to patch holes. There were breakdowns and failures. In aviation, they strictly ask for any accident, but in the conditions of the outbreak of war, when each plane is worth its weight in gold, all the more ...
After reading the telegrams on the form: "Arrive at Moscow immediately," Vershinin was alarmed. At such a busy time, the head of the courses will not be called without good reason. What could be the reasons? Airplane breakdowns that have happened in recent months during the retraining of young pilots? - this thought arose immediately.
In Moscow, at the headquarters of the Air Force, Vershinin reported his arrival to General N. A. Sokolov-Sokolenok. The general worked in the main department of education, formation and combat training. Vershinin had known him for a long time, and therefore, unable to bear it, asked if he knew what business they had summoned.
Maybe they will remove it ...
In response, Sokolov-Sokolenok threw up his hands and offered:
Come on, Konstantin Andreevich, we will report to the authorities about your arrival and while we have some tea. What the authorities are planning about you - I do not know. And take it off? It is not necessary to call Moscow for this.
They reported to P.F.Zhigarev, Vershinin's former classmate at the academy, who now headed the Air Force. The hours that followed dragged on unbearably long. The callback came in the evening.
... Vershinin did not remember the parting words that were then expressed. Sokolov-Sokolenok shook his hand, wished neither fluff nor a pen ... Now, when the agonizing wait was over, the tension subsided, Vershinin fixed his gaze on a small suitcase standing nearby, which he took with him to Moscow. I remembered how my wife, Valentina Aleksandrovna, gathered him for the trip, how worried, assuming that anything could happen. In her opinion, there were grounds for such assumptions:
Once you were summoned to Moscow ... Didn't forget, probably?
Of course, Vershinin remembered what she had in mind. This story happened in the last pre-war year... An order came, stating that a large group of planes should be prepared for the flight to Moscow to participate in the upcoming aviation exercises.
On the day appointed for the flight, the weather allowed the crews to be released into the air. The head of the meteorological service gave a summary, from which it followed that no worsening of conditions on the route was expected. Colonel Vershinin, at that time the flight training assistant to the head of the higher aviation advanced training courses, gave the go-ahead for takeoff. He warned the pilots: if the weather worsened and the cloud height dropped to 800 meters, they should not be on the rampage and return to their airfield.
As soon as the planes left for the route, it began to rain. It was also possible to transfer a command to the leader of the group to return the crews, but the head of the courses did not allow this, especially since the meteorological service predicted the flying weather in the Moscow area. It all ended with the fact that five aircraft did not return to the landing airfield. True, two crews, as Vershinin, who had taken off in search, established, landed quite safely at night, but three suffered an accident ... An investigator who arrived from Moscow opened a lawsuit against Vershinin. The district military tribunal, having considered the circumstances of the incident, pleaded not guilty. But in the disciplinary order Vershinin nevertheless suffered a heavy punishment: he was dismissed from his post, demoted and sent as deputy commander of the air division. Four months later, already in 1941, he was again summoned to Moscow, where he was familiarized with another order, which said that Vershinin was appointed head of the same aviation courses.
Recalling Valentina Alexandrovna's excitement now and grinning to himself, Vershinin thought of her warmly. We lived together for almost fifteen years, we had a chance to see everything over the years ... Konstantin Andreevich hurried to return to carve out an hour or two to say goodbye to his family, with his comrades in the service before going to the front.
The next morning, Vershinin returned home by plane Li-2. I really managed to carve out no more than an hour to say goodbye to my family. It was also necessary to hand over the cases. Soon, on the same plane, the commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front went to his destination.
Vershinin was already 22 years old by this time. military service, and it was divided into two equal halves - eleven years in the infantry and the same in the aviation. The first raised an educated general military commander from a peasant guy, the second an aviation one. Both that and another became an inseparable whole in the formation of the military leader.
Military service of Konstantin Andreevich began in June 1919 in the reserve infantry regiment in Simbirsk. But Vershinin mastered not only the soldiers' alphabet there. He was immediately involved in working with people - he was assigned to be an agitator.
Party member, besides, you have primary education. We don't have such a lot, - the commissioner explained.
Vershinin read newspapers to the Red Army men, held conversations at the map, explained the decisions of the party cell.
Towards autumn, marching companies from the reserve regiment began to be sent to the front. Vershinip awaited this with excitement. But the regiment commissar suggested that he go not to the front, but to the courses of the red commanders.
Vershinin was at a loss. Become a career soldier? No, he didn't think about it. He believed that his education was insufficient to choose this path. And the front, where he tried to get there as quickly as possible, will move away for the time required for study.
The Commissioner offered to think it over, but the next day he invited him again to talk.
You, Vershinin, are a communist, "he said," you have shown aptitude in the study of military affairs, actively helped me in the education of the Red Army men. Who, if not you, should I send to the courses? The Red Army now needs its own, soviet commanders - immigrants from the workers 'and peasants' environment.
Doubts were dispelled. Vershinin accepted the offer. Nine months later, by the summer of the twentieth year, he graduated from the Simbirsk infantry courses. He was appointed commander of a marching company in a reserve regiment, which was stationed in the Dorogobuzh area. The company numbered about three hundred Red Army men. The young red organized the classes on approximately the same principle, which was later defined in the army by the words: "In conditions as close as possible to combat."
In early October 1920, Vershinin arrived at the Western Front at the head of his company. Military operations against White Poland soon ceased. However still long time the West had to fight against the Bulak-Balakhovich gangs. Having defeated it by the end of November, parts of the division, which included Vershinin's company, were guarding on the banks of the Berezina and at the same time engaged in combat training.
In January 1921 Vershinin was entrusted with the command of the battalion. In the spring, the division was redeployed to Oryol. Through careful preparation for long hike (from Lepel to Oryol they moved on foot) and people, weapons, and all battalion property arrived in a new place in perfect order. Vershinin himself, although he had a horse at his disposal according to the staff schedule, walked most of the way with his Red Army men. Every day they covered thirty kilometers, and at halts the commander strictly watched that shoes, clothes were repaired, weapons were cleaned. He and his assistants also found time to talk with the soldiers.
Soon Vershinin was ordered to take command of the reinforced battalion and go to the Tambov province to fight Kolesnikov's gang, which, relying on the kulaks, rampaged in the Ostrogozhsky, Pavlovsky and Buturlinovsky districts. In this matter Vershinin proved himself to be not only a skillful, decisive commander, but also a far-sighted politician. He wrote a leaflet exposing the true goals of the kulak-Socialist-Revolutionary leaders of the gang, their slander against Soviet power. All those who voluntarily surrendered were given a guarantee that they would not be punished. A few days later the first three came out of the forest and surrendered. Behind them - a few more. And then, seeing that the promise of the commander of the Red Army was being kept, the gang members began to surrender in groups.
At the end of July Vershinin was recalled from the battalion and sent to study at the Vystrel Higher Rifle School for command personnel. Two years later, in August 1923, after graduating from school, he was assigned to continue serving in Odessa. But then Lyutov met him - a kind teacher and mentor, the former head of the Simbirsk infantry courses, at which Vershinin studied. This former tsarist general, who perceived the October Revolution as the birth of a new Russia, and therefore conscientiously began to serve Soviet power, was well remembered by Vershinin. He was a highly educated person, a good organizer and teacher of high professional culture. He is not slender for his age, always neatly dressed, fit, correct, he won high authority among commanders and cadets. Apparently, Lyutov, in turn, remembered his former student.
Vershinin paint? What is the fate of the capital? he asked, and hearing Vershinin's story about his service and studies in response, he smiled approvingly. - This means that the science obtained in Simbirsk went for the future, the military bone grew stronger. And you are growing rapidly: company, battalion, reinforced battalion. Now we have finished "Shot" ... Let's go with me to Simbirsk.
You have learned now. We need to help others too.
Lyutov now headed the 12th Red Banner School of the Volga Military District. There, he issued a new appointment to Vershinin - the commander of a training company.
The next five years of Vershinin's military service were spent in the 12th Red Banner Infantry School. Our army received more than one hundred commanders from the people. Over the years, Vershinin himself has acquired solid commanding skills and mastered the methods of military and political education. It was the time of maturity.
In November 1928 Vershinin was appointed battalion commander of the Kazan division, which was then stationed in the same city. By this time Vershinin had become not only a mature commander. He was active in public work - he was elected a member of the regional party committee, a deputy of the city council.
The service was going well. Senior commanders who checked the condition of the battalion noted good organization in it combat and political training. The battalion commander himself was not pleased with himself. He increasingly thought about his future: he understood that he needed to continue his military education. I found it inconvenient to ask for full-time studies - I had already taken courses twice. He entered the correspondence department of the Frunze Military Academy. He graduated from the first, the most difficult course. By this time, a decade of military service in the infantry had already passed. Everything seemed to work out well: he loved the service, studied with enthusiasm.
Life, however, had its own way. A short but convincing conversation in the personnel department of the People's Commissariat of Defense turned Vershinin's fate abruptly. From the fall of the thirtieth year, he continued his studies full-time, but now at the academy of a different profile - in the Air Force named after Professor II. E. Zhukovsky!
Many paints at that time unexpectedly had to become aviators. The party proceeded from the position, which in the main guiding document for the Armed Forces - the Field Regulations - was formulated with the words: “Aviation is a powerful new weapon of war. It is rapidly progressing technically, expanding the base and form of its military use. " Accordingly, the necessary measures were taken to create and rapid development, as stated in the decree of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Federation) "On the state of defense of the USSR", Red Aviation. One of the most important among these measures, the party considered the improvement of the social composition of aviation personnel. That is why many commanders, including Vershinin, were sent to the aviation despite their solid service in the infantry.
Vershinin became a student of the command faculty of the Air Force Academy, having never before had a single flight by plane. Now this is impossible to imagine: officers with theoretical training, practical experience of flight work come to the academy. But for Vershinin's generation, this did not seem unusual: a lot then had to start, as they say, from scratch.
And so the listeners with whom Vershishsh studied came to the first lecture on the aerodynamics course. The course was taught by PS Pyshnov, later a lieutenant-engineer, honored worker of science and technology. Before starting the lecture, Vladimir Sergeevich recommended one of his works as a guide to the audience. The listeners looked into it, leafed through it. Almost everyone has obvious confusion on their faces: in the book there are continuous drawings and formulas - they did not understand anything.
Pyshnov knew in advance that the reaction would be just that.
Nothing, comrades, ”he said. - Gradually you will overcome this science ... True, without perseverance and perseverance, things will not work.
For 10-12 hours, the listeners worked in the classrooms, and in the evenings, too, classes - self-preparation to the next school day. At the Central Aerodrome or on the field site, not far from Serpukhov, they took flight practice - they mastered shooting at ground and air targets, learned to conduct aerial reconnaissance, and to correct artillery fire from an aircraft. The academic course of study provided, in addition to command training, for students to receive the specialty of an observer pilot.
The academy then lacked classrooms and laboratories, textbooks and teaching aids... And the level general education not everyone was the same, and many listeners simply lacked the necessary knowledge.
At first Vershinin was dissatisfied with the transfer to aviation. I got used to the infantry, rightly believed that he had already mastered a lot as a combined-arms commander and in this very direction he needed to improve. And soon he felt that he was carried away by aviation, although he was frightening: it was necessary to study sciences that he had never even heard of before. He studied persistently, persistently and unexpectedly for himself fell in love with exactly what frightened him.
Mentors and teachers, seeing with what success Vershinin mastered theoretical disciplines, predicted his path to science. At first it did. After graduating from the academy Vershinin was appointed assistant chief of the tactical department at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force. He stayed in this position for a little more than half a year, beginning in June 1932, and recalled it this way: “Scientists, designers, engineers and technicians, test pilots who surrounded me and my comrades were experienced, highly educated people. Communication with them brought not only moral satisfaction, but also daily broadened my horizons, allowed me to keep pace with the development of aviation science and technology, even to look into tomorrow. "
However, no matter how tempting the prospects of work in a research institute were, Vershinin was eager to join the troops, however, now to others - to the airfield. Why? “It's hard to answer why,” he himself explained. - Most likely, because I wanted not only to see how the aviators are serving in the combat unit, but also to learn its secrets myself, to go through this step.
The military aviation grew. Many aviator commanders were required. Therefore, in the end Vershinin's request for transfer to the troops was granted. In January 1933, he was appointed chief of the operations department of the aviation brigade headquarters in the Kiev military district. But this was not drill yet. In his spare time, Vershinin often visited the airfield - he learned to direct flights. Soon an incident occurred that hastened Vershinin's transition to drill work.
The air brigade was awaiting the arrival of the commander of the air force of the district, F.A. Among aviators, Felix Antonovich enjoyed indisputable authority. During the civil war, he became famous as a pilot in battles against the White Guards near Kazan, in battles with Wrangel's aviation in Tavria, for which he was awarded the order Of the Red Banner. In 1930, he and a group of pilots performed one of the first long-distance flights on the route Moscow - Ankara - Kabul - Tashkent - Moscow.
As a military leader Inganius was strict to the point of captiousness: in aviation everything is important, she does not know the little things. Prepared carefully for the commander's arrival. Inganius was supposed to announce the day of his arrival. And he appeared unexpectedly. On that day, Vershinin was in charge of the flights at the Kharkov airfield, from which the air brigade flew. He noticed that the next plane that landed did not belong to the brigade. This plane did not land cleanly, with several "goats" - this was the name of a frequent error in piloting in aviation at that time, which entailed the aircraft soaring into the air after landing. She often became the cause of breakdowns and accidents. Vershinin sternly reprimanded the pilot:
Where are you looking? Do you know what happens for such a landing?
Recalling some of the provisions from the order to combat accidents, he said that he would report the "goats" to the command of the unit where the pilot is serving.
The one who had arrived, contrary to expectations, did not make excuses. Looking with curiosity at the flight director, he himself asked who was reprimanding him. Vershinin was even more indignant.
First you report who is? - he raised his voice.
The newcomer unexpectedly smiled.
I am the commander of the Inganius Air Force.
He gave the bewildered Vershinin his hand and continued:
Now, perhaps, I have nothing to do in the brigade.
I checked myself: you have a strict case, you notice any prerequisite for an accident ... Who are you?
Upon learning that in front of him was the chief of the operations department of the brigade headquarters, Inganius was surprised:
And what, there is no one else to direct the flights?
Vershinin said that the brigade commander entrusted him with this task, since he already had some experience and a desire to switch to independent team work.
Inganius approved Vershinin's aspiration.
The squadron consisted of three dozen P-5 bombers. Having mastered the new responsibilities, Vershinin nevertheless experienced some mental confusion: he was organizing flight training for the squadron's personnel, and he himself only had the profession of an observer pilot, he was not able to control an aircraft. Once, in a conversation with the head of the school, he asked permission to learn how to perform flight exercises on his own.
The head of the school agreed, and Vershinin with the chief pilot began to "fly up". No matter how familiar he was with aviation, practical flights showed that being a pilot is much harder and harder than it seems when you are in charge of flights. Reflections led to the conclusion: he has no moral right to lead pilots if he himself does not master the technique of piloting an aircraft. It was Vershinin who wrote to the head of the school in a report with a request to send him to study at the Kachin Pilot School.
The request was granted. In a little more than a month Vershininos completed the entire retraining course as a pilot. A rare fact! He himself explained it with the help of a demanding and well-versed instructor, flight and squadron commanders. And he added: "And, perhaps, my secret assistant in mastering the flying profession in record time was the chief of the Red Army Air Force Yakov Ivanovich Alksnis, who himself, having no special flight education, in a very short period of time mastered a three-year program ..."
Yes, all this, of course, was so. But there was also the main thing - personal persistence and dedication. This is how the unspoken motto, which defined all Vershinin's activities, was formed: "It is good to know what you demand from your subordinates." This was subsequently one of his main qualities as an outstanding Soviet military leader.
Returning from Kacha, Vershinin continued to command the squadron until his appointment in August 1938 as assistant chief for flight training of the Higher Aviation Advanced Training Courses for flight personnel. By that time, he had already flown independently on all types of aircraft available to the courses, including the SB.
Such an experienced pilot and commander was Colonel Vershinin, who was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front in September 1941 and was now flying to his destination.
Leo Tolstoy once remarked: when setting off on a journey, in the first half of it, a person thinks about what he left at home, and in the second half about what awaits him in a new place. So it was in the days of stagecoaches, postal triplets and much earlier. The same is observed now, when the means of transport have become completely different. The point here, of course, is not in them, but in human psychology: the one who set out on a journey at the beginning is still full of experiences at parting, and then his restless thought inevitably rushes into the future.
Under the even hum of the engines of an aircraft flying to the front, Vershinin relived his farewell to the school in which he had served since 1934, with friends and colleagues, with his wife and daughters Lena and Inna. Then his thoughts focused on the orientation he received in Moscow regarding the state of the Air Force of the Southern Front. They were created on the basis of the aviation of the Odessa Military District and on the first day of the war had 827 aircraft: 427 fighters, 285 bombers, 115 attack aircraft. Combat vehicles of new designs - MiG-3 fighters and Pe-2 bombers - accounted for less than a fifth of the aircraft fleet. All other aircraft were of obsolete designs. The German Messerschmptt was superior to our I-16, I-153 (Chaika) fighters in almost all tactical and technical parameters and in armament. Even the newest MiGs were inferior to him if the battle was started at low altitudes. Of the bombers, only our DB-3 had a greater range and bomb load than the German Heinkel-111 and Junkers-88, but in speed it was inferior to the latter. And the numerical superiority - almost double - was on the side of the enemy: the 4th air fleet of the Nazi aviation operating in the south, together with the Romanian aviation, totaled up to 1,300 aircraft.
The situation on the Southern Front, as well as on all others, as a result of the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany was extremely difficult for the Soviet troops, they were forced to retreat. In the first days of the war, the aviation of the Southern Front concentrated its efforts on covering and supporting the ground forces, first at the Prut River line, on the approaches to Chisinau, then in the Uman, Pervomaisk, Nikolaev area. By the time Vershinin arrived at the front, fierce defensive battles were already going on on the Dnieper line.
From the same orientation received in Moscow, Konstantin Andreevich learned that all the forces of the Air Force of the Southern Front, by order of the commander, were thrown against the tank group of Field Marshal Kleist that had broken through to the southeast. What specific forces were now at the disposal of the commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front - this was what Vershinin had to figure out on the spot. One thing was clear: they did not increase, because the losses were not replenished. All fronts were in dire need of replenishment of the aircraft fleet, and by this time the production of aircraft had decreased due to the evacuation of a number of aircraft factories to the east.
The headquarters of the Air Force of the Southern Front was found by Vershinin in the village of Pokrovskoye, not far from Zaporozhye. General A. Z. Ustinov, Chief of Staff, became his closest assistant for a long time to the leadership of the Air Force of the Southern Front, then the 4th Air Army until June 1944. Already before the war, Alexander Zakharovich had developed into a major aviation staff worker: he held a responsible position at the Air Force headquarters, participated in the battles on Khalkhin Gol. On the eve of the fascist aggression, Ustinov held the post of chief of staff of the Air Force of the Odessa Military District, and in this position, from the very first hours of the war, he took part in the leadership of the combat operations of the aviation of the future Southern Front. A few days later he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the 9th Army, a month before Vershinin arrived at the front, he became Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the Southern Front.
The deputy commander for political affairs since the formation of the Southern Front Air Force Directorate was Divisional Commissioner V.I. Alekseev, an experienced party political worker. The post of the head of the operational department was entrusted to Major K. N. Odintsov, an initiative and energetic aviation commander.
The staff at the headquarters had already had a hard time. The Air Force command of the Southern Front, as Konstantin Andreyevich found out in Moscow, began to form a few days before the start of the war. On the evening of June 21, the workers of the Odessa Military District, who were entrusted with this business, went home. Sunday was ahead with all its joys. At dawn they were all alarmed: war! In the evening of the same day, the operational group of the headquarters went by a special train to Vinnitsa to take over the air forces of the 9th and 18th combined arms armies, as well as several air divisions directly subordinate to the front air force.
Having found themselves in the maelstrom of war in an unfamiliar area and direction, the commanders of the task force encountered great difficulties. In the midst of fierce battles, for the first time, they had to face formations and units unfamiliar to themselves, the conditions of their airfield base, logistics support, and many other issues. And everything was done in the absence of vehicles and their own communication center. The latter especially complicated the situation - there was no direct connection with most formations and units. The data on the situation were stingy, and sometimes contradictory, and it changed rapidly.
Listening to stories of how they started their combat activities The Air Force of the Southern Front, Konstantin Andreevich noted with satisfaction the main thing for himself: the staff of the Air Force headquarters of the Southern Front - now it was his headquarters - were not at a loss in an extremely difficult situation, managed, having taken measures possible under those conditions, to establish communication with formations and units, to make continuous control of the subordinate aviation, which means to ensure a more purposeful nature of its actions.
Circumstances developed in such a way that on the Southern Front the enemy did not manage to destroy our aviation, as he intended to do, by the first sudden massive attacks on airfields. Aviation exercises were held in the Odessa Military District. According to their plan, most of the air regiments were relocated from stationary to field airfields and were dispersed and well camouflaged there. Therefore, the carefully planned and prepared first attacks of the enemy on stationary airfields actually fell on an empty spot. True, most of the 23 aircraft lost to the Air Force of the Odessa Military District on the first day of the war burned up on the ground during enemy raids. However, the enemy did not solve even a small fraction of the task that he set for himself with his massed actions from the air.
Moreover, the result of the first combat day was clearly not in his favor - he lost on June 22, 1941, 40 of his bombers and fighters. For one loss of our combat vehicle, almost two destroyed enemy vehicles! Vershinin saw something more behind these quantitative characteristics, namely the readiness and ability of our pilots to enter and fight the enemy on an equal footing, and even with his superiority.
Although Konstantin Andreevich, who until now was at the airfield in the rear of the country, was not very thoroughly informed about front-line affairs, he had already heard about the "horseless" lost their combat vehicles burned down at the airfields. Of course, this was a big trouble - many pilots were unarmed at the right time, there were not enough aircraft for everyone. The moral damage was no less serious: the feeling of depression that appeared among some aviators as a result of what they experienced in the first days of the war, when the enemy, in front of their eyes, using an overwhelming numerical superiority, acted insolently and with impunity.
Events on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, purely aviation, from the first day went in a more favorable direction for us. There were much less "horseless" here. While in the field, the district air force headquarters established communication with the units in advance and gave them the necessary instructions. Therefore, the first massive enemy air raid on our airfields at dawn on June 22 proved to be ineffective. Being in readiness, our fighters were promptly lifted into the air. Having met the enemy, they boldly entered the battle. Thanks to the courage and combat skill of the first hero pilots, such as squadron commander Captain A.G. Karmanov, regimental commanders Major V.P. Ivanov, B.A.Rudakov, fighter pilot Senior Lieutenant A.I. Moklyak and many others , managed to more or less effectively oppose the enemy in the air. No less important was the fact that our pilots, by their own experience or by the example of their comrades in arms, had the opportunity to make sure from the very first battle, from the first hour of the war, that the vaunted fascist aces, meeting a proper rebuff, quickly lose their self-confidence and arrogance.
Vershinin rightly regarded this high fighting spirit as the main acquisition of the Southern Front Air Force pilots. To preserve and increase it - this is the task that he set for himself and his staff.
Soon enough, the commanders and staff members subordinate to Vershinin felt that the new commander was not going to be involved in the small guardianship of the staff as a whole or any of his responsible assistants. For him, above all, the essence of solving a specific problem, the speed, efficiency and accuracy of the tasks assigned to subordinates, comprehensive knowledge of the situation in the front troops and in air formations, which made it possible to influence the course of hostilities at any moment. Within the framework of the assigned task, the commander provided the performers with broad independence, encouraged initiative.
Vershinin carefully studied everything that had begun before him and supported a lot.
His warm approval was received for the creation and activity of special groups and repair teams, which searched for and then assembled aircraft that made an emergency landing on our territory. At that time, this was one of the important ways to make up for losses in equipment that our units suffered. By the end of August, there were 10-12 planes left in the regiments, or even fewer. In other words, it is good if there was a squadron in the ranks for the regiment. It was then that the idea was born of restoring by our own forces the aircraft that had been shot down and made an emergency landing in our rear. It was implemented thanks to the ingenuity and diligence of the engineering and technical staff of the Air Force of the front, headed by P.V. Rodimov. Of course, Vershinin knew that in this case, field aircraft repair shops (PARM), which are centers of restoration work, often go beyond their competence. They had to deal with repairs of such complexity, which is usually considered possible only in stationary conditions, in the factory, but not in the field workshops. The regulations on this matter were quite detailed and strict. But the planes were needed immediately. And Vershinin not only allowed to deviate from the accepted rules, but took control of the restoration work. As a result, in September 1941 alone, over 300 aircraft were restored in units by the PARM forces and specially created technical brigades. At that time, one could not even dream of such a thing.
The commander also did not object to the dismantling of faulty machines - when they were sent for repairs, they removed scarce units and devices from them, and replaced them with faulty ones. Under normal circumstances, this would be considered an emergency. But experience has shown that such a replacement is justified, since it made it possible to quickly restore two or three combat aircraft directly in the regiments within a few hours.
It did not begin under Vershinin, but he supported another extremely important matter: the involvement of U-2 training aircraft in the performance of combat missions at night. His predecessor, as the commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front, Major General of Aviation PS Shelukhin, made such a decision to somehow compensate for the small number of aviation, especially bomber.
At first, bombing from the U-2 was carried out in a primitive way, as the pilots said then, “on the boot”, that is, without any sight: when the target was under the leading edge of the lower wing of the aircraft, the navigator, depending on the flight altitude, counted a certain number of seconds and dropped the bomb. The timing was calculated for the most frequently used bombing heights (500-1000 m) and memorized. Even with this technique, the bombing accuracy was quite decent. And after special bomb racks and simple bombing sights were installed on the U-2, it increased even more.
The first combat tests of the U-2 were carried out on August 25, 1941. The goal is the battle formations of enemy troops on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Berislav (Kakhovka) area. The crews flew to her from an airfield 60–70 kilometers away. Directly in the area of \u200b\u200bthe target, the motors were muffled and they entered it from the planning. This ensured the surprise of the raid. The entire round-trip flight took up to one and a half hours, so during the night each crew could make 3-4 sorties with up to 200 kilograms of bombs on board. Effect from combat use The U-2 was impressive. Then, on Vershinin's initiative, a rather large group of U-2 aircraft was reequipped for night bombing. And the enemy, at first making a lot of fun of the Russian "plywood planes", began to seriously fear the "night ghosts" who silently crept up to his positions, bombarding them with a hail of small bombs.
So the plane, created back in the 20s by a talented soviet designer NN Polikarpov as a training one, turned into a combat one. The experience of its use in the Air Force of the Southern Front was spread to other fonts as well. Since the end of 1941, the U-2 began to enter the armament of aviation units in large quantities as combat aircraft of light-engine night bomber aviation. Since 1943, these aircraft were called Po-2 (by the name of the designer).
The first month at the front was extremely tense for Vershinin. Probably because the troops of the Southern Front were retreating under the onslaught all the time. superior forces enemy. Only by mid-October did our troops gain a foothold and took up defenses on the Mius River. Parts and formations of the front air force were relocated to the airfields of the Luhansk, Donetsk and Rostov regions.
On October 22 Vershinin was awarded the rank of Major General of Aviation. This meant that his activities as commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front were assessed positively. Konstantin Andreevich himself was self-critical. He was convinced that many aircraft were needed to overcome the superiority of enemy aircraft. “But here a lot also depends on the art of war,” he thought. Gradually, the idea matured in him: to concentrate the available aviation to solve the main tasks.
The counteroffensive at Rostov and the preparation of the upcoming air operation that accompanied him became for Vershinin the most responsible thing during his entire stay at the front. Before the aviation of the Southern Front, in accordance with the directive of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the tasks were set: to smash Kleist's grouping, preventing its organized retreat from Rostov, to disrupt the supply of ammunition and food by the enemy, to support from the air the actions of our strike forces - two combined-arms armies, as well as a cavalry corps, which provided their right flank, to destroy the German-fascist aviation, especially at the airfields.
Reporting his views on the distribution of the available aviation forces to the front commander, Colonel-General Ya. T. Cherevichenko, Vershinin suggested that he concentrate 95 percent of all aircraft on the direction of the main attack.
This is the only way to attract the maximum of aviation forces to the solution of the tasks set in the Headquarters directive. The enemy is even now superior to us in the air, - he argued.
Cherevichenko looked at the map in front of him for a long time, then said:
Well, perhaps that's right. The main forces must be given to the armies, which will solve the main tasks. You are correct in saying, Vershinin, the aviation should be consolidated into larger groups.
In the Rostov offensive operation, the Air Force of the Southern Front made over 38,000 sorties over 16 flight days, dropped 30,000 bombs of various calibers, 1,000 rockets on the enemy, destroyed 76 enemy aircraft (61 in air battles and 15 on the ground), destroyed 3 water crossings, disabled 90 guns, 25,000 vehicles, 140 tanks. Our losses amounted to 32 aircraft, of which only 5 were lost in air battles.
The short lull that followed on the Southern Front was used by Vershinin to organize a generalization of the accumulated combat experience in the study of it by all flight personnel. He drew certain conclusions for himself: the concentration of aviation forces and their use in the direction of the main attack were fully justified. This was taken into account in the higher command echelons, where, on the basis of the experience of using aviation in the Rostov offensive operation, generalized under the leadership of Vershinin, the issue of creating a large air force formation on the Southern Front - the 4th Air Army - was considered.
In the winter of 1942, the Air Force of the Southern Front took an active part in the aviation support of several private offensive operations, including the Barvenkovskaya one. At the same time, some pilots had a chance to meet in the air with a new modification of the German fighter.
It was the Me-109f, superior in quality to the previous designs. Having studied the data on this aircraft, Vershinin held a special meeting to which the best air fighters were invited.
Strong machine - you will not say anything, but with weaknesses, you can beat, - he said at the meeting. - But how do we beat? One this way, the other this way, the third differently. And if "so", "commercial" and "otherwise" combine? Learn from each other and pass on common experience to others.
Vershinin spoke about the "weaknesses" that he found in the new enemy aircraft. The meeting participants shared their impressions. The exchange of experience made it possible to formulate clear, concrete recommendations that became the property of all pilots and soon affected the course of air battles.
Vershinin demanded that such conferences be held in formations and units, often he himself took part in them.
The difficult summer of 1942 came. The failure of our troops near Kharkov complicated the situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. It was at this difficult time that the formation of the 4th Air Army was completed, carried out, as indicated in the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of May 7, 1942, "in order to build up the strike force of aviation and the successful use of massive air strikes." The same order said: "The commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front, Major General of Aviation KA Vershinin, should be appointed commander of the 4th Air Army, having been simultaneously approved as a member of the Military Council and deputy commander of the Southern Front for aviation."
Vershinin assigned the entire staff of the Air Force headquarters of the Southern Front to the appropriate places in the headquarters of the air army. On a phone call from Moscow with a proposal to help with personnel, he replied: "Ours have grown, we will handle it."
Indeed, Vershinin had every reason to be satisfied with his staff. Together with the chief of staff, General A. Z. Ustinov, he worked hard to improve the work of all staff services. Headquarters departments were reinforced the best specialists from parts and formations, its own communication center became more powerful, providing uninterrupted communication with the air units. The operational department worked well, closely cooperating with the intelligence department, the communications service and the flag navigator. By coordinated efforts, they ensured the continuity of the control of aviation units and formations.
With the transformation of the front air force into the 4th air army, the rights of the command and staff expanded, and, consequently, the duties and responsibilities of each in their place increased.
The tests in the summer and autumn of 1942 were a severe test for the 4th Air Army and its commander. In the conditions of continuous withdrawal of our ground forces, first to the line of the Don River, and then to the foothills of the Caucasus, aviation operations had to be organized in an extremely difficult situation. In the first half of July, the air army had only about 200 aircraft in service. The ratio of the forces of the sides in aviation was 1 to 6 in favor of the enemy. Moreover, the army was in constant motion. The flight personnel strained all their forces to at least to a small extent withstand the immeasurably superior 4th air fleet enemy, help your ground forces retreat in an organized manner to the next defensive line. Often, the pilots flew on a mission under artillery fire, and the rear units left the airfields even when there was an immediate threat of capture by advancing enemy units.
The management of the army in these conditions has become extremely complicated. However, the commander and his staff were able, albeit with losses, to ensure the organized redeployment of subordinate formations and units. In those specific conditions, this was evidence of Vershinin's great organizational abilities, the coherence and clarity of the work of his staff.
Only by mid-August did the front stabilize on the borders of the Terek and Baksan rivers. Heavy defensive battles ensued in the foothills of the Caucasus. For about five months, the 4th Air Army fought as part of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front to hold the approaches to the Main Caucasian ridge.
On September 8, 1942 Vershinin was appointed commander of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Front. Under his leadership, the 4th and 5th air armies and aviation were united Black Sea Fleet... Although NF Naumenko, the former deputy commander, became the command of the 4th Air Army, Vershinin in many cases paid more attention to it than to others, since its formations and units operated on the main axis of the Transcaucasian Front.
Vershinin worked a lot at the headquarters of combined-arms formations and formations, where he carefully coordinated issues of interaction between aviation and other branches of the military. This he demanded from the command of the air armies and formations. And because, as it was done, he largely appreciated their work.
We are for them, not they for us, ”he often repeated at meetings of aviation commanders. - And this is not easy: I established a connection, clarified my task and bomb or storm. You need to know the plan of the combined-arms commander, to understand his task. Then you will only understand how to make the best use of your powers.
The constant search for a new, most characteristic in Soybean use of aviation in the interests of ground forces is one of the most important features of Vershinin's talent as an outstanding Soviet military leader. In many respects, this is why Vershinin was chosen when it became necessary to unite under a single leadership two air armies and the aviation of the Black Sea Fleet.
With each passing day, the defense of the Caucasus grew stronger, the combat skills of the personnel, and the coherence in the actions of various types of troops grew. Exhausting the enemy, the formations and formations of the Transcaucasian Front increasingly began to inflict powerful counterattacks. The enemy was defeated at the Sunzhensky ridge, then at the Elkotovsky gate. The enemy group, which was trying to capture Ordzhonikidze and break through to Grozny, suffered a crushing defeat. In early January 1943, the counterattacks of the Soviet troops defending the Caucasus developed into a general offensive.
In defense and offensive, our aviation was extremely active. AND mountain conditions special for aviation. It is difficult to maneuver here at high speed: mountains interfere. And if you go higher, then the effectiveness of bombing and ground attacks will decrease. And yet, our pilots bombed and stormed the enemy, and for sure.
However, it was necessary to knock out the enemy hiding in the deep folds of the terrain. But how? This question could not be answered. And it was a shame: having taken refuge somewhere in the gorge, the enemy sometimes turned out to be invulnerable to aviation.
Hero of the Soviet Union Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich
Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich - Commander of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Colonel General of Aviation.
Born on May 22 (June 3) 1900 in the village of Borkino, Yaransky district, Vyatka province, now part of the Sanchursky district of the Kirov region. Russian. From the family of a poor peasant. Graduated from the rural parish school.
From 1911 he worked as a carpenter, lumberjack. With the outbreak of the First World War, he got a job at a shipyard in the village of Zvenigovo, studied at an evening school for workers.
In the Red Army since June 1919, he was called up for mobilization. He served as a Red Army soldier and agitator of the reserve regiment in Simbirsk. In 1920 he graduated from the Simbirsk infantry command courses. Member of the Civil War: in October 1920-July 1921 - company commander, and from January 1921 - battalion commander of the 49th Infantry Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division (Western Front, in the spring of 1921 the regiment was transferred to Oryol). Participated in battles against S.N. Bulak-Balakhovich in Belarus, in the suppression of the uprising in the Voronezh province, in the suppression of the Tambov uprising ("Antonovshchina"). In July 1921 he was sent to study.
In 1923 he graduated from the Comintern Higher Tactical and Shooting School of the Commander of the Red Army (future courses "Shot"). Since 1923, he commanded a training company at the 12th Red Banner Infantry School of the Volga Military District (Simbirsk). Since 1928 - commander of a rifle battalion of the 2nd rifle regiment of the Kazan rifle division of the Volga Military District (Simbirsk). Since 1929, he studied in absentia at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze, finished the first year.
In 1930 he was transferred to the Air Force (Air Force). In 1932 he graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. Since June 1932 - assistant to the head of the tactical department of the Scientific Testing Institute of the Red Army Air Force. From January 1933 - Chief of the Operations Department of the Headquarters of the 20th Aviation Brigade in Kharkov (Ukrainian Military District). From February 1934 - commander of the air squadron of the Lipetsk Higher Tactical Flight School of the Air Force. In 1935, he graduated from the 1st Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School named after A.F. Myasnikov. Since 1938 - assistant chief for flight training of the Lipetsk Higher Aviation Training Courses for flight personnel.
In 1940, after a group flight accident, Colonel K.A. Vershinin was brought to trial by a military tribunal, which was fully acquitted. Nevertheless, he was disciplined down to the rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed deputy commander of the 49th Aviation Division. In May 1941, he was reinstated in the rank of colonel, returned to Lipetsk and appointed head of the Lipetsk Higher Aviation Flight Personnel Improvement Courses.
Member of the Great Patriotic War: in September 1941 - May 1942 - Commander of the Air Force of the Southern Front. May-September 1942 - commander of the 4th Air Army; from September 1942 - commander of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Front. From May 1943 until the end of the war, he again commanded the 4th Air Army on the North Caucasian and 2nd Belorussian fronts.
Under his leadership, the pilots, in close cooperation with ground forces, participated in defensive battles in Ukraine and in Rostov (1941) and Barvenkovo-Lozovskaya offensive operations, in 1942 they fought air battles in the skies of Donbass and on the Don, restraining the offensive of superior enemy forces, defended The North Caucasus, in 1943 fought in the Kuban and the Taman Peninsula, won an aerial battle over the Blue Line. In 1944, the 4th Air Army took part in the liberation of the Crimea, and then, as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front, ensured the strategic superiority of aviation and the success of ground forces during the Bagration offensive, in the East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations. ...
For the successful leadership of military units and the personal courage and heroism shown at the same time to the Colonel-General of Aviation Vershinin Konstantin Andreevich By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 19, 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
From March 1946 to September 1949 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. From September 1949 he served in the Air Defense Forces of the country, from February to September 1950 he commanded the 57th Air Force (in the Carpathian Military District), from September 1950 to September 1951 - the 24th Air Force (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany) ... In September 1951 - April 1953 - Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Border Line - Deputy Commander in Chief of the Air Force. From April 1953 - first deputy commander, and from June 1953 to May 1954 - commander of the country's Air Defense Forces. From June 1954 to April 1956 - commander of the troops of the Baku region (from August 1954 - the district) Air Defense.
Then he returned to the Air Force and from April 1956 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for higher educational institutions. From January 1957 to March 1969 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Since March 1969 - Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
He lived in the hero city of Moscow. He died on December 30, 1973. Buried on Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow (section 7).
He was awarded six Orders of Lenin (12/23/1942, 07/21/1944, 08/19/1944, 02/21/1945, ...), the Order of the October Revolution, three Orders of the Red Banner (03/27/1942, 11/3/1944, ...), three orders Suvorov 1st degree (05/16/1944, 04/10/1945, 05/29/1945), Orders of Suvorov 2nd degree (10/25/1943), Patriotic War 1st degree (02.22.1943), medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus", other medals, foreign awards: Orders of Military Valor (Poland), Grunwald Cross (Poland).
Member of the RCP (b) / KPSS since February 1919. A candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee in 1952-1956, a member of the CPSU Central Committee in 1961-1971. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1946-1950 and 1954-1970.
A street in Moscow bears his name; a memorial plaque was installed on one of the buildings of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. The name of the Chief Marshal of Aviation K.A. Vershinin was worn by the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots.