Pilots of the Great Patriotic War / pilots of Kazakhstan / war hero 1941-1945
The servicemen of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan are the heirs of Kazakh pilots who heroically fought the Nazis in the sky on the fronts of the war. The current Kazakh pilots always remember the combat exploits of their predecessors.
1. Major General Talgat Begeldinov
Among the pilots-heroes of the Great Patriotic War, the most famous, perhaps, is the twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Talgat Begeldinov. Born on August 5, 1922 in the Akmola region, he spent his childhood in Bishkek, where he began studying in an aero club from the age of adolescence. At the age of 16, he took to the sky for the first time and realized that this was his element. After graduating from the Chkalovsky Military Aviation School in Orenburg, he went to the front.
He fought on the Il-2, a single–engine attack aircraft, which Soviet designers called the "flying tank", and the Germans – the "black death", showing courage and courage. In the battles in the sky over the Ukrainian cities of Znamenka, Kirovograd on October 26, 1944, Talgat Begeldinov personally shot down 4 German planes. In the same autumn, he was appointed commander of the squadron of the 144th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment, which heroically stormed clusters of troops and equipment in Poland and Germany, in the battles for the cities of Krakow, Opole, Katowice, Wroclaw and Berlin. In total, Talgat Begeldinov made 305 sorties during the war, personally shot down 7 planes, and was shot down himself. At the 1945 Victory Day Parade, Begeldinov was awarded the second Hero's Star.
2. Major General Sergey Lugansky
Another twice Hero of the Soviet Union is the squadron commander of the 270th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major General Sergei Lugansky. He was born in 1918 in Almaty. By the beginning of the war, he had already had 59 sorties and a downed plane during the war with Finland. He fought on LaGG-3, Yak-1B aircraft, went into a frontal attack, covering the crossing of the Volga, crossing the Dnieper. For 221 sorties and 18 downed aircraft, he was awarded the title of Hero in 1943.
3. Leonid Bede
Another double Hero, Leonid Beda from Kostanay region, made 214 sorties on an Il-2 attack aircraft, participating in the Battle of Stalingrad, in battles in the skies over Donbass, Crimea, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, and the storming of Konigsberg. For the courage and heroism shown in the battles, pilot Leonid Beda was awarded the title of Hero twice. After the war, he also served in the Turkestan Military District, rose to the commander of the aviation of the Belarusian Military District, the rank of lieutenant general.
4. Ivan Pavlov
His countryman, Kostanay Ivan Pavlov participated in the Rzhev-Sychev, Velikiye Luki and Smolensk operations, the liberation of Belarus and the Baltic States, and the liquidation of the enemy's Zemland grouping. During the war, he made 237 combat sorties on the Il-2 attack aircraft. After receiving the first Hero's star, the countrymen raised money to buy an airplane, on board of which they wrote "To the Countryman Hero of the Soviet Union T. Pavlov — from the workers of the city of Kustanai." There was a hero pilot flying on board this plane.
4. Nurken Abdirov
Speaking about the feat of pilots, first of all, I remember Nurken Abdirov, who gave his life while performing the feat. Nurken Abdirov was born in 1919 in the Karkaralysky district of the Karaganda region. After graduating from the Chkalov Military Aviation School in Orenburg, he went to the front. He flew an IL-2 attack aircraft, destroying dozens of German cars and several tanks in 16 sorties.
5. Bayzulla Akizhanov
In the years before the war, aviation was a new field being mastered by man. The profession of a pilot was not just new, modern, fashionable, it was very prestigious, popular, honorable. The pilots seemed to be superheroes, Stalin's own son became a pilot. Every boy wanted to fly an airplane, conquer the sky. Bayzulla Akizhanov was no exception – "the winged son of Kurgol village", as the military journalist Sapargali Zhagiparov called him. A countryman and relative of the poet of the Alash-Orda and the October Revolution Sabit Donentaev, Bayzulla Akizhanov was born in 1923 in the Pavlodar region.
7. Hiuaz Dospanova
On the fronts of the war, women also showed themselves in the sky at the helm of an airplane.The names of Marina Raskova, Valentina Grizodubova, Leyla Mammadbekova are written in history. But the pilots, who are called "night witches", have earned special fame. Among them is Hiuaz Dospanova from Kazakhstan.
