Senior Lieutenant Alexander Dmitrievich Putin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1945. The officer was an example of valor and courage for fellow soldiers. Once the pilot said that the title “is given for life”, therefore Putin compared his further actions with this award and tried to correspond to the proper level.
early years
The future hero was born in 1918 in the Saratov region. The Russian peasant family of Putin lived in the village of Razboyshchina, today this settlement is called the village of Sokolovy. Since childhood, Sasha used to rely on their own strength. Fate ordered that at the age of five the boy lost his mother, and after another five years his father died. After graduating from FZU school in 1936, the young man began working at the Saratov plant for the production of combines. In this half-starved time, the formation of the guy's character took place. A seventeen-year-old toolmaker worked at the factory during the day, and in the evening worked at the air club. His idols were the famous pilots of the young country of the Soviets Chkalov and Baidukov. Alexander dreamed of the sky, of flying to the North Pole, but his wishes were destined to come true not so soon.
In 1940, the young man fell into the ranks of the Red Army. He voluntarily replenished the ranks of recruits, after the cry of Voroshilov “Komsomol members, on skis!” Sounded. The romantic dream had to be temporarily exchanged for the real events of the Soviet-Finnish war. He served as the machine gunner of the 109th ski battalion.
First flights
Only a year later, Putin was sent to the flight school of the city of Elgels, of which he became a graduate at the beginning of the war. In 1942, the pilot continued his training at the Krasnodar Flight School.
Putin came to the front in January 1943. As part of the 624th Molodechno aviation regiment of attack aircraft, he participated in the battle on the Kursk Bulge, liberating Bryansk and Pskov. His further path lay in Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland. The news of the victory caught the pilot in the capital of Czechoslovakia.
Thanks to flying skills and initiative, Alexander soon became the best pilot of the unit. From the first months of the war, he was entrusted with leading a group of attack aircraft. His courage could be envied, so the command entrusted the pilot with the most critical operations.
Summer 43rd
On August 31, 1943, the leadership instructed a group of six aircraft, commanded by Putin, to bomb the enemy train at the Navlya railway junction. "Ilya" took off from the airfield and moved west. On the eve of a major offensive by Soviet troops. The battle on the Kursk Bulge lasted forty-nine days. About two million people, thousands of tanks and aircraft took part in the large-scale operation. The battle became key during the Great Patriotic War. The Nazis had difficulty restraining the frontiers of defense, they had to go beyond the Dnieper in order to take out the looted property. The front line was clearly marked by fires and gun shots.
When a group of aircraft approached the station, the Nazis opened fire, the anti-aircraft guns firing intensified every minute. The earth sparkled with shots, one of the shots put Putin's plane in the air. But even after this, the commander did not turn off the intended course. Indeed, below, "in pairs" were trains, ready to go to the Mikhailovsky farm. The commander dropped the bomb on the engine, and his comrades on the cars. After the "silts" turned back, an explosion thundered at the station. On that day, the group blew up two steam locomotives, dozens of wagons, an ammunition depot and completely destroyed the station’s buildings.
The last days of the war
The appearance of the stormtroopers terrified the Nazis and put them to flight. Often it turned out that the planes themselves became the target of enemy anti-aircraft guns. To remain unharmed in this meat grinder, I had to have an instant reaction and excellent technology. Putin’s plane got the number “10”, and he always hit the goals of the Nazis “in the top ten.” The pilot survived many dangerous situations. He especially remembered the case when the plane crashed and balancing on the wings with difficulty, he safely got out of the car.
Alexander was remembered for his combat mission on February 14, 1945, which coincided with the Red Army combat operation to take the German group near Breslavl into the ring. A group of eight aircraft led by Putin carried out a strike on the enemy’s reserve units. Attack aircraft made five approaches to the target, as a result of which they destroyed twenty cars, tanks and a company of fascists. For this successful operation, the entire group received thanks from the army command.
Over the years of the war, Putin led a group of attack aircraft ninety-two times, each with six to twenty-four vehicles. All operations were successful and efficient, with minimal losses. For three years, the squadron commander completed 130 sorties on an Il-2 aircraft. His personal courage and contribution to the cause of victory was marked by the highest award of the USSR - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. On June 27, 1945, the hero was awarded the Golden Star medal and the Order of Lenin.
