Our Victory team has already introduced you to Ivan Kozhedub, the best soviet fighter pilot of the great Patriotic War. However it would be unfair not to pay homage to another no less prominent war hero – Aleksandr Pokryshkin, the first Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Aleksandr Pokryshkin was born in the town of Novonikolayevsk (now Novosibirsk) into a family of a factory worker. Despite the family’s moderate living standards and the crime infested district he lived in, Pokryshkin developed a keen interest for studies and was a diligent pupil, aviation becoming his passion since the age of 12.

As early as 1939 lieutenant Pokryshkin was assigned to the 55th Fighter Air Regiment. On June 22, 1941 his aerodrome received a massive airstrike. The first air mission was a failure – he hit a friendly aircraft. Next day, however, Aleksandr was victorious downing a Nazi fighter on a reconnaissance mission.

In the winter of the same year Aleksandr managed to take off despite the non-flying weather that had already destroyed two of his comrades. His mission was to determine the exact dislocation of von Kleist’s tanks. Upon successful accomplishment of the mission Aleksandr was commissioned for the Order of Lenin.

In 1943, after a serious of swift and merciless victories in the air Aleksandr went into air fights with the legendary Nazi fighter squadrons in Kuban, inventing new tactical maneuvers, such as the Speed Swing, the Kuban Stack. His idea to use the support of ground radars and an advanced ground based tracking system was an immense contribution to the soviet Air Force first victory over Luftwaffe. Most of the time Pokryshkin tackled the most difficult task – to neutralize the leader of the enemy formation. In June 1944 Aleksandr Pokryshkin was promoted to colonel and was put in charge of the 9th Guard Air Division.

Total missions accomplished by Aleksandr Pokryshkin during the war amount to 650, including 156 air fights, 59 enemy aircrafts hit individually, 6 – as part of a formation. In 1972 Aleksandr was appointed Air Marshal.

For more information on war heroes visit Our Victory social project official website.