The highest degree of distinction in the USSR was the title Hero Soviet Union. It was awarded to citizens who accomplished a feat during military operations or distinguished themselves by other outstanding services to their Motherland. As an exception, it could have been appropriated in peacetime.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was established by the Decree of the USSR Central Executive Committee of April 16, 1934. Later, on August 1, 1939, as an additional insignia for Heroes of the USSR, it was approved in the form of a five-pointed star mounted on a rectangular block, which was issued to the recipients along with a diploma from the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. At the same time, it was established that those who repeated a feat worthy of the title of Hero would be awarded the second Order of Lenin and the second Gold Star medal. When the hero was re-awarded, his bronze bust was installed in his homeland. The number of awards with the title Hero of the Soviet Union was not limited.
The list of the first Heroes of the Soviet Union was opened on April 20, 1934 by polar explorer pilots: A. Lyapidevsky, S. Levanevsky, N. Kamanin, V. Molokov, M. Vodopyanov, M. Slepnev and I. Doronin. Participants in the rescue of passengers in distress on the legendary steamship Chelyuskin.
Eighth on the list was M. Gromov (September 28, 1934). The crew of the aircraft he led set a world record for flight range along a closed curve at a distance of more than 12 thousand kilometers. The next Heroes of the USSR were the pilots: crew commander Valery Chkalov, who together with G. Baidukov and A. Belyakov made a long non-stop flight along the Moscow - Far East route.
It was for military exploits that for the first time 17 commanders of the Red Army (Decree of December 31, 1936) who participated in the Spanish Civil War became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Six of them were tank crews, the rest were pilots. Three of them were awarded the title posthumously. Two of the recipients were foreigners: Bulgarian V. Goranov and Italian P. Gibelli. In total, for battles in Spain (1936-39), the highest honor was awarded 60 times.
In August 1938, this list was supplemented by 26 more people who showed courage and heroism during the defeat of the Japanese interventionists in the area of Lake Khasan. About a year later, the first presentation of the medal took place “ Golden Star", which 70 fighters received for their exploits during battles in the area of the river. Khalkhin Gol (1939). Some of them became twice Heroes of the Soviet Union.
After the start of the Soviet-Finnish conflict (1939-40), the list of Heroes of the Soviet Union increased by another 412 people. Thus, before the start of the Great Patriotic War 626 citizens received the hero, among whom were 3 women (M. Raskova, P. Osipenko and V. Grizodubova).
More than 90 percent of the total number of Heroes of the Soviet Union appeared in the country during the Great Patriotic War. 11 thousand 657 people were awarded this high title, 3051 of them posthumously. This list contains 107 fighters who became heroes twice (7 were awarded posthumously), also in total number The recipients included 90 women (49 posthumously).
The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR caused an unprecedented rise in patriotism. Great War brought a lot of grief, but it also revealed the heights of courage and strength of character of seemingly ordinary ordinary people.
So, who would have expected heroism from the elderly Pskov peasant Matvey Kuzmin. In the very first days of the war, he came to the military registration and enlistment office, but they brushed him off because he was too old: “go, grandfather, to your grandchildren, we’ll figure it out without you.” Meanwhile, the front was inexorably moving east. The Germans entered the village of Kurakino, where Kuzmin lived. In February 1942, an elderly peasant was unexpectedly called to the commandant's office - the battalion commander of the 1st Mountain Rifle Division found out that Kuzmin was an excellent tracker with perfect knowledge of the terrain and ordered him to assist the Nazis - to lead a German detachment to the rear of the advanced battalion of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army . “If you do everything right, I’ll pay you well, but if you don’t, blame yourself...” “Yes, of course, of course, don’t worry, your honor,” Kuzmin feignedly whined. But an hour later, the cunning peasant sent his grandson with a note to our people: “The Germans ordered a detachment to be led to your rear, in the morning I will lure them to the fork near the village of Malkino, meet me.” That same evening, the fascist detachment with its guide set off. Kuzmin led the Nazis in circles and deliberately exhausted the invaders: they forced them to climb steep hillsides and wade through dense bushes. “What can you do, your honor, well, there is no other way here...” At dawn, tired and cold fascists found themselves at the Malkino fork. "That's it, guys, they're here." “How did you come!?” “So, let’s rest here and then we’ll see...” The Germans looked around - they had been walking all night, but they had moved only a couple of kilometers from Kurakino and were now standing on the road in an open field, and twenty meters in front of them was a forest, where, now they understood for sure, there was a Soviet ambush. “Oh, you…” – the German officer pulled out a pistol and emptied the entire clip into the old man. But at that same second, a rifle salvo rang out from the forest, then another, Soviet machine guns began to chatter, and a mortar fired. The Nazis rushed about, screamed, and shot randomly in all directions, but not one of them escaped alive. The hero died and took 250 Nazi occupiers with him. Matvey Kuzmin became the oldest Hero of the Soviet Union, he was 83 years old.
And the youngest gentleman of the highest Soviet rank, Valya Kotik, joined the partisan detachment at the age of 11. At first he was a liaison for an underground organization, then he took part in military operations. With his courage, fearlessness and strength of character, Valya amazed his seasoned senior comrades. In October 1943, the young hero saved his squad by noticing the approaching punitive forces in time, he raised the alarm and was the first to enter the battle, killing several Nazis, including a German officer. On February 16, 1944, Valya was mortally wounded in battle. To the young hero posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He was 14 years old.
The entire people, young and old, rose up to fight the fascist infection. Soldiers, sailors, officers, even children and old people selflessly fought against the Nazi invaders. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vast majority of awards with the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union occur during the war years.
In the post-war period, the title of GSS was awarded quite rarely. But even before 1990, awards continued for exploits during the Great Patriotic War, which were not carried out at the time for various reasons, intelligence officer Richard Sorge, F.A. Poletaev, the legendary submariner A.I. Marinesko and many others.
For military courage and dedication, the title of GSS was awarded to combatants who performed international duty in North Korea, Hungary, Egypt - 15 awards; in Afghanistan, 85 internationalist soldiers received the highest distinction, 28 of them posthumously.
Special group, awarding test pilots military equipment, polar explorers, participants in the exploration of the depths of the World Ocean - a total of 250 people. Since 1961, the title of GSS has been awarded to cosmonauts; over 30 years, 84 people who have completed a space flight have been awarded it. Six people were awarded for eliminating the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
It should also be noted that in the post-war years, a vicious tradition arose of awarding high military honors for “armchair” achievements dedicated to anniversary birthdays. This is how repeatedly noted heroes like Brezhnev and Budyonny appeared. “Gold Stars” were also awarded as friendly political gestures; due to this, the list of Heroes of the USSR was supplemented by the heads of the allied states Fidel Castro, Egyptian President Nasser and some others.
The list of Heroes of the Soviet Union was completed on December 24, 1991, by captain 3rd rank, underwater specialist L. Solodkov, who participated in a diving experiment for long-term work at a depth of 500 meters under water.
In total, during the existence of the USSR, 12 thousand 776 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Of these, 154 people were awarded it twice, 3 people three times. and four times – 2 people. The first twice Heroes were military pilots S. Gritsevich and G. Kravchenko. Three times Heroes: air marshals A. Pokryshkin and I. Kozhedub, as well as Marshal of the USSR S. Budyonny. There are only two four-time Heroes on the list - USSR Marshals G. Zhukov and L. Brezhnev.
In history, there are known cases of deprivation of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - 72 in total, plus 13 canceled Decrees on conferring this title as unfounded.
Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders:
Hero of the Soviet Union is the highest degree of distinction of the USSR, an honorary title, which was awarded for performing a feat or outstanding achievements during hostilities, and also, as an exception, in peacetime.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was established on April 16, 1934 by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the USSR. Initially, no insignia were provided; only a certificate was issued from the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, and from December 1937 - from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was established in those days when the whole world followed the progress of the rescue of the crew and scientific personnel of the icebreaking steamer Chelyuskin, crushed by the ice of the Arctic Ocean. Four days after the establishment of the rank, on April 20, 1934, it was awarded to seven pilots: six of them - Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Mikhail Vodopyanov, Ivan Doronin, Nikolai Kamanin, Vasily Molokov, Mavriky Slepnev - took the Chelyuskinites out of their ice camp, the seventh - Sigismund Levanevsky - took part in the rescue expedition. All of them received special certificates from the Central Election Commission. In addition, they were awarded the Order of Lenin, which was not provided for by the Decree establishing the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. All subsequent Heroes also received the Order of Lenin. Legislatively, the issuance of the Order of Lenin was enshrined in the Regulations on the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, issued on July 29, 1936.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 1, 1939, a special distinctive sign was introduced - the medal "Hero of the Soviet Union". By decree of October 16, 1939, it was approved appearance medal, which was called the "Gold Star".
The Gold Star medal was made of gold and had the shape of a five-pointed star with rays 15 millimeters long. On the front side, the rays of the star are dihedral and polished. The reverse side of the medal is smooth, edged with a convex rim, with the inscription in raised letters “Hero of the USSR” and the medal number. On the upper ray of the medal there is an eyelet for attaching with a ring to a gilded rectangular block covered with a red moire (silk) ribbon. The medal is made of 950 gold. The medal block is made of silver. The weight of the medal is 21.5 grams.
Unlike the original Regulations, the possibility of multiple awards with the “Gold Star” was provided for. Twice the Hero of the Soviet Union was given a second Gold Star medal and a bronze bust was built for him in his homeland. Three times the Hero of the Soviet Union was given the third Gold Star medal and his bronze bust was to be installed at the Palace of the Soviets in Moscow. The issuance of Orders of Lenin when awarding the second and third medals was not provided for. The Decree did not say anything about awarding the title for the 4th time, nor did it say anything about the possible number of awards for one person.
The numbering of medals for the first, second and third awards was separate. Since the construction of the Palace of Soviets in Moscow was not completed due to the war, busts of three Heroes were installed in the Kremlin.
On May 14, 1973, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a new Regulation on the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was approved, according to which, during the second and subsequent assignments of the title, the recipient, in addition to the Gold Star medal, is awarded the Order of Lenin. Since August 1988, the Hero of the Soviet Union has not been re-awarded with the Gold Star medal.
By the end of the 1930s, among the Heroes of the Soviet Union, the majority were awarded for military exploits: for participation in the battles on Lake Khasan, for Khalkhin Gol, Spain, and the Soviet-Finnish War. The first award of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for military exploits took place on December 31, 1936, when eleven commanders of the Red Army - participants in the Spanish Civil War - received the award.
By the beginning of 1941, more than 600 people had been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, including three women and five awarded the second Gold Star medal. The first women Heroes of the Soviet Union were pilots Valentina Grizodubova, Polina Osipenko, Marina Raskova, who made a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East in 1938.
The largest number of awards were made during the Great Patriotic War. The first to receive this title on July 8, 1941 were the pilots of the 7th Air Defense Fighter Corps, who rammed Nazi planes on the outskirts of Leningrad. In total, 11,695 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for heroic deeds performed during the Great Patriotic War.
In addition, during the war, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 14 soldiers of the allied armies, mainly Polish and Czechoslovak military personnel, as well as 4 pilots of the French Normandie-Niemen air regiment, who fought against German troops on the Soviet-German front.
Four times the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, three times to Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Budyonny, Colonel General of Aviation Ivan Kozhedub and Air Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin.
For feats accomplished in the post-war period, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to test pilots, submariners - participants in round-the-world passages and long voyages, cosmonaut pilots, defenders of Soviet borders, and other soldiers of the army and navy.
The exact number of people awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union is unknown. According to the State Historical Museum, there are more than 12,800 of them.
Some of the Heroes are classified personalities. It is not only their names that are not allowed to be mentioned; the very fact of the award is secret. Others were awarded under other people's names. Several dozen people in different years were stripped of their rank.
The last conferment of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in the history of the USSR took place according to the Decree of December 24, 1991. It was awarded to diving specialist Captain 3rd Rank Leonid Solodkov, who showed courage and heroism while carrying out a special command assignment to test new diving equipment.
In March 1992, the title of Hero was established Russian Federation and a sign of special distinction was established - the Gold Star medal, which is awarded for services to the state and people associated with the accomplishment of a heroic feat.
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list contains alphabetical order all Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “Zh” (140 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all the Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “C” (60 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “E” (4 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “U” (127 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all the Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “Ш” (61 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all the Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “U” (61 people in total). The list contains information about the date... ... Wikipedia
Main articles: Hero of the Soviet Union, List of Heroes of the Soviet Union This list presents in alphabetical order all the Heroes of the Soviet Union whose last names begin with the letter “I” (122 people in total). The list contains information about the date... Wikipedia
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A service list of articles created to coordinate work on the development of the topic. This warning does not apply to informational articles, lists and glossaries... Wikipedia
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How are the fates of the Soviet pilots who were the first to receive the highest honorary title of the USSR similar and different?
The first Heroes of the Soviet Union - seven people - were, naturally, pilots. In the young Soviet Russia, striving with all its might to become one of the leaders of the industrial world, had a special attitude towards aviation. It became for the pre-war USSR what cosmonautics was for the post-war USSR: a romantic dream of conquering a new living space. After all, the country itself was in many ways an attempt to make the dream of a new, previously unknown life come true. So where else to rave about the sky if not in such a world?!
The same romantic dream, only slightly inferior to the dream of heaven, was the idea of the development of sea spaces, and the culmination, the simultaneous embodiment of both of these ideas was the work on the development of the Russian North. And there is absolutely nothing strange in the fact that the first Heroes of the Soviet Union were polar aviation pilots who saved participants in the most daring polar expedition of the first half of the 1930s. On the contrary, it would be surprising if it had turned out differently, if the first were not the pilots who took the crew and passengers of the sunken steamer Chelyuskin to the mainland.
Seven heroes of Chelyuskin's epic
The greatest heroism, for the sake of which the highest award of the USSR was established, would not have happened without the greatest catastrophe. It was the first and last voyage of the Chelyuskin steamship. On March 11, 1933, it was launched under the name “Lena”, on June 19 it was renamed “Chelyuskin” in honor of the legendary Russian explorer of the North Semyon Chelyuskin, and on July 16 it set off on a voyage along the Northern Sea Route.
“Chelyuskin” had to go from Murmansk to Vladivostok - the future home port - in one navigation and thereby prove that such trips are possible. Maybe not alone, but with the support of icebreakers, but possible. This was important for a country that was gaining industrial momentum: the Northern Sea Route saved significant effort and money on delivering goods to the Far East. Alas, the expedition actually proved the opposite: without serious icebreaker support and without ships specially built for the Arctic, it is impossible to count on success during one navigation.
On September 23, 1933, after two months of sailing, the Chelyuskin was completely covered in ice, and on February 13, 1934, the ice crushed the ship, and it sank within two hours. But only one person became the victim of the disaster. The expedition's caretaker, Boris Mogilevich, who was among the last to leave the ship (together with captain Vladimir Voronin and the head of the expedition, Otto Schmidt), was crushed by a deck cargo that had fallen from its fastenings. Another 104 people managed to safely land on the ice with all the equipment necessary for wintering and began to wait for help from the mainland.
It was absolutely clear that the only way to quickly evacuate the Chelyuskinites was to remove them by plane. It was pointless to send another ship to help: it would take a long time and there was no guarantee that it would arrive before the ice began to break under the winterers. To ensure the success of the rescue operation, seven of the most experienced pilots of the newly emerging polar aviation were involved in the flights: Mikhail Vodopyanov, Ivan Doronin, Nikolai Kamanin, Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Sigismund Levanevsky, Vasily Molokov and Mauritius Slepnev - the future first Heroes of the Soviet Union.
The first 12 people were evacuated on March 5 by Anatoly Lyapidevsky on an ANT-4 plane. It was possible to reach the Chelyuskinites for the second time only on April 7, and within six days, on 24 flights, all the winterers were taken to the mainland, to the Chukotka village of Vankarem. The evacuation ended on April 13. Three days later, the Supreme Council established a new highest award of the USSR - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and four days later, on April 20, it was awarded to seven polar explorer pilots. Each of them deserves a short, but separate story - in the order in which all seven were awarded a certificate of conferment of the highest degree of distinction.
The very first: Anatoly Lyapidevsky (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 1)
Anatoly Lyapidevsky, who received the highest honor - to be the first among the first Heroes of the Soviet Union, was one of the youngest (younger than him, and only by a year, only Kamanin) members of the legendary seven. He came to aviation in 1927, graduating from the Leningrad Air Force Military Theoretical School, and then from Sevastopol military school naval pilots.
Anatoly Lyapidevsky. Photo: pervye-geroi.ru
In April 1933, Lyapidevsky, who was transferred to the reserve, went to work in civil aviation. At first he flew as a scheduled pilot in the Far East, and then asked to be transferred to the newly organized Air Service Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route - polar aviation. Less than a year later, after 29 unsuccessful flights in a blizzard and blizzard, on March 5, 1934, Anatoly Lyapidevsky became the first of the rescue squad pilots who was lucky enough to find the Chelyuskinites and land on a tiny area of flat ice cleared by winterers: only 150 by 450 meters!
The pilot had no idea that this first flight, during which he evacuated all ten women and two children from the ice - all, so to speak, “weak” winterers - would be his last in the epic. In preparation for the second flight to the Chelyuskinites, Lyapidevsky’s plane, during the flight from Uelen to Vankarem, where the headquarters of the rescue operation was located, made an emergency landing in the ice, breaking the landing gear. The Chukchi crew was saved by seeing the plane landing. It was only possible to repair it and take it into the sky on April 25. So Lyapidevsky learned that he had become the first Hero of the Soviet Union five days late: after the emergency landing, the radio did not work.
The youngest: Nikolai Kamanin (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 2)
The second Hero of the Soviet Union was the youngest of the “magnificent seven.” In order to become a cadet at the Leningrad Air Force Military Theoretical School in 1927, Kamanin had to cheat and add an extra year to himself. They believed him, and the Vladimir boy’s dream of heaven began to come true. A year later, Kamanin graduated from school in Leningrad and entered the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation Pilot School, and in 1929 he began serving in light bomber aviation in the Far East. And in five years he earned himself such an excellent reputation that when the order came from Moscow to send Far East a detachment of military pilots to participate in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites; there were no other candidates except Kamanin.
Nikolai Kamanin. Photo: airaces.ru
A detachment of pilots, which included Vasily Molokov, took R-5 light bombers to reach Vankarem for a month and a half! Everything resisted: the weather, and the equipment not prepared for use in polar conditions... Only the people did not let us down. As a result, having lost two planes, Kamanin’s detachment flew to Vankarem and on April 7 began evacuating the Chelyuskinites. On the first day, Kamanin and Molokov took six people from the camp to the mainland, putting three passengers in a cabin, where in normal times there would be one observer pilot. In total, the youngest of the hero pilots managed to evacuate 34 people to Vankarem - this is the second most effective figure among all seven pilots.
Most productive: Vasily Molokov (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 3)
Vasily Molokov began his military service in the Russian Imperial Navy in 1915 in the Baltic, and after the revolution he managed to combine conscription service with vocational service, becoming a mechanic in naval aviation. In 1921, Molokov graduated from the Samara naval pilot school and returned to where he began his service - to the Baltic.
Vasily Molokov. Photo: wikipedia.org
After 10 years, he retired to the reserve, worked as a pilot on passenger lines in Siberia, and in 1932 became one of the first polar pilots. In 1933, Molokov already commanded an air detachment as part of the Air Service Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route, and in March 1934, when “Chelyuskin” died, he received an order to join Nikolai Kamanin’s detachment. Molokov’s participation, as Kamanin himself recalled, seriously helped the detachment: Molokov knew well the treacherous nature of the North and knew how to fly in Arctic conditions. It is no coincidence that he became the most successful pilot of the “magnificent seven”: in total, Molokov evacuated 39 Chelyuskinites on his P-5! For example, on April 11, Molokov took out 20 people on four flights - five at a time. To do this, he had to put people not only in the pilot-observer cabin, but also in underwing parachute boxes - one and a half meter plywood “cigars”, where you could only lie down with your knees bent.
Most romantic: Sigismund Levanevsky (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 4)
The biography of Sigismund Levanevsky is romantic even for such a romantic time as the first years of Soviet Russia. A native of St. Petersburg, Polish by blood, he became a Red Guard in October 1917 and took an active part in revolutionary events. Then there was Civil War, fighting bandits in Dagestan and working as a supply manager in an aeronautical detachment in Petrograd. From there, in 1923, Levanevsky was sent to study at the Sevastopol Military School of Naval Pilots, to which he... was late! He had to work for almost a year in his usual position as a caretaker at the same school in order to still enroll in next year. However, the school did not regret this: Levanevsky quickly became one of the best cadets, and then, after serving in the linear units, he returned there as an instructor pilot.
Qualification helped Levanevsky be among the first to become a pilot in the Air Service Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route: he worked there since the spring of 1933. And it is completely logical that, as an experienced pilot, he was involved in rescuing the Chelyuskinites. But even here Levanevsky’s romantic biography made itself felt. He became the only one of the first Heroes of the Soviet Union who, during the rescue operation... did not evacuate a single person! In February 1934, he, together with pilot Mavrikiy Slepnev and government commission commissioner Georgy Ushakov, was sent to the United States to purchase the missing Consolidated Fleetster multi-seat aircraft. On March 29, 1934, at the height of the rescue operation, Slepnev on one plane and Levanevsky and Ushakov on the other flew from American Nome to Vankarem. But only Slepnev flew there. Levanevsky made an emergency landing due to heavy icing, crashing the plane. But he still delivered the head of the operation to his destination, albeit on foot.
Of all the seven first Heroes of the Soviet Union, it was Levanevsky who did not even live to see the start of the Great Patriotic War. However, the ending of his biography was more than romantic. On August 12, 1937, on a DB-A plane with a crew of five people, he set off on a trans-Arctic flight from Moscow to Fairbanks. The next day, the plane with tail number N-209 disappeared, and the mystery of its disappearance has not been solved to this day...
Most professional: Mauritius Slepnev (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 5)
Mauritius Slepnev began to master the profession of a military pilot earlier than all other members of the “Magnificent Seven” - during the First World War. He was called up for service back in 1914, a year later he graduated from the school of warrant officers, and in 1917 he graduated from the Gatchina flying school and served as commander of an air squad with the rank of staff captain. However, Slepnev accepted the revolution immediately and unconditionally, participating in it as the commander of the Red Guard of the Luga district of Petrograd.
Mauritius Slepnev. Photo: old-yar.ru
Then there were command positions in the just nascent Red Air Force, and from 1925 - work in the civilian fleet with a stay in the military reserve (while regularly performing purely military tasks). Since 1931, Slepnev began flying in the Arctic: he became a pilot of the Air Service Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route at the same time as Levanevsky. Together they were sent to the USA for nine-seater Consolidated Fleetster aircraft. Having safely flown from Nome to Vankarem (having fallen into a snowstorm, due to which the plane began to ice up, Slepnev, unlike Levanevsky, did not break through further, but returned and flew out the next day), he took him out of the camp on the first flight on April 3 five Chelyuskinites. And on April 12, it was Slepnev who was entrusted with another difficult task: deliver the seriously ill Otto Schmidt from Vankarem to Alaskan Nome and at the same time return home aircraft mechanics Clyde Armstedt and William Lavery (the first was a mechanic on Levanevsky’s plane, the second was Slepnev’s, but both flew on Slepnev’s car, since the head of the operation, Ushakov, was flying on Levanevsky’s car).
The most persistent: Mikhail Vodopyanov (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 6)
Mikhail Vodopyanov came to aviation later than all the others from the “magnificent seven”. However, this is how you calculate it. Formally, he only graduated from the flight school of Dobrolet (which later became Aeroflot) in 1928. But back in 1918, Vodopyanov, who volunteered for the Red Army, served as a fuel carrier in the Ilya Muromets airship division in Lipetsk! And it took ten years to return after demobilization to the planes that so amazed the nineteen-year-old boy from Lipetsk.
Mikhail Vodopyanov. Photo: warheroes.ru
After this, Vodopyanov’s flying career confidently went uphill. First, a Dobrolet pilot who participated in the fight against locusts in Central Asia, then the pioneer of the passenger route to Sakhalin. Since 1931, he was a pilot of the Pravda flight squad, which delivered the matrix of the main newspaper of the USSR to Largest cities, primarily for the Urals. And then there was a test flight Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, an accident on Lake Baikal and severe injuries, after which the pilot only had 36 (!) stitches on his head. With such injuries, let alone as rescuers, Chelyuskinites might not have been accepted into civil aviation! But Mikhail Vodopyanov achieved his goal: he was included in the rescue operation and was assigned to participate in the ferrying of three aircraft - two PS-3 and one R-5 - from Khabarovsk to Vankarem. Flying with Vodopyanov were pilots Ivan Doronin and Viktor Galyshev, who commanded the flight. Having covered 6,000 kilometers, the trio of pilots reached Anadyr, where the engine of Galyshev’s plane failed. Only Vodopyanov flew to Vankarem, followed by Doronin. During three flights to the Chelyuskinites, Vodopyanov took out 10 people, proving that it was not in vain that he insisted on being included in the rescue squad. By the way, he was also a participant in the last flight to the ice floe on April 13 - together with Nikolai Kamanin and Vasily Molokov.
The most experienced: Ivan Doronin (certificate and medal “Gold Star” No. 7)
As Doronin himself admitted to his comrades in the Chelyuskin epic, until the age of 16, he, a native of the Saratov province, “did not travel by train or ship.” But after his sixteenth birthday he gained more than his due. On a Komsomol ticket, Ivan went to restore the navy and ended up in Leningrad - first at a course for naval technicians, and then at a naval school. But he soon exchanged one ocean for another: in 1924, Doronin managed to be seconded to the Yegoryevsk Aviation Technical School, from which he was transferred to the Sevastopol Military School of Naval Pilots.
Ivan Doronin. Photo: wikipedia.org
Five years later, Ivan Doronin left the army and began working as a civilian pilot, mastering the Siberian and Far Eastern routes. Or rather, not so much by mastering it as by laying it out. By 1934, his track record included the first flight along the Irkutsk - Ust-Srednekan route, as well as participation in a polar expedition in the Kara Sea. And in the flight book it was written that during nine years of work, Doronin flew 300,000 kilometers without a single accident!
It was all the more offensive for him, an experienced pilot who, together with Mikhail Vodopyanov, broke through to Vankarem from Khabarovsk 6,000 kilometers away, to suffer an accident on his first flight to the Chelyuskinites! And not through his own fault: during landing, the ski of the PS-3 plane on which Doronin was flying came across an ice sastrugu that had frozen overnight, swerved to the side, hit another sastrugi and broke. The plane froze powerlessly right on the icy airfield... The car was quickly put in order, but during the Chelyuskin epic, Doronin managed to make only one flight and take out two people. This, however, did not in any way influence the decision to award him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - among the other seven heroes.
Five years waiting for the “Golden Star”
The decree introducing the title of Hero of the Soviet Union did not provide for any additional insignia, except for the certificate of the USSR Central Executive Committee on conferring the title. True, the first Heroes, along with a certificate, were awarded the highest award at that time - the Order of Lenin. Two years later, this practice was approved by a decree of the newly elected Supreme Council of the USSR, and three years later, in 1939, its own insignia for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union appeared - the Gold Star medal. Since by that time 122 people had already received the highest distinction, medals were awarded, so to speak, retroactively, but strictly adhering to the order in which titles were awarded. Accordingly, the Gold Star medal No. 1 was awarded to the holder of diploma No. 1 - Anatoly Lyapidevsky, and further down the list. Of the members of the “magnificent seven,” only Sigismund Levanevsky was personally unable to receive the award: by that time, he had already been listed as missing for two years.
