Turzhansky, Boris Alexandrovich

Boris Alexandrovich Turzhansky was born on March 9, 1900 in the city of Smolensk in the family of an employee. He studied at the 1st Smolensk real school, and then at the Smolensk gymnasium. After moving to Moscow in 1915, he studied at the Moscow Art College. He participated in the Civil War : 1918-1919 - junior telephone operator, motorcyclist of the 1st corps and 7th fighter aviation units of the 9th Army of the Southern and Southeast Fronts, in 1920 - the driver of the political department of the 9th Army of the Caucasian Front.

• 1921 - Graduated from the Egorievsky Military Theoretical Aviation School and the Zaraysk Flight School of Primary Education.
• 1922 - graduated from the Kachinsky Military Aviation School of Pilots .
• 1923 - Graduated from Moscow Higher Aviation School and Serpukhov Aviation School of Aerial Firing and Bombing.
• 1923-1924 - instructor pilot of the Kachin military aviation school of pilots.
• 1924-1925 - service in the combat unit of the Air Force of the Kiev Military District.
• 1925-1927 - pilot instructor of the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy .
• 1927-1936 - service in the combat unit of the Air Force of the Kiev Military District (assistant chief of staff of the air brigade, squad leader).
• 1929 - graduated from advanced training courses for command personnel at the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. Commander, air squadron, brigade commander (Belarusian and Transcaucasian military districts)
• 1932-1933 - commanded the 7th fighter squadron named after Dzerzhinsky.
• 1934-1936 - commanded an air brigade in the city of Baku, covering oil fields. Trained the brigade night flights. He was elected a member of the government of the Transcaucasian Republic. He was awarded a Harley motorcycle for his excellent work.
• 1936 - student of the operational department of the Air Force Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky.
• October 22, 1936 - February 11, 1937 - participated in the Civil War in Spain as commander of the I-15 air group of the Northern Front. He was wounded, resulting in blindness in one eye. Received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal (No. 12).
• 1937 - pilot inspector of the Air Force Office of the Red Army.
• 1937-1939 - test pilot of the military acceptance of the No. 1 aircraft factory in Moscow. He tested the I-15bis and I-153 aircraft .
• 1939-1941 - Head of the flight test station of aircraft factory No. 1. He tested the I-153, MiG-1 and MiG-3 fighters .
• July 1941 - as part of the 1st separate fighter aviation squadron of air defense of the city of Moscow, he carried out night combat duty at the Central Airfield.
• July - December 1941 - Head of the flight test station of the aircraft plant No. 301 of the city of Khimki, Moscow Region. Tested the Yak-1 and Yak-7 fighters.
• 1941-1943 - Head of the flight test station of the aircraft factory number 153 of the city of Novosibirsk . Tested Yak-7, Yak-9 fighters, their modifications.
• Since 1943 - Head of the flight test station of the aircraft plant number 82 of the city of Tushino . Tested Yak-7, Yak-9 fighters, their modifications.
• 1945 - 1st Class Test Pilot.
• June 14, 1948 - died of a serious illness in Moscow and was buried in the Armenian cemetery .

Waging active air battles in hostilities in Spain, the squadron under his command shot down 6 enemy planes (Turzhansky personally shot down 3 planes). On December 20, 1936, during an emergency landing after the battle, he was seriously wounded (he fought off a fighter in the mountains), as a result of a complex cranial operation, he lost his eye and was sent home.

For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military and international duty, the brigade commander Tuzhansky Boris Alexandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1936. He became the first Hero of the Soviet Union to receive this title for military merit. On November 4, 1939 he was awarded the Golden Star medal.

• In the city of Zaraysk, an obelisk and a memorial plaque are installed.
• In March 1971, a supersonic missile carrier was named after Turzhansky.

• Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union;
• two orders of Lenin ;
• two orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of the Patriotic War I degree ;
• Order of the Red Star ;
• medals.

• Turzhansky, Boris Alexandrovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".