46th Dive Bomber Aviation Regiment

The regiment was formed in April 1938 in Smolensk from several separate squadrons as the 31st high-speed bomber aviation regiment . Initially, the regiment was armed with R-5 and R-6 aircraft, in May 1938 received the first 12 SB .

As part of the army from June 22, 1941 to July 14, 1941, from October 10, 1941 to May 18, 1942 and from October 22, 1942 to March 18, 1943.

Before the start of the war, he was deployed in Šiauliai , on June 21, 1941 he flew to the Gurdjiai field airfield, having 61 SB and Ar-2 , including 11 faulty ones. The first combat mission took place on the morning of June 22, 1941, along the enemy troops crossing the Neman . Only on June 22, 1941, the regiment lost 20 aircraft, 10 of them on the ground.

From the special message of the 3rd Directorate of NCO No. 2/35552 of June 28, 1941:

“The main losses [of the 7th air division] relate to the 46th SBAP and are explained by disorganization and confusion on the part of the regiment commander Major Senkov MI and Lieutenant Colonel Kanunov, chief of staff, who brought the entire personnel into a panic state during the first raid of the enemy. On June 22, the 46th SBAP lost 20 aircraft, of which 10 were destroyed during an enemy attack at the Šiauliai airfield, and the rest were shot down during combat missions to bomb the enemy’s troops in the area of ​​Tilsit and st. Killen. Three nines of aircraft of the 46th SBAP for combat missions were released unaccompanied by their fighters. The observation posts were not organized, the regiment headquarters had no connection with them and did not know about their existence. ”

At 2 p.m. on June 22, 1941, the regiment was relocated to the Rumbula airfield near Riga .

June 23, 1941 17 aircraft flew to bombard Insterburg and Gumbinen . Not a single plane returned to the airfield, all were shot down by enemy fighters. Including the regiment commander Major Senkov Mikhail Ivanovich , two squadron commanders and other most experienced pilots went missing.

The regiment was virtually left without leadership (although, apparently, a new commander was appointed) and the next day the regiment flew to Opochka . In this regard, the chief of staff of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Kanunov, was put on trial.

Sentence No. 0018 of the Military Tribunal of the North-Western Front, July 10, 1941:

“... Defendant Kanunov, being the chief of staff of the 46th high-speed bomber regiment, on June 24, 1941, having no orders and grounds to relocate the air regiment and 127th air base, after the raid and bombing of enemy aircraft in Riga, located 8 kilometers from the location units and bases, reported to the regiment commander Major Zaitsev about the need to relocate the regiment and base, and, failing to comply with the orders of the regiment commander Zaitsev to check and clarify the availability of the order of the higher command about redeployment, gave the order on the departure of the ground-level echelon of the air regiment and air base to Opochka . In addition, the defendant himself, not waiting for the departure of the trains, flew off, landing on a three-seater plane by a fifth person. As a result of the failure to comply with the order of the regiment commander and the panic shown by Kanunov, part of the property of the air base and regiment was thrown: fuel, weapons, ammunition and the banner of the regiment, which was subsequently found. As a result of this, the combat order issued by the division commander on the flight of the regiment’s planes for the performance of a combat mission remained unfulfilled ... Vasily Yakovlevich Kanunov on the totality of the crimes he committed, on the basis of Art. 193-2 para. “D” of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, subject to capital punishment - execution, without confiscation of property for lack thereof. The verdict is final and not subject to appeal. ”

In the following days, the few surviving aircraft made flights to the Baltic states , including for the bombing of the former regimental airfield Siauliai already occupied by the Germans. In mid-July 1941, the regiment, left without airplanes, was assigned to reorganize into Krasnodon , armed with Pe-2 airplanes.

In the process of reorganization, part of the personnel was transferred to the 46th “B” Bomber Aviation Regiment , which soon became known as the 603rd Near Bomber Aviation Regiment .

Since October 10, 1941, the regiment, based in Vnukovo , has been conducting reconnaissance and bombing flights near Moscow . October 24, 1941 took the surviving Pe-2 from the 321st bomber regiment , conducts combat operations near Moscow, and later with the offensive, operated in the area west of Yukhnov .

In March 1942, it was withdrawn to the reserve, first in the front line, and then generally sent to the rear for formation and staffing.

He again enlisted in the army as part of the 263rd Bomber Aviation Division on October 22, 1942, and acted in the interests of the Kalinin Front.

January 29, 1942 he arrived in the corps in the operational subordination of the 14th air army of the Volkhov Front, based near Zamosc , makes flights in support of the troops of the 54th army ( Lyuban , Myasnoy Bor , Smerdyn , Ushaki and the surrounding areas). February 20, 1943 he departed to the North-Western Front .

March 18, 1943 transformed into the 80th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment .

• Senkov Mikhail Ivanovich , major (1904 - 06/23/1941). June 23, 1941 did not return from a combat mission from the Insterburg region, probably shot down by an enemy fighter.
• Rybalchenko Nikolay Andreevich , major, lieutenant colonel (? - 02/09/1945)

Bulanov Vladimir Petrovich (b. 02.19.1919), later lieutenant general, chief navigator of the USSR Air Force ^[1] .

• List No.12 of the aviation regiments of the air forces of the Red Army, which were part of the field army during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
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