18th Bomber Aviation Regiment

The regiment was formed until 1939. He took part in the Winter War , being armed with SB planes. In May 1941, he began to receive the Pe-2 . At the beginning of the war he is in Kutaisi .

As part of the army during the Second World War from November 16, 1941 to August 25, 1942, from July 9, 1943 to September 8, 1944, and from November 12, 1944 to May 11, 1945.

According to the directive of the Supreme High Command on October 6, 1941, the regiment, consisting of 20 SB , was relocated to the Undola area.

From December 1941 to August 1942 he acted in the districts of Pogost , Kirishi , Chudovo . In August 1942, the regiment was put on staff, where it is located until the summer of 1943.

During the Belgorod-Kharkov operation, from August 3, 1943, the regiment attacked the enemy’s reserves in the areas of Tomarovka , Borisovka , and Gayvoron , and in August-September 1943 it launched attacks on the territory of Kharkov and Sumy regions . During the fall-winter of 1943, he acted directly in the Kiev region, then Zhytomyr and beyond.

In the summer of 1944 he took part in the Lviv-Sandomierz operation . One day, when a layered strike was made on enemy reserves in the Lviv region, a group of enemy fighters almost completely destroyed one of the regiment's squadrons. He fought for the Sandomierz bridgehead .

In the second half of August 1944, the regiment relocated to the Peremyshl region to the Pozdiac airfield and entered the reserve.

Since January 1945, he took part in the Wisło-Oder operation , made the first departures during the operation on January 16, 1945 to the Auschwitz railway junction. He continues to support the front forces in the battle of the Oder , in March 1945 he continuously attacked in the Ratibor -Yernau region, on March 18, 1945 he struck at Ober-Glogau , on March 22, 1945 he destroyed the enemy troops in the Ratibor area. In March 1945, he relocated to the Zendyk airfield, then to the Luben airfield, from where he attacked Breslau . In April 1945, it was relocated to the Fridersdorf airfield ^[1] .

During the Berlin operation, it struck in particular at three strategically important crossings on rivers and canals thirty kilometers east of Berlin, near the town of Wendish-Buchholz, and then struck at Berlin .

From May 6, 1945, he supported the Soviet troops during the Prague operation , and delivered the last blows in the Dresden area.

In total, during the war the regiment traveled more than 2 thousand kilometers, changing 17 field airdromes and completing more than 3,000 sorties for the bombardment of enemy troops ^[2] .

•   Antoshkin, Ivan Diomidovich , Major , (1939-1940)
•   Matrunchik, Joseph Vasilievich , captain , (11.1941 - 08.1942)
• Kotnov, Alexander Vladimirovich, lieutenant colonel , (1945)

• 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.
• Directory
• Photo of Pilots and 18 BAP aircraft