Karasev, Alexander Nikitovich

Born on August 30, 1916 in the city of Vladikavkaz in the family of a mason worker. Russian In 1932 he graduated from the 7th grade of the school, in 1934 - the FZU school with the profession of “metal turner”, worked as a turner at the S. M. Kirov sewing factory. He lived on Trubetskoy Street , 5 ^[2] . In 1931 he joined the Komsomol .

In the Red Army since December 1937. He was called up for military service, served as an mechanic in the Air Force of the North Caucasus Military District . In April 1940 he was sent to study. In December 1940 he graduated from the Nakhichevan Military Aviation Pilot School , in 1941 - the Batay Military Aviation Pilot School . In the spring of 1941, he was sent as a pilot to the 282nd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Kharkov Military District , stationed in Kremenchug . Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1943.

On the fifth day of World War II , A.N. Karasev entered the first battle with the fascist invaders as part of the 282th fighter aviation regiment (the regiment was transferred to the 73rd fighter aviation division , the South Front Air Force). Since August 1941, he was a pilot, and since September, a flight commander of the 5th separate air defense air squadron of the Southern Front. Since November 1941, he has been the flight commander of the 248th Fighter Aviation Regiment , and from April 1942 he held the same position in the 164th Fighter Aviation Regiment (both regiments are in the Air Force of the 38th Army , South-Western Front ). In July 1942, A.N. Karasev was assigned to the 6th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 8th Air Army , and a few days later, in the battle on July 23, he gained his first victory as a member of the group - the Dornier-215 bomber. He distinguished himself in the battles to defend Stalingrad : on August 6 he shot down two enemy planes in person, and by the end of August - 3 more planes in person and 1 in a pair.

Among the best fighter pilots of the 8th Air Army in September 1942, arrived in the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment ( 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division , 8th Air Army, Southern Front), formed by L. L. Shestakov . Designated as the 1st squadron of A.V. Alelyukhin , first as a pilot, from January 1943 - as a flight commander, from August 1943 - as a deputy squadron commander, from November 1943 - as a squadron commander, and from January 1944 - as an assistant regiment commander in the air-infantry service .

To the battles for Rostov, he already had two orders of the Red Banner. On April 1, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Guard , Lieutenant Karasev was awarded the highest order of the Motherland - the Order of Lenin . After the “Yak”, in the summer of 1943, he retrained for the R-39 fighter “Aerocobra” .

On May 10, 1943, the flight commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, Southern Front ), Guard Senior Lieutenant A. Karasev was introduced to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union . “During the military operations with the German invaders,” indicated in the presentation by regiment commander L. L. Shestakov, “Karasev showed himself to be a fearless and strong-willed fighter pilot, who knows his plane and armament perfectly ... He has 301 combat missions on his account, spent 70 air battles in which 23 enemy planes were shot down, of which 14 personally. ”

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 24, 1943, the senior lieutenant Karasev Alexander Nikitovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 1138).

On November 5, 1943, Karasev was awarded the next military rank of captain, and on February 25, 1944, he became a major. During the war, he participated in defensive battles in Moldova and the Tiraspol-Melitopol defensive operation in the summer of 1941, in the Donbass-Rostov defensive operation in the fall of 1941, in the Rostov offensive operation in November-December 1941, in the Donbass defensive operation in the summer of 1942, in the Stalingrad battle in the Rostov , Miuss , Donbass , Melitopol offensive operations.

On April 7, 1944, Major A. Karasev did not return from the combat mission ... He had to join the battle with five Messerschmitts. Skillfully maneuvering, he destroyed one plane, and another knocked out. But he himself was shot down. Embraced in flames, his plane crashed on the territory occupied by the enemy in the Crimea ... The pilot was considered missing as not returning from a combat mission ^[3] .

By this time, A. N. Karasev’s combat account had more than 380 sorties and 112 air battles, in which (according to widely spread statements in the press) he shot down 23 enemy planes personally and 9 in the group ^[4] (according to M. Yu. Bykova shot down 20 aircraft in person and 2 in the group ^[5] ).

The brave pilot survived. Unconscious, he was captured. He was held in Sevastopol prison, then a number of concentration camps passed. He ran several times, but to no avail. On May 8, 1945, the Mauthausen camp , in which A.N. Karasev was located, was liberated by Soviet troops. The pilot found out that his 6th Guards Air Division was nearby, in Czechoslovakia . He wrote a letter there. Soon, a Po-2 aircraft flew into the camp behind him and transferred him to the division.

He was on a special check in an officer filtration camp at the 12th reserve rifle brigade of the South Ural Military District . In November 1945, the verification was completed, all awards were returned to him, and he remained to serve in the Air Force. In January 1946 he returned to his native 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (part of the 1st Air Army of the Belarusian Military District ). Since June 1946 - pilot inspector of the piloting technique of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division in the Belorussian Military District, which in June 1950 was transferred to the Primorsky Military District as a whole and transferred to the 54th Air Army . In January 1951 he was appointed commander of the 523rd Fighter Aviation Regiment in this division. He mastered fighter jets.

In March 1951, the regiment was transferred to northern China , and a government mission began. Since June 1951 - member of the Korean War of 1950-1953. In this war he again proved himself not only personally a brave air fighter (he was the first to open the combat account of his regiment in aerial combat on June 18, 1951), but also a skillful and competent commander. There, in the war in October 1951, he was appointed deputy commander of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division and then almost did not participate in sorties, remaining in Korea until February 1952. Colonel A.N. Karasev became the most productive of Soviet veterans - Heroes of the Soviet Union, who fought in Korea. He made 112 sorties on the MiG-15bis , in air battles he personally destroyed 7 aircraft (1 strategic B-29 bomber and 6 US fighters). He was presented to the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, but in Moscow the award was replaced by the Order of Lenin.

Upon returning to the USSR, in October 1952 he was appointed commander of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division. Since December 1957, while studying, he graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR in September 1958, and in September 1959 he completed the main course of the Military Academy of the General Staff. Military pilot of the 1st class (10/11/1957).

Since September 1959 - Head of the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation School of Pilots . After its closure in December 1960, he was transferred as chief of staff - deputy chief of the Chernigov Military Aviation School of Pilots . Since August 1968, Major General Aviation Karasev A.N. is in stock.

He lived in the regional center of the Chernigov region of the Ukrainian SSR - the city of Chernigov . Died March 14, 1991. He was buried in Chernigov at the Yatsevsky cemetery .

• Sergeant (1941)
• Junior Lieutenant (02/18/1942)
• Lieutenant (09/23/1942)
• Senior Lieutenant (02.19.1943)
• captain (11/5/1943)
• Major (02/25/1944)
• Lieutenant Colonel (08.22.1950)
• Colonel (10.30.1951)
• Major General of Aviation (02/18/1958)

• Hero of the Soviet Union (08.24.1943, Gold Star medal No. 1138);
• 3 Orders of Lenin (04/01/1943 ^[6] ; 08/24/1943; 04/22/1952);
• 4 orders of the Red Banner (09/23/1942 ^[7] ; 07/22/1943 ^[8] ; 08/01/1943 ^[9] ; 10/10/1951);
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (03/11/1985);
• Order of the Red Star (12/30/1956);
• Medal "For Military Merit" (06/24/1948);
• other medals.

In Chernigov, on the house where the Hero lived, a memorial plaque was installed.

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