Pomazunov, Alexander Ivanovich

Alexander Ivanovich Pomazunov was born on August 25 ( August 12 - old style ) in 1915 in the village of Verkhny Saltov, Volchansky district, Kharkiv province of the Russian Empire (now the village of Volchansky district, Kharkiv region of Ukraine ) in a poor peasant family of Ivan Maksimovich and Akseni Savelievna Pomazunovs. Ukrainian . In 1916, the Pomazunov family moved to the Donbass , in the city of Bryanka , where Alexander Ivanovich's parents got a job at the Krasnopolye mine. In 1919, the red partisan Ivan Maksimovich Pomazunov died in battle with the White Guards near the city of Lugansk . In 1920, the mother took the minor Sasha to the village of Revolutionary Volchansky district. There she married again, leaving her son to be raised by her brother Taras Savelievich Perepelitsa. In 1931, Alexander Ivanovich graduated from seven classes of lower secondary school in the village of Rubezhnoye and went to Bryanka, where he entered the mining and industrial school. But he did not like the miner's profession. After graduating from college in 1934, he entered the Kharkov State Pedagogical Institute. After three years of training, A. I. Pomazunov returned to the village of Verkhny Saltov in May 1936 and, before being drafted for military service, worked as a physical education instructor of the local district council of physical culture.

A. I. Pomazunov was called up to the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army under a special task force in October 1936 and sent to the Yeysk Naval Aviation School named after Stalin ^[1] . After his graduation in December 1937, Alexander Ivanovich was assigned to the Vitebsk light-bomber aviation brigade of the Belarusian Special Military District as an observer pilot . In April 1938, Junior Lieutenant A. I. Pomazunov was sent to courses at the 3rd military school of pilots and observer pilots ^[2] , after which in September 1938 he was appointed to the post of assistant navigator of the 60th high-speed bombing squadron . Regiment of the Kharkov Military District , which was based at the airfield Lebedin . In May 1939, Alexander Ivanovich as an assistant navigator of a separate squadron from the 60th Bomber Regiment was sent on a special government trip to the Mongolian People's Republic , where he took part in the battles on Khalkhin-Gol . He fought on a P-Z bomber . He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner . After the conclusion of a truce between the USSR and Japan , A.I. Pomazunov returned to his unit and was appointed navigator of the aviation squadron. In 1940 he graduated from the Poltava courses for improving navigators. In the spring of 1941, the 60th High-Speed ​​Bomber Regiment was incorporated into the 49th Bomber Aviation Division of the Kharkiv Military District Air Force. Before the war, most of the regiment's pilots, including Lieutenant A.I. Pomazunov, had time to undergo training on Pe-2 bombers.

The Great Patriotic War found Alexander Ivanovich in Lebedin. Only on July 7, 1941, the regiment in which lieutenant A.I. Pomazunov served, redeployed to the Mogilyov region of the Byelorussian SSR on the Klimovichi airfield ^[3] and on July 10 joined the combat work as part of the 11th mixed air force division of the 3rd Western Army front . The task of the regiment included the bombing of the columns of the advancing German troops and the destruction of the crossings. On July 13, 1941, a group of 4 Pe-2s, the leading navigator of which was Lieutenant Pomazunov, flew out to destroy the crossing across the Dnieper near the town of Shklova . When approaching the goal, the group was greeted with a dense barrage. Alexander Ivanovich was wounded by shell fragments in the arm and leg, but managed to bring the bombers to the target. The ferry was destroyed by a direct hit, which delayed the German advance for several hours. When returning to their airfield, the Pe-2 group was attacked by enemy fighters. The Pomazunov, who sat down at the machine gun, shot down one Me-109 , but his plane was set on fire, and the pilot was mortally wounded. Having taken control of the machine from the hands of a dying comrade, Alexander Ivanovich managed to get the burning plane out of its peak and reach its territory, where he and his gunner-radio operator could take advantage of parachutes . A.I. Pomazunov, seriously injured and having lost a lot of blood, was taken to hospital and was treated until September 1941.

After recovering, Lieutenant A. I. Pomazunov was assigned to the position of navigator of an aviation squadron in the 603rd near-bomber regiment of the 43rd mixed air division of the Western Front. Soon he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed navigator of the regiment. Participated in the Battle of Moscow . He made more than 10 combat missions to bombard enemy concentrations in the areas of Balabanovo , Maloyaroslavets , Mozhaisk , Vyazma , and Tula . The flights of the Soviet bomber aircraft during this period were carried out in conditions of total superiority of German aircraft in the air and, as a rule, without fighter aircraft covering. Nevertheless, the country's air forces, despite the heavy losses, fulfilled the tasks assigned to it. Since October 22, 1941, Senior Lieutenant A.I. Pomazunov was the lead navigator of a group of 3 Pe-2s who had flown to the bombardment of a German tank column. When approaching the target, the bombers came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and resistance from German fighters. Pomazunov's plane was hit by a direct hit by a shell into the cantilever fuel tanks and caught fire. However, the crew continued to perform combat missions. Shooting down an enemy Me-109 in aerial combat, Alexander Ivanovich brought the plane to the target and destroyed five tanks with a bombing strike. Burning Pe-2 pilots put in the neutral zone. In total, from October 21 to November 14, 1941, thanks to the precise bombing of the navigator Pomazunov, 25 vehicles with infantry, 7 tanks, and 2 artillery batteries were destroyed. Losses of the enemy in manpower amounted to two mouths.

After the defeat of the Germans near Moscow until December 1942, Senior Lieutenant A. I. Pomazunov participated in the Battle of Rzhev . Acting directly under ^{[4] the} commander of the Western Front air force, the 603rd near-bomber regiment carried out combat missions in the interests of units of the Western front during the First Rzhev-Sychev operation . In October 1942, Alexander Ivanovich received the next military rank of captain of aviation and was transferred to the position of assistant chief navigator of the newly formed 2nd Bomber Aviation Corps . On December 1, 1942, the corps was incorporated into the 16th Air Force . On the Don Front, as part of the corps, Captain A.I. Pomazunov participated in the Battle of Stalingrad , and on the North Caucasus Front , in the Battle for the Caucasus . On May 7, 1943, Alexander Ivanovich was given the rank of Major, and in June of the same year he was appointed Assistant Chief Navigator for Radio Navigation of the 1st Bomber Aviation Corps of the 2nd Air Army of the Voronezh Front . Corps took part in the Battle of Kursk . In early August, he was transferred to the 5th Air Army and supported the actions of the Steppe units (from October 20, 1943 - the 2nd Ukrainian ) front during the Belgorod-Kharkov operation , the Battle of the Dnieper and the Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation .

In February 1944, Major A.I. Pomazunov was sent to the headquarters of the 1st Guards Bomber Aviation Division of the 2nd Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of the 5th Air Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and was appointed senior navigator of the division. In this position, Alexander Ivanovich fought until the end of the war. Until the summer of 1944, he participated in all operations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, carried out in the framework of the Dnieper-Carpathian offensive operation ( Kirovograd , Korsun-Shevchenko and Uman-Botoshan operations). On July 6, 1944, the 2nd Guards Bomber Aviation Corps was deployed in the direction of Lviv and incorporated into the 2nd Air Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front . During the Lvov-Sandomir operation of the guards, Major A.I. Pomazunov, as the lead navigator, repeatedly led a group of bombers to destroy enemy troop clusters and its military infrastructure. So on July 15, 1944, a group of 81 Pe-2 bomber, whose lead navigator was Guards Major Pomazunov, despite strong anti-aircraft fire and fighter resistance, dealt a crushing blow to the cluster of enemy military equipment in the village of Pomorgany, destroying 8 tanks, 42 cars, 3 large ammunition depots, 7 pillboxes , 3 artillery batteries and the destruction of 32 buildings. July 22, 1944 a group of 34 Pe-2s attacked a cluster of military trains and enemy troops at the station Gorodok . As a result of the strike, 50 wagons with manpower and cargo, 5 tanks, 25 cars, and 12 buildings were destroyed. The crews who distinguished themselves during the raid, including the crew of the Colonel F. I. Dobyš ^[5] , whose guard was navigated by Major A.I. Pomazunov, were thanked by the corps commander and presented with memorable photographs. In August 1944, Ivan Aleksandrovich also participated in the Yassy-Kishinev operation , during which units of the 1st Guards Bomber Division assisted the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during the liberation of the city of Iasi .

In the last year of World War II, the senior navigator of the 1st Guards Bomber Aviation Division of the 6th Guards Aviation Corps ^[6] of the 2nd Air Army of the 1st Ukrainian Guard Front, Major A.I. Pomazunov participated in the Sandomir-Silesian , Lower Silesian , Upper Silesian , Berlin operations , the storming of Berlin . He ended the battletrain in the sky of Czechoslovakia during the Prague operation . Alexander Ivanovich repeatedly as a leading navigator personally drove large bomber formations numbering from 18 to 50 aircraft for the most difficult missions. In any weather conditions, he led the group exactly on target. He participated in the liberation of Krakow and Czestochowa , contributed to the speeding up of the Vistula and the Oder by ground units. During his tenure as a senior division navigator from February 1944 until the end of the war, the regiments of the division carried out 4,645 combat missions, during which 58 tanks, 620 vehicles, 12 railway trains, 8 artillery batteries, 520 wagons with cargoes were destroyed and damaged 42 aircraft at airfields. Losses of the enemy in manpower amounted to about 3000 soldiers and officers. Three regiments of the division were awarded honorary titles ^[7] , and the division itself became the Red Banner and was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky II degree . The guards Major A.I. Pomazunov during the war years made 136 sorties. In 9 conducted air battles, he shot down 3 enemy aircraft (2 Me-109 and 1 Me-110 ). A considerable merit of Alexander Ivanovich in the training of navigational personnel. In 1944 alone, he prepared 26 young pilots for combat. Thanks to the work of A. I. Pomazunov, the navigator of the division demonstrated high combat proficiency, most of the navigators became snipers of bombing strikes. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the exemplary performance of the tasks of the command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the valor and courage of the guard to Major Alexander Pomazunov Alexander Ivanovich on June 27, 1945, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the end of World War II, A. I. Pomazunov continued service in the air forces of the USSR until 1946. After the transfer to the reserve, Alexander Ivanovich did not part with the aircraft. He was a test navigator in the aviation industry. For testing new transport aircraft ^{[8] he} was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor . Then Alexander Ivanovich worked at the Central Aerodrome named after M.V. Frunze , flight attendant and dispatcher. After retirement he moved to Kiev . Alexander Ivanovich died on May 12, 1991. He was buried in Kiev at Berkovets cemetery .

• Gold Star Medal (06/27/1945);
• Order of Lenin (06.27.1945);
• two orders of the Red Banner (12/01/1939; 12/05/1945);
• two orders of World War 1 degree (08/17/1944; 1985);
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor ;
• Order of the Red Star (12/04/1941);
• medals, including:

Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (December 1942).

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. College I. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Lyubov - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100 000 copies - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .
• Exploits in the name of the Fatherland: documentary essays on the Heroes of the Soviet Union - natives of Kharkov and Kharkov region. - 2nd ed., Pererab. and add. / ed. S.I. Isaeva. - Kharkov: Prapor, 1985. - p. 487-491. - 710 s.

• The publicly available electronic bank of documents "The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." (Unidentified) . Archived March 13, 2012.

Submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Neopr.) . Archived November 1, 2012.

Decree of the PAS of the USSR on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Unidentified) . Archived November 1, 2012.

Order of the Red Banner (award list and award order dated 05/12/1945) (Neopr.) . Archived November 1, 2012.

Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (award list and award order dated August 17, 1944) (Unidentified) . Archived November 1, 2012.

Order of the Red Star (award list and award order) (Neopr.) . Archived November 1, 2012.

• Pomazunov, Alexander Ivanovich (rus.) . The site " Heroes of the country ."
• Pomazunov Alexander Ivanovich on www.az-libr.ru ( Neopr .) . Archived November 1, 2012.