Pushchin, Mikhail Nikolaevich (pilot)

Mikhail Nikolaevich Pushchin was born on October 20, 1911 in the city of Yekaterinodar , the administrative center of the Kuban region of the Russian Empire, in a working class family. Russian Secondary education. According to some reports ^[1], before conscription, he lived in the Novotorzhsky district ^{[2] of the} Kalinin region ^[3] .

Mikhail Nikolaevich was called up to the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army in 1934. Soon, a member of the CPSU (b) since 1932, M. N. Pushchin, according to the special forces of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), was sent to the Stalingrad Military Aviation Pilot School, which he graduated in 1937. Before the start of World War II, Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin held the post of aviation bomber flight commander of the 9th Bomber Regiment of the 7th Mixed Aviation Division of the Baltic Special Military District , which was based in Panevezys . In battles with the Nazi invaders from June 24, 1941 on the North-Western Front : that day he made his only combat mission on the SB bomber. As part of the group, Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin took part in the bombing of a large junction of railways and highways south of Tilsit . The combat mission was completed at the cost of huge losses. Of the twenty-seven crews participating in the raid, only two returned, including the crew of Lieutenant Pushchin. Over the target, its SB was badly damaged: the plane had 212 holes, the thrust of the rudder and ailerons were interrupted. Pushchin himself was wounded by a shell fragment in the head. But thanks to the excellent piloting technique, skillfully controlling the machine with only motors and a depth rudder, he managed to return to his airfield, thereby saving the equipment and crew.

In the first weeks of the war, the regiment, in which Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin was at war, suffered heavy losses and in July 1941 was sent to reorganization. Pushchin underwent retraining at the Pe-2 bomber and in the fall of 1941 was sent to the post of aviation commander in the 99th Near Bomber Regiment of the 4th Air Force Reserve Reserve Group of the South-Western Front . During the period of combat work from October 1 to November 1, 1941 he made 25 sorties to bombard manpower and equipment of the enemy and quickly established himself as a first-class pilot, tactically competent and strong-willed commander. For a month of intense battles near Kharkov, his unit made 4 sorties per day and caused great damage to the enemy. So, on October 4, 1941, a unit of Lieutenant Pushchin launched a bombing attack on the concentration of enemy manpower in the area of ​​the village of Velikie Sorochintsy . The attack was so impudent and unexpected that the columns of German infantry marching along the highway did not have time to scatter. According to partisans, the Germans buried the victims of the bombing of soldiers for three days. Repeatedly, the crews of the squadron had to overcome the enemy’s powerful air defense system upon reaching the target, but due to the competent anti-aircraft maneuver and good organization of the air battle, the squadron did not have losses from anti-aircraft artillery fire and enemy fighters. On October 22, 1941, during the bombing of German troops in Bogodukhov on Pe-2, Lieutenant Pushchin, the left engine was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but he was able to take the aircraft to the target with one engine and, after a successful bombing, brought him to his airfield.

As one of the most experienced pilots of the regiment, Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin, the command of the regiment entrusted the conduct of single reconnaissance flights in order to detect clusters of Nazi troops. Regarding the targets discovered by Mikhail Nikolayevich, they were then hit by a regiment squadron. So, during the work of the 4th reserve aviation group on the Southern Front, of the 19 combat sorties performed by it, about half were reconnaissance. The information obtained by Lieutenant Pushchin contributed to the defeat of the mechanized mechanized columns of the 1st Wehrmacht tank army during the Rostov operation near Rostov-on-Don , for which Mikhail Nikolaevich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner . In total, during the hostilities on the South-Western and Southern fronts, of the 133 sorties of 60 sorties, Lieutenant Pushchin made reconnaissance of the front line of defense of the enemy and his military infrastructure, including sorties to the rear of the Germans in the areas of Stalin , Makeevka , Krasnoarmeyskoye , Taganrog and Mariupol . Mikhail Nikolaevich completed the 24th flight to fulfill special tasks of the command, during which he dropped 250,000 units of campaign material in German and 200,000 in Russian. During one of the sorties, acting alone in the deep rear of the enemy, southwest of Navly station, he bombed a cluster of German tanks that took part in a punitive operation against partisans. On May 29, 1942, after returning from a solo reconnaissance flight to the Lozovaya - Balaklea - Raisin Pe-2 area, M.N. Pushchin, who had become senior lieutenant by this time, was intercepted by two He-113 German fighters. In a fierce aerial battle, Pushchin’s crew shot down one enemy aircraft, after which the second fighter stopped the pursuit. The bomber also received 18 holes, and in addition, the central gas line was damaged in the aircraft. With the last drops of fuel, Mikhail Nikolaevich still managed to reach the airfield of Swatovo jump, after which he demanded UTI-4 , on which he delivered valuable intelligence to the division headquarters.

In the June battles of 1942, Mikhail Nikolaevich was twice on the verge of death. On June 9, Pushchin’s crew was tasked with finding a German jump airfield in the Chuguev area, using which the Germans attacked Soviet troops. The crew found a target south of the city, but was immediately attacked by five enemy Me-109F fighters. In an air battle, an air gunner died, and the enemy managed to light the Pe-2. Managing a burning bomber, Mikhail Nikolaevich managed to reach the front line, after which he ordered the navigator to jump with a parachute. The crew commander himself tried to save the car to the end and left it only after the plane fell off the plane. With burns to his arms, neck and face and a wound in his leg, the pilot was taken to the nearest hospital, but the situation at the front was difficult, and Mikhail Nikolayevich could not stay in the hospital bed for a long time. On June 11 ^[4], he was already leading the seven Pe-2s in the regiment’s column to bombard the Kharkiv air hub. On approaching the target, his group successfully repelled the attack of 18 enemy fighters, after which they bombed the central airfield of Kharkov. As a result of the bombardment on the ground, up to 19 enemy aircraft were destroyed, but the crankcase of the right engine was broken by the fire of anti-aircraft artillery on the plane of Senior Lieutenant Pushchin. Having barely reached the front line, Mikhail Nikolaevich made a forced draft in the field. Nearby sat one of the cover fighters, which ran out of fuel. In the field, Senior Lieutenant Pushchin was able to organize the repair of his aircraft and refueling a fighter, so that both machines safely returned to their airfields.

In July 1942, the 99th Near Bomber Aviation Regiment was transferred to the Stalingrad Front. The 4th reserve air group was reorganized into the 270th bomber aviation division and included in the 8th air army . In the most tense August days of the Battle of Stalingrad, the senior lieutenant M.N. Pushchin’s link made 4-5 sorties per bombardment of motorized convoys of Nazi troops and the enemy’s military infrastructure. Pilots had to operate in conditions of the superiority of the Germans in the air and often without fighter cover. The regiment suffered heavy losses, but continued to strike at the enemy. On August 5, Senior Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin made 5 sorties to bombard the enemy’s manpower and equipment in the Kalach region, destroying 5 tanks and 12 vehicles with infantry. On the same day, he and his unit attacked a tank column in the vicinity of the village of Shelestovo . As a result of the strike of the Pe-2 group, up to 7 tanks were destroyed and damaged. On August 7, Mikhail Nikolayevich bombed a cluster of tanks in the area of ​​the settlement of Fertile. Upon returning to its airfield, Pushchin's aircraft was attacked by Xe-113 fighters. In an aerial battle, Pushchin’s crew shot down one enemy plane and safely returned to base. The command of the 8th Air Army paid particular attention to the transport hub Kotelnikovo , which was actively used by the enemy to transfer troops to the Stalingrad direction. On August 9, Senior Lieutenant M.N. Pushchin, shortly before that, was appointed deputy squadron commander, led the Pe-2 six times to bombard the German trainloading at the station with equipment. On August 9, he again led the five bombers on Kotelnikovo. The group carried out a combat mission, despite the active opposition of anti-aircraft artillery and 6 enemy fighters, but a central gas tank was broken by a fragment of a shell on the Pe-2 Pushchina. On the way back, the damaged FV-190 fighter tried to attack the damaged plane, but the Soviet pilots reliably covered their lead and repelled all attacks, knocking down one enemy plane. Due to a fuel leak, Mikhail Nikolayevich had to make an emergency landing 5 kilometers from his airfield. Landing was carried out in difficult conditions, but thanks to the excellent piloting technique, the pilot retained the material part.

By the end of August 1942, the 99th Near Bomber Regiment, which had suffered significant losses, was withdrawn for reformation. Manned by young pilots, until December 1942, the regiment was engaged in intense combat training, after which it was included in the 223rd Bomber Aviation Division of the 2nd Bomber Aviation Corps of the 16th Air Army of the Don Front . During January - February 1943, Captain M.N. Pushchin took an active part in Operation Ring , during which the group of Nazi troops surrounded in Stalingrad was liquidated. During this period, Mikhail Nikolayevich made 22 sorties to suppress enemy resistance nodes and destroy his defense strongholds in the areas of the villages of Gumrak , Novoalekseevka , Verkhnyaya Elshanka and the Stalingrad Tractor Plant . By February 1943, he had made 147 sorties, during which they destroyed 7 tanks, up to 200 vehicles, 8 bunkers , destroyed up to 30 kilometers of railway lines and up to 90 kilometers of communication lines, inflicting heavy damage to the enemy in manpower. February 5, 1943 regiment commander majorA. Yu. Jacobson introduced captain M.N. Pushchin to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, but the higher command was limited only to the Order of Lenin .

On February 15, 1943, the Don Front was renamed Central . In February - March 1943, front troops, including the 16th Air Army, took part in the Sevsk operation , during which the central section of the Kursk ledge was formed. On June 17, 1943, in accordance with the order of the USSR NCO No. 234, the 99th Near Bomber Aviation Regiment was transformed into the 96th Guards and was included in the 301st Bomber Aviation Division of the 3rd Bomber Aviation Corps . In the summer of 1943, the regiment pilots took an active part in the Kursk strategic defensive operation on the northern front of the Kursk Bulge, and then supported the advance of the front units in the Oryol direction during Operation Kutuzov . After the defeat of the Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops almost without a pause began the Battle of the Dnieper . In the framework of the Chernihiv-Pripyat operation, the captain M.N. Pushchin distinguished himself in battles for the city of Novozybkov . The retreating enemy, saving his military property, tried to organize at the Novozybkov railway station his loading into railway cars. According to intelligence, up to 50 enemy echelons were concentrated at the station. The command of the 16th Air Army set the 96th Guards Bomber Regiment to paralyze the operation of the railway junction. On September 21, 1943, the captain M.N. Pushchin lifted 9 Pe-2s into the air. Having overcome the barrage of anti-aircraft artillery of the enemy, the guards brought down a hail of aerial bombs at the station. As a result of direct hits, ammunition depots were blown up, several steam locomotives and railway wagons were destroyed, and access roads were destroyed. The bombings at the station lasted about 18 hours. Within 4 days before the liberation of the city ^[5] not a single enemy train left Novozybkov station. As a result, Soviet troops liberating the city seized a large number of trophies, including 300 tons of aviation gasoline. The commander of the 16th Air Army, Lieutenant General S. I. Rudenko, personally reported to the Air Marshal A. A. Novikov about the results of the combat work of the Pushchin group.

On October 20, 1943, the Central Front was renamed to Belorussian . In November 1943, under heavy weather conditions, Captain M.N. Pushchin made two sorties in the Gomel direction during the Gomel-Rechitsa operation . In December 1943, Mikhail Nikolayevich was sent to improve courses for commanders and chiefs of staff of aviation regiments. Upon returning to the active army on July 15, 1944, he assumed the post of inspector-pilot on the technique of piloting the 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Division of the 1st Guards Bomber Aviation Corps ^[6] of the 3rd Air Army of the 1st Baltic Front . During the liberation of the Baltic states, Mikhail Nikolaevich led large groups of bombers seven times to carry out combat missions, participated in the liberation of the cities of Šiauliai and Mitava , repel the enemy’s counterattacks in the area of Birzai and Šiauliai, and break through the German defense line south-east of Riga . In total, by the beginning of October 1944, he had completed 224 sorties. On October 1, 1944, the commander of the 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Division, Major General Aviation V. A. Sandalov, introduced the captain M.N. Pushchin's guard to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was signed on February 23, 1945.

While working as an inspector-pilot, Mikhail Nikolaevich, on duty, was involved in testing the piloting technique of young pilots who arrived in the division from flight schools. He also investigated the accidents and disasters that took place in the division, then analyzed such cases with the flight technical staff of the division and developed measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. Responsible administrative work did not prevent Pushchin from conducting combat work during the East Prussian operation ^[7] . Mikhail Nikolaevich took part in the bombing of the positions of the Nazi forces in the Konigsberg direction, drove a group of bombers to destroy long-term defensive structures in Konigsberg , raided the Zemland Army Group, and stormed the town of Fischhausen . He made his last sortie on April 25, 1945 to bombard German fortifications in Pillau . In total, by the end of the guard war, captain M.N. Pushchin made about 300 sorties.

After the end of World War II, Mikhail Nikolayevich continued to serve in the air forces of the USSR . He served in combat units of bomber aircraft as squadron commander, aviation regiment commander and senior test pilot. Since 1954, Lieutenant Colonel M.N. Pushchin in stock. After leaving the army, Mikhail Nikolaevich lived in Dnepropetrovsk . He worked at the Volodarsky sewing factory, headed the guild folk squad, actively participated in military-patriotic work and the veteran movement. Mikhail Nikolayevich died on February 25, 1980. He was buried in Dnepropetrovsk.

• Medal "Golden Star" (02/23/1945);
• two orders of Lenin (06/17/1943; 02/23/1945);
• Order of the Red Banner (09/09/1941);
• Order of the Red Star (11/06/1941);
• medals, including:
  • Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (December 1942).

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Love - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .
• Kalinin V.V., Makarenko D.G. Heroes of exploits in the Kharkov region. - Kharkov: Prapor, 1970. - S. 40–42. - 464 p.
• Kuban glorious sons: essays on the Heroes of the Soviet Union Kuban who accomplished feats during the Great Patriotic War: in 4 books. Book 2. - Krasnodar: Krasnodar Book Publishing House, 1985. - S. 188-192. - 250 p.

• Public electronic document bank “The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (neopr.) .

Presentation for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the decree of the USSR PVS on conferring the title (neopr.)

Order of Lenin (award sheet and a list of those awarded by decree of the USSR PVS dated 06/17/1943) (neopr.) .

Order of the Red Banner (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) .

Order of the Red Star (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) .

• Generalized database “Memorial” (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 56, op. 12220, d. 48 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 58, op. 818883, d. 1672 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 58, op. 818883, d.1082 (neopr.) .

• Pushchin, Mikhail Nikolaevich (pilot) (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Pushchin Mikhail Nikolaevich at www.az-libr.ru (neopr.) .
• Pushchin Mikhail Nikolaevich on the website of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Charitable Fund "Memory" (Neopr.) (Unavailable link) . Date of treatment August 6, 2013. Archived March 5, 2016.