Machin, Mikhail Grigorievich

He was born on October 8 (21), 1907 in the village Letyazhevka of the Balashovsky district of the Saratov province ^[1] . In 1920-1923 he worked at the state farm . In 1923 he graduated from a rural school of the 1st degree in Letyazhevka. From 1923 he lived in the village of Rymaryovo (now Zherdevsky district of the Tambov region ), until 1929 he was a laborer at a sugar factory in the Rymaryov state farm No. 5. In 1931 he graduated from the 2nd year of the labor school at the Voronezh Agricultural Institute . Member of the CPSU (b) since 1928.

In the Red Army since May 1931. In 1931 he graduated from the school for retraining reserve commanders (the city of Detskoe Selo in the Leningrad Region ), in 1932 - the Military Theoretical Military School of Air Force pilots in Leningrad , in 1933 - the 14th military school of pilots in the city of Engels . He served as a senior pilot in the 15th heavy bomber aviation squadron of the Air Force of the Belarusian Military District ( Rzhev ) ^[2] . Since October 1934, he served in the 7th cruise aviation squadron of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District : ship commander and squad leader. Since November 1936 - commander of the air squad of the 15th high-speed bomber squadron of the Moscow military district ( Kalinin ).

Member of the battles with the Japanese invaders in China : in October 1937 - March 1938 - deputy commander and commander of a bomber air squadron. He made 17 sorties on the SB bomber. In this war he was awarded his first awards - the Order of the Red Banner and the medal "For Courage" .

Since May 1938, he served as an assistant commander of the 11th aviation regiment of the 2nd Special Forces Army (in Orel ), for some time temporarily served as regiment commander. Since September 1938 - commander of the 25th Air Brigade of the Air Force of the 1st Red Banner Army ( Spassk-Dalniy ). Since September 1939 - commander of the 32nd Aviation Division created on the basis of this air brigade. In 1940 he graduated from operational improvement courses at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army , after graduation he returned to command the same division.

Member of World War II from February 1942 - Air Force Commander of the 40th Army of the South-Western Front . In May-August 1942 - commander of the 207th Fighter Aviation Division . He fought on the South-West , Bryansk and Voronezh fronts. Participated in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad operation and defensive battles in the Voronezh direction.

From September 1942 to May 1944, he was the head of the military representation of the Red Army Air Force in Alaska ( USA ). He participated in the organization and implementation of the supply of American aircraft under Lend-Lease .

In June - August 1944 - commander of the 205th Fighter Aviation Division , from August 1944 - commander of the 5th Fighter Aviation Corps . He fought on the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. He participated in the Lviv-Sandomierz , Carpathian-Duklinsk , Sandomierz-Silesian , Upper Silesian , Lower Silesian , Berlin and Prague operations. During the war, made 61 sorties on the fighter Yak-1 , LaGG-3 , La-7 and R-39 "Aerocobra" ^[3] .

For the skillful command of the air corps and the courage and heroism shown by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 29, 1945, Major General of Aviation Machin Mikhail Grigoryevich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal .

After the war, he commanded the same fighter air corps in the Central Group of Forces . Since June 1946 - commander of the 11th Fighter Aviation Corps in the Baltic Military District . From May 1947 to April 1948 - assistant commander of the 4th Air Army ( Northern Group of Forces , Poland ), then sent to study.

In 1950 he graduated from the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov . From August 1950 - deputy commander, and in May 1953 - May 1954 - commander of fighter aircraft of the country's air defense . From June 1954, he was deputy commander of the Ural Air Defense Forces for fighter aviation; since August of that year, he was the commander of fighter aircraft of the Ural Air Defense Army . From August 1, 1956 to February 1, 1959, he was commander of the 42nd Air Defense Fighter Army of the Baku Air Defense District ( Baku city). Since February 1959, he was the commander of fighter aircraft of the Baku Air Defense District (in August 1960, the position was renamed the "Air Force Commander of the District"). Since December 1960, was at the disposal of the Commander- in -Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country .

Since March 1961 - Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces for combat command and control of combat duty. From August 1962 - representative, and in September 1963 - April 1967 - assistant to the representative of the High Command of the Joint Armed Forces of the States Parties to the Warsaw Treaty on Air Defense and Air Force in the German Democratic Republic . Since April 1967 - Inspector General for Eastern Countries of the 10th Main Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces . Since February 1971, Lieutenant General Aviation M.G. Machin - retired.

He lived in Moscow. He wrote short memoirs about his participation in the war in China in the late 1930s. He died on February 7, 1995 . He was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow.

Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in 1959-1961. Member of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR of the 5th convocation (in 1959-1963).

• Major (1936)
• Colonel (04.29.1938)
• Major General of Aviation (04/20/1945)
• Lieutenant General of Aviation (3.08.1953)

• Hero of the Soviet Union (05/29/1945);
• two orders of Lenin (05/29/1945; 12/30/1956);
• five orders of the Red Banner (03/08/1938; 02/22/1943; 11/19/1951; 10/16/1957; 02/22/1968);
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st degree (04/06/1945)
• two orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (08/30/1944; 03/11/1985);
• Order of the Patriotic War , 2nd degree (2.08.1944);
• two orders of the Red Star (11/05/1946; 04/29/1954);
• Medal "For Courage" (02.22.1939);
• medal "For Military Merit" (11/3/1944);
• medal "For the defense of Moscow" ;
• medal "For the capture of Budapest" ;
• medal "For the capture of Berlin" ;
• medal “For the Liberation of Prague” ;
• other medals of the USSR;

awards of foreign states

• Legion of Honor order of the officer’s degree ( USA , 07/12/1944);
• Order of Virtuti Military 3rd degree ( Poland , 1946);
• The Cross of the Brave (Poland, 12.19.1968);
• Order of Merit to the Fatherland in Gold ( GDR );
• Medal "30 years of Khalkhin-Gol Victory" ( Mongolia , 1969).

• Machin M.G. Chinese routes. // In the sky of China. 1937-1940. Memories of Soviet volunteer pilots. / Ed. 2nd. - M .: Nauka, 1986 .-- 383 p.

• A memorial plaque in memory of Machin was erected by the Russian Military Historical Society on the building of the Semenov Secondary School, where he studied.

• 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 .
• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / V.P. Goremykin. - M .: Kuchkovo field, 2014 .-- T. 2 .-- S. 672-674. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0 .
• Gagin V.V. “Air ace of three wars and the hero of the Alsib route”.

• Machin, Mikhail Grigorievich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• M. G. Machin on the site "Red Falcons" .