Nikolai Alexandrovich Tokarev ( 1907 - 1944 ) - Soviet pilot of mine-torpedo aviation, participant in the Soviet-Finnish and World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (04.21.1940). Major General of Aviation (01/22/1944).
| Nikolai Alexandrovich Tokarev | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||
| Date of Birth | March 31 ( April 13 ) 1907 | ||||||||
| Place of Birth | Tula , Russian Empire | ||||||||
| Date of death | January 30, 1944 (36 years old) | ||||||||
| Place of death | Evpatoria , Crimean ASSR , RSFSR , USSR | ||||||||
| Affiliation |  the USSR | ||||||||
| Type of army | USSR Navy Air Force | ||||||||
| Rank |  Major General Aviation | ||||||||
| Commanded | 2nd mtap Air Force Black Sea Fleet , 63rd Tbabr dd Air Force Black Sea Fleet , 1st mtad Air Force Black Sea Fleet | ||||||||
| Battles / wars | Soviet-Finnish War The Great Patriotic War | ||||||||
| Awards and prizes |
| ||||||||
Content
Biography
Born March 31 ( April 13 ), 1907 in Tula in a working class family. Russian. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1926 . He graduated from 10 classes. He worked as a mechanic at the Tula arms factory . In 1930, at the end of the rabfak , he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N.E. Bauman .
In the Red Army since May 1931. In 1932 he graduated from the 1st military school of pilots named after A.F. Myasnikov . After graduation, he was sent to the 1st military school of naval pilots and observer pilots of the Stalin Red Army Air Force in Yeysk , where he served as an instructor and flight commander . Then he served in the combat units of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force: the commanding officer of the 34th mine and torpedo detachment, from June 1937 the commander of the 71st high-speed bomber aviation brigade, and from May 1938 - the assistant squadron commander of the 40th high-speed bomber aviation regiment. According to the results of 1937, the air squad under his command was recognized as the best in the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet, the commander himself was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor .
In April 1939 he was transferred to the Baltic Fleet Air Force, was appointed assistant commander of the 1st mine and torpedo regiment of the 8th bomber aviation brigade , and in May - squadron commander in this regiment.
Participation in the Winter War and raids on Helsinki
Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. Major 3rd Tokarev N.A., commander of the 3rd squadron of the 1st mine torpedo regiment of the 8th bomber aviation brigade of the Baltic Fleet, completed 57 sorties, inflicting significant damage to the enemy in manpower and equipment.
On November 30, 1939 at 13.10 from the Klopitsa airfield, eight DB-3s of the 3rd squadron of the 1st air force regiment of the KBF, under the command of Captain A.M. Tokarev, flew out to attack the Finnish coastal defense battleships in the Hanko area. In conditions of low cloudiness, ships could not be found, and at 16:50 Moscow time (14:50 in Helsinki) the squadron reached its reserve target - the port and oil storage facilities of Helsinki. The bombing was carried out from a great height, several bombs fell near the parliament and the Zoological Museum. The heavily populated area between the Technical University and the bus station was badly damaged. 91 people were killed, 236 injured. The Tokarev squadron raid turned out to be the most destructive of all that Helsinki suffered and served as a direct reason for the expulsion of the USSR from the League of Nations: the results of the raid were successfully used by the Finnish leadership for propaganda purposes. The raid made an extremely negative impression on the world community, and photographs of the destroyed city quarters flew around the front page of newspapers in many countries of the world, balancing in the minds of readers the bombing of the capital of Finland with the bombing of Guernica . [1] President Roosevelt sent a protest to the Soviet ambassador to the United States, and then on December 14, 1939, the League of Nations expelled the USSR from its members . [2]
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 21, 1940, Major Tokarev Nikolai Alexandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for exemplary execution of combat missions of command in the Soviet-Finnish war. The 3rd squadron, which he commanded, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner .
After the war, in May 1940 he was again appointed assistant commander of the 1st mine torpedo regiment, and in August 1940 he became commander of this regiment. In February 1941, he was again transferred to the Black Sea as an assistant commander of the 2nd mine torpedo regiment , and in April 1941 he was appointed deputy commander of this regiment.
Participation in the Great Patriotic War
Member of the Great Patriotic War in the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet since June 1941. The first military summer, at the head of large groups of aircraft, the regiment made air raids on the main Romanian naval base of Constanta , on the Ploiesti oil fields and on military installations in the Bucharest region. In November 1941 he was appointed commander of the 2nd mine and torpedo aviation regiment, transformed in April 1942 into the 5th guards mine and torpedo aviation regiment , with the regiment participated in the defense of Sevastopol and in the battle for the Caucasus .
From October 1942 until July 14, 1943 he commanded the 63rd heavy bombardment long-range aviation brigade of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, from July 1943 - created on its base the 1st mine torpedo aviation division , whose naval pilots were especially distinguished during the Novorossiysk-Taman operations of Soviet troops and the liberation of the cities of Novorossiysk and Anapa.
In June 1942, Lieutenant Colonel N. A Tokarev was presented with the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, but the higher command replaced the award with the Order of the Red Banner [3] .
On January 22, 1944, Colonel N. Tokarev was awarded the military title “ Major General of Aviation ”. During the years of World War II, he completed 72 sorties [4] .
Doom
January 30, 1944 he died in the village of Uyutnoe near Yevpatoria . According to the memoirs of Lieutenant General Aviation Khokhlova , Tokarev was dissatisfied with the unsuccessful bombing of one of the regiments, carried out by a transport convoy going to Yevpatoriya, and decided to try to launch a torpedo attack on the convoy before the convoy could hide in the port of Yevpatoriya. As a result, in a short time only two torpedo bombers were prepared for take-off, one of which returned to the airfield due to a malfunction. Tokarev made a torpedo attack on a Boston torpedo bomber, under the cover of seven Aero Cobra fighters , who tried to distract the enemy by attacking the ships. Nevertheless, anti-aircraft artillery fire concentrated on Tokarev’s plane, whose right engine caught fire. Tokarev managed to land a plane in the area of Lake Maynak, while he himself died, and navigator Major Nikolai Andreyevich Markin and gunner-gunner Sergeant Vasily Goncharov were taken prisoner in serious condition. This combat episode is discussed in detail in the book of M.E. Morozova Naval torpedo-borne aviation , where a detailed description of K.D. Denisov , who covered Tokorev on one of the Aerial Cobras. The death of Tokarev as a result of a wound received by him while still in the air is recognized as the most probable. In addition, on the basis of archival data, Morozov indicates that for Tokarev this was the first combat flight on Boston he had recently mastered, and the first flight for low-altitude torpedo throwing. The motive that prompted Tokarev to make a risky attack could be euphoria from getting a high rank: on January 29, fleet commander Admiral L.A. Vladimirsky personally handed Tokarev general epaulettes. The targets of General Tokarev were the BDB “F 333”, “F 382” and the hunter “Uj 308”, who were anchored, who did not receive any damage (which is confirmed by both German data and Denisov’s combat report). [five]
He was buried in Yevpatoriya .
Rewards
- Hero of the Soviet Union (04/21/1940);
- two orders of Lenin (02/07/1940, 04/21/1940);
- two orders of the Red Banner (08/09/1942, 8.4.1943);
- Order of the Patriotic War I degree (05/18/1944, posthumous );
- Order of the Badge of Honor (1938);
- medal "For the defense of Sevastopol" ;
- medal "For the Defense of Odessa" .
Memory
- In 1944, the name of Hero of the Soviet Union N. Tokarev was assigned to the division, which he commanded. In May 1944, she was awarded the title of guard and she was called the 2nd Guards mine torpedo aviation Sevastopol Red Banner Division named after Hero of the Soviet Union N.A. Tokarev of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force
- Streets in Yevpatoria , Sevastopol , Svetlogorsk and Tula , as well as schools in Tula and in the village are named after the Hero. Pillar Saksky district of the Republic of Crimea .
- In 1948, the village of Kayala was renamed the village of Tokarevo, Vyborgsky district, Leningrad region .
- On 23 February 1957, a monument to Tokarev was erected in Yevpatoriya.
- At the session of the Evpatoria City Council on March 28, 2008, the Hero of the Soviet Union unanimously awarded the rank of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Evpatoria" (posthumously) to Hero of the Soviet Union.
Notes
- ↑ Morozov, M. Torpedo bombers of the Great Patriotic War. They were called "suicide bombers . " - M .: Yauza, 2013. ISBN 978-5-457-41121-0
- ↑ Shirokorad A.B. The Northern Wars of Russia // Winter War 1939-1940 // Chapter 11. Soviet aircraft in the Winter War - Under the general. ed. A.E. Taras. - M.: Publishing House ACT; Mn .: Harvest, 2001 .-- 848 p.
- ↑ Award sheet for assigning N. A. Tokarev the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union // OBD "Memory of the people . "
- ↑ Presentation of N. Tokarev with the Order of the Patriotic War posthumously // OBD “Memory of the People” .
- ↑ Morozov M.E. Marine torpedo-borne aviation. In 2 volumes. - Volume 1. - St. Petersburg: Galeia Print, 2006. - ISBN: 978-5-8172-0117-8.
Literature
- 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. 856-857. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0 .
- Immortal feat their high / Prev. ed. collegiums A.A. Yelkin . - 2nd ed. - Tula: Prioksky Book Publishing House, 1983. - 646 p. - 10,000 copies.
- Heroes of the fiery years. Book 6. M.: Moscow Worker, 1983.
- Heroes of the Soviet Union Navy. 1937-1945. M .: Military Publishing, 1977.
- Minakov V.I. The angry sky of Tauris. M., 1985.
- Sorokin G.E. Two Heroes. M., 1956.
- Khokhlov P. I. Over the three seas. L .: Lenizdat, 1988.
Links
- Nikolai Alexandrovich Tokarev . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment December 28, 2013.
- Khojash S.M. Nikolai Alexandrovich Tokarev. History of Evpatoria. Evpatoria in the Great Patriotic War . war.evpatoriya-history.info. Date of treatment November 30, 2017.