Sokolov, Mikhail Egorovich

Born on January 24, 1923 in the village of Belousovo, Belsky Uyezd ^[1] in a peasant family. Russian. He graduated from 8 classes in the city of Nelidovo and flying club in the city of Rzhev.

In the Red Army since 1940. In 1942 he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation Pilot School. In the army since November 1942.

As part of the 810th assault aviation regiment, Sokolov, an attack pilot, went from being an ordinary pilot to a squadron commander. Throughout the war he flew on a ground attack aircraft, was a first-class master of airplane driving, fearless in battle, skillfully got out of the most difficult situations. Seven times, the Sokolov’s IL-2 was seriously damaged, but the pilot invariably brought the wounded car to the airfield. Twice he had to land in the neutral zone, the Nazis tried to capture him, but he slipped away from them and stood up again. In 1944 he graduated from the Higher Officer Navigation Aviation Courses. Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1944.

July 19, 1944, the eight "silts" struck a cluster of tanks in the area of ​​Mokhovaya and Stanovaya. Attack aircraft met 12 "Junkers". Sokolov was the first to rush into battle and shot one Junkers with machine-gun fire. Then, during an attack on a ground target, IL-2 Sokolov was hit by anti-aircraft fire and lagged behind the group. Sokolov repulsed the attack of two fighters and landed the car in a neutral strip. Under mortar-shelling, the pilot pulled a seriously wounded gunner out of the plane and carried him 2 kilometers to the dressing station.

By February 1945, the squadron commander Major Sokolov had made 171 combat sorties to attack enemy forces and equipment and was presented to the heroic rank.

In April 1945, Major Sokolov saved the regiment commander in an air battle. When the commander left the attack, he was attacked by enemy fighters. Sokolov, who was preparing for an attack on a ground target, quickly changed course and shot down the Messerschmitt. The regiment commander, although his plane received several holes, continued to lead the battle.

By the end of the war, Sokolov made 198 sorties, shot down three, and burned 12 enemy aircraft at airfields, knocked out 18 tanks, destroyed about 60 vehicles, 16 guns and mortars, five steam locomotives, 20 railway cars, blew up four warehouses with ammunition and fuel.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 18, 1945, for the exemplary fulfillment of command assignments and for the courage and heroism shown in battles with Nazi invaders, Major Mikhail Sokolov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal .

After the war he continued to serve in the army. In 1955 he graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages . Since 1962, Colonel M.E. Sokolov - in stock.

He lived in the city of Krasnodar. He worked in the production association Krasnodarkrayobuvsbyt. He died on November 11, 1993. He was buried at the Slavic cemetery in Krasnodar.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin , 3 Orders of the Red Banner , Order of Kutuzov of the 3rd degree, 2 Orders of Alexander Nevsky , 2 Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, 2 Orders of the Red Star , and medals.

His name was a school in the city of Rezekne .

• 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 .
• Dolgov I.A. Golden Stars of Kalininians. - M.: Moscow Worker, 1984. - Prince. 2.

Mikhail Egorovich Sokolov (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment May 17, 2014.