Strigunov, Vasily Stepanovich

He was born on February 4, 1921 in the village of Doshino, now in the Medyn district of the Kaluga region . Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1944. In 1939 he graduated from the 9th grade of the Medyn High School. He worked as a clerk at the Moscow Car Repair Plant. At the same time he studied at the flying club.

In the Red Army since 1940. In 1942 he graduated from the Engels Military Aviation Pilot School and was sent to the 10th reserve aviation regiment , where he studied the theory of control of the IL-2 aircraft. To practice in December 1942, Strigunov was sent first to the 1st, and then to the 2nd training squadron of the Moscow Military District . In June 1943 he arrived at the 826th Assault Aviation Regiment , which at that time was undergoing reformation and replenishment in the rear. In August 1943, along with the regiment, Sergeant Strigunov was sent to the Kalinin Front .

From the first days, as part of the 211st assault aviation division of the 3rd Air Army, he participated in Smolensk and Nevelsk-Gorodok operations, during which he launched assault attacks on enemy troop concentrations in the areas of Velizh , Duhovshchina , Yartsevo , Jezerishche , and Gorodok . For courage and heroism in these battles in October 1943 received his first award - the Order of the Red Banner .

At the beginning of December 1943, the regiment in which Strigunov served entered the newly formed 335th assault aviation division of the 3rd Air Army of the 1st Baltic Front and fought to destroy the enemy’s urban grouping and in the Vitebsk direction. With the start of Operation Bagration in June 1944, the 335th Assault Air Division supported the advance of the 43rd and 6th Guards armies in the Lepel direction and contributed to the Soviet forces crossing the Western Dvina River, destroying the Vitebsk enemy group, liberating the cities of Vitebsk , Ulla , Lepel , Polotsk . During the offensive of the Soviet troops in the Baltic, she participated in the Šiauliai and Memel operations. In these battles, junior lieutenant Strigunov stormed the enemy’s manpower and equipment in the areas of Birzai , Siauliai , Zhagare , Tukums , Dobele , Kretinga , Memel . At the end of 1944, he participated in battles to block the German forces of the Army Group “North” on the Courland Peninsula and prevent their breakthrough into East Prussia .

In February 1945, the 3rd Air Army was relocated to the Konigsberg direction and became part of the 3rd Belorussian Front, and after the capture of Koenigsberg it defeated the enemy on the Zemland Peninsula and took possession of its large naval base Pillau .

The senior pilot of the 826th assault aviation regiment of the 335th assault aviation division of the 3rd air army of the 3rd Belorussian front, Lieutenant Strigunov, by March 1945, made 117 sorties on reconnaissance of enemy troops, attacking his units of resistance, manpower and equipment, which destroyed and damaged 10 tanks, 70 vehicles, 30 wagons with cargo, 10 wagons, 10 field artillery guns, more than 200 soldiers and officers, suppressed the fire of 20 firing points, blew up four ammunition depots, conducted 11 air battles. Seven times Strigunov’s plane was damaged by anti-aircraft artillery fire, three times the pilot pulled across the front line on a virtually uncontrolled aircraft.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 29, 1945 for exemplary fulfillment of command assignments and shown courage and heroism, Lieutenant Strigunov Vasily Stepanovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal .

In 1950 he graduated from the courses of deputy squadron commanders for political affairs. Since 1957, Major Strigunov is in stock. He worked as the chairman of the Medynsky district committee of DOSAAF of the Kaluga region , and since 1961 he was a mechanic in the joint railway facilities No. 2 in Kaluga. He died on October 5, 1989.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin , three orders of the Red Banner , three orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star , and medals.

• A plaque is installed in the city of Medyn .
• In Medyn , May 9, 2015, on the Heroes Alley a bust of Strigunov was installed ^[1] .

• 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 .
• Polenkov K.A., Khromienkov N.A. Kaluzhane - Heroes of the Soviet Union. - Kaluga, 1963.

• Vasily Stepanovich Strigunov (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment July 9, 2014.