Vasiliev, Alexey Afanasevich

Born on March 17, 1918 in the village of Poruchikovo, Zainsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, in 1934 he graduated from 6 classes of a rural school. He worked on the farm "Red Lighthouse" beekeeper, an accountant of the tractor brigade.

In October 1939 he was drafted into the Red Army by the Zainsky military enlistment office. In 1940 he graduated from the crash course of the 23rd school of junior aviation specialists of the Moscow military district in the city of Torzhok.

He served in the 35th Bomber Aviation Regiment, was a radio operator gunner in the crew of the SB aircraft. The regiment was based in the city of Tartu. From the first days of World War II, Vasiliev as part of the regiment participated in combat sorties, in delivering bomb strikes against advancing columns of the enemy, and across rivers. In August, less than half of the aircraft remained in the regiment, and it was withdrawn to the rear for reformation.

Behind the rear, Sergeant Vasiliev was retrained for a new aircraft - the diving bomber Pe-2 and was enlisted in the 511th separate reconnaissance aviation regiment, also undergoing reformation. In June 1943, as part of the regiment, he returned to the front, which became part of the 5th Air Army of the Steppe Front.

By September 1943, Sergeant Vasiliev had already completed 16 sorties on reconnaissance of the enemy in the areas of the cities of Belgorod, Kharkov, and Poltava. Always provided uninterrupted communication with the earth, timely transmitted information. He was awarded the medal "For Courage".

By April 1944, Senior Sergeant Vasiliev, as part of the crew, had made 40 successful sorties to aerial reconnaissance of enemy troops in the areas of the cities of Cherkasy, Chigirin, Kirovograd, Uman, and Talnoe. Clearly and in a timely manner passed information to the CP of the 5th Air Army and its regiment. He reliably guarded his crew, participated in three air battles, and with fire from a machine gun did not allow enemy fighters to approach close range and shoot down his plane. In addition to his direct duties, the air gunner-radio operator helped the crew conduct reconnaissance: on November 5, 1943, he opened a convoy of cars and basing enemy planes at the Cherkasy airport, on January 6, 1944, he discovered a convoy of up to 120 cars and opened 3 military trains at Gorodishche station, and opened at the station on January 30 Shpola 9 echelons. The crew, in which Vasiliev fought, was part of the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky operation support group. For these sorties, he was presented for the award of the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

By order of the troops of the 5th Air Army dated June 5, 1944, Senior Sergeant Aleksey Afanasevich was awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree.

In the spring and summer of 1944, Senior Sergeant Vasiliev, as part of his crew, participated in 27 long-range reconnaissance flights to the areas of the cities of Vaslui, Roman, and Krasna. Reliably defended his crew in the air, June 17 repelled the attack of three enemy fighters. Data about the enemy was clearly and timely transmitted from the aircraft to the CP regiment, the air army and to the radio stations of the ground command, for which he had a number of thanks. Helping the navigator to conduct reconnaissance, he discovered the movement of 15 enemy echelons, discovered the movement of several convoys and the location of the airfield with 20 aircraft.

By order of the 5th Air Army on August 28, 1944, Senior Sergeant Alexei Afanasevich Vasiliev was awarded the Order of Glory of the 2nd degree.

During the battles from September 25 to October 26, 1944, Senior Sergeant Vasiliev participated in 42 reconnaissance missions in the areas of Cluj, Baia Mare, Szolnok, Kecskemét, Tsegled, Budapest. Defending the crew, participated in repelling two attacks of enemy fighters. On November 19, the regiment commander was presented for awarding the Order of Glory of the 1st degree.

Senior Sergeant Vasiliev completed his last sortie on May 6, 1945 in the sky of Czechoslovakia . After the Victory, he continued to serve in the army.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 15, 1946, Sergeant Vasilyev Alexei Afanasevich was awarded the Order of Glory of the 1st degree for exemplary performance of command assignments in battles with invaders. He became the full holder of the Order of Glory. He continued to serve in military aviation, became an officer. In 1955, Lieutenant Vasiliev was transferred to the reserve.

He lived in the city of Odessa. He worked as a senior electrician at the Stroysnabsbyt base. He died on May 3, 1971.

He was awarded the orders of the Red Star , Glories of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees, medals, including "For Courage" and "For Military Merit", as well as the Hungarian medal.

• Stars of the exploits of military signalmen. ONS of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. M., 2005
• Cavaliers of the Order of Glory of three degrees: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium D. S. Sukhorukov . - M .: Military Publishing House , 2000 .-- 703 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-01883-9 .
• Full Knights of the Order of Glory - Our Countrymen, Kazan, 1986
• Full Knights of the Order of Glory. Biographical Dictionary. T. 1. M.: Military Publishing, 2010

Alexey Afanasevich Vasiliev (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment September 4, 2014.