Orlov, Konstantin Dmitrievich

Born on February 27, 1906 in the village of Pushkino , now a city in the Moscow region of Russia . Russian ^[1] .

Military Service

Interwar years

July 22, 1927 voluntarily entered the Military Theoretical School of the Air Force of the Red Army in Leningrad . Member of the CPSU (b) since 1929. In July 1928 he was transferred to the 2nd Military Pilot School named after Osoaviahima of the USSR for passing a practical flight course. Upon completion of training in November 1929, he was left at school and served as a flight instructor, flight commander and detachment. In September 1938, he was transferred as an assistant commander of the squadron to the 11th fighter regiment of the MVO Air Force . December 28, 1938 was appointed instructor in the technique of piloting the regiment. On February 10, 1940, he served as assistant commander, and on September 9, he served as commander of the 146th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force OdVO ^[1] .

World War II

With the outbreak of war, Major Orlov continued to command the same regiment on the Southern Front . In the early days, due to lack of communication with the commander of the district air force, I had to act independently for 8 days. The pilots of the regiment made sorties on the “free hunt” and cover for the munitions of the ground forces. Since September 24, the regiment as part of the 76th mixed air division. In these battles, Orlov made 20 sorties and shot down a German reconnaissance aircraft Hs-126 . Since March 1942, the regiment conducted combat work as part of the 3rd strike air group of the General Headquarters Headquarters, operating on the Southern Front ; since the end of May, he was part of the 4th Air Army , formed on the basis of air units and parts of the Southern Front. On August 13, 1942, the regiment entered the 234th fighter air division of the 1st Air Army of the Western Front . The pilots of the regiment supported the front troops during the offensive on the Zhizdrinsky and Rzhevsky directions, and also participated in the operation to destroy enemy aircraft at the Dvoyevka airfield. For successful combat work, the regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner ^[1] .

In October, Lieutenant Colonel Orlov was appointed deputy commander of the 234th Fighter Air Division. In the same month he was transferred to the same position in the 303rd Smolensk Aviation Fighter Division , which was part of the 1st Air Army , and from January 20, 1943, took command of this division. Its units carried out combat work during offensive operations in the Rzhev-Sychevsky direction, in March 1943 they supported the front troops in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky , in summer and autumn - in the Oryol , Spas-Demensky and Smolensk offensive operations. In the winter of 1943-1944 the division successfully operated in the Vitebsk and Orsha directions ^[1] .

In June 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Orlov was transferred as commander of the 278th Fighter Aviation Siberian-Stalin Red Banner Division , part of the 3rd Fighter Air Corps of the 1st Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front . Its units participated in the liberation of Belarus and Lithuania, in the Belorussian , Vitebsk-Orsha , Minsk , Vilnius and Kaunas offensive operations. For successful combat work on the 3rd Belorussian Front, the division was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd art. , and its two regiments ( 15th and 274th ) were given the name "Orsha", and they were awarded orders of the Red Banner. From September 15 to December 30, 1944 the division was based on the rear airfields of the 6th and 16th air armies, replenished with flight personnel and new equipment. From January 1945 until the end of the war she participated in the Warsaw-Poznan , East Pomeranian and Berlin offensive operations as part of the 3rd fighter corps of the 16th Air Army of the 1st Belorussian Front ^[1] .

During the fighting, Orlov made 54 sorties and shot down two German aircraft.

During the war, Commander Orlov was personally mentioned five times in thanksgiving orders of the Supreme Commander ^[2] .

Post-war time

After the war, Colonel Orlov continued to command the same division. In December 1948, he was appointed head of the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots . From June 1950 to September 1951, Major General Aviation Orlov was on the Higher Attestation Commission at the Higher Military Academy. K.E. Voroshilova , then was appointed head of the Frunze Military Aviation School of Pilots . He was elected to the Supreme Council and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic . On May 30, 1955, "for violating the cadets' training sequence, low exactingness, and high accident rate at the aviation school," he was relieved of his duties and transferred to the reserve ^[1] .

Since 1978, General Orlov has been the organizer of meetings of division veterans held in Sevastopol, Kiev, Krasnodar, Moscow, Leningrad and Novosibirsk.

• Order of Lenin (04/20/1953) ^[3]
• three orders of the Red Banner (11/06/1941 ^[4] , 07/02/1944 ^[5] , 11/06/1947 ^[3] )
• Order of Suvorov II degree (05/29/1945) ^[6]
• Order of Kutuzov II degree (04/06/1945) ^[7]
• two orders of World War I degree (02/20/1944 ^[8] , 04/06/1985 ^[9] )
• Order of the Red Star (11/03/1944) ^[3]

medals including:

• • “ For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. "(09/30/1945) ^[10]
  • “ For the capture of Berlin ”
  • “ For the liberation of Warsaw ”
  • " Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR "
• sign "50 years of stay in the CPSU"

Orders (thanks) of the Supreme Commander in which K. D. Orlov is noted ^[2] .

• For the liberation of the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Republic of Vilnius from the Nazi invaders. July 13, 1944 No. 136.
• Sohachev, Skierniewice and Lovic are important strongholds of the Germans' defense for capturing cities and large communications centers. January 18, 1945. Number 228
• For the capture of the cities of Belguard, Treptov, Greifenberg, Cummin, Gultsov, Plata - important communication centers and strong strongholds of German defense in Western Pomerania. March 6, 1945. Number 292.
• For the assault on the cities of Golln, Stepenitz and Massov - important strongholds of the German defense on the outskirts of Stettin. March 7, 1945. No. 295
• For the capture of the city of Altdamm and the liquidation of the heavily fortified bridgehead of the Germans on the right bank of the Oder River east of Stettin. March 20, 1945. No. 304

• Public electronic document bank “Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”
• Orlov Konstantin Dmitrievich

• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / V.P. Goremykin. - M .: Kuchkovo field, 2014 .-- T. 2 .-- S. 718-720. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0341-0 .