348th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment

Over the entire period of its existence, the regiment did not change its name:

• 348th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment ^[1] ;
• Military unit ( field mail ) 06996 ^[1] .

The 348th Fighter Aviation Regiment was formed on August 15, 1941 in the Arkhangelsk Military District at the airport of Arkhangelsk in the state 015/134 on I-153 aircraft. He began combat work as a separate regiment of the Arkhangelsk air defense district. On September 18, the regiment was reorganized to state 015/174 (two squadrons in the regiment). One squadron left the regiment on the Karelian front . In the period from September 1941 to March 1943, in the process of combat work, the regiment was replenished with MiG-3 aircraft and Hawker Hurricane (" Hurricane ") British fighters ^[1] .

On April 15, 1942, the regiment became part of the 104th Air Defense Fighter Division of the Arkhangelsk Air Defense District. On August 28, 1942, the regiment won the first known air victory of the regiment in World War II: Lieutenant Kostikov N.I. in an air battle in the area of. Mudyugsky ( White Sea ) was shot down by a German bomber Ju-88 . In June 1943, together with the 104th Air Defense Iad of the Arkhangelsk Air Defense District, it became part of the troops of the newly formed Western Air Defense Front. In the summer of 1943, the regiment was replenished with American Curtiss P-40 aircraft ( Kittyhawk ) ^[1] .

On November 10, 1943, the regiment was relocated to the Rogan airfield ( Kharkov ) and became part of the 310th Air Defense Fighter Division of the Kharkov Air Defense District of the Western Air Defense Front. The combat work was carried out on the Kittyhawk and Hurricane aircraft ^[1] .

In April 1944, in connection with the reorganization of the country's air defense forces as part of the 310th Air Defense Infantry Regiment, the regiment was included in the 6th Air Defense Corps of the Southern Air Defense Front (formed on March 29, 1944 on the basis of the Eastern and Western Air Defense Fronts). In November 1944, the regiment received 32 English Spitfire-IX fighters and was completely rearmament to them. On December 24, 1944, together with the 310th air defense air defense, it was included in the troops of the South-Western Air Defense Front (transformed from the Southern Air Defense Front) ^[1] .

As of January 1, 1945, the regiment had 32 Spitfire-IX aircraft in combat, 6 Kittyhawk aircraft, 2 2 Po-2s, and 29 combat-ready crews: 6 during the day and 6 at night. The regiment is relocated from Rogan airfield to the airport of Krzontka ( Poland ). On January 13, the regiment began redeployment of the flight level with intermediate landings at the Belaya Tserkov airfield. On January 15, a ground train arrived at the Chzhontka airport. On January 27, according to the order of the division’s commander, part of the forces of the regiment begins to redeploy to an airfield near the city of Krakow ^[2] .

In February 1945, as part of the 310th Air Defense Iad, it entered the 10th Air Defense Corps of the Southwestern Air Defense Front ^[1] . At the beginning of February, the regiment was based at the Bila Tserkva airfield: Spitfire-IX aircraft - 27 pcs., Kittyhaw - 4 pcs., Faulty Kittyhawk - 1 pcs .; at the Rogan airport: Spitfire -IX aircraft - 4 pcs., Kittyhaw - 1 pcs., Po-2 - 1 pcs., combat-ready crews: during the day - 25, at night - 4. The technical staff were assigned the task of relocating from the airport Chzhontka to the airfield of Rzeszow . By February 8, 1945, all the crews of the regiment were assembled at the Bila Tserkva airfield, one Po-2 aircraft was left at the old Rogan airfield. On February 20, the regiment flew to the Lviv airfield with 30 crews. On February 27, the regiment began relocating to the Krakow airfield. On the same day, instructions were received to relocate to the Katowice airfield. By the end of February, the deployment of the regiment was: Krakow airfield: Spitfire -IX aircraft - 9 pcs., Kittyhaw - 3 pcs., Faulty Spitfire -IX - 1 pcs.; Lviv airdrome: 9 Spitfire -IX aircraft, 2 pcs. Kittyhaw, 1 defective Kittyhaw; Bila Tserkva airfield: Spitfire -IX aircraft - 2 pcs., failed Spitfire -IX aircraft - 1 pc.; combat-ready crews: during the day - 18, at night - 2 ^[3] . .

In April 1945, together with the 310th Air Defense Infantry Division, it was included in the 88th Air Defense Division of the South-Western Air Defense Front. May 9, 1945 expelled from the army ^[1] .

In total, the regiment was in the army: from August 15, 1941 to May 9, 1945 ^{[4] [1]} .

The results of the combat activity of the regiment in the Great Patriotic War

In total, during the war years, the regiment shot down enemy aircraft - 2 (1 bomber and 1 fighter) ^[1] .

• Major Belyakov Konstantin Dmitrievich, 06.1941 - 08.1942
• Major, Lieutenant Colonel Vetoshnikov Vladimir Porfiryevich, 09.1942 - 08.1945

• Air defense of Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk - from November 24, 1941 to November 1943.
• covering troops and rear facilities of the army of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, Separate Primorsky army.
• covering troops and rear facilities of the 1st Ukrainian Front and 4th Ukrainian Front.
• cover of the Silesian industrial region.

After the war, the regiment continued to be part of the 310th Air Defense Fighter Division . In the period from June 10 to 19, 1946, the regiment was disbanded along with the 310th Air Defense Iad. The 1st squadron departed to equip the 933th IAP 127th Air Defense Iad , the 2nd squadron - 738th IAP 127th Air Defense Iad, the 3rd Squadron - 743th IAP 123rd Air Defense Iad on the basis of the GSh directive USSR Armed Forces No. org / 3/246964 dated 05.23.1946 and the directive of the Commander of the 21st Air Defense Forces No. 001933 dated 06/04/1946

• Team of authors. List No. 11 of the formations, units and subunits of the air defense forces of the country, which were part of the army during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 / Zavizion. - The Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Military Scientific Directorate of the General Staff. - Moscow: Military Publishing House, 1973. - T. Directive of the General Staff of 1973 No. DGSh-044. - 112 p.
• Anokhin V. A., Bykov M. Yu. All Stalin's fighter aviation regiments. The first complete encyclopedia. - Popular science publication. - M .: Yauza-press, 2014 .-- S. 550 .-- 944 p. - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-9955-0707-9 .
• A.G. Lensky, M.M. Tsybin. Part I // Soviet Air Defense Forces in the last years of the USSR. Directory". - St. Petersburg: INFO OL, 2013 .-- 164 p. (with ill.) p. - (Organization of troops). - 500 copies.

• Journal of the fighting regiment. The period from 01/05/1943 to 06/24/1944
• Journal of the fighting regiment. The period from 01/01/1945 to 01/31/1945
• Journal of the fighting regiment. The period from 02/01/1945 to 02/28/1945
• Journal of the fighting regiment. The period from 03/01/1945 to 03/31/1945
• Air force
• 348th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. The site "Aviators of the Second World War"