Reshetnikov, Vasily Vasilievich

Vasily Vasilievich Reshetnikov was born on December 23, 1919 in Yekaterinoslav (now the Dnieper ).

There he graduated from seven-year school No. 13, and in 1943 participated in the liberation of his native city from German invaders ^[2] . In 1936 he entered the Voroshilovgrad school of military pilots and in 1938 graduated from it. He served in long-range aviation .

World War II

Since 1941 - in the 751th separate night long-range bomber regiment of Major Tikhonov, designed to strike at enemy deep rear targets. He flew on a bomber Il-4 (DB-3F). Member of the CPSU since 1942 .

At the end of May 1942 he took part in the bombing of the Nazi command post in Angerburg. He participated in the bombing of Berlin on the night of September 10, 1942 .

On July 27, 1943, the captain, commander of the squadron of the 19th Guards Long-Range Aviation Regiment of the 8th Guards Bomber Long-Range Aviation Division of the 2nd Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of Long-Range Aviation Vasily Vasilievich Reshetnikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Decree of the Council of the Presidium of the USSR Presidium July 27, 1943 ^[3] , the medal "Golden Star" No. 1055).

Reshetnikov’s plane was shot down twice. The first time was in February 1942, near the front line, when he bombed the Balbasovo airfield near Orsha. The second - from the rear of the enemy had to get out more than a week. The last, 307th in a row, sortie on April 16, 1945 .

He finished the war as deputy regiment commander.

Post-war life

Immediately after the war he was sent to courses in Moscow, at the Moninsky Academy. By the summer of 1946 he returned to his regiment to the post of commander of the regiment (succeeded by A. Shaposhnikov, who in the early years of the war helped him master the skill of night flying). After, at his own request, with the support of Long-Range Aviation Commander A. Novikov , he became a student of the General Staff Academy (autumn 1954). After its completion, he was appointed to the position of division commander. In the spring of 1959, together with General V.T. Taranov, he set a new unofficial world record for the closed-range flight range of 17150 kilometers, surpassing the American record by 2700 kilometers ^[4] . Then he spent 20 hours at the helm.

From 1968 he was First Deputy, and from January 20, 1969 to 1980, he was Commander of Long-Range Aviation. In these posts he headed several state arms commissions. From 1981 to 1986 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the USSR.

The last time a pilot flew to the sky in 2003, when he was 83 years old - at the Monino air show, he controlled the American B-25 bomber, which was driven by an Austrian pilot.

Currently, he is a pensioner, lives in the urban village of Monino, Moscow Region.

The author of the memoir “What was - was”, “The Chosen of Time. Doomed to a feat. "

To date (September 2018) V.V. Reshetnikov is the last of the living Heroes of the Soviet Union who fought on IL-4.

• Hero of the Soviet Union ( 1943 , Gold Star medal No. 1055);
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree ( 1999 ) ^[5] ;
• Order of Honor ;
• three orders of Lenin ;
• Order of the October Revolution ;
• three orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of Alexander Nevsky ;
• Order of the Patriotic War I degree;
• two orders of the Red Star ;
• Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree;
• medals of Russia and the USSR
• Honored Military Pilot of the USSR (08/19/1965).

• One of the strategic bombers of the Russian Air Force Tu-160 is named after V. V. Reshetnikov ^[6] .

• Reshetnikov V.V. A. Golovanov. Laurels and thorns. - M. , 1998 .-- 88 s. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-89710-004-7 .
• Reshetnikov V.V. Doomed to feat. Chosen of the time. - M .: Eksmo, Yauza, 2007 .-- 352 p. - (The war and us. Stalin's falcons). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-21523-2 .
• Reshetnikov V.V. 307 sorties. On a bomber through anti-aircraft fire. - M .: Eksmo, Yauza, 2006 .-- 576 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-699-15848-0 .
• Reshetnikov V.V. What was - was. On a bomber through anti-aircraft fire . - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2010 .-- 576 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-39391-6 .
• Reshetnikov, Vasiliy. Bomber pilot on the eastern front; 307 missions behind enemy lines . - Pen and Sword, 2008 .-- 212 p. - ISBN 9781844156603 . Archived June 19, 2009 on Wayback Machine

• Reshetnikov, Vasily Vasilievich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• The long road to the Tu-160 (inaccessible link) .
• Reshetnikov Vasily Vasilievich .
• Interview V. Reshetnikova in the Zaporozhye newspaper "Establishment" .
• The death of the commissioner (inaccessible link) .
• The plot of V. Reshetnikov on the TV Center
• Biography Reshetnikova Vasily Vasilyevich