43 Facts About Alexander Pokryshkin

Alexander Pokryshkin was one of the highest-scoring Soviet aces, and the highest-scoring pilot ever to fly an American aircraft, having achieved the great majority of his kills in the Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobra.

Alexander Pokryshkin was born in Novonikolayevsk in Tomsk Governorate, son of a Russian peasant-turned-factory worker.

Alexander Pokryshkin grew up in a poor, crime-ridden part of town, but unlike most of his peers he was more interested in learning than in fighting and petty crime.

Alexander Pokryshkin caught the "aviation bug" when he was 12 years old at a local air show, and the dream never left him.

Finally, during his vacation in the winter of 1938, Alexander Pokryshkin was able to circumvent the authorities by passing a yearly civilian pilot program in only 17 days.

Alexander Pokryshkin graduated with top honors in 1939, and with the rank of senior lieutenant he was assigned to the 55th Fighter Regiment.

Alexander Pokryshkin was stationed in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in June 1941, close to the border, and his airfield was bombed on 22 June, the first day of the war.

Alexander Pokryshkin's first involvement in air combat was a disaster.

Alexander Pokryshkin claimed his first shootdown of an enemy aircraft when he shot down a Bf 109 the next day, while he and his wingman were on a reconnaissance mission, and were jumped by five enemy fighters.

Alexander Pokryshkin carefully recorded all details of all air engagements in which he and all his friends were involved, and came up with detailed analysis of each.

Alexander Pokryshkin fought in very complicated conditions: constant retreat, poor- to no-controlling and communication from HQ, and overwhelming odds versus a superior opponent.

Alexander Pokryshkin tried to defend his fighter, one of the very few remaining serviceable aircraft, by removing a flexible machine gun from the nearby bomber and placing it on top of his fighter's fuselage.

One of the German bombers saw Alexander Pokryshkin firing the only machine gun in the area and flew straight at him, dropping small bombs in a shallow dive.

Alexander Pokryshkin watched a string of explosions running up to him, but the bomb that landed immediately next to him did not explode.

Alexander Pokryshkin's mission was to locate von Kleist's 1st Panzer Group, which had been stopped in front of Shakhty, and then their position lost by the Soviet forces.

In that period Alexander Pokryshkin flew missions escorting Su-2 and Il-2 Shturmovik aircraft, and frequently was engaged by German fighters.

Alexander Pokryshkin was grounded, removed from the regiment's headquarters, and had his Party membership cancelled.

Alexander Pokryshkin's regiment fought against such renowned German fighter units as JG 52 and JG 3 'Udet'.

Alexander Pokryshkin was credited with a Bf 109 destroyed on his very first Airacobra mission, on 9 April 1943, and scored four Bf 109 kills on 12 April 1943, one of his more successful days.

Alexander Pokryshkin received his first 'Hero of the Soviet Union' award on 24 May 1943, and was promoted to major in June, having become commanding officer of his squadron.

On 21 September 1943, Alexander Pokryshkin was involved in another high-profile air engagement.

Alexander Pokryshkin shot down three Junkers Ju 88s in a single pass, overcome by hatred, as he had just found out that the entire family of Zhmud, his mechanic, had been killed in German-occupied territories.

In February 1944, Alexander Pokryshkin was offered a promotion and an easy desk job managing new pilot training.

Alexander Pokryshkin immediately rejected this offer, and stayed at his old regiment and his old rank.

Alexander Pokryshkin had been made a famous hero by the propaganda machine, and he was not allowed to fly as often because of fear of him being killed.

In June 1944, Alexander Pokryshkin was promoted to colonel and given command of 9th Guards Air Division.

On 19 August 1944, for 550 front-line sorties and 53 official kills, Alexander Pokryshkin was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time.

Alexander Pokryshkin was the first person to receive the award three times, and he is the only Soviet soldier to receive the award three times during wartime.

Alexander Pokryshkin was forbidden to fly altogether, but managed to circumvent the rule a few times and still continued to score an occasional kill.

At some point during May of 1944, Alexander Pokryshkin met with Mikhail Devyataev, who later became famous for his escape with nine other Soviet POWs from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemunde, Usedom.

The bulk of Alexander Pokryshkin's victories came during the time when the Soviet Air Force was still fighting at a disadvantage, and he was among the most successful Soviet pilots during the most difficult first year of the war.

Alexander Pokryshkin was repeatedly passed-over for promotion, possibly because he was just too intelligent for Stalin's comfort.

Alexander Pokryshkin died on 13 November 1985 at the age of 72, and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Alexander Pokryshkin wrote several books in Russian about his wartime experiences.

Alexander Pokryshkin appeared in the documentary TV Series The Unknown War, in episode 9, entitled "War in the Air", and, at the beginning and end of the episode, he spoke to the host and narrator, Burt Lancaster.

Alexander Pokryshkin started the war flying the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter, in which he scored almost twenty victories.

Alexander Pokryshkin claimed that the cannon's trigger, positioned at the top of the joystick, was impossible to push without moving the pilot's hand, which made the aircraft deviate from the gunsight, so finally he had his regiment's aircraft rigged so that a single button simultaneously fired cannon and machine guns.

However, Alexander Pokryshkin found the Yak-3's firepower insufficient, and personally disliked Yakovlev, so the squadron remained with the P-39.

However, one of his close friends, Soviet ace Alexander Pokryshkin Klubov, was killed in a landing mishap while converting to the La-7.

Alexander Pokryshkin subsequently cancelled his regiment's conversion, and there are multiple reports that they instead began flying the Bell P-63 Kingcobra.

Alexander Pokryshkin then flew Yak-1 fighters when the unit partially re-equipped with them.

Alexander Pokryshkin used five La-7 aircraft with the inscription, "From the Workers of Novosibirsk to Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Ivanovich Pokhryshkin", but did not fly in them himself.

The unit apparently flew P-63A or C Kingcobras after the war, and Alexander Pokryshkin would have again numbered his aircraft "100".