Aleksandr Pomazunov

Aleksandr Ivanovich Pomazunov (Russian: Александр Иванович Помазунов; 25 August [O.S. 12 August] 1915 – 12 May 1991) was a Soviet military aviation navigator. He participated in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, and the Second World War. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945, and had the rank of Guard Major.

Biography Aleksandr Ivanovich Pomazunov was born on 25 August [O.S. 12 August] 1915 in the village of Verkhniy Saltiv, in what was then Volchansky Uyezd, Kharkov Governorate, in the Russian Empire. He was born into a poor peasant family, the son of Ivan Maksimovich and Aksenya Savelyevna Pomazunovs. He was of Ukrainian nationality. In 1916, the Pomazunov family moved to the Donbass, to the city of Brianka, where Aleksandr Pomazunov's parents got a job at the Krasnopolye mine. In 1919, the red partisan Ivan Maksimovich Pomazunov died in battle with the White Guard near the city of Luhansk. In 1920, the mother took the young Sasha to the village of Revolyutsionnoye, Vovchansk Raion. There she remarried, leaving her son to be raised by her brother Taras Savelyevich Perepelitsa. In 1931, Pomazunov graduated from seven classes of an incomplete secondary school in the village of Rubizhne and left for Bryanka, where he entered the mining and industrial school. But he did not like the profession of a miner. After graduating from a technical school in 1934, he entered the Kharkov State Pedagogical Institute. After three years of study, Pomazunov returned to the village Verkhniy Saltov in May 1936 and worked as…Citește mai mult

The Great Patriotic War At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Pomazunov was in the city of Lebedin. On 7 July 1941, the regiment in which Lieutenant Pomazunov served was redeployed to the Mogilev Region of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic at the Klimovichi airfield and on July 10 joined the battles as part of the 11th Mixed Aviation Division of the Air Force of the 3rd Army of the Western Front. The task of the regiment was to bomb the columns of the advancing German troops and destroy the crossings. On 13 July 1941, a group of 4 Pe-2s, whose lead navigator was Lieutenant Pomazunov, flew out to destroy the crossing across the Dnieper near the city of Shklow. When approaching the target, the group was met with dense barrage fire. Alexander Ivanovich was wounded by shell fragments in the arm and leg, but was able to bring the bombers to the target. The crossing was destroyed by a direct hit, which delayed the advance of the Germans for several hours. When returning to their airfield, the Pe-2 group was attacked by enemy fighters. Pomazunov took possession of a machine gun and shot down one Messerschmitt Bf 109,…Citește mai mult

After the war After the end of World War II, Pomazunov continued to serve in the Soviet Air Forces until 1946. After being transferred to the reserve, Pomazunov remained to work in aviation. He was a test navigator in the aviation industry. For testing new transport aircraft, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. Then Pomazunov worked at the M. V. Frunze Central Aerodrome as a flight controller and air traffic controller. After his retirement he moved to Kyiv. Pomazunov died on 12 May 1991. He was buried in Kyiv at the Berkovets Cemetery.

Order of Lenin (27.06.1945) Two Orders of the Red Banner (01.12.1939; 12.05.1945) Two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st class (17.08.1944; 1985) Order of the Red Banner of Labour

Order of the Red Star (04.12.1941) Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (December 1942)

Books Shkadov, Ivan, ed. (1988). Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь [Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 2. Moscow: Voenizdat. ISBN 5203005362.