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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1042.PDF
424 FLIGHT APRIL 22ND, 1943 Russian Air Force Leaders The First Marshal Appointed : The New CAn-C. : Famous Arctic Flyers Serve With the Air Force FOR the first time in the historyof the Soviet Air Force theappointment of an Air Force Marshal was announced on March 17th, 1943. In January, 1943, with the appoint- ' ment of General. Nikolay Nikolaye- vitch Voronov, who was in charge of artillery operations in the battle for Stalingrad, to the rank of Marshal of Artillery, the Soviet Government initiated this rank for the separate branches of arms. It was natural that this recognition should go first to artillery, for the latter is regarded in Russia as the mother of all branches of service. First Marshal Now the Soviet Air Force has re- ceived its first Marshal. The first Air Force General upon whom this high rank was bestowed is Alexander Alexandrovitch Novikov, who, to- gether with Lt. Gen. F. I. Palalayev, conducted the Air Force operations in the Stalingrad sector and contributed effectively towards the annihilation of the German Sixth Army. Air Marshal'Novikov has had a re- markable career. On June 5th, 1940, he was appointed Major General. Within the following two years he was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Air Force. In recognition of Novikov's bril- liant leadership in the Stalingrad operations he was promoted on January 18th to Colonel General of the Air Force, and on January 27th, 1943, awarded the highly coveted decoration of the Order of Suvorov First Class. It is noteworthy that; in his rapid career, Novikov overtook other Air Force Generals older than himself. On February 3rd, 1943, when two Deputies were appointed to the C.-in-C. of the Soviet Air Force, Novikov was given the highly respon- sible position of the First Deputy Commander, while Lt. Gen. Ivah Feodorovitch Petrov was appointed Second Deputy Commander. It is now understood that Air Marshal Alexander Novikov. Marshal Novikov has been entrusted with the supreme command of the Soviet Air Force. Until the outbreak of the war, few of the Soviet Air Force Generals were known outside the Soviet Union. The only Air Force officers whose fame spread outside the frontiers of Russia were pilots who became known because of their long-distance and non-stop flights, notably over the Arctic. Even in peacetime great attention was paid in the Soviet Union to the development of aviation, not only be- cause of the importance of civil air communications, but equally because of the decisive role to be allotted to the Air Force in the event of war. Pilots who had accomplished record flights were very much honoured and held distinguished positions in the Soviet Union. With the outbreak of hostilities famous Russian pilots be- came Commanders of Air Force units. Long-range Pilot The most famous among them is Mikhail M. Gromov, the Arctic flyer. His connection with aviation began in 1917, when at the age of 18 he received his pilot's licence. In 1927, he worked in Plant No. 1 of the Stalin Aircraft Works in Moscow, and ever since bis name has been closely associated with the development of Russia's aviation. In 1937 he was the first pilot of the Soviet Ant 25-1 monoplane which made the record-breaking flight from Moscow to San-Jacinto, California, a distance of about 6,570 miles. Shortly after the outbreak of war Gromov led a Soviet commission to the U.S. composed of 47 Russian officials, mainly technical experts. They arrived in the U.S.A. by air via Nome, Alaska, and according to reports their object was to study American methods of military aircraft production. It will be remembered, that in October, 1941, Gromov visited this country on his return journey to Russia; the next year he took part in operations against the Luftwaffe on the Russian front "as Major General of the Soviet Air Force. During the winter of 1942 Gromov's units took a distinguished part in close-support operations of the Rus- sian ground forces. His skilful leader- ship enabled his units to inflict serious damage on German rail communica- tions and telegraph lines, and to destroy 49 fighters and 16 transport aircraft in one sector of the front. Perhaps even more popular abroad Lt. Gen. Ivan Feodorovitch Petrov. Maj. Gen, Mikhail M. Gromov. Maj. Gen. Georgiy F. Baidukov.
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