Imagine the following situation. You are a military pilot who is in a deadly whirlwind of hot air combat. You are out of ammunition, you are running out of fuel, your car is damaged and on fire. And against you are superior enemy forces, from which you can no longer escape. The question is: what are your actions? When I was a boy raised on war movies like "Only old men go to battle", then very boldly found a way out of a difficult situation. Bravely answered - "I'll go to the ram!" ...
Growing up, an understanding came that it is not so easy to decide on this feat. For an air ram, one must have nerves of steel and noble fury.
All this - both nerves and fury - were in the possession of six hundred Soviet pilots, who during the Great Patriotic War stopped the enemy with a murderous collision. Six hundred heroes deliberately went to their deaths in order to interrupt the flight of the invaders over our Motherland. Thirty-four pilots have accomplished this feat twice! Most of them died.
It is believed that the very first ram of the Great Patriotic War was carried out by a senior lieutenant. Ivan Ivanov June 22, 1941 at 4:25 am over the Mlynov airfield near the city of Dubno. A red star fighter rammed the Heinkel bomber, after which both planes crashed. For this feat, Ivan Ivanov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Posthumously.
On the morning of the first day of the war, four more Soviet falcons made a similar desperate act. Of the first five Soviet pilots who opened an air ram count on June 22, 1941, only two survived the collision: Dmitry Kokorev in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Zambrov and Pyotr Ryabtsev in the sky over Brest.
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Let's ask a rhetorical question: how can you survive after a collision at a great height, and even at high speeds? Moreover, what is the probability of safely surviving two air rams?
And if there were three !? You yourself understand that after the third plane crash the chance to land in health and consciousness tends to zero.
So, in the history of our country there is a person who committed four rams, survived, went through the whole war, smashed enemies to the very end and lived to old age.
This is a pilot Boris Ivanovich Kovzan.
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He made his very first ram on October 29, 1941 in the battle of Moscow. On that day, Junior Lieutenant Kovzan flew out to escort attack aircraft on a MiG-3 fighter, and on the way back to his airfield noticed an enemy reconnaissance aircraft Junkers-88. The Germans have long sought to find our airfield near the city of Zaraisk.
The winged Fritz scout could not be allowed to carry out his task. But since all the ammunition had already been used up, Boris Kovzan decided to ram.Our pilot came in from behind and hit the tail fin of the enemy aircraft with the propeller. After the attack, Junkers fell down, tumbling randomly, but the MiG still retained controllability, and Boris planted it in a field near some village.
What's more amazing about this heroic story. The next day Boris returned to his regiment. But he arrived not on foot, not on a horse-drawn carriage, and not on a passing car, as happened with many pilots who had to parachute from burning and damaged cars. No, Boris flew in his MiG. He managed to repair the screw damaged during the ram ... in the collective farm smithy! Imagine, some Russian folk craftsman straightened and balanced the most complex aircraft part!
The second ram was carried out by Boris Kovzan on February 22, 1942. On that day, in the Vyshny Volochok area, on a Yak-1 fighter, he rammed a Junkers-87 dive bomber, after which he returned to his airfield and again made a successful landing on a damaged aircraft.
One more courageous deed of our hero should be noted. In the spring of 1942, fierce battles were fought in the northwestern direction from Moscow. Fighter pilots sometimes had to make 6-7 sorties in one day. In one of the flights, Kovzan noticed seven Junkers-88 bombers and started a fight with them. At this time, six fascist cover fighters approached. The Soviet pilot entered the fray.
He one fought against thirteen enemy aircraft. And in that unequal battle, the incredible happened: 20-year-old Lieutenant Kovzan shot down a lieutenant colonel of German aviation, an experienced pilot who in 1936 bombed the cities of Spain, and in 1941 raided London.
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The third ramming ram for Kovzan also ended well.On July 7, 1942, near the village of Lyubnitsa, Novgorod Region, Boris shot down an enemy Messerschmitt-109 fighter in a head-on ram.
Once again, I would like to draw your attention: in a frontal attack!
The blow hit the wing on the wing. Messer rushed to the ground, spinning, and our MiG turned out to be stronger, and Kovzan managed to land his car, however, without releasing the chassis due to its damage.
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The most famous, most dangerous and most incredible was the fourth ram of Boris Kovzan. On August 13, 1942, in the sky over the city of Staraya Russa on a La-5 plane, he entered into battle with six German fighters. There were no chances to stand up to the six at once. After a few minutes of hot air combat, a shard of glass from the shattered cockpit injured the pilot's eye. All the ammunition was shot. The car was on fire. Kovzan reported by radio that he was leaving the plane and opened the cockpit to jump with a parachute. And at that moment he saw a German ace rushing towards him ...
A Soviet pilot wounded in the head on a burning plane went to his next ram. Fourth in a row…
Combat vehicles collided head-on and fell to pieces. The German pilot died immediately, and Kovzan was thrown out of the plane through the canopy open ahead of time. So lucky for him for the first time in that day.
In second Once Providence smiled at the pilot, when, having flown several thousand meters unconscious, he suddenly woke up, at a very low altitude (about 200 meters) above the ground, he pulled the exhaust ring and the parachute was able to open. He opened up, but the speed of the fall was too high and too dangerous.
IN the third once Luck accompanied Kovzan when she landed him in the swamp. But the blow was still very strong. Boris broke his leg, arms and several ribs.
There was a swamp near a village occupied by the Germans ...
But, apparently, the Heavenly Forces favored the desperate pilot - the partisans who saw the air battle arrived in time to the place of the fall and saved Kovzan. Fourth luck after the fourth battering ram! An obvious and absolutely incredible coincidence of circumstances of that unique day!
After bandaging in the dugout of the partisan camp, Boris Kovzan was taken at night to the front line - to his own. The Soviet ace came to his senses only on the seventh day in a hospital in Moscow. He had several wounds from shrapnel, his collarbone and jaw were broken, his ribs, both arms and leg were damaged. The doctors could not save the pilot's right eye. For two months, doctors fought for the pilot's life. Everyone well understood that only Miracle saved him in that battle.
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Boris Ivanovich Kovzan took part in the war from the first day.
During the Great War, Soviet pilots performed more than 600 air rams (their exact number is unknown, since research continues at the present time, new feats of Stalin's falcons are gradually becoming known)
In the fall of 1941, a circular was even sent out to the Luftwaffe, which forbade the approach to Soviet aircraft closer than 100 meters in order to avoid air ramming.
It should be noted that the pilots of the Soviet Air Force used ramming on all types of aircraft: fighters, bombers, attack aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft.
Perhaps the most famous land ram is a feat that was performed on June 26, 1941 on the DB-3f (Il-4, twin-engine long-range bomber) by the crew of Captain Nikolai Gastello. The bomber was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire and committed the so-called. "Fire ram", striking the enemy mechanized column.
In addition, it cannot be said that an air ram would necessarily lead to the death of the pilot.
Statistics show that approximately 37% of the pilots were killed in an air ramming attack.
The rest of the pilots not only remained alive, but even kept the aircraft in a more or less combat-ready state, so many aircraft could continue air combat and made a successful landing.
There are examples when pilots made two successful rams in one air battle.
Several dozen Soviet pilots performed the so-called. "Double" rams, this is when the first time the enemy's plane could not be shot down and then it was necessary to finish it off with the second blow.
There is even a case when the fighter pilot O. Kilgovatov, in order to destroy the enemy, had to make four ram attacks.
35 Soviet pilots made two rams each, N.V. Terekhin and A.S. Khlobystov - three each.
And our hero is the only pilot in the world who made four air rams, and three times he returned to his home airfield on his plane.
In October 1941, the 42nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, which had previously worked on the enemy from Yelets, flew to the deep Volovsky District of the Tula Region.
In those days, the situation near Moscow was such that every pilot was in demand, especially with combat experience: the enemy captured Oryol and rushed to Tula.
And Boris already had a downed plane on his account.
True, I had never flown the "Migahs" that were in service with this regiment before.
Together with the regimental engineer, he had to study the Mig-3.
This machine, conceived as a high-altitude interceptor, at an altitude of 5 thousand meters developed a speed of up to 630 kilometers per hour, which was much higher than the capabilities of any other fighter, and had good maneuverability, but it lacked cannon armament: machine guns were on the "blinks" - a rather weak weapon against enemy bombers.
In addition, the closer to the ground, the more the plane lost its qualities, while most air battles took place at altitudes up to three thousand meters.
A few days later Zimin was informed that the pilot was ready for an independent flight.
On October 29, 1941, junior lieutenant Kovzan in his "Mig-3" flew to escort attack aircraft to the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Zagorsk, Moscow region.
Having received a hit from a ground anti-aircraft gun, he slightly lagged behind his comrades and on the way back his plane was overtaken by four Messers.
Kovzan managed to shoot down one of them.
He managed to break away from the rest, having gone to a height unattainable for the Germans.
When he was already approaching his airfield, he made out the leading aerial reconnaissance
Junkers - the Germans have long sought to find this airfield, and it looks like this scout was close to completing his task.
All cartridges were already used up, and Kovzan decided to go to the ram.
An airy merry-go-round ensued, each trying to follow the other.
The enemy began to maneuver out of the battle.
Kovzan stretched after him, waiting for the right moment to hit the stabilizer of the enemy aircraft with his propeller.
“At this moment it seems as if a piece of ice has swallowed it - it grows cold inside,” Kovzan said years later. - This, of course, is the same fear that is inherent in all living things. But we are people, we overbear it in ourselves! I had to go through this "cold" four times.
And what is interesting: then, on earth, I could usually remember almost the entire battle in order, as if my mind was photographing every moment ...
After the impact, the enemy car went down, tumbling randomly, but the "moment" still retained controllability.
After this ramming, Kovzan made an emergency landing on a collective farm field, not far from the village of Titovo.
People were already running to his plane ...
The pilot, who was not injured, could have reached the airfield on foot, but did not dare to abandon the plane.
He managed to repair the propeller in the collective farm smithy and he flew to his native regiment on his plane.
For the downed plane, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner
On that day, he rammed a Ju-87 dive bomber in the Vyshny Volochok area on a Yak-1 plane, after which he returned to his airfield and successfully landed on a damaged plane.
The third ramming for Kovzan also ended almost painlessly. Having shot down on July 8, 1942, near the village of Lobnitsy, Novgorod Region, with a Me-109 ram, he successfully returned to his airfield.
The most famous was his fourth ram.
On August 13, 1942, on the La-5 fighter, Captain B.I.Kovzan discovered a group of enemy bombers and fighters and entered into battle with them.
In a fierce battle, his plane was shot down.
An enemy machine-gun burst fell on the cockpit of the fighter, the instrument panel was smashed, and the pilot's head was cut by shrapnel. The car was on fire.
He reported on the radio that he was jumping with a parachute and had already opened the flashlight to leave the plane.
The wounded pilot barely noticed how one of the German aircraft launched a frontal attack on him.
The machines were closing fast.
“If the German can't stand it now and turns upwards, then it will be necessary to ram,” thought Kovzan.
A pilot wounded in the head on a burning plane went to a ram.
The planes collided head-on.
But the German's lantern was closed and he fell with the destroyed plane, and Kovzan was thrown out of the cockpit, since the lantern was open.
He fell unconscious, but during the fall, his parachute somehow partially opened.
The pilot landed right in the swamp, breaking his leg and several ribs. The partisans who came to the rescue pulled him out of the swamp and transported him across the front line.
Kovzan spent 10 months in the hospital, lost his right eye.
He was wounded, but now he is healthy, his head is in place, his arms and legs have been restored.
The verdict of the commission for Boris Kovzan was very difficult: "You can't fly anymore."
But it was a real Soviet falcon, who could not imagine life without flights and the sky.
As a result, the pilot got to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force A. Novikov. He promised to help.
Received a new conclusion of the medical board: "Suitable for flights on all types of fighters."
Boris Kovzan writes a report with a request to send him to the belligerent units, receives several refusals.
But this time he achieved his goal, the pilot was enrolled in the 144th Air Defense Division (Air Defense) near Saratov.
In total, during the years of World War II, the Soviet pilot flew 360 sorties, took part in 127 air battles, shot down 28 German aircraft, 6 of them after being seriously wounded and being one-eyed.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 24, 1943, for courage and courage shown in battles with enemies, Captain Boris Ivanovich Kovzan was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 1103).
After the war he continued to serve. In 1954 he graduated from the Air Force Academy.
Boris Ivanovich Kovzan took part in the war from the first day. He opened his combat account on June 24, 1941, by shooting down a Do-215 bomber. He made his first ram on October 29, 1941.
During the Great War, Soviet pilots performed more than 600 air rams (their exact number is unknown, since research continues at the present time, new feats of Stalin's falcons are gradually becoming known)
In the fall of 1941, a circular was even sent out to the Luftwaffe, which forbade the approach to Soviet aircraft closer than 100 meters in order to avoid air ramming.
It should be noted that the pilots of the Soviet Air Force used ramming on all types of aircraft: fighters, bombers, attack aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft.
Perhaps the most famous land ram is a feat that was performed on June 26, 1941 on the DB-3f (Il-4, twin-engine long-range bomber) by the crew of Captain Nikolai Gastello. The bomber was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire and committed the so-called. "Fire ram", striking the enemy mechanized column.
In addition, it cannot be said that an air ram would necessarily lead to the death of the pilot. Statistics show that approximately 37% of the pilots were killed in an air ramming attack. The rest of the pilots not only remained alive, but even kept the aircraft in a more or less combat-ready state, so many aircraft could continue air combat and made a successful landing. There are examples when pilots made two successful rams in one air battle. Several dozen Soviet pilots performed the so-called. "Double" rams, this is when the first time the enemy's plane could not be shot down and then it was necessary to finish it off with the second blow. There is even a case when the fighter pilot O. Kilgovatov, in order to destroy the enemy, had to make four ram attacks. 35 Soviet pilots made two rams each, N.V. Terekhin and A.S. Khlobystov - three each.
And our hero is the only pilot in the world who made four air rams, and three times he returned to his home airfield on his plane.
In October 1941, the 42nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, which had previously worked on the enemy from Yelets, flew to the deep Volovsky District of the Tula Region.
In those days, the situation near Moscow was such that every pilot was in demand, especially with combat experience: the enemy captured Oryol and rushed to Tula. And Boris already had a downed plane on his account. True, I had never flown the "Migahs" that were in service with this regiment before. Together with the regimental engineer, he had to study the Mig-3.
This machine, conceived as a high-altitude interceptor, at an altitude of 5 thousand meters developed a speed of up to 630 kilometers per hour, which far exceeded the capabilities of any other fighter, and possessed good maneuverability, but it lacked cannon armament: machine guns were on the "blinks" - a rather weak weapon against enemy bombers. In addition, the closer to the ground, the more the plane lost its qualities, while most air battles took place at altitudes up to three thousand meters.
A few days later Zimin was informed that the pilot was ready for an independent flight.
On October 29, 1941, junior lieutenant Kovzan in his "Mig-3" flew to escort attack aircraft to the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Zagorsk, Moscow region. Having received a hit from a ground anti-aircraft gun, he slightly lagged behind his comrades and on the way back his plane was overtaken by four Messers. Kovzan managed to shoot down one of them. He managed to break away from the rest, having gone to a height unattainable for the Germans.When he was already flying up to his airfield, he made out the leading aerial reconnaissance Junkers - the Germans had long sought to find this airfield, and it seems that this scout was close to fulfilling his task.
All cartridges were already used up, and Kovzan decided to go to the ram. An airy merry-go-round ensued, each trying to follow the other. The enemy began to maneuver out of the battle. Kovzan stretched after him, waiting for the right moment to hit the stabilizer of the enemy aircraft with his propeller.
“At this moment it seems as if a piece of ice has swallowed it - it grows cold inside,” Kovzan said years later. - This, of course, is the same fear that is inherent in all living things. But we are people, we overbear it in ourselves! I had to go through this "cold" four times. And what is interesting: then, on earth, I could usually remember almost the entire battle in order, as if my mind was photographing every moment ...
After the impact, the enemy car went down, tumbling randomly, but the "moment" still retained controllability. After this ramming, Kovzan made an emergency landing on a collective farm field, not far from the village of Titovo. People were already running to his plane ... The pilot, who was not injured, could have reached the airfield on foot, but did not dare to abandon the plane. He managed to repair the propeller in the collective farm smithy and he flew to his native regiment on his plane.
For the downed plane, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner
Second battering ram Kovzan produced on February 22, 1942. On that day, he rammed a Ju-87 dive bomber in the Vyshny Volochok area on a Yak-1 plane, after which he returned to his airfield and successfully landed on a damaged plane.
Third ramfor Kovzan it also ended almost painlessly. Having shot down on July 8, 1942, near the village of Lobnitsy, Novgorod Region, with a Me-109 ram, he successfully returned to his airfield.
The most famous was his fourth ram... On August 13, 1942, on the La-5 fighter, Captain B.I.Kovzan discovered a group of enemy bombers and fighters and entered into battle with them. In a fierce battle, his plane was shot down. An enemy machine-gun burst fell on the cockpit of the fighter, the instrument panel was smashed, and the pilot's head was cut by shrapnel. The car was on fire. He reported on the radio that he was jumping with a parachute and had already opened the flashlight to leave the plane.
The wounded pilot barely noticed how one of the German aircraft launched a frontal attack on him. The machines were closing fast. “If the German can't stand it now and turns upwards, then it will be necessary to ram,” thought Kovzan. A pilot wounded in the head on a burning plane went to a ram.
The planes collided head-on. But the German's lantern was closed and he fell with the destroyed plane, and Kovzan was thrown out of the cockpit, since the lantern was open. He fell unconscious, but during the fall, his parachute somehow partially opened. The pilot landed right in the swamp, breaking his leg and several ribs. The partisans who came to the rescue pulled him out of the swamp and transported him across the front line.
Kovzan spent 10 months in the hospital, lost his right eye. He was wounded, but now he is healthy, his head is in place, his arms and legs have been restored. The verdict of the commission for Boris Kovzan was very difficult: "You can't fly anymore"... But it was a real Soviet falcon, who could not imagine life without flights and the sky.
As a result, the pilot got to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force A. Novikov. He promised to help. Received a new conclusion of the medical board: "Suitable for flights on all types of fighters." Boris Kovzan writes a report with a request to send him to the belligerent units, receives several refusals. But this time he achieved his goal, the pilot was enrolled in the 144th Air Defense Division (Air Defense) near Saratov.
In total, during the years of World War II, the Soviet pilot flew 360 sorties, took part in 127 air battles, shot down 28 German aircraft, 6 of them after being seriously wounded and being one-eyed.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 24, 1943, for courage and courage shown in battles with enemies, Captain Boris Ivanovich Kovzan was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 1103).
After the war he continued to serve. In 1954 he graduated from the Air Force Academy.
Since 1958, Lieutenant Colonel Kovzan has been in reserve. He lived in Ryazan, worked as the head of the flying club. Then retired colonel Kovzan lived in Minsk. Boris Ivanovich died in Minsk on August 31, 1985 at the age of 63.
In 2005, in the city of Ryazan, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived. And in Bobruisk there is a street to them. Kovzan.
In preparing the post, the following materials were used.
The self-sacrifice of Soviet pilots, who went en masse to air rams, forced the Luftwaffe command to issue a directive forbidding their pilots to approach the Russians at a dangerous distance. But this did not always help, and even experienced aces fell prey to beardless youths who went on deadly rams with the enemy.
Boris Kovzan became a real legend of Soviet fighter aviation, who committed four such rams, and in three cases even managed to land a crippled car at his airfield.
Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Ivanovich Kovzan
Born to fly and fight
A native of the city of Shakhty, Rostov Region, he was born on April 7, 1922. He grew up in the Belarusian city of Bobruisk, where he moved with his parents. He graduated from the 8th grade of secondary school there.
In 1939 he entered the Odessa Military Aviation School, from which he graduated a year before the war, having mastered the principles of air combat and precision bombing.
He continued his military service in the Western Special Military District on the territory of the Gomel region (Belarus), honing his flying skills and preparing for an imminent confrontation with the fighters of Nazi Germany. He flew on an outdated I-15 bis fighter, which should have become an easy target for the German aces who passed all of Europe.
Soviet fighter I-15 bis
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War was overwhelming. The Soviet Union lost a huge amount of its military equipment. The loss of aircraft, many of which the Germans did not even give the opportunity to take off from their airfields, were simply catastrophic, so each fighter was worth its weight in gold.
Boris Kovzan entered the first direct clash with the enemy on June 24, on the third day of the war. In his I-15 bis, he attacked the German Heinkel-111 bomber (according to other sources, Dornier-215), sending it burning to the ground.
German bomber Dornier-215
In the fall of 1941 he was transferred to serve near Moscow. Boris "saddled" the more modern Yak-1 aircraft, which for several months became his real friend and savior.
Cut off the fascist's tail
The pilot, as part of the group, repeatedly flies on combat missions, driving off German bombers trying to break through to the capital. He enters air battles, but cannot boast of a new star on the fuselage of his fighter.
About his first ram, committed on October 29, 1941, various sources report differently. Some say that Boris was returning from a combat mission, during which he shot all the ammunition. Others argue that our pilot ran out of ammunition already during the battle with Hitler's Me-110 reconnaissance aircraft.
Whatever it was, but Boris Kovzan, who did not want to miss the enemy, cut off his tail unit with the propeller of his aircraft. You need to understand what kind of virtuoso flight technique the pilot had to possess for this.
The German reconnaissance officer who entered the peak exploded on the ground, and the Soviet pilot returned to the airfield, reporting to the command on the results of the sortie. At the same time, he did not consider a perfect ram to be a special feat.
The enemy will not pass
On February 21 (according to some sources, 22), 1942, the Yakov group flew out to cover the movement of troops along the Moscow-Leningrad highway to the Torzhok area of \u200b\u200bthe Tver region.
Seeing three German Ju-88 bombers in the air, Boris Kovzan courageously attacked one of them, dodging the oncoming fire. In the whirlwind of air combat, he did not even notice how he shot all the ammunition, and did not complete the task.
Then junior lieutenant Kovzan decided to repeat his favorite trick. And he succeeded! Having lost the tail unit, Junkers crashed into the ground, and the Soviet pilot returned safely to the airfield.
The story of how Boris Kovzan shot down German planes quickly became overgrown with various details and flew around the entire North-Western Front. It was rumored that Goering himself gave the order never to approach the "deranged Russians" in order to prevent the latter from making an air ram.
But when on July 7, 1942, the junior lieutenant Boris Kovzan, presented for the award of the Order of Lenin, cut off the tail of the third enemy fighter with a propeller, he became a real legend. And the most interesting thing - again, as if nothing had happened, he returned to the airfield on his Yak-1.
Soviet fighter Yak-1
I am ready to give my life for the Motherland
But Boris Kovzan was not lucky with the fourth ram. Although it turned out to be great luck that he survived.
On August 13, 1942, in the skies over Staraya Russa, Novgorod Region, his plane was returning from a combat mission. As always, with ammunition loaded to the last bullet.
Suddenly, a link of German Me-109 fighters emerged from the clouds. Quickly realizing that the Soviet pilot had nothing to shoot back with, the Nazis began to play cat and mouse with him, using the Yak-1 as an air target.
Methodically shooting Kovzan's fighter, performing unthinkable aerobatics, they managed to smash the canopy of his cockpit, seriously wounding the pilot himself (the bullet knocked out his eye). Wanting to give his life at a higher price, the pilot turned around and tried to make a head-on ram.
Surprisingly, the fascist did not shy away either. The head-on collision was of such force that both aircraft flew into small pieces. The German died on the spot, and Kovzan was thrown out of the wrecked cabin.
Frontal ram
Thank you guardian angel
Subsequently, he could not remember exactly whether he pulled the parachute ring, or it was opened by an unknown force. Well, I opened it ... Not completely. The pilot rushed to the ground at high speed and fell into a local swamp.
He would certainly have drowned if it were not for the peasants working nearby, who pulled Boris Kovzan out of the swamp and hid him literally a few minutes before the German search team arrived at the scene (the battle was going on over the occupied territory).
Policemen and fascists believed the words of the former collective farmers, who claimed that the Soviet pilot was swallowed up in a quagmire. Moreover, we ourselves did not want to smear our boots with “Russian mud”.
After a couple of days, Boris was transported to the partisans, from where he was evacuated to the mainland.
Get your way at any cost
The doctors still managed to save the seriously wounded pilot, although the damaged right eye had to be removed for this. Later, Boris Kovzan said that the 10 months spent in the hospital were the most difficult in his life.
He almost completely recovered his health, but the medical commission found the pilot unfit for service in fighter aviation. This came as a severe blow to the guy who was barely 21 years old.
But that was not the character of the hero, he so "got" the members of the medical commissions that, in the end, he was allowed to fly without restrictions. And this is with one eye !!!
A small screw of the big Victory
Until the end of the war, Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Kovzan had 28 aerial victories, four of which were rammed.
True, the valiant prowess subsided a little, and he did not go to ramming anymore.
After the war, he flew in jets and taught this to the young recruits. Colonel Kovzan retired in 1958 as a result of the massive reduction of the Soviet Army.
For some time he lived in Ryazan, where he headed the local flying club, after which he moved to the capital of Soviet Belarus. He died on August 31, 1985.
Streets in several cities of the former USSR were named after him, and in 2014 the Russian Post issued a postage stamp dedicated to the feat of this extraordinary man.
Born on April 7, 1922 in the city of Shakhty, now the Rostov region, in the family of an employee. He graduated from 8 classes in the city of Bobruisk. Boris Kovzan, like many of his other peers, ...
Born on April 7, 1922 in the town of Shakhty, now the Rostov Region, in the family of an employee. He graduated from 8 classes in the city of Bobruisk.
Boris Kovzan, like many of his other peers, learned to fly at the local flying club. In 1939 he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army, a year later he graduated from the Odessa Military Aviation Pilot School.
From the very first days of the Great Patriotic War at the front. Junior Lieutenant Kovzan opened his combat account already in August 1941 by shooting down an enemy Dornier-215 bomber. Boris Ivanovich himself recalls:
- My heart was bleeding when I learned that on the first day of the war, several bombs were dropped on my native Bobruisk. On the third day of the war, German "vultures" were seen in the skies over Gomel, where I served. I asked for permission to take off ... The fascist Ace behaved insolently. It made me "excited" even more! Well, I think I'll show you where the crayfish winter. He chose a comfortable position and opened fire. Ace flashed and went down ...
And for the first time he rammed an enemy plane in the battle near Moscow, on October 29, 1941, fighting as part of the 42nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. On that day, Boris Kovzan flew on a MiG-3 plane to escort attack aircraft to the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Zaraysk, Moscow region:
- I was firing at the enemy convoy, suddenly I noticed the Messerschmitt-110, which was “covering” its own. I decided to attack. I knew that aircraft of this type had strong offensive weapons and a coaxial machine gun that protected the rear hemisphere. Nevertheless, I managed to hit the shooter, but then the ammunition ran out, and the fuel was running out. Then he went to the ram ... He himself landed safely at his airfield. "
For this feat, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On February 22, 1942, Senior Lieutenant Kovzan again rammed an enemy bomber on a Yak-1 fighter in the Vyshny Volochok area. And again he landed on the damaged plane.
… There were fierce battles. Fighter pilots had to make 6 - 7 sorties per day. On this day, it seems, turned out to be a lull. But no, the enemy was not asleep. A combat alarm sounded at the airfield. Kovzan is in the air. On the radio, the aircraft controller said: go to the village of Viny. Not reaching Vin, Boris intercepted seven Ju-88s and started a fight with them. At this time, six cover fighters approached. He entered the fray: one with thirteen ...
- The fight was peculiar: you attack a bomber, you look, a fighter comes in on you. One Messer comes into the back of my car. In order to get out of the blow, I dropped sharply, then took the handle over myself, put the car on my back and abruptly removed the gas. The fighter that attacked me from behind slips under my car. From such an inverted position, I noticed that the other Messer was going into a frontal attack. I open fire from a distance of 1200 meters. The enemy plane flew - flew, then pecked, went down. I saw a parachutist being thrown out ...
One Soviet fighter fought against 13 enemy aircraft for 45 minutes. Kovzan, who was only 19 years old, shot down the Lieutenant Colonel of the German Army, who was 54 years old. A seasoned aerial wolf bombed the cities of Spain in 1936, flew to London in 1941, then he was transferred from the Berlin air defense to our North-Western Front.
How strong friendship is needed in battle, the reliable shoulder of a comrade! And the infantryman will disappear without her, and the tanker and the scout need her, and, of course, the winged people there, in the sky, high above the ground.
Pilot Manov, he loved to make fun of his friend. But when he laughed at "Fly" (that was the name of Kovzan's regiment) on the ground, he knew that there was no friend more reliable than Boris in the air.
On July 9, 1942, a group of Soviet bombers headed for the German airfield Demyansk. Eight of our fighters covered the heavily laden vehicles. Kovzan, together with Senior Lieutenant Manov, received an order to be above the entire group of fighters and to distract the enemy when he appeared on the flight path. Not reaching 20 kilometers to the airfield, Boris noticed 2 German fighters, which launched an attack on Manov. To save a comrade, he sharply turned the car and gave barrage fire ahead of enemy aircraft.
The German pilots used the following tactics: one tried to go into the tail of Kovzan's car, the other went into a frontal attack. On the second run, the German broke through the water-oil system in Kovzan's car. Boris barely kept her on the wing and still managed to strike with his wing on the enemy's wing on a collision course. It happened in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Lyubnitsa, Novgorod region.
The blow was so strong that sparks fell from his eyes - red, black. When Kovzan came to his senses, his car with a severed wing rushed to the ground. Straining his last strength, he managed to go into horizontal flight, pull the highway and sit on his "stomach" without letting go of the wheels. Boris Ivanovich recalls:
- When I rammed the enemy for the third time, my plane already had several holes, but still obeyed me. The German pilot jumped out with a parachute, but he got entangled in the wreckage of the plane that had flared up ... I, somehow, got into the wrecked car. Residents of the village of Demyanik, over which the battle took place, watched the fight. The kids ran up to me in a crowd: "Uncle, uncle ..." What kind of uncle I am for you, - I tell them, - I'm only 20 years old ... Although I was terribly tired, I did not dare to leave the car. I knew that the locals could have stolen valuable parts. I waited for the district policeman ...
After his return, there was a meeting at the airfield. Friends congratulated Kovzan on another victory. But not everyone was destined to live to see the bright day of Victory. Of Kovzan's 16 combat friends, only three survived ...
Grigory Konev. He was awarded three Orders of the Red Banner. He fought a lot of air battles. On his account there were 28 downed aircraft. He died in one of the air battles.
Sasha Berko. Shot down 24 aircraft. His car was set on fire. He jumped out with a parachute. He was captured and hanged in the city of Smolensk.
Ivan Samsonov had 12 shot down planes. Killed during a combat mission.
It always became sad in the dugout when friends found out: this bed too will be empty today ... The owner will not return, everyone understood what had happened. The night dragged on for a long time. In the morning, the gloomy friends of the deceased again left on fighters across the front line to avenge the death of their comrade.
