Ivan Kozhedub

Ivan Kozhedub was born in the village of Obrazhiyevka, a settlement in the Chernigov Governorate, Ukrainian SSR[3] (now Sumy Oblast, Ukraine) on 8 June 1920. He was the youngest of five children in a Ukrainian[4] family. For two years he attended a school for young workers, and in early 1940 graduated from the Shostka chemical technical school. Kozhedub learned to fly aircraft in the Shostkinsk aeroclub and joined the Soviet army in 1940. He graduated from the Chuguev Military Air School in June 1941 at the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but he was retained as an instructor. Kozhedub remained at the school for nearly two years where he trained many young Soviet pilots.

Feeling his talents would be better used in combat, Kozhedub requested a transfer to an operational unit and in March 1943 he was posted, as a Senior Sergeant, to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment, one of the first units to receive the new Lavochkin La-5.[5]

His first combat mission was on 26 March 1943. He operated on the Voronezh Front and, in July over the Kursk battlefields. His first kill was a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, shot down during the Battle of Kursk on 6 July 1943. By 16 August he had claimed eight air victories. He was promoted to Junior Lieutenant. Then his unit moved towards Kharkiv. At this time he usually flew escort for Petlyakov Pe-2 twin-engine bombers. He served as a fighter pilot in several areas (Steppe Front, 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1st Belorussian Front) and at different ranks, starting from senior airman up to deputy commander of his air regiment. He claimed his 61st and 62nd victories – his final claims of the War– over Berlin on 16 April 1945.

Kozhedub was attributed with the highest number of air combat victories of any Soviet pilot during World War II. He is regarded as the best Soviet flying ace of the war, and is associated with flying the Lavochkin La-7. He was reputed to have a natural gift for deflection shooting, i.e. aiming ahead of a moving target at the time of firing so that the projectile and target will collide.

Kozhedub's World War II record consisted of:

• 330 combat missions
• 120 aerial engagements
• 62 enemy aircraft shot down, including one Me 262 jet fighter (possibly Uffz Kurt Lange of 1./KG(J)54.)

Pilot Ivan Kozhedub during WW II

In 1949 Kozhedub graduated from the Air Force Academy.

In April 1951, promoted to Polkovnik (colonel), he commanded the 324th IAD (Fighter Air Division) and dispatched to Antung airfield on the China-North Korea border to fly the MiG 15[6] during the Korean War supporting the North Korean forces. He was not given permission to participate in combat missions. Under his leadership the 324th IAD claimed 239 victories, including 12 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses for the loss of 27 MiG-15s in combat and 9 pilots.

In 1956 he graduated from the High Command Academy, after which he was promoted to General. From 1971 he served in the Central Office of the Soviet Air Force and from 1978 in the general inspection group of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. He was made an Aviation Marshal in 1985.

Kozhedub was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union three times (1944, 1944, 1945), seven Orders of the Red Banner, two Order of Alexander Nevsky, two Orders of the Red Star, Order of the Patriotic War First Class, and numerous medals. He was promoted to his final rank of Marshal shortly before retirement.

Lavochkin La-5, operated in 1943–1944

Lavochkin La-5FN, operated in 1944

According to Soviet aces 1941—1945. The victories of Stalin's Falcons (Russian: Советские асы 1941—1945. Победы сталинских соколов) by Mikhail Bykov.

• Until August 1944 Kozhedub was flying on Lavochkin La-5, after that Lavochkin La-7.

Kozhedub allegedly shot down two USAAF P-51 Mustang fighters in a friendly fire incident 17 April 1945. He encountered a group of American B-17 Flying Fortresses under attack by Luftwaffe aircraft.[7] His aircraft was apparently mistaken by American escort fighters for the enemy and attacked. Kozhedub, having no other option, defended himself by shooting down two of the P-51s. So far, this story is not confirmed completely. Film footage exists that had been touted as Kozhedub's actual gun camera film from the event; however, the footage was shot using Zeiss equipment, which was used primarily by the Luftwaffe.

Kozhedub on a 2020 stamp of Russia

Soviet Union

• Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union (4 February 1944, 19 August 1944 and 18 August 1945)[8]
• Two Order of Lenin (4 February 1944 and 21 February 1978)
• Seven Order of the Red Banner (22 July 1943, 30 September 1943, 29 March 1945, 29 June 1945, 2 June 1951, 22 February 1958, and 26 June 1970)
• Order of Alexander Nevsky (31 July 1945)
• Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (11 March 1985)
• Two Order of the Red Star (4 June 1955 and 20 October 1955)
• Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd degree (22 February 1990)
• Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd degree (30 April 1975)
• Medal "For Battle Merit"
• Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" (1945)
• Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" (1945)
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
• Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1965)
• Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975)
• Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985)
• Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
• Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1976)
• Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"
• Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class
• Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (1948)
• Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1957)
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1967)
• Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1978)
• Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1988)
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (1947)
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kyiv" (1982)

Foreign

• Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China)
• Patriotic Order of Merit, Bronze, 3rd class (East Germany)
• Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia)
• Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Army" (Mongolia)
• Order of the National Flag, 3rd class (North Korea)
• Order of Freedom and Independence, 1st class (North Korea)
• Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)

A military university in Kharkiv is named in his honor, the Kozhedub University of the Air Force.