Vitaly Popkov

For Ukrainian cyclist, see Vitaly Popkov (cyclist).

Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov
Native name	Виталий Иванович Попков
Born	(1922-05-01)1 May 1922 Moscow, RSFSR
Died	2 June 2010(2010-06-02) (aged 88) Moscow, Russian Federation
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Air Force
Years of service	1940 – 1989
Rank	General-Lieutenant of Aviation
Unit	5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union (twice)

Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov (Russian: Виталий Иванович Попков; 1 May 1922 – 2 June 2010) was a Soviet fighter pilot who became a flying ace during the Second World War, credited with around 40 aerial victories. He was also a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life

Popkov was born on 1 May 1922 to a Russian family in Moscow; he grew up in Sochi from 1930 to 1934 before moving to Abkhazia. After graduating from the Gagra Glider School in 1938 he returned to Moscow, where he went on to graduate from his tenth grade of school and aeroclub training before entering the military in September 1940. Upon graduating from the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots in September 1941 he began further training at the Batay Military Aviation School of Pilots, which had been relocated to Azerbaijan due to the war. After graduating in March he was posted to the 4th Reserve Aviation Regiment based in Morshansk.

World War II

In May 1942 Popkov arrived at the warfront as a pilot in the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Upon seeing one of the LaGG-3 used by the regiment parked at the airfield he became very excited and jumped into the plane to check out the cockpit, but was stopped by a soldier on duty and told to wait for his shift. Soon he had a turn to fly it, and on 10 June he shot down his first enemy aircraft, a Ju-88. On 3 August 1942 he was shot down, but survived the incident with severe burns and shrapnel wounds having parachuted out. The next month he gained his third and last aerial victory while flying the LaGG-3 before moving on to flying the La-5, which he would flew for most of the war and gained most of his shootdowns in. Popkov quickly rose through the ranks of his unit, reaching the position of flight commander by the time he was first nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union in August 1943 for having shot down 17 enemy aircraft over the course of 168 sorties. On 16 August 1944 Popkov was again injured in combat after his plane was hit by an anti-aircraft shell during a mission to attack an enemy airfield. Wounds to his right hand and right leg forced him to steer his plane with his left hand, but nevertheless he managed to issue instructions to the aircraft under his command and make a safe landing at their destination airfield; later that month he was promoted to the rank of captain. At the time he was nominated for his second gold star in February 1945 he had reached the position of squadron commander in addition to having just gained his first aerial victories on the La-7 earlier that month. By the end of the war he was credited with 345 sorties, 85 aerial engagements, and an estimated 40 aerial victories (one of which was an enemy aircraft rammed during a mid-air collision); seven of the aircraft he shot down were multi-engined. Throughout the conflict he participated in Rzhev-Sychev, Little Saturn, Luhansk, Izyum-Barvenkovo, Belgorod-Kharkov, Donbass, Zaporizhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov-Sandomierz, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Berlin and Prague battles.

Postwar

Post war he graduated from the Red Banner Air Force Academy in 1951, and then served with the General Staff Academy to 1964, being promoted to Lt. General of Aviation in 1968. He flew 25 types of aircraft and helicopters during service with the Ministry of Defense, USSR.

He then taught at the Military Engineering Academy until 1980.

His biography became the basis of the 1973 film Only Old Men Are Going to Battle directed by Leonid Bykov as the prototypes of Comesqa Titarenko a.k.a. Maestro (portrayed by L. Bykov himself) and Kuznechik (portrayed by Sergei Ivanov). A bronze bust of Popkov was erected in 1953 in Moscow on Samotechnaya Square.

Awards

Soviet

• Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (8 September 1943 and 27 June 1945)
• Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR (8 July 1967)
• Three Orders of Lenin (26 August 1942, 8 August 1943, and 28 September 1956)
• Two Orders of the Red Banner (30 July 1943 and 6 April 1955)
• Order of Alexander Nevsky (17 August 1944)
• Two Orders of the Patriotic War of 1st class (23 May 1943 and 11 May 1985)
• Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class (29 May 1945)
• Two Orders of the Red Star (30 December 1956 and 27 December 1982)
• Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR 3rd class (17 February 1976)
• campaign and jubilee medals

other states

• Russia - Order of Honor (9 May 2007)
• Russia - Order of Merit for the Fatherland 4th class (20 May 2002)
• Ukraine - Order of Merit 3rd class (6 May 2005)
• Hungary - Order of the Flag of the People's Republic 2nd class (4 April 1985)
• Bulgaria - Order of 9 September 1944 (14 September 1974)

He was an honorary citizen of Moscow Magadan, Sochi, Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Gagry, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Parndorfa and Krasnika.

References

Bibliography

• Shkadov, Ivan (1988). Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь II, Любовь - Яшчук. Moscow: Voenizdat. ISBN 5203005362. OCLC 247400113. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Simonov, Andrey; Bodrikhin, Nikolai (2017). Боевые лётчики — дважды и трижды Герои Советского Союза [Combat pilots - twice and three times Heroes of the Soviet Union]. Moscow: Russian Knights Foundation and Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology. ISBN 9785990960510. OCLC 1005741956. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Vukolov, Viktor (1973). Дважды Герои Советского Союза. Moscow: Voenizdat. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)