Hero of the Great Patriotic War, Kyrgyzstani Mikhail Nikolayevich Babkin

Hero of the Soviet Union Babkin Mikhail Nikolaevich

Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin was born in 1922 in the village of Staraia Paida, Annen District, Voronezh Oblast, and grew up in Kyrgyzstan, in the cities of Kyzyl-Kiya and Jalal-Abad. He was Russian and a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After graduating from high school and an aeroclub in Frunze, he was sent to the Chkalov Military Aviation School. He was a senior lieutenant, a pilot-attack aircraft, and the deputy commander of a squadron.

He began his combat journey at the controls of an aircraft in July 1943 during the Oryol-Kursk battle. He participated in battles for Belarus, fought on the territory of Poland and East Prussia. Throughout the war, he displayed courage, resilience, heroism, and valor.

The combat feats of the pilot were highly appreciated by the Motherland: Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War I class, the Order of the Red Star, and a number of medals. On August 18, 1945, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for completing combat missions and achieving 192 successful combat sorties against enemy manpower and equipment.

After the war, the Hero continued to serve in the ranks of the Soviet Army. He died at his post in December 1959.

AND HE BECAME A LIVING EXAMPLE

The Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin is considered a fellow countryman by the residents of Jalal-Abad and Kyzyl-Kiya. Both are rightfully so. It so happened that Mikhail, born in Voronezh Oblast, grew up in Kyrgyzstan, alternating his education between schools in Jalal-Abad and Kyzyl-Kiya.

Today, memorial plaques have been installed on the buildings of these schools in honor of the Hero. School museums have been created to tell about Mikhail Nikolaevich's life and military exploits. Among the exhibits, one can see personal belongings of the pilot, passed down by his family members.

Mikhail Babkin's military biography was similar to that of many of his peers. Aeroclub, military aviation school, front lines. The war, in the literal sense of the word, began for Lieutenant Babkin in July 1943.

Fresh reserves were usually introduced into battle at the hottest and most decisive sections of the front. In July 1943, such a section was the Kursk Bulge.

After suffering a crushing defeat at Stalingrad, Nazi Germany sought revenge at Kursk.

The Hitler command meticulously prepared an offensive operation under the code name "Citadel," hoping that the Kursk direction would turn the tide of the war in their favor and bypass Moscow from the south.

That summer, more than two thousand tanks and assault guns were brought to the area. The Wehrmacht placed great hopes on the heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther" with powerful large-caliber guns and unprecedented armor.

All of July, the world's attention was focused on the burning and thundering Kursk field, flooded with blood and oil from the countless tanks and self-propelled guns. On July 12, an unprecedented tank battle took place here, near the village of Prokhorovka, where more than one and a half thousand tanks and self-propelled guns clashed in a head-on offensive battle.

It was at this very section of the front that military pilot Mikhail Babkin received his combat baptism.

Falcons! This proud and beautiful name was given by the Soviet people to pilots. This name intertwined the connection with the Gorky Falcon, with its courage, thirst for the sky and struggle, and the comparison with a brave, freedom-loving bird, as well as the love of the people for their winged sons.

From the first to the last days of the war, our pilots proved their right to be called falcons. Fearlessly and mercilessly, they struck down the fascist vultures, delivering deadly blows from the air.

The Hitler soldiers relied heavily on their "Tigers" and "Panthers" with impenetrable armor, not knowing that Soviet specialists had prepared a surprise for them. In the battles near Oryol and Kursk, anti-tank aviation bombs of directed action were used for the first time. They were capable of penetrating any tank armor.

The fascists began their offensive on the Oryol-Kursk bulge, and Soviet pilots-attack aircraft unleashed cannon fire and bombs on the enemy's tanks. On the first day of the battles, the flight crews of the division, which included M. Babkin's aircraft, destroyed more than 30 tanks. During the Kursk battle, the attack aircraft "IL-2," led by Lieutenant Babkin, took to the skies 16 times. Each sortie delivered powerful blows to enemy concentrations and their equipment, causing fear, panic, and confusion among the invaders. As captured German soldiers admitted, "There is no greater horror than the 'IL-2' aircraft. They drive us insane." The Hero of the Soviet Union, cosmonaut pilot Grigory Timofeevich Beregovoy, who knew it well in aerial combat, said very well about this attack aircraft: "In the 'IL-2'—said the renowned ace—there is a very successful combination of speed, maneuverability, armor, and firepower. Its strikes against the enemy were unexpected and devastating. At the Oryol-Kursk bulge, Soviet troops not only repelled the enemy's offensive but also thoroughly ground down the striking forces of the German army.

For participation in combat operations during the Kursk battle and for delivering powerful blows to the enemy, Lieutenant Babkin was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The grand Oryol-Kursk battle demonstrated to the world the superiority of Soviet infantry, artillery, and especially tank troops and aviation over the Germans. After delivering several powerful counterstrikes to the enemy, the Red Army launched a decisive counteroffensive. Lieutenant Babkin's attack aircraft was redeployed to liberate Kharkov.

At one point, successfully destroying the enemy's artillery and mortar positions on the outskirts of this occupied Ukrainian city, a group of six attack aircraft, including Babkin's plane, was returning to its base when the lead pilot spotted a long line of retreating enemy tanks and vehicles.

Checking their remaining ammunition, the brave falcons led the attack aircraft down. A fire and bombing strike fell upon the enemy. Suddenly, our group was attacked by enemy aircraft covering the retreat of their troops. For each "IL-2," there were three vultures. Using the famous "circle" maneuver, the attack aircraft engaged in aerial combat.

In this unequal battle, all the best qualities and truly unlimited capabilities of the Soviet aircraft were displayed. Skillfully maneuvering and unleashing all the firepower of the "ILs," our pilots successfully repelled the enemy's air attacks. In the heat of battle, red-star fighters arrived to assist the "ILs." Soon, four "Messerschmitts" and three "Focke-Wulfs," leaving behind black trails of smoke, fell to the ground. The others hastily fled.

In this same battle, Babkin's aircraft was damaged, and the pilot was wounded in his right arm. But it was no coincidence that among aviators there was a saying: "An 'IL' will bring you back from battle on its honest word and on one wing." Legends circulated at the front about the durability of the attack aircraft, its high reliability, and flight-combat characteristics, usually based on real foundations.

And this time, the aircraft and the pilot did not let each other down. Overcoming pain, Mikhail, practically controlling the burning aircraft with one left hand, desperately maneuvered to extinguish the flames and shake off the pursuers, leaving the battlefield. And the attack aircraft obediently, with its last strength, headed towards its airfield. The wounded man and machine still returned home.

The wound sidelined Babkin from combat duty for several months. But in early 1944, he was back at the controls of the attack aircraft. The decisive battles for the liberation of Belarus were underway.

In the Vitebsk area, a group of six "ILs," including Mikhail Babkin's aircraft, received the task of destroying the enemy's artillery and mortar positions. The positions were protected by anti-aircraft guns. As our attack aircraft approached, the fascist anti-aircraft guns opened fire. Scattering, the attack aircraft managed to break through the enemy's defenses and opened aimed fire.

After this raid, there were literally heaps of destroyed equipment left on the enemy's positions. The bombs dropped by Mikhail destroyed two artillery pieces with their crews.

In June, on the third anniversary of the war, the Belarusian operation began. An offensive unfolded along a huge thousand-kilometer front. The intensity of these battles can be judged to some extent by the fact that from June 23 to 28, Mikhail Babkin made 22 combat sorties. Three to four sorties a day.

In just these six days of war, the brave warrior recorded on his combat account 85 destroyed enemy vehicles and carts with military cargo, 5 artillery pieces, and up to two companies of infantry.

As the damage inflicted on the enemy increased, so did the number of combat awards on the pilot's chest. The Orders of the Patriotic War I class and the Red Banner eloquently testified to the combat merits of the Kyrgyzstani.

In war, time has its own laws, its own pace, its own reckoning. In just one year of war, people often matured spiritually and morally in ways they had not in several years of peaceful life. Only a year had passed since 20-year-old Mikhail Babkin received his combat baptism. But how could one compare the current experienced and cool-headed ace, who anticipated and outpaced the enemy's plans, able to impose his will and style of aerial combat, with the inexperienced fledgling that he was when he came from school? In the summer of 1944, in Belarus, Soviet ground troops, vigorously supported from the air by our aviation, were finishing off the encircled troops of Field Marshal Model, completing the defeat of the enemy army group "Center."

In the battles for the liberation of Belarus, the "flying tanks" "IL-2" acted particularly successfully in destroying the German troops retreating across the Berezina River. Upon their appearance, enemy soldiers caught at the river crossing would raise their hands in surrender, indicating that they were ready to give up, just to avoid the dagger-like strike of the attack aircraft. Of course, the pilots could not take them prisoner. They fired upon the enemy columns, sowing panic in their ranks, leaving the fascists for encirclement by our ground troops.

Recalling the panic-stricken retreat of his troops across the Berezina, former commander of the 4th German Army Kurt Tippelskirch wrote: "The continuous air raids by the enemy caused heavy losses... and also created endless traffic jams among the retreating columns. The Russian attack aircraft repeatedly destroyed bridges over the Berezina. After which, on the eastern bank, huge concentrations of vehicles formed each time..."

After the defeat of the enemy in Belarus, the aviation base of the division in which Babkin fought was moved close to the border of East Prussia. Mikhail remembered a raid in the Graewo area. Flying over the station, the pilots saw a train of several dozen cars and open platforms. Some of them concealed tanks covered with tarpaulin. The attack aircraft went into a dive. The bombs hit their target precisely. The cars below caught fire, and ammunition began to explode. Tanks and other equipment turned into heaps of scrap metal. A little while later, a similar operation was repeated on enemy territory, at the station of Hayrikau.

Mikhail Babkin participated in the war for just over two years. And if we take into account his time in the hospital, the pilot's military service would be limited to about one and a half years. During this short period, the pilot made 192 combat sorties. He personally destroyed many dozens of railway cars, vehicles, carts with military cargo, several aircraft, tanks, self-propelled, anti-aircraft, artillery pieces, and mortars, as well as a lot of enemy manpower.

Pilots were not often awarded for a single battle. Most often, they were nominated for awards for the totality of battles, for the overall amount of enemy manpower and equipment destroyed during them. That is why the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarding Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin the title of Hero of the Soviet Union appeared three months after the end of the war, in August 1945.

Naturally, not the entire war depended on Lieutenant Babkin, just as not the entire war depends on any one soldier. But we won this unprecedented war because, in the hour of deadly danger to the Motherland, millions of her loyal sons stood up to defend her and shielded her with their bodies. The courage of these soldiers was bequeathed to them by their fathers. They, the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, bequeathed this courage, this loyalty, and love for the native Motherland to us, who follow in their footsteps.

The echoes of war have faded. But military pilot Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin remained in the combat ranks, maintaining his loyalty to the sky and aviation.

He died at his post while performing another flight. This happened in 1959 near Kyiv. The Hero was 37 years old at that time.

Mikhail Nikolaevich Babkin lived a short life. But it was bright and glorious, deserving of the deepest respect. It is about such a life that Maxim Gorky spoke nine decades ago: "Let you have died!... But in the song of the brave and strong in spirit, you will always be a living example..."

V. TIMIRBAEV