Hero of the Great Patriotic War, Kyrgyzstani Evdokim Konstantinovich Mazkov

Hero of the Soviet Union Mazkov Yevdokim Konstantinovich

Yevdokim Konstantinovich Mazkov was born in 1922 at the Martuk station in the Aktobe region. Since 1932, he lived in the city of Jalal-Abad in the Kyrgyz SSR. Russian. Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Since June 1941, he served in the Soviet Army. He was enrolled as a cadet in the Chkalov Military Aviation School through a special recruitment program. Captain. Attack pilot. Flight commander.

He participated in the Great Patriotic War starting in April 1943, fighting on the Southwestern and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. During his time on the Southwestern front, he completed 85 successful combat sorties.

For his successful assault strikes against the enemy during the liberation of southern Ukraine in 1943, he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War I degree, and the Order of the Red Star.

On July 2, 1944, for exemplary execution of combat missions from the command in the fight against the German-fascist invaders, for his displayed courage and heroism, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Y. K. Mazkov completed his combat path in the Baltic States. In his later years, he lived in the city of Jalal-Abad. He died in 1980.

THE PRICE OF EACH BATTLE — LIFE

At the entrance to the building of secondary school No. 1 in Jalal-Abad, a memorial plaque has been installed. The words shine in gold: "In this school studied the Heroes of the Soviet Union Mikhail Nikolayevich Babkin and Yevdokim Konstantinovich Mazkov."

The school is proud of its alumni. There was a time when teachers did not know how to cope with one of them.

Yevdokim was 10 years old when his parents moved from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan, to Jalal-Abad. Very soon he became quite a noticeable and well-known figure in school. If a boyish fight broke out, a window was broken in the classroom, or a lesson was disrupted, Mazkov was taken to the principal's office or the teachers' lounge. The teachers could almost always tell — he was involved.

The boy had no shortage of courage. In a fair fistfight, older teenagers would often back down before him; his fierce spirit was that unbridled.

Even in childhood, Yevdokim saw an airplane fly low over the field. Since then, whenever he heard the familiar roar, he would invariably look up at the sky and watch the departing aircraft until it disappeared over the horizon. It was during those distant barefoot years that his dream of becoming a pilot was born.

After finishing 8 grades, Mazkov went to Frunze and enrolled in an aeroclub. By the standards of the 1930s, classes were held far outside the city. Sometimes, not counting on public transport, the teenager walked to the airfield, where the silver planes gleamed.

In the aeroclub, Yevdokim stood out among his peers, not for reckless antics, but for his serious attitude toward studies and persistence in mastering the secrets of aviation. He did not shy away from any work, just to spend more time in the aeroclub, closer to the planes. And when the war began, Yevdokim Mazkov's place in the military ranks was already predetermined. In the very first days of the war, he was sent to the Chkalov Military Aviation School.

What 18-19-year-old boys learned in peacetime over 4 years, their peers of the wartime mastered in less than six months. In November 1942, Mazkov was awarded the military rank of sergeant and issued a certificate allowing him to fly as a pilot on the armored attack aircraft "IL-2".

The aircraft was respectfully and proudly nicknamed the "flying tank" by aviators. It had no equal in the world among similar class machines and immediately made the enemy particularly wary of it.

From the very first days of front-line life, the young pilot found himself in the thick of the war. As part of the 237th Assault Aviation Regiment, he fought on the Southwestern front, which in those November days of 1942 was participating in the operation to defeat the fascist troops of Field Marshal Paulus in the Stalingrad cauldron, together with the forces of the Don Front.

And here is the first combat sortie. The target of the six "ILs," which included Mazkov's aircraft, was to bomb the enemy artillery positions. As a novice, Yevdokim was placed in the middle of the group so that more experienced pilots could supervise and protect the "young falcon" from both the front and the rear.

Skillfully acting, the 20-year-old sergeant fired at the targets with shells and bombed them. The first combat sortie went off without a hitch. And the endless routine of front-line life began. Each sortie was a tangible blow to the enemy, his batteries, concentrations of manpower and equipment, communications and warehouses, airfields. Thus, in the three-day mourning declared by the mad Fuhrer throughout Germany due to the crushing defeat at Stalingrad, there is also the merit of the former student of the Frunze aeroclub, Yevdokim Mazkov.

With each sortie, the young pilot's skill improved, and his tactical thinking sharpened.

Along with the number of combat sorties, the list of enemy tanks, military cargo trucks, field and anti-aircraft artillery pieces, ammunition and fuel depots, aircraft that never managed to take off from airfields, and Hitler's soldiers and officers destroyed by Mazkov grew.

The author of these lines had the opportunity to live next door to Yevdokim Konstantinovich Mazkov and to talk with him several times. The former military pilot's reflections on what a difficult job it is — the sky of war — come to mind.

— It would seem that each combat sortie lasts only about one and a half to two hours, — the pilot recounted. — And the actual execution of the mission — firing at the enemy, bombing his positions — takes just a few minutes.

But the nervous and physical tension in those moments is such that some of our guys, upon returning to their airfield, could not get out of the cockpit without assistance.

There were times when the young pilot's hair turned gray within minutes of battle.

In May 1943, for successful and exemplary execution of a combat mission, Mazkov was awarded the rank of junior lieutenant, and a month later, for his participation in the Battle of Stalingrad and the courage and selflessness he displayed, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

After the Stalingrad operation, Yevdokim and his comrades participated in the liberation of Belgorod, fighting to expand the bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper. There was never a case in the Kyrgyzstani's flying practice where he returned to the regiment without completing a combat mission. Always and everywhere, Yevdokim sought battle, never shying away from it. That was the pilot's character. And in battle, he often triumphed thanks to his indomitable courage, sometimes forgetting that the price of each battle is life.

In October, Mazkov received an important assignment, fraught with considerable risk to life. He needed to photograph the defensive positions of the Germans near several railway bridges over the Dnieper in the Zaporizhzhia region.

It is known how intensively the fascists guarded these strategically important objects from attack from land, water, and air.

— Well, junior lieutenant, if you complete the mission, prepare a little hole in your tunic for the third order, — said the squadron commander, either jokingly or seriously, as he sent Yevdokim off for the flight, by that time nominated for the Order of the Patriotic War I degree for battles during the liberation of Belgorod,

The already difficult assignment was made even more complicated by the fact that it had to be carried out in clear sunny weather, when all objects are clearly visible and aerial photography can be conducted. But in such weather, enemy anti-aircraft gunners are also on heightened alert, and the attack aircraft becomes quite a convenient target for enemy anti-aircraft guns.

Already on the approach to the first bridge, the "IL-2" was met with heavy fire. The sky around the aircraft was filled with flashes from exploding anti-aircraft shells, and tracer bullets stitched through the air. Yet the fearless pilot managed to find a gap in this fiery whirlwind, broke through to the target, and skillfully maneuvering, captured it on film.

Skill and composure, coolness and courage served the pilot well in executing the rest of the mission.

With holes in the wings and fuselage, the attack aircraft still returned to its base. For this feat, Yevdokim Mazkov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Around the same time, he was awarded the next military rank — lieutenant, and he was appointed flight commander. Now Yevdokim had to be responsible for the actions of his subordinates, taking on the main share of responsibility for the execution of combat missions.

In early 1944, the brave pilot was accepted into the ranks of the Leninist party. In those harsh years, it was considered a particularly honorable and responsible matter to go into battle as a communist. There was probably no soldier in the Red Army who did not dream of such a high honor. Although at the front, belonging to the Communist Party of Bolsheviks only granted one right — to be the first to rise in the attack, to go ahead of everyone in moments of mortal danger.

Taking advantage of this right, Yevdokim rushed into battle even more fearlessly, dealt even more crushing bomb and cannon blows to the enemy, and his machine-gun fire became even more merciless. In the battles for the liberation of Ukraine from the fascist filth, Mazkov's flight made several combat sorties daily. In less than a month, the flight accumulated 175 sorties. During this time, according to confirmed data from crews of other aircraft, Mazkov and his comrades destroyed 17 tanks, 7 aircraft on enemy airfields, two trains with ammunition and military equipment, 9 field artillery batteries, 7 anti-aircraft guns, 5 ammunition and fuel depots, 235 military cargo trucks, and several hundred enemy soldiers and officers.

Soon after the liberation of Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih, the 237th Assault Aviation Regiment was transferred to the 62nd Army of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, which had been renamed the 8th Guards Army for its participation in the Stalingrad operation.

During the battles for the liberation of southern Ukraine, Mazkov was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner, and he was promoted to senior lieutenant. Not long after, the 237th aviation regiment celebrated a significant and joyful event: by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 2, 1944, a large group of pilots, gunners, and aviation technicians was awarded orders and medals, and Major Danilchenko, Captain Bykov, and Senior Lieutenant Mazkov were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. At the solemn meeting on this occasion, the hero pilots vowed to justify the high title, to respond to the awards from the Motherland with deeds, and to increase the count of crushing blows against the enemy.

After being awarded the "Gold Star" of the Hero and the Order of Lenin, Mazkov was granted a short leave to visit his homeland. The residents of Jalal-Abad warmly welcomed their hero compatriot. He was invited to factories, plants, and nearby collective farms. And Yevdokim never refused. He gladly met with workers, collective farmers, and employees, as he saw how much they needed the living word of a front-line soldier, a direct witness and participant in the unprecedented struggle against the fascist invaders, and how his stories about the resilience and courage of Soviet soldiers, the defeat of the enemy, and the rapid advance of the Red Army on all fronts inspired them for new labor achievements.

During these meetings, the hero urged his fellow countrymen to work even harder and more selflessly in the rear, promising in turn to strike the enemy even harder to expel the fascist beast from our land and finish the war in its lair.

Upon returning to the front, remembering the promise made to his fellow countrymen, Yevdokim continued to confidently increase the count of combat sorties.

At the end of July 1944, the regiment was relocated to the 3rd Baltic Front, where fierce battles unfolded for the cities of Pskov, Kholm, and Ostrov. The enemy had created a powerful defensive barrier here. However, our infantry, vigorously supported by artillery and aviation, successfully overcame this defensive line. The attacking wave rolled toward Riga like an unstoppable avalanche. For the successful conduct of combat operations as part of the 3rd Baltic Front, the 22-year-old pilot from Kyrgyzstan was promoted to captain.

On one of the autumn days at the end of October 1944, after a successful assault strike, Mazkov's aircraft was returning to base. Suddenly, a group of "Messerschmitts" emerged from the clouds. The fascist fighters pounced on the attack aircraft like vultures. In the unequal battle, Mazkov's aircraft was riddled with machine-gun fire.

Yevdokim was severely wounded: an enemy bullet struck his head, taking off part of his frontal bone.

In a semi-conscious state, with a tremendous effort of will, practically blind from the blood pouring over his face, Mazkov managed to bring the aircraft down to the ground and land it.

Doctors managed to save the Hero's life, but the road to the sky for the military pilot was closed forever.

After long months of treatment in the hospital, Yevdokim Mazkov returned to Jalal-Abad. A personal pensioner of union significance, he engaged in public work in the city committee of DOSAAF.

The wound received in battle manifested itself more than three decades later. Not reaching the age of 60, Hero of the Soviet Union Yevdokim Konstantinovich Mazkov died in the city of Jalal-Abad. In the park named after the VLKSM, at the monument to the Jalal-Abad residents who fell on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, at the Eternal Flame, the residents of the city paid their last respects to their hero compatriot.