Kamanin Arkady Nikolayevich, the youngest pilot of the Second World War

Kamanin AN is known as the youngest pilot who participates in the Great Patriotic War. His name can be found on the pages of the book "Heroes of the War of 1941-1945." What is the boy's feat? What merits to the compatriots belong to the young pilot?

Biography

Kamanin Arkady Nikolayevich was born on November 2, 1928 in the Far East. Father - Nikolai - was a famous pilot and military commander, Hero of the Soviet Union. This title was appropriated to him for saving the passengers of the Chelyuskin steamer. Kamanin was the commander of the detachment of aviation. In the most difficult conditions, the planes made a flight of 1,500 km. It was decided to transport the Polar explorers under the wings of the aircraft in parachute boxes.

The younger brother, Lev Kamanin, did not take part in the hostilities. After studying at the Zhukovsky Academy he worked at the Research Institute of the Air Force. Later he taught at his home academy. With his help, his father's diaries titled "Hidden Cosmos" were published.

After many moves the family lived for a long time in the famous "House on the Embankment" in Moscow. Being still quite a small boy, Arkady showed great interest in Papa's service. The boy during the summer holidays regularly visited the airfield, where his father served. In addition to flying, he was interested in books, music and sports. I could play the accordion and accordion.

Before the Great Patriotic War, the family moved to live in Tashkent. The reason - the military translation of Pope Arcadius to the service. In 1943, the boy joined the ranks of the Soviet Komsomol. At the age of 13 at the beginning of the war I got a job at an aviation plant, later on an airfield. Used any opportunity to fly up to the air with pilots.

Already at the age of 14 Arkady went to the Kalinin Front to his father, who commanded the air corps at that time. It would seem, why the minor guy was not sent to the rear? How could such a father have admitted? It turns out that Arkady himself said his firm "no". Nikolai Kamanin reluctantly resigned himself to the desire of his son. Moreover, he knew more than anyone else that mechanics with a good knowledge of aviation were needed at the front.

Having worked as a mechanic at the communications headquarters for a short time, Arkady began flying the U-2 as a navigator. This aircraft had control in two cabins. After take-off, the young pilot flew the plane himself and got practice.

The first independent flight

Pilots with great experience sometimes trusted him with the steering wheel for a short time. Arkady began to study seriously the flight business after one incident. The main pilot was blinded by the explosion from the projectile, and the youngest pilot of World War II Arkady Kamanin planted the plane himself.

Merit in time of war

In April 1943, in the rank of Senior Sergeant Arkady replenished the ranks of the Soviet army. And in July of the same year he made his first independent flight to the U-2.

Kamanin Arkady Nikolayevich made about 400 flights for military service for the entire service in the army. Most of them occurred in bad weather conditions in close proximity to the front. During the war he carried out various assignments from the headquarters connected with the work of signalers. Passed radio elements to the guerrillas, flying across the front line. Since June 1943, the pilot went on to serve in the First and Second Ukrainian Fronts.

By the end of the war Kamanin Arkady Nikolayevich could boast of six and a half hundred flights. The young man was not afraid of difficult tasks and uncertainty. Many sorties were carried out in bad weather conditions and at the risk of shelling by an enemy army.

One of the most outstanding flights was carried out on a little-known route over the Czech Republic. The task was to deliver the secret package to the partisan detachment. More than a half hours Arkady was in flight over the mountainous terrain. For the successful fulfillment of the mission was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Kamanin in 1944 in the Second Ukrainian Front receives the Order of the Red Star.

The feat was committed when Bandera's attack on the headquarters. Without a moment's hesitation, the boy picked up the plane and threw the grenades of the fascists from the air. Later he called for reinforcements. The attack was completely eliminated.

Arkady Kamanin: a feat

The young man was first awarded the Order of the Red Star for the salvation of a colleague. Pilot Arkady Kamanin from the height of the flight saw a German-killed IL-2. Realizing that the cockpit was closed and the pilot was probably wounded, Arkady decided to save his comrade. Despite the strongest firing from mortars, Kamanin managed to land a plane next to a broken aircraft. The boy was not distinguished by his height and great strength. However, he managed in a short time to transplant the wounded soldier and take the photo equipment on the plane. At the same time artillerymen, storm troopers and tankmen distracted attention from the corn cob. Kamanin managed to fly away from the shelling and bring to the hospital, as it turned out, an army officer, Lieutenant Berdnikov, performing the task of photographing from an airplane.

The rescue of another comrade took place in Poland. Arkady waited for permission to land and saw the fighter take off into the air with a man on the tail. It was a mechanic who sat on the tail, so that the technician would not bury his nose in the ground, flying up the wet ground. Simple practice. But the main thing is to jump off the tail in time, which the mechanic did not have time to do. Kamanin was noted for his quick decision-making, he quickly fired a rocket launcher, thereby warning the pilot about an undesirable passenger.

Postwar time

After the victory of the Soviet Army Kamanin Arkady Nikolayevich began to work hard, thereby replacing the missing school knowledge. With his inherent tenacity and zeal, he obtained a certificate for 1 year.

After the foreman Kamanin entered the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy as a listener for the preparatory course. He began to study the program thoroughly and with great interest, because it was his dream. It would seem that the future of the young guy was brilliant and promised many more exploits. The young man could become one of the first cosmonauts. But life dictated other rules.

At the age of 18, Arkady fell ill with meningitis. The hero died in April 1947. They buried the youngest pilot of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

In art

The exploits and merits in the Great Patriotic War of Arkady Kamanin became the basis of the plot of the film "And you will see the sky."

Articles were published in newspapers and magazines. The sculptor GN Postnikov performed in 1966 two busts of a young man.

Conclusion

Arkady Kamanin, whose biography was so abruptly cut, could achieve even more skill in flying and manage other types of aircraft and possibly space ships. For his short and heroic life, the young man managed to do the most important thing - to take part in the defense of the Motherland. He showed himself as a fearless and valiant warrior. In the memory and in the annals of the people the heroes of the war of 1941-1945. Must remain forever.