Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin

Main Marshal of the Aviators Vershinin

Vershinin's tomb in the Novodevichy cemetery

Konstantin Vershinin ( Russian Константин Андреевич Вершинин , scientific. Transliteration Konstantin Andreevič Veršinin ; born May 21 ^{. Jul} / 3. June  1900 ^greg. In Borkino , Vyatka Governorate , Russian Empire , now the Kirov Oblast , † thirtieth December 1973 in Moscow ) was a Soviet pilot and officer, most recently in the rank of Chief Marshal of the Aviators .

Life

Vershinin learned to be a carpenter from 1914 to 1919 and also worked in this profession. In 1919 he joined the army and also joined the CPSU . He took part in the Russian Civil War. In 1920 he completed an infantry commander's course in Simbirsk and in 1921 the Wystrel officer school and advanced to battalion commander .

At the end of the 1920s, he switched to the air force and went to the Zhukovsky Academy , which he graduated in 1933. In 1935 he acquired his pilot's license at the Katschinsk Military Aviation School.

During the Second World War , Vershinin commanded the air forces on the southern front from September 1941 to May 1942. With the rank of Colonel General, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on August 19, 1944 as the commander of the 4th Air Army , which he commanded from May 1942 to September 1942 and from March 1943 until the end of the war . In the meantime he was from September 1942 to March 1943 in command of the Caucasus Front Air Force.

After the Second World War , Vershinin was appointed Marshal of Aviators and was initially Commander in Chief of the Air Force of the Soviet Union and then from 1949, when he fell from grace, Commander of the Air Defense around Baku . He held this post until 1957. He then worked again as Commander in Chief of the Air Force until 1969. He was appointed Chief Marshal of the Aviators in 1959.

From 1952 to 1956 he was a candidate for the Central Committee of the CPSU, and from 1961 a full member of this body. Vershinin was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1961 to 1971 .

He is the author of The 4th Air Army , published in 1975.

Vershinin is a six- time holder of the Order of Lenin , three-time holder of the Order of the Red Banner and holder of the Order of the October Revolution .

literature

• Wilfried Copenhagen : Lexicon Soviet Aviation. Elbe – Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-933395-90-0 .

Web links

Commons : Konstantin Vershinin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography in Russian