The true story of the "real man": the feat of the pilot Alexei Maresyev. Biography of Alexei Maresyev

Almost everyone in their school years read one of the most famous books about the Great Patriotic War, The Tale of a Real Man. But not everyone knows that it was written based on real events and the hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Petrovich Maresyev is the prototype of the brave pilot. After being seriously wounded, he lost both legs, but refused to retire and continued combat flights. Moreover, in the status of a disabled person, he shot down almost twice as many enemy aircraft as before.

Childhood and youth

Alexey Maresyev was born in the town of Kamyshin, located in the Saratov region. His father Pyotr Avdeevich died when the boy was only three years old. Mom Ekaterina Nikitichna alone raised three sons - Alyosha and his older brothers Peter and Nikolai. She worked as a simple cleaner at a woodworking factory.

After school, Maresyev became a turner and began working at a logging plant. But already in those years, the young man dreamed of heaven. Twice he applied to the flight school, but both times he failed at the medical board, as he suffered from rheumatism from childhood. In 1934, Alexei got to the famous construction site in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It was there that the future pilot made his first flight, as he signed up for the local flying club.

He served in the military on Sakhalin and managed to get a referral to the Chita School of Military Pilots, and from there he moved to the Bataysk Aviation School. Having become a junior lieutenant, Alexey Maresyev served as an instructor in Bataysk and taught the younger generation how to operate aviation equipment.

War and feat

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Alexey Maresyev was transferred to the active army. He made his first sortie in the Krivoy Rog region. By the spring of 1942, the pilot had already shot down four enemy aircraft. But in April, an event happened that changed his whole life.

On April 4, 1942, Alexei Maresyev covered bombers in the battle near Novgorod, but was shot down by a German pilot. Having been seriously wounded, the Soviet officer made an emergency landing, as it turned out, on enemy territory. For almost three weeks, the crippled pilot crawled his way to his own. For 18 whole days he ate only berries, tree bark and cones that he found on the ground.

The exhausted Maresyev was found by the inhabitants of a village near the town of Valdai. Moreover, he was first mistaken for a German, which is why they did not immediately provide assistance. Having figured it out, the villagers took the man to the house, but there was no one to perform real medical intervention. Only 10 days later Alexei Petrovich was admitted to the hospital, by that time he had blood poisoning and the most terrible gangrene of both legs. As the pilot later recalled, in the hospital he was sent straight ... to the morgue! But on the way there, Maresyev was intercepted by Professor Terebinsky, who decided on an operation to amputate both legs.

When Alexei realized that he would live, he immediately began to prepare for his return to the front. He himself invented training that allowed him to fly with prostheses. In the winter of 1943, Maresyev again conducts a sortie as part of the Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. In July, the pilot accomplished the feat of shooting down two German fighters at once and saving the lives of two of his colleagues. For this, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the fame of the legless pilot spread throughout the country.

Maresyev ended the war as an inspector, supervising the universities of the Air Force. Alexey Petrovich managed to make 86 sorties in combat conditions, in which he shot down 11 units of enemy equipment. And seven of them are already flying with prostheses.

Personal life

Despite the glory surrounding him, Alexei Maresyev always remained a modest person and tried not to use either his official position or the title of hero. The exception is the only case related to his personal life. In the General Staff of the Air Force on the eve of the end of the war, he saw a beautiful girl, whom he was embarrassed to approach, firstly, ashamed of her disability, and secondly, doubting whether she was free.

So the only time when Alexey Petrovich took advantage of his official position was an appeal to the personnel department about the marital status of Olga Viktorovna, whom he proposed to marry a month later.

They lived a long happy life. The family had two sons - Victor and Alex. None of the boys followed in their father's footsteps. The eldest son dreamed of cars and became an engineer, and the youngest was a disabled child, so he could not even dream of the sky.

Maresyev always kept himself in excellent physical shape - he went in the pool, rode a bicycle and skated, went skiing. Moreover, he even swam across the Volga, setting a time record.

Death

In the post-war period, the life and exploits of Alexei Maresyev were widely covered in the press. , who personally knew the pilot, the legendary "The Tale of a Real Man" was written. But the hero himself was more than reserved about fame. His famous words are:

“Everyone fought. There are so many people in the world for whom Polevoy was not found.

Two days before the 85th birthday of the legendary hero, a concert dedicated to his anniversary was to be held at the Theater of the Russian Army. But just one hour before the start of the celebration, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack, which turned out to be fatal. As a result, the holiday was transformed into an evening of remembrance, which began with a moment of silence.

In memory of Alexei Maresyev, many monuments have been erected, in many cities there are streets that bear his name. Also, the cinema did not bypass him. Even under the USSR, the film “The Tale of a Real Man” was released, in which he played the main role, although the director initially wanted to shoot the pilot himself. In 2005, the documentary film "The Fate of a Real Man" was created.

Maresyev Alexey Petrovich (May 7 (20), 1916 - May 18, 2001) - legendary ace pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union. Maresyev is the prototype of the hero of Boris Polevoy's story "The Tale of a Real Man".

Alexey Maresyev was born on May 20, 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Saratov province. At the age of three, he lost his father. Mother, Ekaterina Nikitichna, worked as a cleaner at a woodworking plant and raised three sons - Peter, Nikolai, Alexei. From childhood I taught them to work, honesty, justice.

After graduating from school in the city of Kamyshin, Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev received the specialty of a metal turner at a school at a sawmill and began his career there. In 1934, the Kamyshinsky district committee of the Komsomol sent him to the construction of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Here, on the job, Alexei is engaged in the flying club.

In 1937 he was drafted into the army. Initially, he served in the 12th air border detachment on Sakhalin Island, then was sent to the Bataysk Aviation School. A. K. Serov, who graduated in 1940, having received the rank of junior lieutenant. After graduating from college, he was left there as an instructor. There, in Bataysk, he met the war.

In August 1941 he was sent to the Southwestern Front. Maresyev's first sortie took place on August 23, 1941 in the Krivoy Rog region.

In March 1942 he was transferred to the North-Western Front. By this time, the pilot had 4 downed German aircraft on his account. On April 4, 1942, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe so-called "Demyansky Cauldron" (Novgorod Region), during an operation to cover bombers in a battle with the Germans, his plane was shot down, and Alexei himself was seriously wounded. He made an emergency landing in the territory occupied by the Germans. For eighteen days, the pilot, wounded in the legs, first on his crippled legs, and then crawled his way to the front line. He was first noticed by a father and son from the village of Plavni. Due to the fact that the pilot did not respond to questions (“Are you German?”), Father and son returned to the village out of fear. Then the already barely alive pilot was discovered by boys from the village of Plav, Kislovsky village council of the Valdai region, Seryozha (Sergei Mikhailovich) Malin and Sasha (Alexander Petrovich) Vikhrov. Sasha's father took Alexei on a cart to his house.

For more than a week, the collective farmers looked after Maresyev. Medical assistance was needed, but there was no doctor in the village. In early May, a plane piloted by A.N. Dekhtyarenko landed near the village, and Maresyev was sent to Moscow, to the hospital. Doctors were forced to amputate both of his legs in the shin area due to gangrene.

The impetus for the return of Maresyev to service could have been the story of the Russian pilot of the First World War, Prokofiev-Seversky, who lost his right leg, but, despite this, returned to the sky. In the Soviet film, the surname of Prokofiev-Seversky is not heard (the surname "Karpovich" is given instead) for ideological reasons (Prokofiev-Seversky emigrated to America and became an aircraft designer).

While still in the hospital, Alexey Maresyev began to train, preparing to fly with prostheses. Training continued at the sanatorium, where he was sent in September 1942. At the beginning of 1943, he passed a medical examination and was sent to the Ibresinsky flight school (Chuvash ASSR).

In February 1943 he made the first test flight after being wounded. Got sent to the front. In June 1943 he arrived in the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The regiment commander did not let Alexei go on combat missions, since the situation in the sky on the eve of the Battle of Kursk was extremely tense. Alexey was worried. The squadron commander A. M. Chislov sympathized with him and took him with him on a sortie. After several successful sorties paired with Numerical, Maresyev's confidence increased.

On July 20, 1943, during an air battle with superior enemy forces, Alexei Maresyev saved the lives of 2 Soviet pilots and shot down two enemy Fw.190 fighters at once, covering Ju.87 bombers. The military glory of Maresyev spread throughout the 15th Air Army and along the entire front. Correspondents frequented the regiment, among them was the future author of the book "The Tale of a Real Man" Boris Polevoy.

On August 24, 1943, Maresyev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for saving the lives of two pilots and shooting down two German fighters.

In 1944, Maresyev agreed to the proposal to become a pilot inspector and move from a combat regiment to the management of the Air Force Universities.

In total, during the war he made 86 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft: four before being wounded and seven after being wounded.

Retired since 1946. Alexey Petrovich made his last flights on an airplane (training U-2) in the early 50s as an instructor at the Air Force special school in Moscow.

In the post-war period, partly thanks to the textbook "The Tale of a Real Man" by Boris Polevoy (in which Maresyev is called Meresyev), he was very famous, invited to many celebrations. Meetings with schoolchildren were often organized, the example of Maresyev's feat was widely used to educate the younger generation.

On May 18, 2001, a gala evening was scheduled at the Theater of the Russian Army on the occasion of Maresyev's 85th birthday, but just an hour before the start of the concert, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack, after which he died. The gala evening took place, but it began with a moment of silence.

Alexei Petrovich Maresyev was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Alexey Petrovich Maresyev - one of the most famous fighter pilots of the Great Patriotic War. In total, during the war, he made 86 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft, 7 of which - from the moment he returned to combat aviation after a severe wound.

Alexei Maresyev was born on May 7 (20), 1916 in the quiet Volga town of Kamyshin, Kamyshin district, Saratov province, now Volgograd region, in a working class family. His father, Pyotr Maresyev, was a front-line soldier during the First World War, returned home and died soon after. Alexei was then only three years old, and all the cares for raising his son fell on the shoulders of his mother, Ekaterina Nikitichna, a kind and hardworking woman. She worked at a woodworking factory as a cleaning lady, she received little, so Alexei and his two brothers - Peter and Nikolai - were taught from childhood to work, honesty and justice. Alexei grew up as a sickly child, often caught colds. Recalling his childhood years, Aleksey Petrovich said that only "two mothers" helped him overcome illnesses and subsequently become a pilot: this is "My dear mother and mother Volga, in which he swam and became tempered." Once, while on the Volga, Alexey heard a thin annoying sound. Thought it was something in the water. I looked: no, not in the water. He raised his head, looked at the sky, and there was a plane! A real miracle! Airplanes were rare at the time. And after all, he doesn’t just fly, but writes out figures, as if not a car, but a bird ... From that very day, Maresyev “fell ill” with airplanes.

After graduating from a seven-year school, Alexei entered the factory school, where he received the specialty of a metal turner. After graduating from the workers' faculty, Maresyev wanted to enter a flight school, but did not pass the medical commission for health reasons. Then Aleksey decided, together with a group of reeds, on a Komsomol ticket to go to the construction of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. “... I was leaving the office when the district doctor Mikhailova stopped me in the corridor. She said: - Lyosha! It seems to me that if you go to the Far East, then all your illnesses will go away - both malaria and rheumatism. I listen to her and think - so I can be a pilot. In the same place, on the Amur, Alexei first took to the skies, becoming a cadet of the flying club. He managed to both work (from the construction site he was transferred to water transport as a diesel mechanic) and learn to fly. In 1937, he successfully completed his studies and received a flight certificate.

Soon Alex was drafted into the army. His insistent request to be sent to aviation was granted, and for more than two years he served in the 12th aviation detachment, which operated as part of the Sakhalin border detachment. The service took place at a troubling time. Here is how Alexei Petrovich himself spoke about this stage of his biography: “I am still proud that I had a chance to wear a green cap and an overcoat with green buttonholes. In those years, the situation on the Far Eastern border was especially disturbing. We spared no effort and time in order to perfectly master our business, to reliably guard the border. Service in the border troops requires a warrior to be constantly collected, courageous, cold-blooded. It develops endurance, self-control, steadfastness. Later, Alexei Petrovich was sent to the 30th Chita School of Military Pilots, which in 1938 was transferred to the city of Bataysk. After graduating in 1940 from the Bataysk Aviation School named after A.K. Serov junior lieutenant A.P. Maresyev, as one of the best cadets, was left at the school as an instructor. This is where the war found him.

Chita Aviation School of Pilots. A.P. Maresyev on the left in the front row. 1939

In August 1941, Alexei Petrovich was sent to the Southwestern Front as part of the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP). Maresyev's first sortie took place on August 23, 1941 in the Krivoy Rog region. Until March 1942, he fought as part of the 296th IAP, and then was sent to the North-Western Front as part of the 580th IAP. Here, in the sky above the Demyansk ledge, Lieutenant Maresyev recorded on his combat account the first downed aircraft - a military transport Ju-52. By the end of March 1942, Maresyev increased the number of downed Nazi aircraft to 4; On April 4, in an air battle in the Staraya Russa region, his Yak-1 fighter was shot down, and Alexei Petrovich himself was seriously wounded. The plane crashed in the forest in the territory occupied by the enemy. Waking up after the fall, Maresyev, with wounded legs, began to make his way east to his own. At first, overcoming pain, he walked slowly, counting steps, and after every thousand steps he fell on his stomach to rest. He ate bark, cones. Then he tried to crawl, when there was no strength left even to crawl, he began to roll from side to side. On the 18th day, the barely alive pilot was found by the boys Seryozha Malin and Sasha Vikhrov, near the village of Plav, Kislovsky village council of the Valdai region. Maresyev was brought to the house of Olga Mikhailovna Vikhrova, and she nursed him for more than a week. Alexei's broken and frostbitten legs became inflamed, an urgent operation was needed. The chairman of the collective farm was informed about the pilot found, and in the first days of May a plane piloted by squadron commander A.N. flew for the wounded. Dekhtyarenko. Maresyev was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

Doctors discovered he had gangrene and, in order to save his life, the feet of both legs were amputated. That's when the difficult question arose: how to live on? To part with the profession of a pilot would mean for him the loss of the most precious thing in life. Comrades in misfortune, who were lying in the ward, helped Maresyev survive the black moment. Strengthened determination: a person has no right to stop the fight while the heart beats in the chest. And Alexei Petrovich begins to train, to prepare to fly with prostheses. Training continued at the sanatorium, where he was sent in September 1942.

At the beginning of 1943, Senior Lieutenant A.P. Maresyev passed a medical examination and, having received permission to fly, was sent by the personnel department of the USSR Air Force to the 3rd Aviation School of Initial (Training) Training, located in the village of Ibresi, Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. For more than five months, Alexei Petrovich learned to fly and fly an airplane using prostheses. For further military service, Alexei Petrovich had to make a test flight. And in June 1943, after successfully passing the test, Senior Lieutenant Maresyev again got into combat formation. He was sent to the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment on the Bryansk Front.

A.P. Maresyev next to his fighter

Having arrived in the regiment on the eve of the Battle of Kursk, when a fierce struggle was going on in the air, Alexei Petrovich was very worried about how the regiment pilots would receive him. Any pilot who took him as a wingman took a big risk by taking him into the sky. The regiment commander did not release Maresyev on combat missions and left him at the airfield. He was allowed to take to the air only at the time of the return of our aircraft - to cover them during landing from a sudden attack by enemy "hunters". Alexey Petrovich understood everything, but one day he could not stand it and turned to the regiment commander for permission to participate in air battles. Squadron commander Captain A.M. Chislov sympathized with him and took him with him on a sortie. Alexei was lucky: on July 6, 1943, he opened a new account of air victories - he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf.109 (Me-109) fighter. After that, trust in Maresyev immediately increased, and Alexey Petrovich later began to call Alexander Chislov his godfather. Later, Alexey learned that the regiment commander told the captain before the flight: "... Don't get into a fight too hard, take care of the wingman." Then Maresiev flew with Numeric one more time. And again successfully. So he fit into the team, and no one could blame him for becoming a reserve pilot for the regiment.

In air battles on the Kursk Bulge, Alexei Petrovich proved that he could not only pilot a combat fighter, but also come out victorious in battles with German aces. On July 20, 1943, in the area of the city of Orel, 12 fighters under the command of Major A.A. Fedotov conducted an air battle with 20 Ju-87 bombers, which were covered by 24 FW-190 fighters. The intensity of the battle was the highest, and the Soviet pilots won it. Aleksey Petrovich that day not only shot down two enemy FW-190 fighters, but also saved the lives of two pilots. These victories were won by him on the latest Soviet fighter La-5FN.

The combat glory of Maresyev spread throughout the 15th Air Army and along the entire front. Military journalists frequented the regiment, among them was Pravda correspondent Boris Polevoy, the future author of the book The Tale of a Real Man, long before the release of which a portrait of the hero appeared on the cover of the most popular magazine Ogonyok.

On the same days, Air Marshal Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov came to the regiment where Alexei Petrovich served. During his conversation with the squadron commander A.M. Numerical Novikov asked how many pilots were in the regiment, how many planes were shot down. Marshal was interested in all the details: the condition of the cars, living conditions, food, and so on. Chislov reported the situation, and then spoke about the pilot who flies without legs. Novikov was very surprised and decided to personally talk with Maresyev. After clarifying all the circumstances of the case, the marshal demanded from the regiment commander that both Alexander Chislov and Alexei Maresyev be promoted, and also ordered that both be presented for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union!

For exemplary performance of combat missions, personal courage and high flying skills on August 24, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Guards, Senior Lieutenant Maresyev Alexei Petrovich, Deputy Squadron Commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Guards Fighter Aviation air corps was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Presenting the hero for the award, the commander of the regiment H.P. Ivanov wrote: “A true Russian patriot, he, not sparing life and blood, fights against the Nazi invaders and, despite a serious physical handicap, achieves excellent success in air battles.”

In the future, A.P. Maresyev fought in the Baltics. Evidence of his flying skills was a promotion - the appointment of a navigator of the regiment. By this time, Major A.P. Maresyev made 87 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft in total. However, the workload increased all the time, and therefore in June 1944, when Alexei Petrovich was offered to become an inspector pilot and move from a combat regiment to the Office of Higher Educational Institutions of the Air Force, he agreed.

In 1946 A.P. Maresyev was fired from the Air Force, but continued to keep himself in excellent physical shape (skiing, cycling, swimming). He set a personal record in a sanatorium near Kuibyshev (Samara), swimming across the Volga (2 km 200 m) in 55 minutes. Alexey Petrovich made his last flights in the early 50s of the 20th century as an instructor at the Air Force special school in Moscow.

In the post-war period, a new, no less important life stage began for Alexei Petrovich. Thanks to the novel "The Tale of a Real Man" by Boris Polevoy (in which Maresyev is named Meresyev) and the movie of the same name, released in 1948, he became very famous. They begin to invite him to many celebrations, organize meetings with schoolchildren, more than one young generation of our country is brought up on the example of his feat. In 1949, Alexei Petrovich became a member of the First World Congress of Peace Supporters, held in Paris.

Alexey Maresiev. Artist N.N. Zhukov. 1950

With his characteristic indomitable will, he took up his studies. In 1952 he successfully graduated from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, and in 1956 he completed his postgraduate studies at the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU. Evidence of his success on the new path was the defense of his dissertation for the degree of candidate of historical sciences. In the same year, after the creation of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, Alexei Petrovich Maresyev was appointed its executive secretary, and in April 1983 - deputy chairman.

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev wrote an opera based on Boris Polevoy's novel The Tale of a Real Man, which premiered on October 7, 1960 at the Bolshoi Theatre. In the same year, the book of A.P. Maresyev was published. "On the Kursk Bulge". On May 8, 1967, Alexei Petrovich Maresyev took part in lighting the Eternal Flame at the memorial-monument to the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. In he was elected People's Deputy of the USSR. Throughout his life, Aleksey Petrovich provided assistance to disabled people and veterans of the Great Patriotic War and other armed conflicts, and in 1998 he organized the Regional Public Fund “Invalids of the Great Patriotic War”.

On May 18, 2001, a gala evening on the occasion of Maresyev's 85th birthday was being prepared at the Central Theater of the Russian Army, but just an hour before the start of the concert, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack, after which he died. The gala evening took place, but it began with a moment of silence. Condolences to the family on the death of the hero pilot were expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Alexei Petrovich Maresyev was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

For military exploits and labor merits, Colonel A.P. Maresyev was awarded a number of Soviet awards: two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Patriotic War 1st class, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Orders of Friendship of Peoples, Honor and the Red Star. The chest of the famous pilot was also decorated with two orders of the Russian Federation - For Merit to the Fatherland 3rd Art. and Friendship. He has also been awarded many foreign orders and medals. Alexey Petrovich was an honorary soldier of one of the military units and an honorary citizen of the cities of Kamyshin, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Bataysk and Orel. A minor planet of the solar system, a public fund, youth patriotic clubs are named after the pilot.

Streets in Moscow, the village of Ibresi of the Chuvash Republic, in the cities of Aktyubinsk, Tashkent, Gorno-Altaisk, Chernigov are named after Maresyev. In the homeland of the hero, in the city of Kamyshin, in honor of the 90th anniversary of his birth on May 20, 2006, a monument was solemnly opened by the work of the Honored Artist of Russia S.A. Shcherbakov, located at the intersection of two central streets of the city, not far from the house where Alexey Maresyev lived.

Monument to Alexei Petrovich Maresyev in his homeland in the city of Kamyshin.
Sculptor S.A. Shcherbakov. 2006

Memorial plaques of A.P. Maresyev were installed in Moscow - on the house where the pilot lived after the war, in the village of Ibresi of the Chuvash Republic - on the building of the former flight school and on the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the city of Bataysk. The name of the legendary pilot was given to Moscow schools No. 760 and No. 89 (a museum of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was created there), school No. 13 in Orel and school No. 31 in Petrov Val, Kamyshinsky district, Volgograd region. In 2004, with the support of the Government of Moscow, an international prize named after A.P. Maresyev "For the will to live".

______________________________________________

The real date of birth of Alexei Maresyev is May 3 (16), 1916, as evidenced by an extract from the birth record book for 1916. During the Great Patriotic War, in the documents of A.P. Maresyev, there was a mistake and a new date appeared - May 20. Since then, Alexey Petrovich began to consider this day his birthday.

Julia Snegova,
Research Fellow at the Research
Institute of Military History VAGSh Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

On April 4, 1942, the plane of Alexei Maresyev was shot down in an air battle. For eighteen days, the pilot fought for his life: through forests and swamps, he crawled his way to the Soviet troops and, despite all the difficulties, got to his own. After being seriously wounded, Alexei Petrovich lost both legs, but continued combat flights and hit enemy aircraft. This amazing person will be discussed.

On the edge of death. The feat of the pilot Maresyev

From childhood, Alexey dreamed of becoming a pilot, but for health reasons he was not accepted into the flight school. At the age of 21, he was drafted into the army and in 1938 a dream came true - Maresyev was sent to the 30th Chita School of Military Pilots. Later the war started.

Maresyev's first sortie took place on August 23, 1941 near the city of Krivoy Rog. And on April 5, a fatal incident occurred - during a military operation, his plane was shot down. Maresyev managed to reach the plane to his territory across the front line, and 4 km north of the village of Rabezh, while trying to make an emergency landing in the forest, he fell from a height of 30 meters. When Alexei tried to get up, he felt a wild pain, realized that both legs were broken. Then, gathering strength and will, he crawled towards his own.

Maresiev was well equipped: fur overalls, high boots and a helmet gave a chance to survive in the winter forest. But he had no idea how long his journey would be. The next day my legs were so swollen that it became impossible to walk. I had to crawl. Instead of water, he ate snow, ate bark, cones and moss. In total, the pilot spent 18 days in the snowy forest. Toward the end of the wanderings, thawed patches appeared, and Alexey caught a lizard. She left her tail to him, and the poor fellow tried to eat it, but the feeling of disgust turned out to be stronger than hunger ... Maresyev spent the night in ravines, the bottom of which was lined with spruce groves, and he took cover with it.

“I wet my palm, put it on a bunch of anthills, insects stick to it, I lick them off and eat them” A.P. Maresyev

For eighteen days, the pilot crawled through the forests and swamps to the people to the east, orienting himself by the sun. It was discovered by the inhabitants of the village of Plav in the Valdai region. Seryozha Malin and Sasha Vikhrov. Sasha's father drove Alexei to his house in a cart. There he spent another week, then the pilot was sent to a Moscow hospital.
Fractured limbs, frostbite. A cast cannot be applied because gangrene has set in, and frostbite cannot be treated because the bone is shattered. I had to amputate. He returned to the "service" a year later - in July 1943.

Alexey Maresyev after the hospital

On July 20, 1943, during an air battle with superior enemy forces, Alexei Maresyev saved the lives of two Soviet pilots and shot down two enemy Fw.190 fighters at once, covering the Ju.87 bombers. The combat glory of Maresyev spread throughout the 15th Air Army and along the entire front. Correspondents frequented the regiment, among them was the future author of the book "The Tale of a Real Man" Boris Polevoy.

On August 24, 1943, for saving the lives of two pilots and shooting down two German fighters, Senior Lieutenant A.P. Maresyev, deputy squadron commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Guards Fighter Aviation Corps of the 15th Air Force army, awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1944, A. Maresyev agreed to become a pilot inspector and move from a combat regiment to the management of the Air Force universities. In total, during the war he made 86 sorties, shot down 10 enemy aircraft: three (according to other sources - four) before being wounded and seven after.

“Life, of course, rubbed me. But, if you start all over again, I would become a pilot again. Until now, I can not remember the sky without special, noble feelings. I have the happiest moments of my life associated with airplanes. When after the hospital they wrote on my card: “Good for all types of aviation”, I felt at the pinnacle of happiness” A.P. Maresyev

After the war, Maresyev was not allowed to fly. And he took up his education. Graduated from the Higher School of Education, the Academy of Social Sciences. He defended his thesis in history. He was demobilized from the war as a captain, in peacetime he reached the rank of colonel

Rules of life from the hero Maresyev

“Five qualities a person needs in order to grow up real: willpower, courage, perseverance, courage, the ability to overcome difficulties. All of them are interconnected, but not one can be singled out, not one can be removed” A.P. Maresyev

Photo by Alexei Petrovich Maresyev: military and post-war photos, photos with his family

1 of 13

Documentary film of the channel "History" "Alexey Maresyev. The fate of a real person

Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man"

Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man" was allowed to be published only after the war. They say that our propagandists were afraid that the Germans would think that things were bad in the Soviet Army. Here, they say, the disabled are already being sent to fight.
Alexei Petrovich himself learned about the appearance of the book by hearing excerpts on the radio. He called Pravda, asked for Polevoy's phone number, and was finally able to meet with the author.
Polevoi really didn't show me the book before it hit the stores. When the story was printed, they gave me a copy. But I never read it. Tried several times. But everything somehow ... In principle, Polevoy wrote everything correctly. True, he came up with an affair that I allegedly had with my girlfriend Olga. Although I like the image of a Soviet girl he created.

Interesting facts about the pilot Maresyev

After the plane crashed, a bear approached the exhausted pilot. Curious about the forest guest, the beast hit Maresyev with his paw, ripping open his overalls. Having somehow found the pistol, Aleksey fired the entire clip into the clubfoot. Fortunately, the cartridge was enough: the bear roared and collapsed dead. To kill the clubfoot, the pilot had to use up all the cartridges, he fired almost point blank.
In the hospital, barely looking at the patient with gangrene, the doctor on duty snapped: "Not a tenant." All night the dying pilot lay on a gurney near the morgue. Saved only by the fact that the chief physician was passing by. He examined the patient's legs and ordered: "Urgently to the operating room!"

On May 20, 1916, an outstanding Soviet pilot was born Alexey Petrovich Maresyev, whose feat formed the basis of the book Boris Polevoy"A Tale of a Real Man"

A man with a capital letter

In our time, there is rarely a person who would not know the heroic history of this soldier. Thanks to the author of the book, Alexey Maresyev went down in history forever as the standard of a “real man”, a true defender of the fatherland.

Alexey Maresyev remained in the memory of the people as an example of incredible endurance, fortitude and love for the motherland. Neither the plane crash, nor the 18-day return to his crawl in the winter without food, nor frostbite and amputation both legs. He seemed to have superhuman will to live.

He managed to do the incredible: it was not enough just to survive, he had to continue to live. Exactly live and not exist as a disabled person. He proved he could fly. He returned to the fighter unit and continued to defend his homeland.

Even after the fame that flooded over him after the release of the book and the film, he remained a real person. He did not like the memories of the war, he did not like the increased attention to himself. Alexei said: “Everyone fought! There are so many people in the world on whom Polevoy was not found! Indeed, there were many pilots who flew without legs. There is even a book like this - "How many Maresyevs we have." Maresyev knew about such people, so he was indignant: “Why are you making a legend out of me? I managed to survive, I managed to fly - and that's it!

How many Maresievs do we have

Alexey Maresyev was not the only pilot who took to the skies after a severe injury and amputation.

Mikhail Levitsky.

He was shot down and wounded in the leg in 1942. The Germans seized Mikhail and took him to the camp, where a prisoner doctor performed an amputation without anesthesia. The pilot was released from captivity, but spent a long time in hospitals. Levitsky returned to civil aviation.

Yuri Gilsher.

Pilot, cornet. In 1916, he was injured as a result of a plane crash: Gilscher's left foot was torn off. Due to gangrene, the leg was amputated to the knee. Cornet did not give up and returned to the Fighter Aviation Squad.

Alexander Prokofiev-Seversky.

Pilot, nobleman. After being wounded in 1915, his leg was amputated. Returned to the sky thanks to the patronage of Nicholas II.

Zakhar Sorokin.

During the battle in 1941 he was wounded in the thigh. With such an injury, he crawled 70 km along the tundra. The feet had to be amputated. After recovery, Sorokin returned to aviation.

“Why did Polevoy change your last name from Maresyev to Meresyev in the book?” the famous pilot was often asked. And he joked in response: “Well, maybe he was afraid that I would get drunk and the book would be banned. And so you can say that the book is not about me.

short biography

Alexey Petrovich Maresyev was born in the city Kamyshin Saratov province. Alexei and his two brothers, Peter and Nikolai, were raised by their mother. The father of the future pilot, who went through the battles of the First World War, died from the consequences of numerous wounds when Alexei was only three years old.

In childhood, Maresyev did not differ in special health, the boy often sick and suffered a severe form of malaria, the consequence of which was rheumatism. Alexei was tormented by terrible pains in his joints, and the neighbors of his family whispered among themselves that he would not last long. However, from his father, whom Alexei practically did not know and did not remember, he inherited a huge strength of will and stubborn character.

War

Maresyev met the beginning of the war on the Southwestern Front, where he was listed as part of the 296th Fighter Regiment. For the Soviet army, the first months of the war were a very difficult time. Fascist pilots surpassed them both in the level of technical knowledge and in the accumulated experience. Maresyev had already been an experienced pilot. This saved him.

Alexander Igorevich Pokryshkin, an outstanding Soviet pilot, said: "Those who did not fight in 1941-1942 do not know a real war."

Mine first plane he shot down in early 1942. It was a Ju-52 transport. In March 1942, Alexei Maresyev was transferred to the Northwestern Front. By this time, he had already shot down 4 aircraft. It is here that an air battle will take place that will change his life forever.

Between the lakes Seliger and Ilmen in the spring of 1942, near the city of Demyansk, a 100,000-strong group of fascist troops was surrounded by Soviet troops. They weren't about to give up. On the contrary, they had a very strong and organized offensive. This place is still called "Demyansk cauldron".

On April 4, 1942, the Yak-1 Maresyev provided cover for bombers in combat with enemy fighters. During this departure, Alexei's plane was knocked out. He wanted to make an emergency landing in the forest, but the landing gear caught on the tops of pine trees, and the car turned over.

Meresyev was saved by the fact that in those places there was deep snow, which softened the fall. The pilot received severe leg injuries, but survived.

18 days he crawled without food and with sore legs reached the front line.

“They said that allegedly the father of the Germans ate canned food. Nothing like this! He hardly ate anything in the forest. The only thing I caught was a hedgehog and scared off a lizard. The lizard left him a tail, he chewed it, chewed it and spat it out. I tore the hedgehog apart, but I couldn't eat it. So hungry and crawled to the village. When they found him, food coupons were taken out of his pocket ... ”, his son Viktor Maresyev recalls about Alexei Maresyev.

The situation was incredibly terrible: alone in the dense forest, with sore legs, the hungry pilot did not even know in which direction he needed to move. As the hero himself admitted, only a great desire to live saved him.

Death could not defeat him. He got out to his people in the Plav area of the Kislovsky village council. He was noticed by local residents - father and son. At first they were afraid to approach him, because at first they thought he was a German. By that time, Alexei was no longer able to utter anything intelligible. It was only later discovered children from the same village. They determined that it was a Soviet pilot, called their father and took the wounded pilot to their home.

For a whole week, the villagers tried to get Alexei out, but he needed serious medical help. And in the first days of May beyond Maresyev plane arrived and took him to a hospital in Moscow.

Doctors diagnosed gangrene both legs. By that time, Alexei was in an extremely serious condition. An urgent amputation was needed. Saved his life Professor Terebinsky who during the operation fought for his life.

Life after death"

The amputation was supposed to put an end to the pilot's career. However, Alex did not return from the other world to sit out the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He made a decision for himself to return with the system at any cost.

Per 6 months After intensive daily training, Alexey again learned not only to walk on prostheses, but also to dance.

Performer of the main role of the pilot Maresyev actor Pavel Kadochnikov he wrote in his diary: “For the first time I met Alexei Petrovich near Zvenigorod, where we were supposed to shoot winter nature ... I went up to him, shook his hand harder and suddenly realized that I was very worried. He shook my hand even tighter and for some reason became very embarrassed.

Aleksey, the first to overcome his embarrassment, spoke: “I know what interests you most of all ... How did I manage to overcome ... medical commission and prove that I am a physically healthy person.” And suddenly, unexpectedly for me, Alexei Petrovich gently and freely stood up on a chair and continued: “I tell him ... the chairman of the commission: aren’t these legs? Isn't it training?"

And, clapping loudly on his prostheses, Maresyev jumped down from his chair. So in the movie the scene "admission committee" was born.

It often happens that a person who becomes the prototype of a book character does not live up to the image created by the writer. However, Maresyev is a living example of the opposite. He proved with his whole life that the book "The Tale of a Real Man" is not a colorful myth, but a real story that tells about the great courage and unsurpassed fortitude of this man.

Portal for the student. Self-training