An excerpt characterizing Efimov, Alexander Nikolaevich

- No, it can't be! he said aloud. Unable to sit still, he is with a letter in his hands, reading it. began to walk around the room. He ran through the letter, then read it once, twice, and, raising his shoulders and spreading his arms, he stopped in the middle of the room with his mouth open and his eyes fixed. What he had just prayed for, with the assurance that God would grant his prayer, was fulfilled; but Nicholas was surprised by this as if it were something extraordinary, and as if he had never expected it, and as if the very fact that it happened so quickly proved that it did not come from the god he asked, but by mere chance.
That seemingly insoluble knot that tied Rostov's freedom was resolved by this unexpected (as it seemed to Nikolai), unprovoked letter from Sonya. She wrote that the last unfortunate circumstances, the loss of almost all the property of the Rostovs in Moscow, and the countess's repeated wishes that Nikolai would marry Princess Bolkonskaya, and his silence and coldness lately - all this together made her decide to renounce him. promises and give him complete freedom.
“It was too hard for me to think that I could be the cause of grief or discord in the family that did me good,” she wrote, “and my love has one goal in the happiness of those whom I love; and therefore I beg you, Nicolas, to consider yourself free and to know that in spite of everything, no one can love you more than your Sonya.
Both letters were from Trinity. The other letter was from the Countess. This letter described the last days in Moscow, the departure, the fire and the death of the entire state. In this letter, by the way, the countess wrote that Prince Andrei, among the wounded, was traveling with them. His position was very dangerous, but now the doctor says there is more hope. Sonya and Natasha, as nurses, look after him.
With this letter, the next day, Nikolai went to Princess Marya. Neither Nikolai nor Princess Marya said a word about what the words could mean: "Natasha is courting him"; but thanks to this letter, Nikolai suddenly became close to the princess in an almost family relationship.
The next day, Rostov accompanied Princess Marya to Yaroslavl and a few days later he himself left for the regiment.

Sonya's letter to Nicholas, which was the fulfillment of his prayer, was written from the Trinity. That's what caused it. The thought of Nicholas marrying a rich bride occupied the old countess more and more. She knew that Sonya was the main obstacle to this. And Sonya's life of late, especially after the letter from Nikolai, who described his meeting in Bogucharovo with Princess Marya, became harder and harder in the countess's house. The countess did not miss a single opportunity for an insulting or cruel allusion to Sonya.
But a few days before leaving Moscow, touched and agitated by everything that was happening, the countess, calling Sonya to her, instead of reproaches and demands, with tears turned to her with a plea that she, sacrificing herself, would pay for everything, what was done for her was to cut off her ties with Nikolai.
“I will not be at peace until you make this promise to me.
Sonya burst into tears hysterically, answered through her sobs that she would do everything that she was ready for anything, but she did not make a direct promise and in her soul could not decide what was demanded of her. It was necessary to sacrifice oneself for the happiness of the family that nurtured and raised her. Sacrificing herself for the happiness of others was Sonya's habit. Her position in the house was such that only on the path of sacrifice could she show her virtues, and she was used to and loved to sacrifice herself. But before that, in all acts of self-sacrifice, she was gladly aware that, by sacrificing herself, she thereby raises her own worth in the eyes of herself and others and becomes more worthy of Nicolas, whom she loved most in life; but now her sacrifice had to consist in giving up what for her was the whole reward of sacrifice, the whole meaning of life. And for the first time in her life she felt bitterness towards those people who did her good in order to torture her more painfully; she felt envious of Natasha, who had never experienced anything like this, never needed sacrifices and forced others to sacrifice herself and still loved by everyone. And for the first time, Sonya felt how out of her quiet, pure love for Nicolas a passionate feeling suddenly began to grow, which stood above both rules, and virtue, and religion; and under the influence of this feeling, Sonya involuntarily, having learned secrecy by her dependent life, answered the countess in general indefinite words, avoided conversations with her and decided to wait for a meeting with Nikolai so that in this meeting she would not free, but, on the contrary, forever connect herself with him .
The troubles and horror of the last days of the Rostovs' stay in Moscow drowned out the gloomy thoughts that weighed on her in Sonya. She was glad to find salvation from them in practical activities. But when she found out about the presence of Prince Andrei in their house, despite all the sincere pity that she felt for him and for Natasha, a joyful and superstitious feeling that God did not want her to be separated from Nicolas, seized her. She knew that Natasha loved one Prince Andrei and did not stop loving him. She knew that now, brought together in such terrible conditions, they would fall in love again, and that then Nicholas, due to the relationship that would be between them, would not be able to marry Princess Mary. Despite all the horror of everything that happened in the last days and during the first days of the journey, this feeling, this consciousness of Providence intervening in her personal affairs, pleased Sonya.
In the Trinity Lavra, the Rostovs made the first day of their trip.
In the hotel of the Lavra, the Rostovs were assigned three large rooms, one of which was occupied by Prince Andrei. The wounded man was much better that day. Natasha sat with him. The Count and Countess were sitting in the next room, conversing respectfully with the rector, who had visited his old acquaintances and investors. Sonya was sitting right there, and she was tormented by curiosity about what Prince Andrei and Natasha were talking about. She listened to the sound of their voices through the door. The door to Prince Andrei's room opened. Natasha, with an agitated face, came out of there and, not noticing the monk who rose to meet her and took hold of the wide sleeve of his right hand, went up to Sonya and took her by the hand.
- Natasha, what are you? Come here, said the Countess.
Natasha came under the blessing, and the abbot advised to seek help from God and his saint.
Immediately after the rector left, Nashat took her friend by the hand and went with her into an empty room.
Sonya, right? will he be alive? - she said. - Sonya, how happy I am and how unhappy I am! Sonya, my dear, everything is the same as before. If only he were alive. He can't ... because, because ... because ... - And Natasha burst into tears.
- So! I knew it! Thank God, said Sonya. - He will be alive!
Sonya was excited no less than her friend - both by her fear and grief, and by her personal, unspoken thoughts. She, sobbing, kissed and consoled Natasha. "If only he were alive!" she thought. After weeping, talking, and wiping away their tears, the two friends approached Prince Andrei's door. Natasha carefully opened the door and peered into the room. Sonya stood next to her at the half-open door.
Prince Andrei lay high on three pillows. His pale face was calm, his eyes were closed, and you could see how evenly he breathed.
- Oh, Natasha! Sonya suddenly almost screamed, clutching her cousin's arm and stepping back from the door.
- What? what? Natasha asked.
“This is this, that, this…” said Sonya with a pale face and trembling lips.
Natasha quietly closed the door and went with Sonya to the window, not yet understanding what she was being told.
“Do you remember,” Sonya said with a frightened and solemn face, “remember when I looked for you in the mirror ... In Otradnoye, at Christmas time ... Do you remember what I saw? ..
- Yes Yes! - Natasha said, opening her eyes wide, vaguely remembering that then Sonya said something about Prince Andrei, whom she saw lying.
– Do you remember? Sonya continued. - I saw then and told everyone, both you and Dunyasha. I saw that he was lying on the bed,” she said, making a gesture with her hand with a raised finger at every detail, “and that he closed his eyes, and that he was covered with a pink blanket, and that he folded his hands,” Sonya said, making sure as she described the details she saw now, that these same details she saw then. Then she saw nothing, but said that she saw what came to her mind; but what she thought up then seemed to her just as real as any other memory. What she then said, that he looked back at her and smiled and was covered with something red, she not only remembered, but was firmly convinced that even then she had said and seen that he was covered with a pink, precisely pink blanket, and that his eyes were closed.
“Yes, yes, exactly pink,” said Natasha, who also now seemed to remember what was said in pink, and in this very she saw the main extraordinary and mysteriousness of the prediction.
“But what does that mean? Natasha said thoughtfully.
“Ah, I don’t know how extraordinary all this is! Sonya said, clutching her head.
A few minutes later, Prince Andrei called, and Natasha went in to him; and Sonya, experiencing a feeling of excitement and tenderness rarely experienced by her, remained at the window, pondering the whole unusualness of what had happened.
On this day there was an opportunity to send letters to the army, and the countess wrote a letter to her son.
“Sonya,” said the countess, looking up from her letter as her niece passed her. - Sonya, will you write to Nikolenka? said the countess in a low, trembling voice, and in the look of her tired eyes, peering through glasses, Sonya read everything that the countess meant by these words. This look expressed both prayer, and fear of refusal, and shame at what had to be asked, and readiness for irreconcilable hatred in case of refusal.
Sonya went up to the countess and, kneeling down, kissed her hand.
“I will write, maman,” she said.
Sonya was softened, agitated and touched by everything that happened that day, especially by the mysterious performance of divination that she just saw. Now that she knew that on the occasion of the resumption of relations between Natasha and Prince Andrei, Nikolai could not marry Princess Marya, she gladly felt the return of that mood of self-sacrifice in which she loved and used to live. And with tears in her eyes and with joy in the consciousness of committing a generous deed, she, interrupted several times by tears that clouded her velvety black eyes, wrote that touching letter, the receipt of which so struck Nikolai.

In the guardhouse, where Pierre was taken, the officer and soldiers who took him treated him with hostility, but at the same time respectfully. There was also a sense of doubt in their attitude towards him about who he was (isn't he a very important person), and hostility due to their still fresh personal struggle with him.
But when, on the morning of the next day, the shift came, Pierre felt that for the new guard - for officers and soldiers - he no longer had the meaning that he had for those who took him. And indeed, in this big, fat man in a peasant's caftan, the guards of the other day no longer saw that living person who fought so desperately with the marauder and the escort soldiers and uttered a solemn phrase about saving the child, but they saw only the seventeenth of those held for some reason, according to the order of the higher authorities, taken by the Russians. If there was anything special in Pierre, it was only his timid, concentrated, thoughtful look and the French language, in which, surprisingly for the French, he spoke well. Despite the fact that on the same day Pierre was connected with other suspects taken, since the officer needed a separate room that he occupied.
All the Russians kept with Pierre were people of the lowest rank. And all of them, recognizing the gentleman in Pierre, shunned him, especially since he spoke French. Pierre sadly heard ridicule over himself.
The next day, in the evening, Pierre learned that all these detainees (and, probably, including himself) were to be tried for arson. On the third day, Pierre was taken with others to a house where a French general with a white mustache, two colonels and other Frenchmen with scarves on their hands were sitting. Pierre, along with others, was asked questions about who he is with that allegedly exceeding human weaknesses, accuracy and definiteness with which defendants are usually treated. where was he? for what purpose? etc.
These questions, leaving aside the essence of life's work and excluding the possibility of disclosing this essence, like all questions asked at the courts, aimed only at substituting the groove along which the judges wanted the defendant's answers to flow and lead him to the desired goal, that is, to the accusation. As soon as he began to say something that did not satisfy the purpose of the accusation, they accepted the groove, and the water could flow wherever it wanted. In addition, Pierre experienced the same thing that the defendant experiences in all courts: bewilderment, why did they ask him all these questions. He felt that it was only out of condescension or, as it were, courtesy that this trick of the substituted groove was used. He knew that he was in the power of these people, that only power had brought him here, that only power gave them the right to demand answers to questions, that the only purpose of this meeting was to accuse him. And therefore, since there was power and there was a desire to accuse, there was no need for the trick of questions and trial. It was obvious that all answers had to lead to guilt. When asked what he was doing when they took him, Pierre answered with some tragedy that he was carrying a child to his parents, qu "il avait sauve des flammes [whom he saved from the flame]. - Why did he fight with a marauder? Pierre answered, that he defended a woman, that the protection of an offended woman is the duty of every man, that... He was stopped: it did not go to the point. Why was he in the yard of the house on fire, where witnesses saw him? He answered that he was going to see what was being done in Moscow. They stopped him again: they did not ask him where he was going, but why he was near the fire? Who is he? They repeated the first question to which he said that he did not want to answer. Again he answered that he could not say this .

Great Pilots of the World Bodrikhin Nikolai Georgievich

Alexander Nikolaevich Efimov (USSR)

Alexander Nikolaevich Efimov

Born on February 6, 1923 in the village of Kantemirovka in the family of a railway worker. He spent his childhood and youth in the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region. In 1941 he graduated from the Lugansk flying club. In the Red Army since May 1941. In 1942 he graduated from the Lugansk military aviation school for pilots.

Efimov participated in the Great Patriotic War from August 1942 as a pilot of the 594th Assault Aviation Regiment. From November 1942 he was a pilot, flight commander, navigator and squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation regiment. By July 1944, the squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation regiment, senior lieutenant Efimov, made 100 sorties to reconnaissance and attack enemy troops, airfields, crossings and railway echelons.

By September 1944, Alexander Efimov made 170 sorties on the Il-2. 170 times he struck the enemy in the Moscow region, near Smolensk, near Yelnya, on the Oryol-Kursk Bulge, in Belarus, Poland, Prussia. October 26, 1944 A.N. Efimov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

One day in April, the pilots received an order to storm the Baltic port of Swinemünde. Non-flying weather: continuous low cloudiness, fog, and heavy rain over the bay. One squadron of Efimov reached the target, the rest could not break through. Efimov gave the signal to attack. The Germans met our squadron with massive fire. It was the victorious, 222nd sortie of A.N. Efimov.

Hero of the Soviet Union A.N. Efimov participated in the Victory Parade.

On August 18, 1945, on Aviation Day, Captain Efimov was awarded the second Gold Star medal. In the Kremlin, from the hands of M.I. Kalinin, he accepted a high award, which was awarded to the best of the best.

After the war, Efimov held various command positions in the Air Force. In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. He commanded a regiment, a division. In 1957 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He was deputy commander of the 30th Air Army (in the Baltic Military District). In 1964–1969 commanded the 57th air army in the Carpathian military district. From March 1969 - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.

Efimov flew until 1983.

From December 1984 to July 1990 Efimov was Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. In 1990–1993 - Chairman of the State Commission on the use of airspace and air traffic control. In August 1993, Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, laureate of the USSR State Prize A.N. Efimov retired. Passed away August 31, 2012

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Alexander Nikolaevich Efimov February 6, 1923 (86 years old) (19230206) Place of birth ... Wikipedia

Efimov Alexander Nikolaevich Encyclopedia "Aviation"

Efimov Alexander Nikolaevich- A. N. Efimov Efimov Alexander Nikolaevich (b. 1923) - Soviet military leader, air marshal (1975), candidate of military sciences (1966), honored military pilot of the USSR (1970), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). Graduated from Voroshilovgrad ... ... Encyclopedia "Aviation"

- (b. 1923) Russian military leader, air marshal (1975), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). During the Great Patriotic War in attack aviation, squadron commander and navigator of an air regiment; 222 sorties. Since 1969 1st deputy, in 1984 91 ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (born February 6, 1923, Kantemirovka, now the Voronezh region), Soviet military leader, Colonel General of Aviation (1969), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (10/26/1944 and 8/18/1945). Member of the CPSU since 1943. Born into a working class family. In the Soviet Army since May 1941. ... ...

- (b. 1923) Soviet military leader, air marshal (1975), candidate of military sciences (1966), honored military pilot of the USSR (1970), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). He graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation School (1942), Military ... ... Encyclopedia of technology

- (b. 1923), air marshal (1975), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). During the Great Patriotic War in attack aviation, squadron commander and navigator of an air regiment; 222 sorties. From 1969 1st Deputy, in 1984 1990 Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (born February 6, 1923) attack pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize, Air Marshal (1975), Ph.D. military Sciences. Member of the Great Patriotic War since August 1942. Was ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Efimov is a Russian surname, one of the 250 most common Russian surnames. Known media: Contents 1 A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E ... Wikipedia

I Efimov Alexander Nikolaevich (born February 6, 1923, Kantemirovka, now the Voronezh region), Soviet military leader, Colonel General of Aviation (1969), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (10/26/1944 and 8/18/1945). Member of the CPSU since 1943. Born in a family ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

• Moscow on the front line, Bondarenko Alexander Yulievich, Efimov Nikolai Nikolaevich. The book brought to your attention is compiled on the basis of the materials of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, covering the little-known pages of the Second World War, with a special place given to defense ...
• The bitter summer of 1941, Efimov Nikolai Nikolaevich, Bondarenko Alexander Yulievich. "For a correct analysis and assessment of military events, it is important that all historical facts be considered with a professional understanding of the essence of the matter, with a deep consideration of the specifics of a particular ...

Alexander Nikolaevich Efimov

Born on February 6, 1923 in the village of Kantemirovka in the family of a railway worker. He spent his childhood and youth in the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region. In 1941 he graduated from the Lugansk flying club. In the Red Army since May 1941. In 1942 he graduated from the Lugansk military aviation school for pilots.

Efimov participated in the Great Patriotic War from August 1942 as a pilot of the 594th Assault Aviation Regiment. From November 1942 he was a pilot, flight commander, navigator and squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation regiment. By July 1944, the squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation regiment, senior lieutenant Efimov, made 100 sorties to reconnaissance and attack enemy troops, airfields, crossings and railway echelons.

By September 1944, Alexander Efimov made 170 sorties on the Il-2. 170 times he struck the enemy in the Moscow region, near Smolensk, near Yelnya, on the Oryol-Kursk Bulge, in Belarus, Poland, Prussia. October 26, 1944 A.N. Efimov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

One day in April, the pilots received an order to storm the Baltic port of Swinemünde. Non-flying weather: continuous low cloudiness, fog, and heavy rain over the bay. One squadron of Efimov reached the target, the rest could not break through. Efimov gave the signal to attack. The Germans met our squadron with massive fire. It was the victorious, 222nd sortie of A.N. Efimov.

Hero of the Soviet Union A.N. Efimov participated in the Victory Parade.

On August 18, 1945, on Aviation Day, Captain Efimov was awarded the second Gold Star medal. In the Kremlin, from the hands of M.I. Kalinin, he accepted a high award, which was awarded to the best of the best.

After the war, Efimov held various command positions in the Air Force. In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. He commanded a regiment, a division. In 1957 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He was deputy commander of the 30th Air Army (in the Baltic Military District). In 1964–1969 commanded the 57th air army in the Carpathian military district. From March 1969 - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.

Efimov flew until 1983.

From December 1984 to July 1990 Efimov was Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. In 1990–1993 - Chairman of the State Commission on the use of airspace and air traffic control. In August 1993, Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, laureate of the USSR State Prize A.N. Efimov retired. Passed away August 31, 2012

Over the battlefield

Publisher's abstract: Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal A.N. Efimov began his front-line path in August 1942. Defending the Motherland, he fought the enemy until the victorious end of the war, smashed the fascist hordes near Rzhev and Orel, Bryansk and Smolensk, in Belarus, Poland and Germany, made 222 sorties, destroyed a lot of enemy manpower and equipment. The harsh front-line everyday life, the exploits of comrades-in-arms are described in the memoirs of the former squadron commander of the 198th assault regiment of the 4th air army. Now Marshal of Aviation Alexander Nikolayevich Efimov is the first deputy commander-in-chief of the USSR Air Force. His memoirs are intended for the mass reader.

Curriculum vitae: EFIMOV Alexander Nikolaevich, was born on 02/06/1923 in the village of Kantemirovka, now the town of Voronezh region, in the family of a railway worker. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1943. Graduated from school No. 2 in the city of Millerovo, Rostov Region in 1940. In the Soviet Army since 1941. Graduated from the Voroshilovgrad military aviation pilot school in 1942. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since August 1942. Squadron commander of the 198th assault aviation regiment (233rd Assault Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, 2nd Belorussian Front) Senior Lieutenant Efimov by July 1944 made 100 sorties for reconnaissance and attack on enemy troops, airfields, crossings and railway echelons. On October 26, 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the war, the navigator of the 62nd Assault Aviation Regiment, Captain Efimov, made another 122 sorties. In total, he personally and as part of a group destroyed 85 enemy aircraft at airfields and 7 in air battles, a lot of enemy manpower and equipment. On August 18, 1945, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal. In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy, in 1957 - the Military Academy of the General Staff, served in command positions in the Air Force. Since 1969, the first deputy commander-in-chief, since 1984 the commander-in-chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Honored military pilot. Air Marshal (1975). Candidate of military sciences. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd, 9th -11th convocations. Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU since 1986. Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin, 5 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Alexander Nevsky, 2 Orders of the Patriotic War 1st class, Order of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces" 3rd class, medals, foreign orders. State Prize of the USSR. A bronze bust was installed in Millerovo. (Heroes of the Soviet Union. A Brief Biographical Dictionary. Moscow. Military Publishing. 1987. Volume 1. P. 490-491) \\\ Andriyanov P.M.

Chapter one. First Height

Chapter two. Happy to meet planes

Chapter three. Heading west

Chapter Four. July promises a thunderstorm

Chapter five. Above the "Smolensk gates"

Chapter six. Hello, partisan land

Chapter seven. Through the Vistula

Chapter eight. Severe teacher - war

Chapter nine. Under the sun of victory

Chapter one. First height.

In that second military autumn of 1942, September in the Moscow region turned out to be capricious. Sunny weather was often replaced by cold rains, the sky was gloomy, the crimson colors of the autumn forest faded untimely.

Inclement weather, disappointing reports from the Soviet Information Bureau had a bad effect on the mood. The Nazis rushed to Stalingrad, sought to cut off the Caucasus. And there is nothing comforting on the Western Front.

It would be more like a plane - and into battle! .. Tolya Ukraintsev, a friend from an aviation school, and I, for the third day kneaded the mud on the front roads in the troops of the airfield we needed. His trace was found unexpectedly. The traffic sergeant helped. He also attached us to a car with shells that was heading in that direction.

In the cockpit of the three-ton we felt happy: now we will surely get there. Clinging to each other to keep warm, we dozed off and ... drove through our crossroads. Woke up from the close gun roar. Where has this taken us? It turns out that the driver brought us directly to the firing position of the battery, skillfully disguised at the edge of the forest. She supported the attack of our infantry on an unnamed height, along the crest of which the enemy dug in.

The volleys of our guns merged with close bursts of fascist shells. In the artillery cannonade, it was difficult for us, unfired, to determine where our shot was and where the rupture of someone else's shell was. It was easy to fall under the tight wave of the explosion or under the fragments flying like a fan. Curious Tolya picked up one of these, heavy, with notches, and immediately threw:

Hot, you bastard!

Machine-gun bursts were woven into the artillery duel. From time to time above us, touching the tops of the trees, mines grunted with anguish, showering the battery crews with fragments. Among the gunners were already wounded. But no one left the guns.

It was a difficult attack: the terrain ahead was open, and lead rain was pouring down from above. In anticipation of the command, our infantry clung to the wet ground. Here the chain rose and rushed forward. Machine guns barked angrily from above. It was painful to see how the figures of our soldiers fell and remained motionless. The thinned chain stuck. The attack faltered. As if choking, guns and machine guns fell silent at once. Silence reigned for a moment... The motionless figures of soldiers on a field soaked with rain, and this absurd, ominous silence...

Then there were many fights on my way, but this one, the first one, seen "from the outside", stuck in my memory for the rest of my life.

Confused and stunned, we did not immediately realize what the artillery lieutenant, heated by the battle, with two dice on his buttonholes, was trying to achieve from us. After our confused explanations, I finally realized that we, young pilots, were heading to an assault aviation regiment, looking for an airfield.

Search there! - he sharply waved his hand to the rear, and he broke into a cry: - And in general, where is it - your aircraft? Where is the promised air support? Who will answer for them? - The lieutenant cast an angry glance towards our fighters, who remained on the slope of the nameless height.

Depressed, we returned from the front line. The rain that started pouring in the morning did not stop. Our gray soldier's greatcoats were soaked through. Water sloshed in his boots, heavy with mud.

A dry ration has long been eaten - six black crackers. And yet, more than hunger and cold, resentment tormented us. We were so proud of our aviation, and then suddenly the planes did not arrive, the infantry attack failed. So many soldiers died before our eyes!

However little our experience was, we, of course, guessed that aviation that day was doomed to inactivity due to difficult meteorological conditions. With such visibility, it is difficult to see the object of attack even from a low height. And if you gape, you yourself will crash into some slope. No, we came to the conclusion that it was impossible to fly in such weather.

But as soon as the picture of the battle for the height and the face of the lieutenant distorted by anger rose in the memory, the logical course of our reasoning was interrupted. It seems that we were aware that the attack aircraft should act in the interests of the ground forces even in the rain. But at that time it was still unknown to us that soon we ourselves would conduct combat work in much more difficult conditions.

During conversations, we imperceptibly approached the turn we needed to the village of Chertanovo. A plywood pointer with a laconic inscription: "The Household of the Thousand" is nailed to a lonely dried poplar.

There is no doubt that we are on the right track. Even in the personnel department of the Western Front, we were told that Major Tysyachny was the commander of our assault aviation regiment.

Finally, here is Chertanovo. The only street was blocked by a makeshift barrier. Passing it, they immediately met an officer with a red armband on his sleeve.

Who do you want, military comrades?

In short, filthy overcoats and faded old caps, we looked a little like graduates of a well-known aviation school in the country. The officer read our instructions and immediately perked up:

Well, let's get acquainted. I am Lieutenant Vasiliev, flight commander. Welcome to our future Guards Regiment.