Ivan Kozhedub

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub or Ivan Mykytovych Kozhedub (Russian: Иван Hикитович Кожедуб; Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб; 8 June 1920 – 8 August 1991) was a Soviet World War II fighter ace.

Universally credited with over 60 solo victories, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II.

He is one of the few pilots to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so.

Kozhedub was born on 8 June 1920 to a Ukrainian family in the village of Obrazhiivka, in Chernihiv Governorate, located within what is now Shostka Raion of Ukraine's Sumy Oblast.

He was originally to be posted as deputy commander of the 31st Fighter Aviation Division based in Baku, but — per orders 'from above' owing to his high status as a top flying ace — he was reassigned to the 324th Fighter Aviation Division.

After World War II, he remained in the military and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during Soviet operations in the Korean War.

After graduating from his seventh grade of school in his hometown in 1934 he went on to complete two more years of school in Shostka.

There he initially worked as a librarian until completing his ninth grade of school in 1936, and from that year to 1940 he attended the Shostka Chemical Technology College.

In addition to his studies, he attended training at the local aeroclub, from which he graduated in 1939.

He subsequently joined the Red Army in February 1940, and in January 1941 he graduated from training at the Chuhuiv Military Aviation School of Pilots, where he initially learned to fly the UT-2, UTI-4, and I-16.

Remaining at the school as a flight instructor, he continued to train pilots after the school was forced to evacuate to Shymkent in the autumn of 1941 due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

He was sent to Moscow in November 1942, where was posted to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment, but he did not arrive on the warfront until March 1943 when the 302nd Fighter Aviation Division was deployed to the Voronezh Front.

Despite having started in the regiment as a regular pilot, he quickly mastered the new La-5 and was promoted to flight commander.

He opened his tally on 6 July 1943 with the shootdown of a Ju 87 dive bomber.

Kozhedub became friends with Kirill Yevstigneev, an accomplished flying ace; although they did not often fly together, Kozhedub acquired many of his tactics and, in a spirit of competition, they shared their experiences using different techniques.

Vasily Mukhin, who often flew as Kozhedub's wingman, also went on to become a flying ace.

Over the next few months Kozhedub steadily gained more aerial victories and a promotion to squadron commander, but in the first half of October he rapidly increased his tally with 14 shootdowns.

On 10 October 1943 he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union for flying 146 sorties, engaging in 27 aerial battles, and totaling 20 aerial victories; he was awarded the title on 4 February 1944.

He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions (4 February 1944, 19 August 1944, and 18 August 1945).

In July 1944 the 240th Fighter Regiment was honored with the Guards designation and renamed the 178th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and Kozhedub was nominated for a second gold star for 46 aerial victories across 256 sorties.

In mid-February 1945, during a free-hunting mission in an area south of Frankfurt with his wingman Dmitry Titarenko, Kozhedub shot down an Me 262 jet, thereby becoming the first Soviet pilot to do so.

When Kozhedub and Titarenko encountered the Me 262, Kozhedub quickly accelerated from low to full speed; when the Me 262 banked left and slowed — spooked by tracer rounds fired by Titarenko — Kozhedub shot it down.

By the end of the war, Kozhedub tallied 330 sorties, had engaged in 120 dogfights, and had shot down 64 enemy aircraft.

Having gained all his aerial victories on the La-5F, La-5FN, and La-7, he expressed his strong preference for Lavochkin fighters, and met with Semyon Lavochkin to comment on various aspects of the fighters' designs.

Having been nominated for a third gold star in May 1945, he became thrice a Hero of the Soviet Union on 18 August 1945, and remained deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment based in Schönwalde until September that year.

Preferring short, intense attacks to stun and bring down enemy aircraft, one favorite technique he developed and used in the war involved darting at a target from below and subsequently opening fire only when extremely close.

Kozhedub used this tactic very successfully against the Ju 87 dive bomber, gaining him an unsurpassed 18 shootdowns of the type (equal with Arseny Vorozheykin).

However, being so risky, the manoeuvre was neither promoted nor taught to young pilots.

Though never shot down throughout the war, Kozhedub did experience several close calls.

He nevertheless always managed to land his airplane, regardless of damage.

Upon returning to the USSR, Kozhedub attended the Air Force Academy based in Monino, graduating in May 1949.

Kozhedub, despite being one of the first pilots to master the MiG-15 fighter jet back in 1949, was strictly forbidden from participating in combat sorties by order of his commanding officers.

He initially served as assistant commander for flight training, but was soon promoted to command the division in November 1950.

Shortly thereafter the unit was sent to China, where they initially trained Chinese and North Korean pilots.

Nevertheless, pilots of his division claimed 216 aerial victories in Korea from April 1951 to February 1952, while sustaining only 27 MiG-15 losses and nine pilots killed.

Upon its return to the Soviet Union in February 1952, the 324th Fighter Division was stationed in Kaluga as an air defense unit.

The following year he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and in February 1955 attended the High Command Academy, graduating in 1956.

He did not stay with his regiment much longer, though, having been reassigned as the deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, a special "free-hunting" regiment equipped with the new Lavochkin La-7 fighter, per the initiative of Chief Marshal of Aviation Aleksandr Novikov.

There, he was rarely assigned such specific missions as escorting other aircraft or providing air support for troops, enabling him and his subordinates to tally more aerial victories.

His division consisted of only two regiments (the 176th Guards and 196th Fighter Aviation Regiments) rather than the usual three.