Ivan Vasilyevich
Klevtsov
1923-1999
Ivan Vasilyevich Klevtsov was the Deputy Squadron commander of the 131st Guards Assault Aviation Regiment (7th Guards Assault Aviation Division, 5th Air Army, 2nd Ukrainian Front), a Guard lieutenant. He was born on January 19, 1923 in the village of Lastochkino in a peasant family. He joined the CPSU (b)/CPSU in 1944. He finished a seven-year school in the village of Alnashi and entered Sarapul Cooperative Technical School in 1938. While he studied at the aero club, he also studied at the technical school. In the direction of the Sarapul district military commissariat in April 1940, he entered the Balashov Military Aviation School of pilots, from which he graduated in 1942 with the rank of sergeant. From spring to autumn 1942, together with other graduates of the school, he mastered the Il-2 attack aircraft. After completing the training course, he was sent to the 704th Assault Aviation Regiment of the 232nd Assault Aviation Division. He fought on the Kalinin, Volkhov, Western, 2nd Ukrainian fronts. On August 14, 1943, during a combat mission, he was shot down. For more than two weeks, he made his way to the front line through the territory occupied by the enemy. On August 30, he was picked up in a serious condition by the troops of the advancing Red Army. After healing, he returned to the ranks. By February 13, 1945, V.I. Klevtsov had made 132 combat sorties for reconnaissance, photographing and bombing attacks on railway echelons, firing positions, strong points, concentrations of enemy troops and equipment. He personally destroyed 18 tanks, 3 railway echelons, 4 ammunition depots, 5 anti-aircraft artillery batteries, 8 mortar batteries, 11 small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery batteries, 14 pillboxes and bunkers, 43 trucks with cargo, 83 wagons, over a battalion of soldiers and officers, damaged and destroyed 6 aircraft. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 15, 1946, Lieutenant Ivan Vasilyevich Klevtsov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (No. 9020) for excellent performance of command tasks, courage and bravery of the Guards. On June 24, 1945, Guards Senior Lieutenant I.V. Klevtsov, among other best pilots of the regiment, took part in the Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square. After a short vacation to his homeland, I.V. Klevtsov continued to serve in the Air Force. At the end of 1946, he was sent to the one-year Senior Officer flight Tactical courses of the Air Force. He was appointed a squadron commander in an aviation regiment after the courses. He was a student of the command faculty of the Air Force Academy since 1953, after which he was appointed a deputy commander of a bomber aviation regiment in Central Asia. In 1960, he was transferred to Tashkent for staff work. From 1962 to 1965, he was engaged in organizing the search and rescue service of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. In 1979, due to illness, he was dismissed with the rank of Major General.
Address: Moscow, Kukhmisterova str., 18
