Pyotr Ivanovich
Romanov
1918-1945
Pyotr Ivanovich Romanov was the Flight commander of the 108th Aviation Regiment of the 36th Aviation Division of the 8th Aviation Corps of Long-range Aviation, captain, the Hero of the Soviet Union. Since 1931 he lived in Moscow, in the family of his elder brother. He finished 7 grades and the school of the Federal Law at the 1st Moscow State Bearing Plant. He worked as a locksmith at the 1st Moscow State Bearing Plant. He graduated from the Tushinsky Flying Club of Osoaviakhim. He was in the Soviet Army since 1940. He graduated from the Kirovobad Military Aviation School of pilots named after V.S. Kholzunov in 1941. He served in the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military District. In August 1941, he participated in the operation to bring Soviet troops into Iran. He was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since October 13, 1941. He took part in the battles on the North-Western Front as a part of the 42nd Bomber Aviation Regiment, made 17 sorties. In March 1942, the regiment was transferred to long-range Aviation, pilot P.I. Romanov continued to fight in its composition. He participated in the defence of Moscow. In August-September 1942, he assisted the Soviet troops in the defence of Stalingrad, making 17 sorties against enemy clusters in its front-line strip. In the autumn of 1942, he made 7 sorties to suppress the German long-range artillery shelling Leningrad. He flew to bombard enemy railway and airfield hubs in Smolensk, Dno, Bryansk, Minsk, Poltava, Orsha, Gomel, Orel, Vitebsk, Vyazma, Kursk, Voronezh. In May 1943 he bombed enemy industrial facilities in Warsaw. As a part of special-purpose aviation groups, he operated three times in the Arctic: in May-June and in October-November 1942. For the third time, from November 22, 1943 to February 20, 1944, he was a part of the operational group of the 8th Air Corps – Sever–3, whose Il-4 aircraft were based at the airfield near Murmansk. The main task of this group was combat work in the interests of the Northern Fleet. On the night of February 11, 1944, as a crew commander (navigator Captain A.N. Prokudin), he participated in the bombing of the Hitler battleship Tirpitz in Alten Fjord (Northern Norway). He completed 49 sorties in the Arctic sky. The flight commander of the 108th long-range Aviation Regiment (36th Long-range Aviation Division, 8th Long-range Aviation Corps, ADD), Captain P.I. Romanov had flown 209 sorties to bombard military-industrial facilities behind enemy lines, railway junctions, echelons and warehouses by the end of February 1944. 206.5 tons of bombs were dropped on the enemy. 10 aircraft were burned on the ground, 27 warehouses, 5 railway echelons, 11 station and airfield buildings were destroyed, 9 anti-aircraft points were suppressed, 27 large and medium explosions were caused, 63 fires, 47 direct hits into enemy airfield facilities. The crew successfully conducted 6 air battles with enemy fighters. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 19, 1944, for exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Captain Pyotr Ivanovich Romanov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He continued to fight the enemy. He completed 300 sorties. He died in a combat mission near Berlin on the night of April 18, 1945, bringing a bomber hit by anti-aircraft fire to the target and accurately covering it seconds before the burning plane exploded in the air.
Address: Moscow, 2nd Yuzhnoportovy ave., 11, p. 1
