Sergey Nikolaevich
Sokolov
1913-1983
Sergey Nikolaevich Sokolov was the Deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Long-range Aviation Regiment for the political part (2nd Guards Long-range Aviation Division, 2nd Guards Long-range Aviation Corps, Long-range Aviation), Guards Lieutenant colonel was born on September 29, 1913 in the city of Kazan, Kazan province (now the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan). In 1930 he graduated from the 8th grade school in his hometown. In September 1930 – April 1931 he was a laborer at the Kazan fur factory, in April 1931 – April 1933 – a locksmith’s assistant and a locksmith at the Kazan GRES, in April – September 1933 – a locksmith at the Kazan typewriter factory. In 1932 he graduated from the evening labor faculty, in 1935 – the 2nd year of the Kazan Aviation Institute. He had been in the army since September 1935. In November 1937 he graduated from the Orenburg Military Aviation School of Pilots and Observer Pilots. From November 1937 he was pilot of the 92nd Heavy Bombardment Squadron (Monino village, Moscow region), in July 1938 – October 1939 – Assistant Commissar of the squadron of the 21st Bomber Aviation Regiment (Monino village). He flew a TB-3 bomber. Since October 1939 he had been Assistant Commissar of the Air squadron of the 5th Mixed Aviation Regiment (in the Leningrad Military District; the city of Murmansk). He flew a DB-3 bomber. He was a participant of the Soviet-Finnish War: in November 1939 – March 1940 – Assistant Commissar of the Air squadron of the 5th mixed (since February 1940 – bomber) aviation regiment. He fought in the Air Force of the 14th Army (November 1939 – March 1940). He participated in the battles in the Murmansk direction. He flew 7 combat missions on a DB-3 bomber. After the end of hostilities, he continued to serve in the Air Force as an assistant commissar of the Air squadron of the 5th Bomber Aviation Regiment (in the Leningrad Military District; the village of Vaenga, now the city of Severomorsk, Murmansk region). He flew a DB-3 bomber. In June – August 1940 he was Assistant Commissar of the Air squadron for Komsomol work of the 93rd long-range Bombing Aviation Regiment (in the Kiev Special Military District; the city of Zhytomyr, Ukraine). He flew a DB-3F (IL-4) bomber. In July 1941, he graduated from the 1st year of the Air Force Academy (Monino). He was a participant of the Great Patriotic War: in July – October 1941 – commissar of the air squadron of the 93rd (from August 1941 – 98th) long–range bombing aviation regiment, in October 1941 – December 1944 – commissar of the air squadron and commander of the air squadron, deputy commander for the political unit of the 750th (from August 1942 – 3rd Guards) of the long-range aviation regiment, since December 1944 – Deputy commander for the political unit of the 3rd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment. He participated in defensive battles in Ukraine, Velikiye Luki operation, Stalingrad and Kursk battles, Chernihiv-Pripyat, Smolensk-Roslavl, Crimean, Bobruisk, Minsk, Iasi-Chisinau, Budapest, Warsaw-Poznan, East Pomeranian, Konigsberg and Berlin operations. On the night of August 14, 1942, his plane was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire near the city of Bryansk. Crew members (navigator Captain P.I. Belyakov, air gunners-radio operators senior sergeants V.P. Todosko and I.T. Zaporozhsky) left the plane with parachutes. On August 17 S.N. Sokolov found a partisan detachment named after K.E. Voroshilov under the command of G.F. Pokrovsky in the forest and fought in the detachment until August 25, after which he was taken to his regiment by plane. I.T. Zaporozhsky also found partisans and fought with them until the end of September, after which he crossed the front line and returned to his regiment. P.I. Belyakov was captured on August 22, V.P. Todosko went missing. On the night of June 14, 1944, his plane was shot down during the bombing of Minsk, one engine failed. After 40 minutes of flight on one engine, he made an emergency landing on a swamp 30 km south-east of the village of Glusk (Mogilev region, Belarus). On June 16, the crew members met the partisan detachment «Death to Fascism» and on June 28, 1944, together with the detachment, they joined the units of the advancing Soviet troops. For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 19, 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Sokolov Sergey Nikolaevich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal*. During the war, he made 216 (210 of them – night) sorties on an IL-4 bomber to strike various targets in the deep rear of the enemy. After the war, until August 1945, he continued to serve in the Air Force as deputy commander for the political unit of the 3rd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment (in the Northern Group of Troops, Poland). I flew an IL-4 bomber. In May 1948 he graduated from the Air Force Academy (Monino). In May 1948 – September 1950 he was Commander of the 37th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment (Chernihiv, Ukraine), in September 1950 – 1953 – commander of the 11th Guards Bomber Aviation Division (Shatalovo village, Pochinkovsky district, Smolensk region). He flew Il-4 and Tu-4 bombers. In November 1955 he graduated from the Higher Military Academy (Military Academy of the General Staff). In November 1955 – January 1957 – Deputy commander of the 84th Separate Heavy Bomber Aviation Corps (Khabarovsk). He flew a Tu-16 jet bomber. Then he served in the Department of Long–range Aviation Combat Training: Head of the Department (January – October 1957), Deputy Head of the Department (October 1957 – October 1960) and head of the Department of Planning and organization of combat training (October 1960 – February 1964). In February 1964 – June 1974 he was Senior lecturer of the Department of Operational Art of the Air Force of the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since November 1974, Major General of Aviation S.N. Sokolov had been retired. In January – August 1981, he worked as a senior researcher at the Central House of Aviation and Cosmonautics.
Address: Moscow, Ostryakova str., 11
