CHUPIKOV PAVEL FYODOROVICH

CHUPIKOV PAVEL FYODOROVICH
Colonel of Aviation, Participant of World War II, The Hero of the Soviet Union (August 19, 1944)

   He was born on December 21, 1913 in Tashkent. After finishing the school in 1929, he worked at the Tashkent Locomotive Repair Plant.
   From May 1931, he served in the Red Army. In 1932, he graduated from the 2^nd Military Aviation School in Volsk. From August 1932, he served in the 31^st Air Squadron in the Ukrainian Military District.
   In April 1934, the squadron was transferred to Krasnoyarsk in full force. From November 1937, he served in the Special Red Bannered 31^st Aviation Squadron of the Far East Army in the Far East, from June 1938, in the Air Force Squadron of the 1^st Red Bannered Army. He fought in Lake Hassan in July-August 1938 and was awarded the Order of “The Red Star”.
   In January 1939, he was sent to study at the 30^th Military Pilot School of Pilots in Chita, soon moved to the Rostov region and transformed into the Batay Aviation School named after A.K.Serov.
   From December 1939 to July 1940, he studied at the Kachin Military Aviation School named after A.F.Myasnikov. After graduation, he was appointed senior pilot of the 160^th Reserve Aviation Regiment of the Odessa Military District, and in October 1940, he was appointed Adjutant Commander of the 170^th Fighter Air Regiment of the Orlov Military District.
   From June 23, 1941, he participated in the battles of World War II. The regiment fought on I-16 fighter jets as part of the 47^th and 23^rd Mixed Aviation Divisions on the Western Front. On June 25, 1941, on the fourth day of the war, he shot down a German bomber near Lepel and won his first victory. In heavy fighting on the border and in Smolensk in western Belarus, the regiment lost almost all of its aircraft and was reorganized.
   On August 30, 1941, the LaGG-3 was replenished with fighter jets and after retraining, fought with the regiment, but on the Southern Front as part of the 9^th and 57^th Air Forces.
   In September 1941, he was appointed as the assailant of the 170^th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He took part in the Donbass-Rostov defense, Rostov and Barvenkovo-Lozovsky offensive operations, the Battle of Kharkov, the defense operations of the city of Voronezh-Voroshilov.
   From July 1942, he was the Commander of the 40^th Fighter Air Regiment of the 4^th Air Force on the South, Caucasus and North Caucasus fronts. The regiment fought heroically in the Battle of the Caucasus and destroyed 123 enemy aircraft (95 of them were shot down in air battles), but the regiment also lost 52 aircrafts.
   From April 1943, he was a member of the 2^nd Air Force of the Voronezh Front (from October on the 1^st Ukrainian Front). The regiment fought successfully in the battles of Kursk and the Dnieper.
   From October 31, 1943, he was the Deputy Commander of the 8^th Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the 2^nd Air Force, and was acted as the Commander of the Division (until December 5, 1943).
   From March 1944 until the end of the war, he was the commander of the 19^th Fighter Air Regiment of the 16^th Air Force on the 1^st Belorussian Front. He commanded the regiment in offensive operations in Belarus, Serotsky, Vistula-Oder, Eastern Pomerania, and Berlin.
   By August 1944, the commander of the 19^th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Colonel P.F.Chupikov, had flown 388 combat sorties and shot down 72 enemy aircrafts personally and 8 in a group in air battles.
   By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 19, 1944, “For exemplary performance of combat duties, courage and heroism in the fight against Nazi invaders on the front”, Colonel Pavel Chupikov was awarded the title of “The Hero of the Soviet Union”.
   He died on June 23, 1987 in Moscow. He was buried in Kuntsevsky Cemetery.