The feat of Alexei Maresyev, the legendary Soviet pilot who lost both legs during the Second World War, is known to everyone today. Willpower and the desire for the life of a hero managed to defeat death first, and then disability. Contrary to the verdict, which seemed to be passed by fate itself, Maresyev managed to survive when it seemed impossible, to return to the front behind the helm of a fighter and, at the same time, into a full life. Maresyev’s feat is a hope and example for many people who became victims of tragic circumstances not only in wartime, but also in peacetime. He recalls what can be achieved by one who has not lost the strength to fight and faith in himself.
Maresyev Alexey Petrovich: childhood and youth
On May 20, 1916, the third son was born in the family of Peter and Ekaterina Maresyeva, who lived in the city of Kamyshin (the current Volgograd region). Alexei was three years old when his father died from wounds received at the front of the First World War. The mother, Ekaterina Nikitichna, who worked as a cleaner at the factory, had a difficult share of raising children - Peter, Nikolai and Alexei herself.
After graduating from eight classes, Alexei Maresyev entered the school of FZU, where he received the profession of a locksmith. For three years he worked at a sawmill in his native Kamyshin as a metal turner and at the same time studied at a work faculty. Even then, he had a desire to become a pilot.
Twice he tried to enroll in a flight school, but documents were returned to him: the severe form of malaria suffered in childhood seriously damaged his health, complicated by rheumatism. Few believed then that Alex would become a pilot — neither his mother nor neighbors were an exception — but he stubbornly continued to strive for his goal.
In 1934, in the direction of the Kamyshin Komsomol District Committee, Maresyev went to the Khabarovsk Territory for the construction of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Working as a diesel mechanic, he is also engaged in an aero club, learning to fly.
Three years later, when Maresyev was drafted into the army, he was sent to serve in the 12th airborne squadron on Sakhalin Island. From there, he received a referral to an aviation school in the city of Bataisk, which he graduated with the rank of junior lieutenant. There he was appointed to the position of instructor. He served in Bataysk until the war.
The beginning of the war and the history of the feat
In August 1941, Alexei Maresyev was sent to the front. The first of his sorties took place near Krivoy Rog. When in the spring of next year the pilot was transferred to the North-Western Front, he had already counted four enemy aircraft shot down.
On April 4, 1942, during an air battle in the area of Staraya Russa (Novgorod Region), a Maresyev fighter was shot down, and he himself was injured. The pilot was forced to land in the forest - on the territory of the enemy rear.
For eighteen days, Alexei Maresyev was desperately fighting death, making his way to the front line. When the wounded and then frostbitten legs were let down, he continued to crawl, eating bark, berries, cones ... Barely alive, he was found in the forest by two boys from the village of Plav (Plavni), Valdai District. The villagers sheltered the pilot and tried to get out, but the consequences of injuring and frostbite of the legs were too severe. Maresyev needed an operation.
In early May, an airplane landed near the village. It was piloted by Andrei Dekhtyarenko, the squadron commander in which Maresyev served. The wounded pilot managed to be transported to Moscow to a military hospital.
The ruthless verdict of doctors and ... return to duty
Everything that happens next is nothing but one long uninterrupted feat of Maresyev. Doctors miraculously saved a hospitalized pilot with gangrene and blood poisoning, miraculously saved his life, but they had to amputate his legs in both legs. While still in a hospital bed, Alex begins a grueling workout. He is preparing not just to stand on prostheses and learn how to move on them. His plans are to possess them so completely as to be able to return to aviation. He continued to train in the sanatorium in 1942, making stunning successes that were the result of his iron will and courage.
At the beginning of next year, Maresyev was sent to the medical board, after which he received a referral to the Ibresinsky flight school in Chuvashia. In February 1943, he successfully completed the first test flight after being wounded. All this time he with remarkable persistence sought to be sent to the front.
And again in battle!
The request of the pilot was granted in July 1943. But the commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at first was afraid to let him go on assignments. However, after the commander of his squadron, Alexander Chislov, who sympathized with Maresyev, began to take him with him on combat missions, which turned out to be successful, confidence in the capabilities of the pilot increased.
After Maresyev took to the air on prostheses, before the end of the war he was shot down another seven enemy aircraft. Soon, fame about the feat of Maresyev spread throughout the front.
Around this time, Alexey Petrovich first met with Boris Polev, a front-line correspondent for the Pravda newspaper. The feat of the pilot Maresyev inspired Polevoy to create his famous book "The Tale of a Real Man." In it, Maresyev acted as a prototype of the protagonist.
In 1943, Maresyev received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The end of the war. Life after it is another feat of Maresyev
A year later, Alexei Maresyev was offered to leave the combat regiment and transfer to the command of the Air Force universities as an inspector-pilot. He agreed. By that time, he had eighty-seven sorties and eleven enemy aircraft shot down on his account.
In 1946, Maresyev Aleksey Petrovich was dismissed from military aviation, but he constantly continued to maintain excellent physical shape. He was skating, skiing, swimming and cycling. He set his personal record near Kuibyshev when he crossed the Volga (2200 meters) in fifty-five minutes.
Maresyev was very famous in the post-war years, was repeatedly invited to various holiday events, participated in meetings with schoolchildren. In 1949, he traveled to Paris, participating in the First World Congress of Peace Supporters.
In addition, he continued to study, graduating in 1952 from the Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and four years later he defended his dissertation in the field of history.
In 1960, the world saw the book "On the Kursk Bulge", authored by Alexei Maresyev (photo below).
Maresyev devoted much time to public work. He was a member of the Committee of War Veterans, was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in addition, he headed the All-Russian Foundation for the Disabled of the Great Patriotic War.
A family
Alexey Petrovich Maresyev was married. Galina Viktorovna Maresyeva (Tretyakova), his wife, was an employee of the General Staff of the Air Force. They had two sons. The eldest, Victor (1946), currently runs the Maresyev Foundation. The youngest, Alexey (1958), who was a disabled child, died in 2001.
Death
Two days before the official birthday of the great pilot, on May 18, 2001, a concert was to be held at the Theater of the Russian Army on the occasion of the eighty-fifth anniversary of Maresiev. Some time before the event, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack, after which he died.
Alexei Maresyev was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Memory of the hero
The military and labor merits of Maresyev were awarded many awards. In addition to the Golden Star of the Hero of the USSR and a number of state awards of his homeland, he became a holder of many foreign orders and medals. He also became an honorary soldier of one of the military units, an honorary citizen of his native Kamyshin, Orel, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and many other cities. His name is a public foundation, a number of streets, schools, patriotic clubs and even a small planet.
The memory of Alexei Maresyev, his willpower, love of life and courage, which rightfully brought him the glory of a man of legend, will forever remain in people's hearts, serving as an example for the education of subsequent generations.