Alexander Fedorovich Clubs was born in 1918, under baptismal frost on January 18. His native village is Yarunovo, in the Vologda province. His family was on the verge of poverty. Father served as a sailor on the Aurora, and participated in the legendary revolution in October 1917. True, in 1921 he was killed in his own village. The local fists became killers.
Youth
Alexander Fedorovich Klubov graduated from a seven-year rural school, and then went to Leningrad. In this city, he managed to enter a school of factory specialties. This training allowed him to become an employee of the Bolshevik enterprise.
Being a big fan of aviation, he did not miss his chance and became a member of the local flying club. There he spent all the time free from factory shifts. Thanks to classes at the club, he learned to fly a plane perfectly.
Military student
In 1939, Clubs makes a fateful decision - goes to the army, and on a personal initiative. The command, having studied his case, sends the guy to the military aviation academy. Clubs are excellent in their studies. He copes with many final exams and becomes a fighter pilot.
Studying at the academy ended in 1940. And the further service of the pilot Alexander Fedorovich Klubov took place in one of the aviation units near the Caucasus Mountains.
The initial war years
They came when Clubs was a junior lieutenant in the army hierarchy. The service obligated the young pilot to engage in air battles.
The guy was not afraid of this, but, on the contrary, was eager for battle. To perform the most important tasks, he was allocated an old model I-15 bis "The Seagull".
His first battle took place in 1941, on July 28. He shot down an enemy plane without any problems.
The clubs in battle were distinguished by insolence, composure, and he himself sought out the enemy. Very quickly, he replenished his account of downed aircraft with three more units. True, he was also shot down. I had to make an emergency landing. He was able to escape from a blazing plane, but received severe burns to his face.
Work with A. Pokryshkin
It was 1943. The war was in full swing. And in May, Alexander Fedorovich Klubov was sent to the squadron, commanded by Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich.
The mentor helped the new pilot to master the control of the R-39 "AeroCobra" fighter. It was on this machine that the Clubs went to subsequent air battles.
The young pilot took over vast experience from his leader and developed his unique fighting style. It involved the execution of very complex maneuvers. Thanks to her Clubs seized the initiative in the battles, and imposed his will on the opponent. And for three months of work under the leadership of Pokryshkin, he took part in 28 air battles. On his account, a dozen downed fascist aircraft.
For these merits, he received two orders:
- The Red Banner.
- "Alexander Nevsky."
Award Act 1943
It was published on September 4. By this date Clubs already had the rank of captain of the guard. This sheet contains information regarding his military merits from August 10, 1942 to May 1943.
The pilot worked at 84 IAP, represented the North Caucasian Front. His fighting vehicles were I-153, as well as I-16.
On them, he made 242 official sorties, of which 151 were sent to storm the enemy troops. As a result of this work, the Clubs deprived the enemy of many units of military equipment. They are reflected in the table below:
Equipment | number |
Tanks | 16 |
Trucks | 37 |
Anti-aircraft machine-gun devices | 12 |
Armored vehicles | 2 |
Also in the asset of the pilot for the indicated period are:
- Five assaults on German airfields, which deprived the enemy of 16 aircraft.
- 56 fights in the sky.
Second Prize Sheet
It relates to the period from May to autumn 1943. The departure dated August 30th is especially notable. Six "Aero Cobra" flew to cover ground troops in the vicinity of villages such as Evremovka and Fedorovka. About 50 German Yu-87 aircraft, which were covered by the Me-109 division, provided resistance to them.
There were 8 Klin bombers in the enemy camp. Soviet pilots attacked the fascist squadron in the forehead. Thanks to this, the order of the bombers was destroyed. Klubov managed to bring down two Yu-87 cars. They collapsed near Malo-Kirsanovka.
In this battle, "Aero Cobra" did not suffer a single loss, and without any problems returned to their home airfield.
Finest hour
In the biography of Alexander Fedorovich Clubs there are many military merits and successful battles. And his triumphant hour are nine triumphs in the battles over Iasi. Moreover, they were won in just a few days.
Then it was June 1944. On an alarming signal, a group of high-speed fighters (16 units) under the leadership of Captain Klubov urgently went to intercept enemy aircraft.
In a matter of seconds, they collide. The captain with his bold actions breaks the battle formation of the enemy. Part of his bombers seeks to leave the battle. But they are overtaken by the attacks of Soviet fighters.
The group is effective and lightning fast. The enemy did not expect such pressure. And its composition of 50 bombers and 15 fighters was defeated. In the Klubov group there are only 4 downed cars. Over the next 4 days, he shot down another 12 German planes.
The captain explained the success of his group by the fact that he unraveled the enemy’s plans to withdraw Soviet aircraft from the target in time. And the group quickly went boarding. The German pilots panicked, began to leave the battle, randomly throwing bombs on their own army.
For this, Pokryshkin introduced the pilot to the second award of the Hero of the USSR. Alexander Ivanovich had no doubt that his subordinate would very soon enter the ranks of the military command. However, the award order was issued only a year later, on June 27.
Already a Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexander Fedorovich Klubov personally carried out 147 victorious sorties to perform various tasks. Of them:
- 69 is the cover of an army on earth.
- 17 - the destruction of enemy vehicles.
- 36 - escort of domestic bombers.
- 19 - air cleaning.
- 6 - reconnaissance operations
Feat
Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin treated the Club with great respect. He was impressed by his many outstanding battles. But there was one situation that deserved special attention. This is a true feat of Klubov Alexander Fedorovich.
He was returning from the next assignment. When they got in touch with him, he declared that he was fighting, and then fell silent. Fellow soldiers became worried, and anxiety grew stronger.
But soon a familiar plane appeared on the horizon. He behaved strangely. From the earth it seemed that he was falling. The co-workers understood that the control was broken in the car, and the pilot was driving it only at the expense of the motor. The risk of collapse was enormous.
In addition, the connection with the pilot was broken. He did not hear the instructions for bailouts and sought to land. The plane, planning, went to the ground, but the Clubs with a jerk of gas could lift it a little. Due to the cover of gas and his skill, he was able to land the car on his stomach.
It turned out that she was riddled with bullets. And the pilot, leaving the cockpit, began to schematically depict this battle in the sand. He paired with 6 German aircraft - the Messerschmitt.
He eliminated two, but control was broken in his car. However, he still managed to lower her to the airfield.
The tragedy in Poland
The date of death of Alexander Fedorovich Klubov is 01. 11. 1944. The front-line airfield of Tournai (in Poland) became the fateful place.
The pilot was testing the new La-7. It was an ordinary training flight. The hydraulic system junked on this machine, which prevented the flaps from coming out. Therefore, the pilot made a landing at top speed. In addition, the situation was complicated by a strong wind from the side. And the car carried to the right of the landing line. One wheel landed in soft ground. The plane suddenly sharply braked, the pilot hit his head hard on the sight and lost consciousness. Then the car rolled over and collapsed on its back. Its port side hit directly on the pilot's head.
Hero Alexander Fedorovich Clubs was buried in Lviv. A funeral rally was arranged at the memorial service. And over his grave, the fighters staged a farewell salute.