Boris Panin - Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky), drafted into the army for military service at the age of twenty. From October 1942 to August 4, 1943 he took part in the battles of World War II. In less than a year, a twenty-two-year-old guy accomplished so many feats, defending his homeland from the Nazis, that he was awarded the Golden Star of a Hero.
Childhood on the Volga
Boris was born in 1920 on the banks of the great Russian river. What could be a boy who grew up in such fragmented places? Of course, desperate, agile, physically seasoned. And this was understandable from a short biography of Boris Panin, whose relatives were all rivermen.
Until the age of six, he went with his parents on ships along the Volga, and when the time came, he entered school No. 4. This building still stands on Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street, on its facade Nizhny Novgorod fixed a memorial plaque in memory of the deceased countryman.
The boy spent a lot of time on sports. His interests were diverse. In winter, ice skating and skiing, in summer - the river. But most of all he wanted to fly. Like many of his peers, he attended circles and chose, of course, parachute and glider.
To your dream
At the end of the seven-year period, the guy went to the famous plant in the city to them. Frunze. Here, until he was drafted into the army, he worked as a locksmith.
Over the years, his dream did not disappear, but, on the contrary, approached reality. The biography of Boris Panin began at a time when the country was gaining strength in the construction and development of aircraft. Design bureaus worked on the creation of civil and military vehicles, factories began to carry out new series, the names of our hero pilots were known throughout the world. In almost every city at large enterprises, air circles were created in which young people mastered the basics of flying equipment and parachuting.
Of course, fellow countrymen Nesterova and Chkalova could not stand aside, and were among the first to create an air club based on the airfield in Shcherbinki. Boris spent all his free time there. In 1940, when the draft age came, the military enlistment office asked only about one thing, to send it to the flight school. His dream came true. He graduated from the country's best military aviation school in the city of Engels.
War
At the end of summer 1941, yesterday’s cadet, and today military pilot Boris Panin, was sent to the city of Skopin, Ryazan Region, where an air regiment was formed. According to the memoirs of their colleagues, people of different ages were gathered in their unit: those who were not allowed to retire by the war, and those who “had enough time to shave once a week”.
The war years rallied people into a single force. The 82nd Aviation Regiment went a long military way, was awarded the title of Guards, awarded the Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov III degree, raised nine Heroes of the Soviet Union. But not all survived until the end of the war.
First fight
The guys received their first baptism of fire in October 1942 on the Kalinin Front. There were heavy battles to eliminate the Rzhev-Sychev group of the enemy, the result of the operation was variable.
The crew of the diving bomber Pe-2, which, in addition to commander Panin, included a navigator, junior lieutenant Dmitry Matveyevich Adamyants and a radio-gunner, foreman Vasily Petrovich Ermolaev, quickly learned to fight. Many of the wisdom of the battle had to be mastered during the flight.
For an incomplete year of service, the guys had the opportunity to defend the Soviet sky on the Volkhov, North-West and Voronezh fronts.
Pe2 bomber
The dive bomber, popularly known as the "Pawn", was developed by a group of designers led by V. M. Petlyakov shortly before the war. In tests, the aircraft showed high flight characteristics, its armament was four machine guns, and the bomb load was 600 kg. The first cars began to arrive in parts in the spring of 1941.
"Pawn" was considered one of the most promising combat vehicles of the beginning of the war. Unlike other types, it was equipped with the whole range of flight instruments, had powerful weapons, excellent visibility from the cockpit and modern engines.
The training of crews on this aircraft was accelerated. Features dive battle had to be mastered in the course of action. Due to the lack of trained pilots, the Pe-2 was initially used for horizontal bombing; gradually, the crews discovered for themselves all the new capabilities of the combat vehicle.
Mastering a new aircraft
The personal life of Boris Panin, a twenty-year-old guy, consisted in his great love for the sky, in the desire to master a new, difficult machine, in revealing its hidden capabilities. This meticulousness and desire to get to the bottom of the point then repeatedly saved the life of the crew. He quickly mastered the technique of piloting, was brave, but prudent, and therefore the command often gave him difficult tasks.
There is evidence of a colleague who spoke about such a case. Panin in the summer of 1943, checking the operation of the engines after repair, performed in the air a “barrel”, an aerobatics figure. By all accounts, a heavy bomber could not do this. On earth, the commander attacked with questions of what happened in the sky. An accident? It turned out that in Panin's pocket was a piece of paper with calculations, after checking which the designers evaluated the aerobatic capabilities of the aircraft differently. So the heavy twin-engine machine in the hands of Panin became multi-purpose.
Often, bomber crews returned to the base dissatisfied with the results of flights. It seemed that for the complete destruction of the target there was only a little bit left, but the bombs were coming to an end, and we had to take a course to our own airfield. Panin sat for several days at the calculations, and then asked the commander for permission to increase the bomb load from 600 to 1000 kg. This flight has changed a lot in combat formation, the innovator has numerous followers.
Battle episodes
The good-natured and cheerful guy on earth was transformed in the air, becoming something one with his car. He thought quickly, made the only right decision, was decisive and courageous.
On March 7, 1943, a group of our bombers on the way to the mission fell under the squally fire of an anti-aircraft battery. The bombing operation was in jeopardy. Boris Panin broke the "Pawn" and dive bombardment covered the enemy battery with fire. The aircraft were able to continue moving towards their goal.
On May 8, 1943, when conducting reconnaissance photography of the Kharkov airfield, Panin made eleven attacks. The crew managed, having shot down one of the fighters, to hide in the clouds, and then, “cheekily” returning back, to complete the shooting that had begun.
In the summer of the same 1943, Boris Panin was attacked by four enemy fighters. His crew was returning from the mission and was forced to engage in battle with several enemy aircraft. Only skillful piloting and unexpected decisions for the enemy helped the guys to leave this battle alive by knocking out one of the enemy’s aircraft.
From the diary of a pilot
The combat diary of a young pilot was preserved, in which he described his battles, sorted out mistakes and rejoiced in victories. On its pages there are both calculations and discussions about the new capabilities of the Pe-2.
The last record of one of the battles in the Belgorod region. Conducted reconnaissance, the shooter radio operator transmitted to the ground data on the detected enemy airfield. The Germans are trying to get the scout with anti-aircraft fire. Voice of the radio operator: "Seven" Messers "from the east." Panin sees that his plane is taken in a half ring, cutting off the path to retreat.
The solution comes instantly, it turns west and hides in the clouds. It immediately changes direction, turning sharply north. A few minutes later the plane takes out of the clouds to navigate. There are no Messerschmitts, they rushed farther to the west to intercept the Soviet car there. The guys calmly returned home.
Awards and honors
For an incomplete year of the war, Boris Panin completed 57 sorties on combat missions. Among the awards he received during his lifetime are the Order of the Red Star and World War II degree. On July 26, an award sheet was signed for conferring the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union on the second lieutenant Boris Panin.
The young pilot received permission to fly to Moscow for the award on his combat Pe-2. And then he was promised a trip home, about which he informed his parents. This was the last news from Boris. A few days later, on August 4, protecting the sky over Belgorod, his crew died. The title of "Hero" he received posthumously. The award sheet of Boris Panin, whose photo has been preserved, gives a full description of the young pilot. He was buried in the mass grave of the village of Ilovka, Belgorod Region.
"Revenge!"
Fellow soldiers were hard pressed for the deaths of desperate children. It became a real nightmare for the Germans to see dive planes in the sky with terrifying inscriptions: "We will avenge our comrades!" On December 27, 1957, the name of Boris Panin was forever listed on the 82nd Bomber Aviation Regiment.
In Nizhny Novgorod, near the military registration and enlistment office, in 1983 a monument to the pilot was erected. A bronze bust stands on a high red stone pedestal. Street is named after him. Hero Boris Panin was only 22 years old.