Leonid Vasilyevich
Zholudev
1917-1997
Leonid Zholudev was a Lieutenant General of the Soviet Army, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, and the Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). He was the Honoured Pilot of the USSR. L.V. Zholudev was born on 27 May, 1917 in the village of Luzhki. He completed nine grades of school, after which he worked in a construction trust in Leningrad. In 1936, L.V. Zholudev was conscripted into the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. In 1939, he graduated from Chkalov Military Aviation School. Since July 1941, he was on the frontlines of the Great Patriotic War. By February 1945, Guards Captain L.V. Zholudev had been leading a squadron in the 35th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Division, part of the 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps of the 15th Air Army of the 2nd Baltic Front. By that time, he had completed 193 combat sorties to bomb the enemy’s military equipment and manpower accumulations, as well as their facilities, causing significant damage to them. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 18 August, 1945, Guards Captain L.V. Zholudev was honoured for his “successful command of the squadron, exemplary performance of the command’s tasks and demonstrated courage and heroism in battles with the German invaders” with the high rank of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the medal “Gold Star” number 7927. After the war, Zholudev continued to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1950, he graduated from Air Force Academy. In 1976, with the rank of Lieutenant General of Aviation L.V. Zholudev retired. He lived in Moscow. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of the Red Star, the Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” of the 3rd degree, and a number of medals.
Address: Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 61/1
