Sergei Fyodorovich
Dolgushin
1920-2011
Sergei Fyodorovich Dolgushin was a Soviet Military Commander, Lieutenant General of Aviation and the Hero of the Soviet Union. He was born on 25 September, 1920 in the village of Novopokrovskoye (now it is the Bogoroditsky district of the Tula region) into a family of peasants. He finished seven classes in Bogoroditsk, FZU school at the cartridge factory and Tula aeroclub. Dolgushin worked as a mechanic at the Tula plant “Stamp”. He served in the Red Army since 1937. In 1940, he graduated from the Kachin military aviation school of pilots and studied on the same course as V.I. Stalin. S.F. Dolgushin shot down the first two German planes that violated the state border of the USSR on 22 June, 1941 over the city of Grodno. In 1941, he covered bridges over the Neman River in the morning. On 22 June, 1941 Junior Lieutenant S.F. Dolgushin was the first pilot of the 122nd Air Regiment who managed to take off from his airfield “Novy Dvor” (located on a clearing north of the Estate of Bobra Velka between Grodno and Avgustov, 16-17 km from the border) and perform 6 combat sorties during the day. On 30 November, 1941, during a battle between seven MiG-3s and nine Me-109Fs near Solnechnogorsk, both sides lost one aircraft each. The MiG, piloted by Junior Lieutenant S.V. Makarov, was shot down and glided to an empty airfield in the enemy rear near Klin. Junior Lieutenant C.F. Dolgushin, who was covering his comrade-in-arms, saw that vehicles with enemy soldiers were heading towards the airfield and landed next to the downed aircraft. S.V. Makarov climbed into the cockpit of Dolgushin’s plane, and under belated shots “two-seater” MiG-3 safely took off. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On awarding the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union to the Red Army officers and rank-and-file personnel” of 5 May, 1942, for “exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the fight against the German invaders and bravery and heroism”, he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the medal “Gold Star” (No. 598). In early January 1943, Captain S.F. Dolgushin was appointed as squadron commander of the 32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Vasily Stalin. The regiment was part of the 210th Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Fighter Aviation Corps of the 3rd Air Army and was based at Zaborovye airfield south of Demyansk (Kalinin Front). During the Great Patriotic War, S.F. Dolgushin flew 468 combat missions, and in 69 air battles, he personally shot down 15 enemy planes and 8 in a group. After the war, he continued his service in the Armed Forces of the USSR. From 1946 to 1947, he studied at the Higher Flying and Tactical Courses in Lipetsk, and until 1949, he commanded a regiment armed with Yak-3, Yak-9P and La-9. Since 1951 he was the Commander of the 56th Bomber Aviation Division in Kalinin. In 1958 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. He held a number of positions up to Deputy Commander of the Air Army. In 1967 Major General of Aviation Dolgushin was promoted to the military rank of Lieutenant General of Aviation by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Address: Moscow, 2nd Peschanaya str., 6, building 2
