Filipp Aleksandrovich Agaltsov (; 20 January 1900 – 29 June 1980) was a

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

marshal of aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; russian: Ма́ршал ро́да во́йск, Marshal roda voysk) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the form ...

and a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. Agaltsov commanded

Long-Range Aviation Long-Range Aviation ( rus, Авиация Дальнего Действия, r=Aviatsiya dal'nego deystviya, abbr. to AДД, or ADD, and literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'') is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delive ...

between 1962 and 1969, his highest post.

Early life and Russian Civil War

Filipp Aleksandrovich Agaltsov was born on 20 January 1900 in the village of Soldatskoye (now

Yefremovsky District Yefremovsky District (russian: Ефре́мовский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-three in Tula Oblast, Russia.Law #954-ZTO As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Yefremov Urban Okrug.Law #2138 ...

Tula Oblast Tula Oblast (russian: Ту́льская о́бласть, ''Tulskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically in the European Russia region of the country and is p ...

). Graduating from the village school in 1912, he worked as an assistant machinist at the Obukhov Factory in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Conscripted into the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

in July 1919 during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, Agaltsov served as a machine gunner in the 1st Separate Communist Battalion from July 1919 to June 1920, fighting in the suppression of the revolt in Karelia. Between June and November 1920 he served as commander of a machine gun squad in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

Interwar period

Until 1923, Agaltsov continued to serve in the infantry. in 1925 he graduated from the Kiev Military-Political School and until 1929 served in political positions in infantry units. In 1932 he graduated from the Military-Political Academy. Agaltsov transferred to the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

in April 1932, graduating from pilot courses at the

Kacha Military Aviation School The Kacha Higher Military Aviation twice Red Banner order of Lenin School of Pilots named for A.F. Myasnikov (KVVAUL) (Качинское высшее военное авиационное дважды краснознаменное ордена Л ...

in 1934. He served as deputy commander for the political section in a squadron and aviation brigade in the Belorussian Military District. He took part in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

from May 1937 to November 1938 as a political commissar of the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

. Returning to the Soviet Union, he was appointed a member of the military council of the Red Army Air Force, and in August 1940 was appointed to his first command position, commanding a regiment in the Baltic Military District.

World War II

After

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

began on 22 June 1941, Agaltsov continued to command the 50th Short-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment of the

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-cre ...

in June and July. Between 1941 and 1933 he served as chief of the Tambov School of Junior Aviation Specialists. From March 1943 he returned to the front as commander the 292nd (from February 1944 the 9th Guards) Assault Aviation Division. He fought on the

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. From November 1944, he commanded the 1st Mixed Aviation Corps of the

Air Force of the Polish Army The Air Force of the Polish Army ( pl, Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego), unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force was the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force in the USSR between 1943 and 1947 created alongside the Polish People' ...

, part of the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

. During the war, Agaltsov flew several sorties on the

Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian language, Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a Ground attack aircraft, ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the World War II, Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (C ...

ground attack aircraft.

Postwar

After the end of the war, Agaltsov served in command positions in the air force. From February 1947 to June 1949 he commanded the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

(renumbered the 24th in February 1949) Air Army. Between 1949 and 1956 he was first deputy to the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force. In 1956 he became a general-inspector of the air force, and from 1958 to 1962 served as deputy to the Commander-in-Chief of the VVS for combat training. Agaltsov rose to command

, the Soviet strategic bombing force, between April 1962 and January 1969, having been promoted to

Marshal of Aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; russian: Ма́ршал ро́да во́йск, Marshal roda voysk) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the form ...

in 1962. Agaltsov transferred to the

Group of Inspectors General The Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (), colloquially known as the paradise group, was a body of the Soviet Ministry of Defense established in 1958. A sinecure position for semi-retired senior officers, th ...

, a sinecure post for aging senior officers, in 1971. He lived in Moscow, where he died on 29 June 1980. Agaltsov was buried in the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

Awards

Agaltsov was a recipient of the following awards and decorations: *

(21 February 1978) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(4) *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(5) *

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...

, 2nd class *

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 1st class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

* Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd class

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * 1900 births 1980 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet Air Force marshals Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class People from Yefremovsky District {{DEFAULTSORT:Agaltsov, Filipp