Vasily Nikolaevich Osipov (russian: Василий Николаевич Осипов; – 16 July 1991) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

long-range

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

who was twice awarded the title of

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 ...

Early life

Osipov was born on in Petrograd to a working-class

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

family. After completing his tenth grade of school he focused on his dream of following in his father's footsteps by joining the military, participating in sharpshooting and sports before joining 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 August 1937. After graduating from the 1st Chkalov Military Aviation School of Pilots in November 1940 he was posted to the 169th Reserve Aviation Regiment, based in Voronezh. Shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union he transferred to the 231st Long-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment in May 1941.

World War II

Shortly after entering combat in July 1941, Osipov transferred to the 81st Long Range Bomber Aviation Regiment in August 1941, which was honored with the guards designation and renamed to the 5th Guards Long Range Bomber Aviation Regiment one year later. He soon accomplished difficult missions, destroying a heavily-protected targets and difficult to find targets with direct hits, including; a crossing on the Dnieper river on 24 September 1941, a crossing through the Miusskaya estuary on 3 October 1941, and the headquarters of an enemy military unit on 23 October 1941. On 20 May 1942 we was nominated for the Order of Lenin for having flown 115 sorties on the Il-4, which included 90 night missions and five deep into enemy-controlled territory, totaling 304 flight hours and dropping nearly 150 tons of bombs on targets. However, the award nomination was changed by

Alexander Golovanov Alexander Yevgeniyevich Golovanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Евге́ньевич Голова́нов; 7 August 1904 – 22 September 1975) was a Soviet pilot. On 3 August 1943, he became a Marshal of Aviation (the youngest person in t ...

to a nomination for the title Hero of the Soviet Union in addition to the Order of Lenin, resulting in Osipov receiving his first gold star on 20 June 1942. He continued to tally more sorties, and was promoted to the position of deputy squadron commander before being nominated for a second gold star on 30 November 1943. Upon receiving notice that his family died in the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

in 1944, he became enraged and flew with increased zeal. Shortly after Soviet Long-Range Aviation units were consolidated into the 18th Air Army in December 1944, Osipov transferred to the 26th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, where he flew as a squadron commander, participating in the bombing of Konigsberg and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. During one mission over Konigsberg, a 100-kilogram bomb from another aircraft fell through the wing of his

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in e ...

bomber, leaving a large hole in the wing. Despite the damage to the wing, fuselage, and engine, Osipov carefully flew the plane to an airfield and made a successful emergency landing. By the end of the war he totaled 412 sorties, more than any other Soviet long-range aviation pilot. Of the 412 sorties flown on the Il-14 and B-25, 382 were at night.

Postwar

Until the reorganization of Soviet long-range aviation in April 1946, Osipov remained a squadron commander in the 26th Guards Bomber Regiment. He then transferred to the 199th Guards Bomber Regiment, where he was also squadron commander, but left in November 1948. Before returning to the regiment one year later he graduated from the Higher Officer Flight and Tactical School of Long-Range Aviation. In October 1950 he transferred to the 250th Guards Bomber Regiment, but less than two years later he transferred to be a deputy squadron commander in the 238th Guards Bomber Regiment, where he remained until leaving the military in April 1954 for health reasons. During his career he flew the B-25,

Li-2 The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. The proje ...

, and

Tu-4 The Tupolev Tu-4 (russian: Туполев Ту-4; NATO reporting name: Bull) is a piston-engined Soviet strategic bomber that served the Soviet Air Force from the late 1940s to mid-1960s. It was reverse-engineered from the American Boeing B-29 ...

. He lived out the remainder of his life in Leningrad, where he died on 16 July 1991.

Awards and honors

* Twice

(20 June 1942Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «О присвоении звания Героя Советского Союза начальствующему составу Военно-воздушных сил Красной Армии» от 20 июня 1942 года
// Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. — 1942. — 30 июня (№ 24 (183)). — С. 1. and 13 March 1944) *

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 ...

(20 June 1942) * Two

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 November 1941 and 28 April 1943) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky ( ''orden Alexandra Nevskogo'') is an order of merit of the Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious se ...

(2 October 1945) *

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 (11 March 1985) * campaign and jubilee medals

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osipov, Vasily 1917 births 1991 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Military personnel from Saint Petersburg Soviet World War II bomber pilots Russian people of World War II Soviet Air Force officers