Biplane fighter aces

Soviet Union

Polkovnik Petr Ignat'evich Biskup

1911 –

Petr Biskup was born in 1911.

He joined the Red Army in 1933 and graduated from Yeyskaya Naval Aviation School of Pilots in 1935.

Biskup took part in the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 while serving as starshiy politruk in the 4th eskadrilya of 13 IAP-KBF flying Polikarpov I-16s.

On 29 February 1940, he claimed a Fokker D.XXI over Kouvola.
This claim can’t be verified with Finnish records.

When Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June, he was still with the 4./13 IAP-KBF and took part in the defence of Hank,o still flying the Poliarpov I-153.
In August he became deputy commander of the eskadrilya.

In January 1942, he left 13 IAP-KBF and was posted to 71 IAP-KBF as assistant CO.
This regiment was at the time equipped with a mix of I-16s, I-152s and I-153s.

Podpolkovnik Aleksey Vasil’yevich Koronets, the CO of the 71 IAP-KBF was killed on 28 March 1942.
His place was taken by kapitan Biskup, who served as temporary CO until 15 April 1942 when he was replaced by kapitan Vladimir Koreshkov.

On 4 April, kapitan Biskup of 71 IAP-KBF claimed a shared Bf 109 in the Leningrad area together with another pilot. Both leitenant Abram Ashkinazi and Ivan Minayev claimed a shared Bf 109 ”in group” during the day but it’s not known if these claims were made at the same time.

On 19 April 1942, six I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF led by kapitan Biskup covered by six I-16s from 71 IAP-KBF took off from Kronstadt to attack the airfield at Krasnogvardeysk (91km from Kronstadt).
At 10:10, they attacked the airfield from an altitude of 30m, reporting about 25 Ju 87s and Ju 88s on the airfield. Four Bf 109s were scrambled and Biskup shot one of them down.
Anti-aircraft fire was heavy and two I-153s were lost with one pilot killed and the second POW.
The remaining three Bf 109s tangled with the escorting I-16s and one of the German fighters were claimed shot down in the Kommolovo area. One I-16 was shot down in the combat.
15 Ju 87s and Ju 88s were claimed destroyed on the ground.

Between 00:19 and 02:52 on 2 June 1942, three I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF took off to intercept enemy bombers attacking Kronstadt. They circled over Terijoki and between 00:38 and 00:45, and at an altitude of 800-900m Regimental Commissar Ivan Serbin attacked and shot down a He 111. Between 00:58-01:00 he attacked a second, which came in over the north-eastern coast of Kotlin Island at an altitude of 700-800m and shot down this as well. The He 111 crashed into the water between the western edge of Kotlin Island and the lighthouse Tolbukhin.
Kapitan Biskup was led by Serbin but became separated from him due to difficult weather conditions. Between 00:19-01:10 he claimed a He 111 at an altitude of 1000-2000m.

During the night of 5 June, pilots from the 71 IAP-KBF made seven sorties against a reported 35 He 111s and Ju 88s that were attacking the southern forts of Kronstadt.
Five He 111s were claimed by the Soviet pilots when Ivan Serbin claimed one shared bomber with kapitan Biskup and a second with major Aleksandr Alekseyev. Starshiy leitenant Aleksandr Baturin and kapitan Ivan Gorbachev claimed one He 111 each. The fifth was claimed by kapitan Biskup.

Between 00:40-02:30 on 8 June, three I-153s and three I-16s from 71 IAP-KBF intercepted enemy bombers attacking torpedo boats near the northern forts of Kronstadt. Kapitan Biskup and kapitan Konstantin Solov'yev attacked and claimed a shared destroyed Ju 88. The ground forces confirmed this claim.
During the same raid, major Aleksandr Alekseyev claimed a Ju 88, which crashed into forest on Björkö island.

In the evening on 31 August, kapteeni Eino Luukkanen led five Brewsters of 1/LeLv 24 to a search in the Seiskari-Lavansaari area. In a clash with eight Chaikas, half of them were claimed shot down into the sea over Lavansaari. The claimants were vääpeli Eero Kinnunen (BW-382) (18:50-20:00), ylikersantti Reino Malin (BW-373) (19:50-20:00) and kapteeni Luukkanen (BW-393) (19:50-20:05). The fourth was claimed between 19:50-20:05 as a shared between luutnantti Kai Metsola (BW-375) and ylikersantti M Pellinen (BW-376).
The Soviets reported that kapitan Biskup’s four I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF were patrolling over Lavanssari, when they were attacked by 12 Capronis and Fiats. RS-82 rockets were launched in the first head-on firing which split the enemy formation. The attacked then continued in pairs and also from head on. After one such enemy turn, Biskup and starshiy leitenant Aleksandr Gruzdev scored hit on one Caproni, which went into the sea. After 20 minutes of fighting 12 additional Capronis appeared on the scene and also four I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF. In repeated attacks two more Capronis were damaged with rockets and machinegun fire, and they then broke off to Someri direction. One of them could not make it and fell into the sea.
It seems that this last was claimed as a shared among at least six pilots including Biskup, Vladimir Abramov, Vasiliy Fedorov, Gruzdev and Ivan Minayev.

In June 1943, he was posted to 4 GIAP-KBF (the old 13 IAP-KBF, which had become a guard’s unit on 18 January 1942). He didn’t fly any combat mission with this unit but worked as Chief of Staff.

Biskup remained with 4 GIAP-KBF until February 1944 when he was sent on staff courses.

From June 1944, he was a senior teacher at Yeisk Naval Aviation School.

Biskup ended the war with 3 biplane victories and a total of 4.
During the war, he flew 132 combat missions and took part in 24 air combats.

He continued to serve after the end of the Second World War and retired as a Guards polkovnik.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
1	29/02/40	10:10-	1	Fokker D.XXI (a)	Destroyed	I-16		Kouvola	4./13 IAP-KBF
	1942
	27/03/42	19:00	1/5	Fokker D.XXI	Shared destroyed	I-153		Gogland Island	71 IAP-KBF
	04/04/42		1/2	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	I-153		Leningrad area	71 IAP-KBF
2	19/04/42	10:10-	1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Krasnogvardeysk airfield	71 IAP-KBF
3	02/06/42	00:19-01:10	1	He 111	Destroyed	I-153		Kronstadt	71 IAP-KBF
4	05/06/42	night	1	He 111	Destroyed	I-153		Kronstadt	71 IAP-KBF
	05/06/42	night	1/2	He 111	Shared destroyed	I-153		Kronstadt	71 IAP-KBF
	08/06/42	00:40-02:30	1/2	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	I-153		Kronstadt area	71 IAP-KBF
	31/08/42	19:50-20:05	1/2	Caproni (b)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Lavansaari	71 IAP-KBF
	31/08/42	19:50-20:05	1/6	Caproni (b)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Lavansaari	71 IAP-KBF

Biplane victories: 3 and 6 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 4 and 6 shared destroyed.
(a) Not verified with Finnish records.
(b) Claimed in combat with Brewster Buffaloes from 1/LeLv 24, which claimed 4 I-153s without losses. 71 IAP-KBF claimed 2 and 1 damaged Buffaloes without known losses.

Sources:
Airmen of World
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Suomen Ilmavoimat part IV – 1942 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2007, ISBN 978-952-99743-2-0