Biplane fighter aces

Soviet Union

Polkovnik Viktor Pavlovich Ivanov HSU

29 December 1919 – 24 August 1997

Viktor Ivanov was born on 29 December 1919 in the Pskov village of Anashkino. He lived in Leningrad and joined the army in 1939 and graduated from the Chuguyiyevsk Military Air School in 1940.

He started the war in June 1941 as a mladshiy leytenant in the 147 IAP and was engaged in the defence of the northern ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk until January 1942.

The I-153s from 147 IAP was in combat with Bf 110s over Lutto on 26 October 1941 and mladshiy leytenant Ivanov claimed one shared together with three other pilots. It is possible that this claim was shared with Petr Berlov since it’s known that he claimed a shared during the day.
This claim can’t be verified with Luftwaffe records.

In March, he was transferred to 768 IAP flying Hurricanes and Kittyhawks with this unit.

He flew circa 200 sorties with the 147 IAP and the 768 IAP before being transferred to the 910 IAP in August 1942. With this unit, he fought over Stalingrad, Kursk, Ukraina and Germany.

On 9 October 1943, the 910 IAP was renamed the 148 GIAP.

During the spring of 1944 Ivanov became Komesk (commander) of an eskadrilya in the 148 GIAP operating over the 2nd Belorussian Front. At this time, he had the rank of Kapitan.

On 19 March 1944, kapitan Ivanov led his unit against a Ju 88 formation in the Dombrovitse region. The unit shot down 10 of the Junkers before trying to ram the rest with the German aircraft running for their lifes. The commanding officer of the 6th Army witnessed this action and personally congratulated Ivanov.
Ivanov claimed three destroyed (one over Lyudynya) and a third shared with an unknown pilot while kapitan Nikolay Glushkov claimed three more (one of the over Svartsevitse).

By July 1944, he had flown 556 sorties and claimed 18 victories (4 shared) in 33 engagements.

On 22 August 1944, he was decorated with the Gold Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union (# 4102) and the Order of Lenin.
When he was decorated with the HSU and according to the material compiled in April 1944 to receive this award, he was at the time credited with 14 victories and 4 shared but this contradicts official records and it seems that to give additional weight to his achievements when presented with the Soviet Union’s highest decoration, some of his shared victories was retroactively credited to him as personal.

Ivanov was also decorated with the Order of the Red Banner (29 November 1941, 14 February 1943 and 14 February 1944), the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky (27 March 1944), the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class (11 March 1985) and the Order of the Red Star during his career.

Ivanov ended the war as a mayor with 1 shared biplane victory and a total of 5 claimed in more than 600 missions.

After the war, he remained in the Air Force and attended a regimental commander’s course.

Ivanov retired from active service in 1959 as a polkovnik and settled in Leningrad.

Ivanov passed away on 24 August 1997.

Claims:
Kill no. Date Time Number Type Result Plane type Serial no. Locality Unit
  1941                
  26/10/41   1/4 Bf 110 (a) Shared destroyed I-153   Lutto 147 IAP
  1942                
  18/05/42   1/3 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Hurricane   Murmansk area 768 IAP
  18/05/42   1/3 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Hurricane   Murmansk area 768 IAP
  26/05/42   1/4 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Hurricane   Murmansk area 768 IAP
  26/05/42   1/4 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Hurricane   Murmansk area 768 IAP
  26/05/42   1/4 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Hurricane   Murmansk area 768 IAP
  29/06/42   1/3 Ju 88 Shared destroyed Kittyhawk   W Minkino 768 IAP
  07/07/42   1/2 Ju 87 Shared destroyed Kittyhawk   W Murmansk 768 IAP
1 05/08/42   1 Bf 109 Destroyed Kittyhawk     768 IAP
  06/08/42   1/2 Ju 88 Shared destroyed Kittyhawk   W Solntsevo 768 IAP
  1943                
2 17/12/43   1 Fw 190 Destroyed Yak-9     148 GIAP
  1944                
3 19/03/44   1 Ju 88 Destroyed Yak-9   Lyudynya 148 GIAP
4 19/03/44   1 Ju 88 Destroyed Yak-9   Dombrovitse 148 GIAP
5 19/03/44   1 Ju 88 Destroyed Yak-9   Dombrovitse 148 GIAP
  19/03/44   1/2 Ju 88 Shared destroyed Yak-9   Dombrovitse 148 GIAP
  26/03/44   1/2 Ju 88 Shared destroyed Yak-9   Lubin 148 GIAP
  02/07/44   1/2 He 111 Shared destroyed Yak-9   Lubin 148 GIAP

Biplane victories: 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 5 and 12 shared destroyed.
(a) This claim can’t be verified with Luftwaffe records.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Sovetskiye asy - Nikolay Bodrikhin, 1998 kindly provided by Ondrej Repka
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Stalin's Eagles - Hans D. Seidl, 1998 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-7643-0476-3
Stalin's Falcons - Tomas Polak and Christhoper Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-01-2
Additional information kindly provided by Ondrej Repka.




Last modified 05 May 2020