24 August 1914 – 22 August 1967

Petr Pokryshev was born in Golaya Pristan in the Kherson area on 24 August 1914.

He enlisted the VVS for flight training in 1934 and was graduated as a pilot at Odessa military flying school a year later.

He took part in the "Winter War" against Finland with 4./7 IAP flying the Polikarpov I-16.
According to some sources, Pokryshev is credited with three biplane victories during the Winter War, but this seems not to have been the case since he flew with the 4th Eskadrilya of the 7 IAP, which was equipped with the Polikarpov I-16.

The first contact between Soviet aircraft and Finnish fighters happened at 11:45-11:55 on 1 December 1939 when six Polikarpov I-16s from 7 IAP jumped a Bulldog pair of LLv 26. While the other Bulldog was separated, BU-64 piloted by ylikersantti Toivo Uuttu was left alone to fight the Russians. After scoring hits on one I-16, he himself was also shot down and he crashed at Muolaanjärvi getting injured in the process. Uuttu’s victim reportedly also crashed and became the first aerial victory ever over Finland. Since the claim wasn’t witnessed it was only credited to him as a probable.
Uuttu reported:

I flew southeast of Muolaanjärvi but I did not see any movements so I descended lower. Suddenly I saw tracers flying all around me. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw three I-16s attacking me. I pulled up and left and as they overtook me, I was able to fire a short burst on passing I-16. I hit his engine and saw black smoke coming out of the engine. It started sliding downward smoking. Tracers were flying all around my plane. Suddenly my plane shuddered and when I pulled on stick, it did not move. I considered jumping, but in fear that they might shoot me on parachute I decided to fight it out to the last. I continued evading my attackers using only rudder and aerlions. We had descended to altitude of 200m and when I looked behind, I saw one still shooting. I shut off my engine and tried to make a forced landing to forest. When landing, I pulled with all of my strength on the stick and it moved back a little bit, but then the Bulldog hit the woods and I passed away.

At 16:26 on 20 December, a group of I-16s from 4./7 IAP led by starshiy politruk Gavriil Didenko escorted SB bombers. At Karpela, three Fokker D.XXIs were encountered at 2,500m and all three were claimed shot down. Didenko and starshiy leitenant Porfiriy Mikhaylyuk each claimed one while the third was claimed as a shared between Didenko, Mihajlyuk, starshiy leitenant Pokryshev, Zobov and leitenant Vladimir Zolotarev. According to some sources it seems that both Pokryshev and leitenant Zolotarev in fact was credited with one Fokker D.XXI destroyed each.
Starshiy leitenant Pokryshev force-landed in Raivola, his I-16 burned.
It is possible that had been involved in combat with Fokker D.XXIs from LLv 24, which claimed two fighters and one bomber over the Karelian Isthmus. These were claimed ylikersantti Leo Rautakorpi (FR-90) and luutnantti Jaakko Vuorela (FR-87), which both claimed an I-16 each over Kämärä at 14:00 and by luutnantti Tatu Huhanantti (FR-76), who claimed a SB over Lempaala between 14:10-15:00. The Finnish fighters didn't suffer any losses during the day.

On 23 December, SBs from 24 and 44 SBAP attacked targets in the Vipurri - Laatokka area around 11:00.
44 SBAP suffered heavily during these attacks and SB c/n 14/97 of the regiment HQ was shot by fighters at Äyräpää, and crashed at Heinjoki. The pilot kapitan Ivan Yegorovich Borodin escaped by parachute and became a POW (kapitan Ivan Leontyevich Pratsuk and Nikolay Nikolayevich Dementyev KIA). The task had been to attack an AA battery presumed located at Suursaari (Hogland) in Muolaanjärvi.
The target of 4./44 SBAP was Heinjoki railway station. SBs c/n 18/94 and c/n 4/92 were lost after air combat. The pilot of 18/94, leitenant Ivan Kuzmich Sorokin was taken POW (leitenant Fedor Ignatyevich Bannikov and Valentin Mikhailovich Bessonov KIA) and on the next day the MG-gunner of 4/92, Nikolay Ivanovich Lyakhov was captured (starshiy leitenant Boris Fedorovich Glazov and starshiy leitenant Vasiliy Nikolayevich both KIA).
5./44 SBAP was to bomb a Finnish strongpoint at Oinala (south-west of Muolaanjärvi) with six SBs. Two SBs (c/n 3/136 and c/n 14/72) were shot down at Antrea. The crew in c/n 14/72 (leitenant Mikhail Grigoryevich Zaitsev, starshiy leitenant Nikolay Ivanovich Kapustin and Sergey Pavlovich Kuznetsov) was killed. SB c/n 3/136 was hit by ground fire and by fighters and crashed in no-man's land at Noisniemi. The pilot, starshiy leitenant M. G. Golovanov, was able to reach own lines but shturman starshiy leitenant Aleksandr Gerasimovich Makovenko was killed during arrest while the MG-gunner Konstantin Ivanovich Drozdetskiy was taken POW in the sector of the Finnish 8th Infantry Division.
It is also possible that a sixth SB from 44 SBAP was shot down with the pilot leitenant Petr Smorodin becoming POW (starshiy leitenant Beloglazov and unknown MG-gunner KIA).
24 SBAP lost two SBs. SB c/n 14/220 "4" of 2./24 SBAP was shot down by ground fire at Ilmatorjunta with the crew KIA (leitenant Aleksey Ivanovich Moskalev, leitenant Mikhail Vasilyevich Korneyev and Fedor Timofeyevich Muravyev). SB c/n 6/220 "8" of 4./24 SBAP force-landed at Bazarevo (Nikulas) after air combat with Nikolay F. Kolosov WIA, leitenant Viktor Nikolayevich Sazonov KIA and Pavel Ivanovich Baskakov KIA.
Between 11:17-12:26 on 23 December, 13 I-16s from 7 IAP led by starshiy leitenant Fedor Shinkarenko (4./7 IAP) flew to cover the SB operations in the Vipurri area. In the region of Kaislahti at an altitude of 2,000m, they saw three SBs that flew to the east-southeast and that twelve enemy aircraft (nine Fokker D.XXIs and three Bulldogs) flew from Noraa east-wards. One enemy flight got behind the tails of the SB flight. Two SBs caught fire, while the third begun to fall down disorderly. Meanwhile Shinkarenko's Eskadrilya tried to overtake the enemy and finally caught them over Pienpero station at 11:40. Seven Fokker D.XXIs were claimed shot down and these were claimed by Shinkarenko, starshiy politruk Gavriil Didenko, leitenant A. D. Bulayev, starshiy leitenant Porfiriy Mikhaylyuk, starshiy leitenant Pokryshev, starshiy leitenant Georgiy Larionov and leitenant Boris Aleksandrovich Grigoryev (all of 4./7 IAP). According to some sources, an unknown pilot also claimed a Bulldog. At Honkaniemi-Pilppula, two of the I-16s were shot down in combat and leitenant Vladimir Vasilyevich Zoltarev (I-16 tip 10 c/n 1021779) and leitenant Grigoryev (unsuccessful parachute jump from I-16 tip 5 c/n 5210836) were both killed.
At 11:50, 13 I-16s from 68 IAP led by batalyonnyy komissar Yakovenko reportedly clashed with four Fokker D.XXIs at Karhusuo. Two Finnish aircraft were claimed shot down, and one pilot escaped by parachute. Finnish troops observed a mid-air collision of two I-16s, but only one parachute. This was starshiy leitenant Iosif Iosifovich Kaval'kov of 3./68 IAP, who parachuted from I-16 "228" at Ylä-Säiniö and was captured by Finnish ground forces at Kangaspelto, Muolaa (Koval'kov had arrived to 68 IAP from 25 IAP). Karchenko reportedly landed his I-16 with 30 hits in the aircraft.
LLv 24 and 26 was heavily involved in the attacks on midday engaging both I-16s from 7 and 68 IAP and SB bombers from 24 and 44 SBAP.
Shortly before 11:00 they clashed with the enemy aircraft beginning with I-16s of which three were claimed shot down in the Muolaanjärvi area. These were claimed by kersantti Lauri Nissinen (LLv 24) in FR-98 (1 and 1 damaged I-16 at 10:40 over Muolaanjärvi), luutnantti Aapo Nieminen (LLv 26) in FR-96 (1 and 1 damaged I-16 over Muolaanjärvi between 10:40-10:55), vänrikki Heikki Ilveskorpi (LLv 24) in FR-117 (1 I-16 over Muolaa at 10:45) and ylikersantti Kelpo Virta (LLv 24) in FR-84 (1 damaged I-16 over Kämärä/Kannas at10:48).
At 10:48, a SB (probably from 44 SBAP) was claimed shot down over Heinjoki by three pilots from LLv 24; luutnantti Jorma Karhunen (FR-112), lentomestari Y. Turkka (FR-83) and lentomestari Viktor Pyötsiä (FR-110). Lentomestari Turkka claimed another SB at 10:50 over Pölläkkälä.
The I-16s from 7 IAP intervened and vänrikki Pekka Kokko (LLv 24) in FR-78 claimed a damaged I-16 over Muolaanjärvi at 10:50. Kersantti Pentti Tilli (LLv 26) in FR-103 claimed an I-16 at 10:55 over Kämärä and a second at 11:10 over Noskuanselkä (both probably from 7 IAP).
Luutnantti Jorma Sarvanto (LLv 24) in FR-97 claimed and SB at 11:08 over Ristseppälä and a second as a probable at 11:15 over Noisniemi (both probably from 44 SBAP).
A Bulldog patrol from LLv 26 led by luutnantti Pentti Tevä took off on an interception mission towards Lake Laatokka (Ladoga). Over Käkisalmi at 11:55, they encountered a formation of 6 to 7 SBs from 24 SBAP, which were bombing from the altitude of 1700 m and 100 meters above clouds. Tevä shot one down and it crashed into the Lake Ladoga confirmed by the coastal units. Lentomestari Lennart Mildh dove after the formation but could not gain enough speed until surprisingly one SB passed beneath him. He had an opportunity to fire at the SB for several minutes. The SB received hits and dove steep into a low-lying cloud and Mildh was credited with a damaged aircraft.
Finally, at 12:00, majuri Gustaf Magnusson (LLv 24) in FR-99 claimed a SB (probably from 44 SBAP) over Lempaalanjärvi. He described the combat with the SBs:

Kersantti Kinnunen flying on the left flank observed nine SB planes above Vuoksenranta. I dived after kersantti Kinnunen, who pulled away thinking I was an I-16.
I continued after the formation and caught it at Kiviniemi. I chose as my target the rear-most bomber on the left flank. First I fired in the starboard engine, which started to smoke, thereafter I shot the port engine into fire, when the plane began to descend.
Tactically the enemy unit worked well, e. g. lowering the landing gears simultaneously for speed reduction and the next to the one under attack lowered speed in order to obtain a better position for it's rear gunner.
At 12 o'clock the aircraft hit the ground at Lempaalanjärvi."

Pokryshev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 15 January 1940.

On 4 February 1940, the 4./7 IAP claimed three Finnish fighters destroyed on the ground.
These were claimed as shared between starshiy politruk Gavriil Didenko, starshiy leitenant Porfiriy Mikhaylyuk, starshiy leitenant Georgiy Larionov, starshiy leitenant Pokryshev and Kulikov.
These claims can’t be verified with Finnish records.

Totally he claimed two victories during the "Winter War".

On 22 June 1941, the day when Germany invaded the USSR, starshiy leitenant Pokryshev served with the 154 IAP, stationed near Leningrad. This unit was at the time equipped with I-16s.

In November and following his successes during the first, difficult months of the war, Pokryshev was assigned as an eskadrilia leader (5./154) to Podpolkovnik Matveyev’s 154 IAP, which was one of the first Russian units to be equipped with the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk Lend-Lease fighters. It was behind the controls of this U.S. made fighter that Pokryshev´s real success rate started.

On 17 December 1941, five P-40B Tomahawks led by kapitan Pokryshev was out on an escort mission for Il-2 Stormoviks, as they were bounced by a group of Messerschmitt 109s - according to the Russian report "of the newest 'F, Friedrich' model". In the ensuing combat, Pokryshev managed to turn the table and downed one Bf 109 over Lake Ladoga - the first of this new 'Friedrich-version' to be destroyed. The enemy fighter reportedly crashed in the Soviet Lines killing its pilot and displaying 15 victory bars on its rudder. Unfortunately, the German pilot’s identity has not been established.

During the winter of 1941/42, the Tomahawks of 154 IAP were entrusted with the fighter cover of the vital "life line" to the starving Leningrad. During 1942, the unit received their first P-40E Warhawks and “White 50” became Pokryshev’s personal mount.

Pokryshev was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 20 December 1941.

Pokryshev was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner on 15 March 1942.

154 IAP clashed with Bf 109s east of Pogost’ye on 20 March. Yevgeniy Cherntsov claimed one together with two other pilots and a second shared with five other pilots, including Pokryshev.

On 22 March, six Kittyhawks from 154 IAP claimed a shared Ju 88 between Vinyagolovo and Konduya. Known pilots taking part in this combat were Pokryshev and Yevgeniy Cherntsov.

The P-40s from 154 IAP intercepted German Ju 88s in the Kordynia area on 1 April 1942.
A Ju 88 was claimed as a shared by six pilots east of Kordynia, including Pokryshev (Kittyhawk) and Konstantin Korshunov (Tomahawk). Pokryshev claimed an additional Ju 88 in the same area before claiming a second shared Ju 88 with Yevgeniy Cherntsov (Kittyhawk) and three other pilots north-east of Kordynia.
Konstantin Korshunov claimed a shared Ju 87 with two other pilots south of Zenino and a second shared Ju 87 with Yevgeniy Cherntsov and four other pilots south-east of Kordynia.
Yevgeniy Cherntsov claimed a second shared Ju 87 with another pilot.

On 4 April a Hs 126 was claimed as shared destroyed by five P-40s from 154 IAP south of Malinovka. Pilots included in this shared were Pokryshev (Kittyhawk), Konstantin Korshunov (Tomahawk) and Yevgeniy Cherntsov (Kittyhawk).
This claim can’t be verified with Luftwaffe records.

In June 1942, kapitan Petr Pokryshev´s score stood at 11 personal and 5 “collective” victories. These were claimed during 211 sorties and 38 engagements.

On 30 August, four Il-2s from 15 GShAP and three Il-2s from 57 ShAP-KBF attacked Gorodets airdrome, south of Luga, where III/StG 1 just had arrived. The attack was successful and with the Il-2s were 17 Hurricanes from 3 GIAP-KBF and seven P-40 Kittyhawks from 154 IAP, the latter led by major Pokryshev, which took part in the strafing attack. According to the Soviet post mission photos they destroyed nine German aircraft and damaged four, of which at least two Ju 87s and a KG 53 He 111 can be verified with German loss records. Known claimers are major Pokryshev, who claimed one Bf 109 as did Yevgeniy Cherntsov.
During the return flight the Soviet aircraft was bounced by Unteroffizier Josef Brechtl of 7./JG 54, who in a surprising gunnery run from above managed to shoot down one of the 153 IAP P-40s, killing the pilot (claimed as a LaGG-3 at 12:50). Kapitan Sergey Sukhov of 3 GIAP-KBF meanwhile filed an unsubstantiated claim for a shot down Bf 109.

Not least due to Pokryshev´s feats, 154 IAP was awarded the honouree title "Guards Fighter Regiment" on 21 November 1942, being adopted as 29 GIAP.

His success rate was quite remarkable: during 282 combat missions until February 1943, Pokryshev was involved in a total of 50 air combats, during which he brought down no less than 29 Luftwaffe-planes (7 of them together with other pilots).

Pokryshev was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class on 20 January 1943.

On 10 February 1943, he was awarded the Golden Star of Hero of the Soviet Union (no. 804) and the Order of Lenin for 11 and 7 shared victories claimed during 211 sorties and 38 engagements as of July 1942 as a token of a Hero of the Soviet Union - the highest Soviet military award.
In the spring of 1943, the 29th "Guards" faithful P-40s were delivered to 196 IAP, as the unit was equipped with the new Yak-7B.

Konstantin Sokol left the command of 159 IA on 29 June 1943.
The next day, he was replaced by guard’s major Pokryshev.
This unit was equipped with La-5s.

He was to serve as a commander of the 159 IAP until the close of the war earning a reputation for cool, decisive leadership.

On 24 August 1943, he was decorated with his second Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union for 22 and 7 shared victories claimed during 282 sorties and 50 air combats.

On the same day, major Pokryshev was seriously injured. But fate and his skills would not let any German pilot to put this gallant pilot "out of order". During a training flight on an UTI-4 (a two-seat trainer version of the Polikarpov I-16) together with the pilot Kudravtsev, the engine suddenly caught fire at an altitude of 400 metres. They tried to reach the airfield, but failed. The ensuing crash put an end to Pokryshev’s fighter career.

Aircraft constructor Alexander Yakovlev made a special prepared Yak-9 for the crippled Pokryshev, and with this he remained in charge of 159 IAP until the end of the war. Under his command, the 159 IAP developed into one of the most successful Soviet fighter units, counting among its pilot’s famous aces such as Vladimir Serov (39 kills) and Petr Likholetov (25 kills).

Pokryshev was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevskiy on 5 November 1944.

Pokryshev ended the war with 22 personal and 7 shared victories claimed on 292 missions and 50 aerial combats.

Pokryshev was also decorated with the Order of the Red Banner for a third time in 1945. He was also decorated with a second Order of the Red Star.

Left: Podpolkovnik Pokryshev in front of a La-7.
Right: Major Pokryshev reading the frontline newspaper "Boyevaya Trevoga" (Battle Alert).

Pokryshev stayed in the service after the war and graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1954. He came off active duty with the rank of General-Major in 1961.

After his military career, he became Director of Leningrad Airport.

After an accident, Petr Pokryshev drowned on 22 August 1967.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1939
1	20/12/39	16:26	1 (a)	Fokker D.XXI (b)	Destroyed	I-16		Karpela	4./7 IAP
?	23/12/39	11:40-12:26	1	Fokker D.XXI (c)	Destroyed	I-16		Pienpero station, Viipuri	4./7 IAP
	1940
	04/02/40		1/5	Enemy fighter (d)	Shared destroyed on the ground	I-16		Finland	4./7 IAP
	04/02/40		1/5	Enemy fighter (d)	Shared destroyed on the ground	I-16		Finland	4./7 IAP
	04/02/40		1/5	Enemy fighter (d)	Shared destroyed on the ground	I-16		Finland	4./7 IAP
	1941
	29/06/41		1/2	He 111	Shared destroyed	I-16		Cherskaya station	158 IAP
3	03/07/41		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Yak-1		Minino	158 IAP
4	20/07/41		1	Bf 110	Destroyed	Yak-1		Krasnogvardeysk	158 IAP
5	10/08/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Yak-1		Northern Front	158 IAP
6	17/12/41		1	Bf 109 (e)	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Lighthouse, Lake Ladoga	154 IAP
	1942
7	17/02/42		1	He 113	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Pogost'ye - Baraki	154 IAP
	20/03/42		1/6	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		E Pogost'ye	154 IAP
	22/03/42		1/6	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		Vinyagolovo - Konduya	154 IAP
8	28/03/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		SE Dubovik	154 IAP
	01/04/42		1/6	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		E Kordynia	154 IAP
9	01/04/42		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		E Kordynia	154 IAP
	01/04/42		1/5	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		N Kordynia	154 IAP
	04/04/42		1/5	Hs 126 (f)	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		S Malinovka	154 IAP
10	05/04/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Smerdyna	154 IAP
11	30/06/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		SW Morozovo	154 IAP
	30/06/42		1/5	Bf 109	Shared destroyed	Kittyhawk		SW Volkhovstroy	154 IAP
12	30/08/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Kurovitsy - Vyritsa	154 IAP
13	01/09/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Shum - Voybakalo	154 IAP
14	02/09/42		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Chernetskoye - Tverdovo	154 IAP
15	02/09/42		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		Zales'ye - Khotovskoye	154 IAP
16	11/09/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		NW Sinyavino	154 IAP
17	11/09/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		NW Sinyavino	154 IAP
18	31/10/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		W Kobona	154 IAP
19	09/11/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Kittyhawk		SW Novyy Byt station	154 IAP
	1943
20	09/06/42		1	Fw 190	Destroyed	Yak-7B		Tosno	29 GIAP
21	19/06/42		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Yak-7B		Leningrad Front	29 GIAP
22	19/06/42		1	Fw 190	Destroyed	Yak-7B		Leningrad Front	29 GIAP

TOTAL: 22 destroyed, 7 shared destroyed, 3 shared destroyed on the ground.
(a) Actually, a 1/5 shared destroyed but credited to his as his first victory.
(b) Possible claimed in combat with LLv 24, which didn’t suffer any losses.
(c) Probably claimed in combat with Fokker D.XXIs from LLv 24 and LLv 26. The Finnish fighters claimed 5 I-16s while losing 1 Fokker. The Soviet pilots from 7 and 68 IAP claimed nine Fokkers while losing 3 I-16s.
(d) Not verified with Finnish records.
(e) The first Soviet victory over a Bf 109F.
(f) Not verified with Luftwaffe records.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Black Cross/Red Star Volume I - Christer Bergström and Andrey Mikhailov, 2000 Pacifica Military History, ISBN 0-935553-48-7
Black Cross/Red Star Volume II - Christer Bergström and Andrey Mikhailov, 2001 Pacifica Military History, ISBN 0-935553-51-7
Black Cross/Red Star Volume III - Christer Bergström, Andrey Dikov and Vlad Antipov, 2006 Eagle Editions Ltd, Hamilton, ISBN 0-9761034-4-3
Luftwaffe Claims Lists - Tony Wood
Red Stars 7 - Talvisota Ilmassa - The Winter War In the Air - Carl-Fredrik Geust, 2011 Apali Oy, Tampere, ISBN 978-952-5877-04-5
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Suomen Ilmailuhistoriallinen Lehti 2/1999 kindly provided by Jari Lappalainen.
Suomen Ilmavoimat part II – 1928-40 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2006, ISBN 952-99743-0-2
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.