20 March 1910 – 11 May 1939

Anatoly Serov was born on 20 March 1910 in Vorontsovka in the North Urals region (according to other sources he was born on 2 April 1910).

He entered the Red Army in 1929 and joined the Bolshevik Party in 1931.

He attended the Orenburg Military Air College, from which he graduated on 17 December 1931.

Initially he served in the Leningrad area, but was then posted to the Far East.

He worked as a test pilot until spring 1937.

Serov took part in the Spanish Civil War and he arrived probably in the country in May-June 1937 (the date varies in different sources). During this conflict he flew under the name 'Rodrigo Mateu'.

As a Starshii Leitenant and commander of a Zveno in the 1. Escuadrilla under the command of Kapitan Ivan Yeremenko, he was transferred to Campo Soto on 30 June 1937 to take part in the battle of Brunete. The 1. Escuadrilla was at this time equipped with Polikarpov I-15s and operating from Los Alcazares airfield.

On 6 July, during the battle of Brunete, Serov and Mikhail Yakushin ('Carlos Castejón') claimed a shared Fiat CR.32.

In the early morning on 7 July Kaptain Ivan Yeremenko was ordered to take his escuadrilla and fly towards Madrid to join with Lakeyev's escuadrilla in the air. Meanwhile the escuadrilla of Aleksandr Minayev was flying over the front line. The antiaircraft defence opened fire upon the Republican fighters over the Delicias railroad station. Fiat CR.32s appeared from the Princess Bridge side. Dogfights began over the Delicias railroad station, Andalusia Bridge, and Tobacco Manufacture. A group of Ju52/3ms and Do17s appeared from the western side and Minayev's escuadrilla flew to intercept the bombers but Fiats attacked the l-l5s and dispersed them.
Jose Redondo, the Spanish pilot of one of the I-15s, was wounded and L. Rybkin shielded him, but both were forced to fight nine Fiats. One Fiat collided with another and was set on fire. Rybkin and Redondo joined with M. Petrov and I. Karpov whom had flown to help. At that moment Mikhail Yakushin, Yeremenko, and Serov attacked the leading group of Fiats from above. One Fiat was shot down and the pilot bailed out. Pilots of I-15s and 1-16s had seen four Bf-109s in the area, but they did not attack the Republican fighter.
The I-15 of the Austrian Walter Korrows was attacked by a Fiat and was shot down. Immediately Yakushin attacked this Fiat and destroyed it in the air.
Serov claimed two CR.32 during this day.
It seems that the Fiat CR.32s involved in this combat were from XXIII^o Gruppo led by Maggiore Zotti; they claimed three l-l5s and three 1-16s for the loss of two Fiats - Gino Passeri (killed) and Alfonso Mattel (parachuted safely).

The Republican squadrons were effective in defending the airspace above Madrid by day, but the enemy exploited the night to bomb the city. Faced with this situation Serov and Mikhail Yakushin, both experienced night pilots in their own country, having obtained authorisation from the high command, set about organising a night fighter group comprising of Viktor Kuznetsov (CO), Serov, Leonid Rybkin, Yakushin and Vladimir Sorokin.
It was no easy task, given that the airfields did not have the necessary infrastructure for night operations (beacons, searchlights, etc). They set up some car headlights and lit bonfires along the runway, which the ground personnel covered over at the first sign of enemy presence, and training began at Alcalá de Henares, whose airfield was the most suitable.

On the night of 14 July one Ju52/3m bombed the airfield. Serov’s fighter was damaged while landing and he was slightly wounded in the head.

The experiment was put into practice on 25 July. Yakushin took off first to patrol at 3000 meters altitude, followed by Serov, at 2600 meters.
Yakushin sighted an enemy three-engined aircraft heading for Madrid. Closing in from astern he opened fire with his four machine guns almost at point blank range - about 40 meters - and exhausted his ammunition. The rounds hit home but the aircraft did not go down, and it altered course and sped off toward its own lines.
Back on the ground a disappointed Yakushin discussed the unsatisfactory result with Serov. They decided that if they were to set the Junkers alight they would have to concentrate their fire on the fuel tank, which was located at the union of the right wing with the fuselage.

The next night of 25-26 July, informed that enemy aircraft were bombing the Republican lines in the area around the Escorial, Serov and Yakushin headed for the front, flying over it by night for the first time. Aided by the glow from the fires, they found the patrol zone.
During the patrol Yakushin shot down a Ju52/3m from 3.K/88.
This was the first Republican night victory during the Spanish Civil War.

During the night of 26-27 July Serov shot down a Ju52/3m from 1.K/88 of Pirner with one killed (Unteroffizier August Heyer) and four captured (Johannes Remling, Rolf Pirner, Walter Schellhorn and Bruno Thielebein). The enemy aircraft was claimed near Manzanares.

For these night patrol flights, the Republican government awarded Mikhail Yakushin and Serov with golden watches and personal cars.

Totally he claimed seven victories during July 1937.

After his night victory, Serov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 31 July. He was also promoted to Kapitan and commander of the 1. Escuadrilla the following month and to take part in the Brunete offensive. He was to remain here until replaced by Antonov and transferred to the Plana Mayor of Grupo 26 'de Chatos'.

In October his unit was based at Sagunto and Sabadal airfields, operating over Barcelona and Valencia.

On 12 October 1937 he claimed a shared Ju52 or Ju86 over Huesca together with Yevgenii Stepanov and Ilja Finn.
Nationalist records do not confirm this loss.

On 15 October 1937 he took part in a ground strike on Garapinilios airfield, Zaragoza. Commander of this attack was Ivan Yeremenko and taking part in the attack was following units and aircraft:
1a/Gr. 26 - twelve I-15s from Bujaraloz under the command of Antonov (Serov flew in the 'Plana Mayor')
2a/Gr. 26 - nine I-15s from Sariñena under the command of Aleksandr(?) Smirnov (this was a mixed Escuadrilla with Spanish and Russian pilots)
1a/Gr. 21 - six I-16s from Caspe under the command of Aguirre
2a/Gr. 21 - ten I-16s from Caspe under the command of Pleshchenko
3a/Gr. 21 - nine I-16s from Hijar under the command of (Boris) Smirnov
5a/Gr. 21 - seven I-16s from Escatrón under the command of Ivanov
6a/Gr. 21 - eleven I-16s from Puig Moreño under the command of Gusev
Only the I-15s took part in the main attack with the I-16s providing air coverage. About 60 planes were claimed destroyed and damaged but the real total losses were only three Ju52s, six CR.32s and three He46s. Other aircraft were damaged by fire. The Republican aircraft only suffered one damaged I-15. This aircraft was from the 1. Escuadrilla and it was unserviceable that afternoon.
During the attack Serov claimed some aircraft destroyed on the ground.

On 21 October he was appointed commanding officer of a Grupo de Caza (Fighter Group).

He was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner on 22 October 1937.

On 21 January 1938 he left Spain.
Serov’s total flying time in Spain included 230+ combat hours, and he claimed eight individual and seven shared victories during the course of 48 engagements.

On 2 March 1938 he was decorated with the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was also at the same time decorated with an Order of Lenin and promoted to Polkovnik.

Back in the Soviet Union, an acrobatic unit with five I-16s was formed under his command, together with his friend Yakushin.

Later in 1938 he was promoted to Chief of the Air Inspectorate of the Soviet Union.
He remained an active pilot as part of his new job, participating in the I-153 flight-testing program and performing the leader's role in the I-16 'Red Five' aerobatic team.

In 1939 he was examined from the General Staff Academy and promoted to the rank of General Leitenant.

He was killed on 11 May 1939, during a long-range training flight in UTI-4 trainer, together with the female pilot Mayor Paolina D. Osipenkova, who also was killed (Osipenkova was a women record holder and the wife of another I-15 commander in Spain, Osipenko).
They were both buried in Moscow's Red Square, just outside the walls of Kremlin.

To remember A. K. Serov, his name was given to a little industrial town in the Sverdlovsk region, a Flying School at Bataisk, a Technical School and other Soviet State institutes.

Serov claimed 8 biplane victories in Spain and took part in 48 aerial combats. He also claimed 7 or 8 shared victories in this conflict (depending on source).

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1937
	06/07/37		½	CR.32	Shared destroyed	I-15		Brunete area	1a/Gr. 26
?	07/07/37	a.m.	1	CR.32 (a)	Destroyed	I-15		Brunete area	1a/Gr. 26
?	07/07/37	a.m.	1	CR.32	Destroyed	I-15		Brunete area	1a/Gr. 26
?	26-27/07/37	night	1	Ju52 (b)	Destroyed	I-15		Manzanares area	1a/Gr. 26
	12/10/37		1/3	Ju52 (c)	Shared destroyed	I-15		Huesca area	Gr. 26

Biplane victories: 8 and 7 shared destroyed, some aircraft destroyed on the ground.
TOTAL: 8 and 7 shared destroyed, some aircraft destroyed on the ground.
(a) Probably claimed in combat with CR.32 from 23^o Gruppo, which claimed three l-l5s and three 1-16s for the loss of two Fiats - Gino Passeri (killed) and Alfonso Mattel (parachuted safely). The Soviet pilots claimed three Fiat CR.32s.
(b) Ju52 from 1.K/88. Unteroffizier August Heyer killed and Johannes Remling, Rolf Pirner, Walter Schellhorn and Bruno Thielebein captured.
(c) May alternatively have been a Junkers Ju86. Not confirmed with Nationalist records.

Sources:
Black Cross/Red Star Volume I - Christer Bergström and Andrey Mikhailov, 2000 Pacifica Military History, ISBN 0-935553-48-7
Caballeros del aire de la Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939)
Carlos Castejon - Soviet Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War - Igor Gordelianov and Mikhail Zhirokhov with editorial assistance by Richard Karbowski, 2002 Small Air Forces Observer no. 100 kindly provided by Mikhail Zhirokhov
Geroi Sowetskogo Soyuza, 1987-1988 Moscow kindly provided by Sergey Abrosov
Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces - Mikhail Maslov, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-981-2
Stalin's Falcons - Tomas Polak and Christhoper Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-01-2
The Legion Condor - Karl Ries and Hans Ring, 1992 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-88740-339-5
Much additional information kindly provided by Alfredo Logoluso.
Additional information kindly provided by Vladislav Arhipov.
Image kindly provided by Alexei Luks.