Pilot devyatayev biography. Mikhail devyatayev. Devyatayev, Mikhail Petrovich

Devyatayev Mikhail Petrovich - flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), Guard Senior Lieutenant.

Born on July 8, 1917 in the village of Torbeevo (now a town in Mordovia) in a peasant family. Mordvin. He was the thirteenth child in the family. When he was 2 years old, his father died of typhus. In 1933 he graduated from the 7th grade of secondary school and went to Kazan, intending to enter the aviation technical school. Due to a misunderstanding with the documents, he had to study at the Kazan River Technical School, from which he graduated in 1938. At the same time he studied at the Kazan flying club.

In 1938, the Sverdlovsk district military registration and enlistment office of the city of Kazan, Tatar ASSR, was drafted into the Red Army. In 1940 he graduated from the Chkalov Military Aviation School of Pilots named after K.E. Voroshilov. Sent to serve in the city of Torzhok. Later he was transferred to the city of Mogilev in the 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Western Special Military District).

Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 22, 1941. On the second day, junior pilot M.P. Devyatayev on his I-16 participated in air combat. He opened the battle score on June 24, shooting down a Ju-87 dive bomber near Minsk. Then he defended the sky of Moscow. In one of the air battles in the Tula region, together with J. Schneier, he shot down a Ju-88, but his Yak-1 was also damaged. Devyatayev made an emergency landing and ended up in the hospital. After not recovering, he fled to the front in his regiment, which at that time was already based west of Voronezh.

On September 23, 1941, while returning from a mission, Devyatayev was attacked by Messerschmitts. One of them was shot down, but he himself was wounded in the left leg. By this time, he made 180 sorties, in 35 air battles personally shot down 9 enemy aircraft.

After the hospital, the medical commission assigned him to the low-speed aviation, where he commanded a link of the U-2 liaison aircraft, made 280 sorties to communicate with the forward units. Since September 1943, he served in the 1,001st separate sanitary regiment, performed 80 sorties to forward landing sites, took out 120 wounded soldiers, delivered 600 liters of blood and 1,500 kilograms of medicines and other cargo.

After meeting in May 1944 with A.I. Pokryshkin, he again became a fighter. Flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), Guard Senior Lieutenant M.P. Devyatayev on the evening of July 13, 1944, flew as part of a group of P-39 fighters under the command of Major V. Bobrov to repel an enemy air raid. In an unequal air battle in the Lviv region, he was wounded in the right leg, and his plane was set on fire. At the last moment, the falling fighter with a parachute left. He was taken prisoner with severe burns.

Interrogation followed interrogation. Then he was sent on a transport plane to the intelligence department of the Abwehr in Warsaw. Not having obtained any valuable information from Devyatayev, the Germans sent him to the Lodz POW camp. Later he was transferred to the New Koenigsberg camp. Here, in the camp, with a group of comrades, Devyatayev began to prepare an escape. At night, with improvised means - spoons and bowls - they dug a tunnel, dragged the earth on a sheet of iron and scattered it under the floor of the hut (the hut was on stilts). But when there were already a few meters to freedom, the guards discovered the tunnel. On the denunciation of the traitor, the organizers of the escape were seized. After interrogation and torture, they were sentenced to death.

Devyatayev with a group of suicide bombers was sent to Germany to the Sachsenhausen death camp (near Berlin). But he was lucky: in the sanitary barracks, a barber from among the prisoners replaced his death bomber's tag with a penalty box's tag (No. 104533), killed by the guards of Grigory Stepanovich Nikitenko, a teacher from Darnitsa. In the group of "toptuns" he used to wear out the shoes of German firms. Later, with the help of the underground, he was transferred from the penalty barrack to the usual one. At the end of October 1944, as part of a group of 1,500 prisoners, he was sent to a camp on the island of Usedom, where the secret Peenemünde test site was located, where missile weapons were tested. Since the landfill was secret, there was only one way out for the concentration camp prisoners - through the crematorium pipe. In January 1945, when the front approached the Vistula, Devyatayev, together with prisoners Ivan Krivonogov, Vladimir Sokolov, Vladimir Nemchenko, Fedor Adamov, Ivan Oleinik, Mikhail Yemets, Pyotr Kutergin, Nikolai Urbanovich and Dmitry Serdyukov, began to prepare an escape. A plan was developed to hijack an aircraft from an airfield located near the camp. While working at the airfield, Devyatayev furtively studied the cockpits of German aircraft. Instrument plaques were removed from damaged aircraft lying around the airfield. In the camp they were translated and studied. Devyatayev assigned responsibilities to all the participants in the escape: who should remove the cover from the Pitot tube, who should remove the pads from the chassis wheels, who should remove the clamps from the elevators and rudders, who should roll up the cart with the batteries.

The escape was scheduled for February 8, 1945. On their way to work at the airfield, the prisoners, choosing the moment, killed the guard. So that the Germans would not suspect anything, one of them put on his clothes and began to pretend to be a guard. Thus, it was possible to get into the aircraft parking lot. When the German technicians went to lunch, Devyatayev's group captured the He-111H-22 bomber. Devyatayev started the engines and began to taxi to the start. To prevent the Germans from seeing his striped prison clothes, they had to undress to the nakedness. But it was not possible to take off unnoticed - someone found the body of the killed guard and raised the alarm. German soldiers were running towards the Heinkel from all sides. Devyatayev began to take off, but the plane could not take off for a long time (later it was discovered that the landing flaps had not been removed). With the help of his comrades, Devyatayev pulled the wheel towards himself as much as he could. Only at the end of the runway did the Heinkel lift off the ground and set sail at low altitude over the sea.

Having come to their senses, the Germans sent a fighter in pursuit, but he failed to find the fugitives. Devyatayev flew, guided by the sun. In the area of ​​the front line, our anti-aircraft guns fired at the plane. I had to go to the forced. "Heinkel" landed on the belly south of the village of Gollin in the location of the artillery unit of the 61st Army.

The special officers did not believe that the concentration camp prisoners could hijack the plane. The fugitives were subjected to a harsh and humiliating check in the NKVD filtration camp in the city of Nevel, Pskov region. Then they sent me to penal battalions. In November 1945, Devyatayev was transferred to the reserve. He was not hired. In 1946, having a captain's diploma in his pocket, he hardly got a job as a loader in the Kazan river port, then as a duty officer at the river station. They didn't trust him for 12 years. He wrote letters to Stalin, Malenkov, Beria, but to no avail. The situation changed only in 1957, when the first article about him was published in March.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 15, 1957 for the displayed courage, courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War, to the senior lieutenant Devyatayev Mikhail Petrovich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

In 1957, the brave fighter pilot became one of the first captains of the Raketa passenger hydrofoil ships. In 1959 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Later he drove "Meteora" along the Volga, was a captain-mentor. After retiring, he actively participated in the veteran movement, created the Devyatayev Foundation, and provided assistance to those who especially needed it.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, and medals. Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Mordovia, the cities of Kazan (Russia), Volgast and Tsinovichi (Germany).

In the village of Torbeevo, a museum of the Hero is open, a memorial plaque is installed on the house where he lived, and a bust is near the house. In February 2010, in Kazan, on the house where Hero lived (Sechenova Street, 5), a memorial plaque was unveiled. The "Escape from Hell" monument was erected in Saransk at the Memorial to the soldiers of Mordovia who fell during the Great Patriotic War.

Compositions:
Flight to the sun. - M .: DOSAAF, 1972.
Escape from Hell. - Kazan: Tatar book. ed., 1988.

The legendary Soviet pilot Mikhail Devyatayev, who took part in the Great Patriotic War, became famous for his daring escape from under the noses of the German invaders.

For his excellent work, the man was awarded the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Childhood and youth

Mikhail was born in the summer of 1917 in the working village of Torbeevo, which at that time was part of the Tambov province. He is Moksha by nationality. In addition to him, the family had 12 more children. Although life was difficult, the father of the family, Pyotr Timofeevich, worked all his life, he was a craftsman, worked for a landowner. Mother Akulina Dmitrievna ran the household and raised the children.

Although Mikhail studied well at school, problems arose with the boy's behavior. But at one point, his character changed. This happened after a meeting with a pilot who visited the village by plane. Seeing him, the young man asked how to get such a profession. To this the man replied that you need to study, be brave, athletic and healthy.

From that moment on, Devyatayev devotes all his time to sports and studies, and after the 7th grade he goes to Kazan to enter the aviation technical school. So in the biography of the young man, the history of the formation of the future pilot appears. By submitting an application to the school, Mikhail had already imagined how he would begin to master the basics of aircraft control, however, due to confusion with papers, by mistake, he was enrolled in a river technical school, where he remained. But the guy's dream has not faded away, so Devyatayev enrolls in the flying club in Kazan.

Sometimes he had to spend time in the motor or plane class of the club until the night, and in the morning he had to run to classes at the school. And soon the day happened when the young man first appeared in the sky. True, the first flight took place with an instructor, but this did not diminish Mikhail's impressions.

After graduating from the river technical school, Devyatayev enters the Orenburg Aviation School, this time the already matured man recalled as the happiest time of life. During training, he did not miss a single lesson, he read a lot and trained hard. When his studies ended, the young man's childhood dream came true, he became a military fighter pilot. In his youth, he had to serve first in Torzhok, and later he was transferred to Mogilev.

By the beginning of the war, of the 12 children of the Devyatayev family, only 8 survived, and all contributed to the defense of the Motherland. 4 brothers Mikhail died at the front, the rest of the children also passed away before they reached their old age.

Military service

In June 1941, a man goes to the front, and after 2 days he opens a combat account, shooting down an enemy bomber diving near Minsk. Devyatayev also had other successful flights. The pilot, along with other distinguished ones, is summoned to Moscow to defend the approaches to the capital.

During the next military operation on Yak-1 aircraft, the pilots intercept the enemy, who was going to drop a deadly cargo on the capital. However, the man was not always so lucky. Once he received a military assignment, on his return from which to Moscow he was attacked by fascist bombers. One "Junkers" of the enemy was still shot down, however, Devyatayev's plane was also damaged. The pilot managed to land despite being wounded in the left leg. So Mikhail ends up in the hospital, where he is being treated. And later, by a unanimous decision of the medical commission, he was assigned to low-speed aviation.

For some time Devyatayev works in the regiment of night bombers, then he was transferred to the air ambulance. And only in 1944, after meeting with A.I. Pokryshkin, the man returned to the fighter squad. After that, he repeatedly raised his plane into the air, being in the rank of senior lieutenant, in total, Mikhail shot down 9 enemy aircraft.

In July 1944, the fate of Devyatayev was in the hands of the enemy. On another flight, a man shoots down a German plane west of the Ukrainian city of Gorokhov. In this aerial combat, he is injured and his plane catches fire. Pilot leader Vladimir Bobrov orders him to leave the aircraft by jumping out with a parachute. However, having fulfilled the command, the man is captured.

Captivity and escape

Finding himself in the hands of the Nazis, Devyatayev was sent to the intelligence department of the Abwehr, and later to the Lodz prisoner camp. All the time there passed in mockery, torture and hunger, therefore, having united with the prisoners of war pilots, the men are planning an escape, which did not take place.

After they were caught, the whole group was declared death row and sent to the Sachsenhausen camp. Everyone who is there with this status goes to certain death, but Mikhail managed to survive. Having bribed the camp's hairdresser, Devyatayev convinces him to change the number on the robe, thus he changed the status of a "suicide bomber" and became an ordinary "penalty box" who was no longer threatened with death.

Together with the man's number, the name under which he goes to the island of Usedom has changed. In this place, they created super-powerful weapons, which, according to the Nazis, were supposed to help them win the war, we are talking about ballistic and cruise missiles. People who got to this island did not return alive. Therefore, the thought of a new escape is ripening among the prisoners.

A group of 10 people, including Mikhail Devyatayev, spotted the planes at the nearby Pnemünde airfield. The Soviet pilot took over the piloting.

After the hijacking of the prisoners, a bomber was sent to shoot down the lone Heinkel. And although an experienced pilot sat at the helm, it was not possible to destroy the fugitives. And flying up to the front line, Devyatayev's plane was attacked by Soviet anti-aircraft guns.

Despite the difficulties, the man landed the plane on the territory of the Polish artillery unit. Mikhail rescued nine people and delivered strategically important information about a classified German missile manufacturing center. The man even provided the exact coordinates of the launch sites along the coast. They were checked and confirmed, and later the island of Usedom was attacked from the air.

Like other prisoners of Nazi Germany who returned to the territory of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Devyatayev was placed in a testing and filtration camp of the NKVD, and after the completion of the check he was sent to serve in the Red Army.

Later, the famous designer of the rocket and space industry of the Soviet Union sought out Devyatayev and summoned him to the airfield, from which he hijacked the plane. On the spot, Mikhail showed him where the missile assemblies were made and where they started from. For the help provided and the perfect feat in 1957, Devyatayev was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.

After the end of hostilities, Mikhail returned to Kazan and there he began to develop a career in river navigation in the Kazan port. Already having a ship captain's diploma, a few years later the man becomes a boat captain.

Personal life

Despite the difficult war and post-war years, the man's personal life has developed well. The pilot's wife was Faina Khairullovna, who gave birth to three children - two sons and a daughter. And although the marriage was strong, the woman was jealous of Mikhail. After all, when he became famous throughout the Soviet Union, women often wrote to him. Already in old age, the man admitted that he would not exchange his wife for any other beauty.

In 1946, a woman gave birth to her first child, who was named Alexei. He chose medicine to study, worked in an eye clinic as an anesthesiologist, and later became a candidate of medical sciences. After 5 years, his brother Alexander was born, who also chose this area. The man worked at the Kazan Medical Institute and also became a candidate of medical sciences.

The Devyatayevs' daughter was born in 1957. Nelya did not follow in the footsteps of the brothers, her talent was discovered in another area. The girl graduated from the Kazan Conservatory and taught music at the theater school.

After the war, Mikhail wrote the book "Escape from Hell", in which he described the most striking events of his stay in a German death camp, and also told the story of the escape itself. On the cover of the book there is a photo of Devyatayev crossing a barbed wire.

Death

Until his last days, Mikhail Devyatayev lived in Kazan and, despite his health undermined during the war, he worked as long as his strength allowed. In the summer of 2002, he even came to the very airfield from which he once escaped. A documentary about the heroic deed of a man was filmed there.

In November of the same year, Mikhail Petrovich died, the exact cause of death is unknown, probably age (85 years) and concomitant diseases contributed to this.

In memory of the hero-pilot, during his lifetime and after his death, more than one documentary film was shot. Among them are “Catch up and destroy”, “Not a fact. Feat of the Soviet Pilot ”and others.

Awards

• Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union
• The order of Lenin
• Order of the Red Banner
• Order of the Patriotic War
• Medal "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945."
• Zhukov medal
• Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
• Veteran of Labor Medal
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland
• Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Mordovia

(08.07.1917-24.11.2002) - fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1957), guard senior lieutenant.

Member of the Great Patriotic War from the first day. He fought in the 237 IAP and 298 (104 Guards) IAP, was a flight commander. Shot down 9 enemy aircraft. On July 13, 1944, in an air battle over Lvov, he was shot down and taken prisoner. He was imprisoned in the camps of Lodz, Sachsenhausen and on about. Usedom. On February 8, 1945, he hijacked a He-111H-22 from the Peenemünde airfield and took out 9 more people on it.

In 1957 he became the first captain of the Raketa hydrofoil ship. Then he drove "Meteora" along the Volga. Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Mordovia, the cities of Kazan, Wolgast and Tsinovichi (Germany).

Mordvin.

Member of the CPSU since 1959. Was the thirteenth child in the family. When he was 2 years old, his father died of typhus. In 1933 he graduated from the 7th grade of secondary school and went to Kazan, intending to enter the aviation technical school.

Due to a misunderstanding with the documents, he had to study at the river technical school, from which he graduated in 1938. At the same time he studied at the Kazan flying club.

In 1938, the Sverdlovsk RVK of Kazan was drafted into the Red Army. In 1940 he graduated from the Orenburg Military Aviation School of Pilots named after V.I. K. E. Voroshilov.

Sent to serve in Torzhok.

Later he was transferred to Mogilev in the 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Western OVO). Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 22, 1941. Already on the second day, on his I-16, he participated in an air battle. He opened the battle score on June 24, shooting down a Ju-87 dive bomber near Minsk. Then he defended the sky of Moscow.

In one of the air battles in the Tula region, together with J. Schneier, he shot down a Ju-88, but his Yak-1 was also damaged.

Devyatayev made an emergency landing and ended up in the hospital.

After not recovering, he fled to the front in his regiment, which at that time was already based west of Voronezh. On September 23, 1941, while returning from a mission, Devyatayev was attacked by Messerschmitts. One of them was shot down, but he himself was wounded in the left leg. After the hospital, the medical commission assigned him to the low-speed aviation.

He served in the night bomber regiment, then in the air ambulance.

Only after meeting in May 1944 with A.I. Pokryshkin did he again become a fighter.

The flight commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front), Guard Senior Lieutenant MP Devyatayev, shot down 9 enemy aircraft in air battles.

On the evening of July 13, 1944, he flew as part of a group of P-39 fighters under the command of Major V. Bobrov to repel an enemy air raid.

In an unequal air battle near Lvov, he was wounded in the right leg, and his plane was set on fire.

At the last moment, the falling fighter with a parachute left.

He was captured with severe burns. Interrogation followed interrogation.

Then he was sent on a transport plane to the intelligence department of the Abwehr in Warsaw.

Not having obtained any valuable information from Devyatayev, the Germans sent him to the Lodz POW camp.

Later he was transferred to the New Konigsberg camp.

Here, in the camp, with a group of comrades, Devyatayev began to prepare an escape. At night, using improvised means - spoons and bowls - they dug a tunnel, dragged the earth on a sheet of iron and scattered it under the floor of the hut (the hut was on stilts). But when there were already a few meters left to freedom, the guards discovered the tunnel.

On the denunciation of the traitor, the organizers of the escape were seized.

After interrogation and torture, they were sentenced to death.

Devyatayev with a group of suicide bombers was sent to Germany to the Sachsenhausen death camp (near Berlin).

But he was lucky: in the sanitary barracks, a barber from among the prisoners replaced his death bomber's tag with a penalty box's tag (No. 104533), killed by the guards of Grigory Stepanovich Nikitenko, a teacher from Darnitsa.

In the group of "toptuns" he used to wear out the shoes of German firms. Later, with the help of the underground, he was transferred from the penalty barracks to the usual one.

At the end of October 1944, as part of a group of 1,500 prisoners, he was sent to a camp on the island of Usedom, where the secret Peenemünde test site was located, where missile weapons were tested.

Since the landfill was secret, there was only one way out for the concentration camp prisoners - through the crematorium pipe.

In January 1945, when the front approached the Vistula, Devyatayev, together with prisoners Ivan Krivonogov, Vladimir Sokolov, Vladimir Nemchenko, Fedor Adamov, Ivan Oleinik, Mikhail Yemets, Pyotr Kutergin, Nikolai Urbanovich and Dmitry Serdyukov, began to prepare an escape. A plan was developed to hijack an aircraft from an airfield near the camp.

While working at the airfield, Devyatayev furtively studied the cockpits of German aircraft.

Instrument plaques were removed from damaged aircraft lying around the airfield.

In the camp they were translated and studied.

Devyatayev assigned responsibilities to all the participants in the escape: who should remove the cover from the pitot tube, who should remove the pads from the wheels of the chassis, who should remove the clamps from the elevators and rudders, who should roll up the cart with the batteries.

The escape was scheduled for February 8, 1945. On the way to work at the airfield, the prisoners, choosing the moment, killed the guard.

So that the Germans would not suspect anything, one of them put on his clothes and began to pretend to be a guard.

Thus, they managed to get into the aircraft parking lot.

When the German technicians went to lunch, Devyatayev's group captured the He-111H-22 bomber. Devyatayev started the engines and began to taxi to the start. To prevent the Germans from seeing his striped prisoner clothes, they had to strip naked.

But it was not possible to take off unnoticed - someone found the body of the killed guard and raised the alarm.

German soldiers were running towards the Heinkel from all sides.

Devyatayev began to take off, but the plane could not take off for a long time (later it was discovered that the landing flaps had not been removed). With the help of his comrades, Devyatayev pulled the wheel towards himself with all his might. Only at the end of the runway did the Heinkel lift off the ground and set sail at low altitude over the sea. Having come to their senses, the Germans sent a fighter in pursuit, but he failed to find the fugitives.

Devyatayev flew, guided by the sun.

In the area of ​​the front line, our anti-aircraft guns fired at the plane.

I had to go to the forced. "Heinkel" landed on the belly south of the settlement of Gollin in the location of the artillery unit of the 61st Army. The special officers did not believe that the concentration camp prisoners could hijack the plane.

The fugitives were subjected to harsh testing, long and humiliating.

Then they sent me to penal battalions.

In November 1945, Devyatayev was transferred to the reserve. He was not hired.

In 1946, having a captain's diploma in his pocket, he hardly got a job as a loader in the Kazan river port. They didn't trust him for 12 years.

He wrote letters to Stalin, Malenkov, Beria, but all to no avail. The situation changed only at the end of the 50s. On August 15, 1957, MP Devyatayev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1957 he became one of the first captains of the Raketa passenger hydrofoil craft. Later he drove "Meteora" along the Volga, was a captain-mentor.

After retiring, he actively participated in the veteran movement, created the Devyatayev Foundation, and provided assistance to those who especially needed it.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of 1 and 2 degrees, medals.

Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Mordovia, the cities of Kazan (Russia), Volgast and Tsinovichi (Germany).

The Museum of the Hero is open in Torbeevo. He died on November 24, 2002. He was buried in the Alley of Heroes of the Arsk cemetery in Kazan.

Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev(July 8, Torbeevo, Penza province - November 24, Kazan) - Guard Senior Lieutenant, fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Military pilot

At the front

After interrogation, Mikhail Devyatayev was transferred to the Abwehr reconnaissance department, from there to the Lodz prisoner of war camp, from where, together with a group of prisoners of war pilots, he made the first attempt to escape on August 13, 1944. But the fugitives were caught, declared death row and sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp. There, with the help of the camp hairdresser, who changed the sewn number on the camp uniform, Mikhail Devyatayev managed to change the status of a suicide bomber to the status of a “penalty box”. Soon, under the name of Stepan Grigorievich Nikitenko, he was sent to the island of Usedom, where the development of new weapons of the Third Reich - V-1 cruise missiles and V-2 ballistic missiles - were under way at the Peenemünde missile center.

Airplane escape

Devyatayev and his associates were placed in a filtration camp. After completing the filtration check, he continued to serve in the ranks of the Red Army.

In September 1945, he was found by S.P. Korolev, appointed to lead the Soviet program for the development of German rocketry, and summoned to Peenemünde. Here Devyatayev showed the Soviet specialists the places where the missile assemblies were produced and from where they were launched. For his help in the creation of the first Soviet rocket R-1 - a copy of the "V-2" - Korolev in 1957 was able to present Devyatayev to the title of Hero.

After the war

In November 1945, Devyatayev was transferred to the reserve. In 1946, having a ship master's diploma, he got a job as a duty officer at the station in the Kazan river port. In became the captain of the boat, and later one of the first who headed the crews of the very first domestic hydrofoils - "Raketa" and "Meteor".

Mikhail Devyatayev lived in Kazan until his last days. He worked as long as his strength allowed. In the summer of 2002, while filming a documentary about him, he arrived at the Peenemünde airfield, lit candles for his comrades and met with the German pilot G. Hob.
Mikhail Devyatayev was buried in Kazan on the site of the Arsk cemetery, where the memorial complex of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War is located.

Awards

In 1957, thanks to the petition of the Chief Designer of Ballistic Missiles Sergei Korolev and after the publication of articles about Devyatayev's feat in Soviet newspapers, Mikhail Devyatayev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on August 15, 1957.

Memory of the hero

• His feat was described in Soviet history textbooks published in the 1980s.
• The story "The Hundredth Chance" by Nikolai Sturikov.
• In Torbeevo, on Oktyabrskaya Street, on May 8, 1975, the House-Museum of the Hero of the Soviet Union M.P.Devyatayev was opened.
• In Kazan, in the Vakhitovsky district, from the River Station to Tatarstan Street, there is Devyatayeva Street (formerly Portovaya).
• His name is a small missile ship of project 1234.1, which is part of the 166th Novorossiysk Red Banner division of small missile ships of the 41st brigade of missile boats.
• In Kazan, a bust was installed on the grave of MP Devyatayev at the Arsk cemetery.
• In Germany, a monument to him and nine of his comrades was erected in recognition of the special significance of their escape from the secret base of Peenemünde.
• The Voskhod-72 hydrofoil is named Hero Mikhail Devyatayev. Currently not in operation.
• The Volga-3 passenger pleasure catamaran is named Hero of the Devyatayev.
• Kazan River College is named after Devyatayev.
• In Kazan, in the Victory Park in the Pantheon around the Eternal Flame, a memorial plaque was installed with the data of M.P.Devyatayev with a mention that the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to him only in 1957.
• A monument "Escape from Hell" is erected in Vologda.
• In Nizhny Novgorod, in the Victory Park, a monument "Escape from Hell" is erected in honor of the participants in the escape from about. Usedom.
• In 2010, a memorial sign "Escape from Hell" was installed in Saransk.
• In Gadyach (Poltava region, Ukraine) a monument "Escape from Hell" is erected.
• In Poltava, on Petra Yurchenko Street, in the area of ​​the air town, a monument "Escape from Hell" is erected.
• Streets in Kazan, Saransk and Zubovaya Polyana are named after him.

see also

• Loshakov, Nikolai Kuzmich - Soviet fighter pilot. Once captured, in 1943 he managed to escape in a German plane.
• Vandyshev, Sergei Ivanovich - Soviet attack pilot. Once captured, in 1945 he managed to escape in a German plane.

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Notes (edit)

2. in the electronic bank of documents "Podvig of the People" (archival materials of TsAMO, f. 33, op. 690155, d. 355, l. 18-19)
3. Pokryshkin A.I.// Know yourself in battle. - M. : DOSAAF, 1986 .-- 492 p. - 95,000 copies
4. ... Retrieved January 13, 2013.
5. .
6. Natalia Bespalova, Mikhail Cherepanov.... "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" - Volga - Ural (No. 3366 of December 16, 2003). Retrieved January 11, 2011.
7. The future General Designer of Soviet missiles himself was released from the sharashka only six months before these events.
8. Irek Bikkinin.// Tatar Newspaper. - 1998. - No. 12 dated November 23.
9. in the electronic bank of documents "Podvig of the People" (archival materials of TsAMO, f. 33, op. 686044, d. 4402, l. 9-10)
11. .
12. .
13. Peter Davydov, Alexey Kolosov.// Red North: newspaper. - 2010. - No. 31 (26416) dated March 25... from original 17 Sep 2010 02:04:13 GMT.
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Literature

• Devyataev M.P./ Literary record of A. M. Khorunzhy. - M .: DOSAAF, 1972 .-- 272 p. - 150,000 copies
• I. P. Krivonogov/ Irina Sidorova's literary record .. - Gorky: Gorky Book Publishing House, 1963. - 192 p. - 75,000 copies
• Escape from Hell. - Kazan: Tatars. book publishing house, 1988.
• Sturikov N.A. Hundredth chance. - Cheboksary: ​​Chuvash. book publishing house, 1978.
• Devyataev M.P. Escape from Hell. - Kazan: Tatars. book publishing house, 2000 .-- 192 p.
• Devyataev M.P. Memories, responses, journalism, chronicle. - Saransk: type. Red October, 2007 .-- 248 p.
• Cherepanov M.V. The Escape That Stopped the "Angel of Death" // Why Do Death Valley Alive ?. - Kazan: Heter, 2006 .-- 368 p.

Links

An excerpt characterizing Devyatayev, Mikhail Petrovich

Prince Andrew was leaving the next evening. The old prince, without deviating from his order, went to his room after dinner. The little princess was with her sister-in-law. Prince Andrew, dressed in a traveling frock coat without epaulettes, lay down in the chambers allotted to him with his valet. Having examined the carriage and the packing of the suitcases himself, he ordered it to be pawned. Only those things remained in the room that Prince Andrey always took with him: a casket, a large silver cellar, two Turkish pistols and a saber, a gift from his father, brought from near Ochakov. All these travel accessories were in great order with Prince Andrey: everything was new, clean, in cloth covers, diligently tied with ribbons.
In moments of departure and a change in life, people who are able to think over their actions usually find a serious mood of thoughts. In these minutes, the past is usually verified and plans for the future are made. Prince Andrew's face was very thoughtful and tender. He, with his hands folded back, walked quickly around the room from corner to corner, looking ahead of himself, and thoughtfully shook his head. Was he afraid to go to war, was he sad to leave his wife - maybe both, only, apparently, not wanting to be seen in this position, hearing footsteps in the entryway, he hurriedly freed his hands, stopped at the table, as if he was tying the cover of the box, and assumed his usual, calm and impenetrable expression. These were the heavy steps of Princess Marya.
“I was told that you ordered the mortgage,” she said breathlessly (she was evidently running), “and I so wanted to talk to you alone. God knows how long we will part again. Aren't you angry that I came? You have changed a lot, Andryusha, - she added, as it were, in an explanation of such a question.
She smiled as she spoke the word "Andryusha". Apparently, she herself was strange to think that this stern, handsome man was the same Andryusha, a thin, playful boy, a childhood friend.
- Where is Lise? He asked, answering her question only with a smile.
“She was so tired that she fell asleep in my room on the couch. Ax, Andre! Que! tresor de femme vous avez, ”she said, sitting down on the sofa opposite her brother. - She is a perfect child, such a sweet, cheerful child. I loved her so much.
Prince Andrew was silent, but the princess noticed an ironic and contemptuous expression that appeared on his face.
- But you have to be condescending to small weaknesses; who does not have them, Andre! Do not forget that she was brought up and raised in the light. And then her position is no longer rosy. It is necessary to enter into the position of everyone. Tout comprendre, c "est tout pardonner. [Whoever understands everything, he will forgive everything.] Just think, what is it like for her, poor thing, after the life to which she is accustomed, to part with her husband and remain alone in the village and in her position? very hard.
Prince Andrew smiled, looking at his sister, as we smile, listening to people whom we think we see through and through.
“You live in the country and you don’t find this life awful,” he said.
- I’m a different matter. What to say about me! I do not wish for another life, and I cannot wish it, because I do not know any other life. And you think, Andre, for a young and secular woman to be buried in the best years of life in the country, alone, because papa is always busy, and I ... you know me ... how poor I am en ressources, [interests.] For a woman accustomed to the best society. M lle Bourienne alone ...
“I really don't like her, your Bourienne,” said Prince Andrew.
- Oh no! She is very sweet and kind, and most importantly - a pitiful girl. She has no one, no one. To tell the truth, not only do I not need her, but she is shy. I, you know, have always been wild, and now even more. I love to be alone ... Mon pere [Father] loves her very much. She and Mikhail Ivanovich are two persons to whom he is always affectionate and kind, because they are both blessed by him; as Stern says: "we do not so much love people for the good that they have done to us, as for the good that we have done to them." Mon pere took her as an orphan sur le pave, [on the pavement,] and she is very kind. And mon pere loves her reading style. She reads aloud to him in the evenings. She reads beautifully.
- Well, in truth, Marie, I think it is sometimes hard for you because of your father's character? - Prince Andrey suddenly asked.
Princess Marya was at first surprised, then frightened by this question.
- Me? ... Me?! ... Is it hard for me ?! - she said.
- He was always cool; but now it’s getting heavy, I think, ”said Prince Andrey, apparently on purpose, in order to puzzle or test his sister, speaking so lightly of his father.
“You are good to everyone, Andre, but you have some kind of pride in thought,” said the princess, more following her own train of thought than the flow of conversation, “and this is a great sin. Is it possible to judge the father? And if it were possible, what other feeling besides veneration [deep respect] can arouse a man like mon pere? And I am so pleased and happy with him. I just wish you all were as happy as I am.
The brother shook his head in disbelief.
“One thing that’s hard for me — I’ll tell you the truth, Andre — is my father’s way of thinking religiously. I do not understand how a person with such a huge mind cannot see what is clear as day and can be so delusional? This is one of my misfortunes. But here, too, lately I see a shadow of improvement. Recently, his ridicule is not so sarcastic, and there is one monk whom he received and spoke to him for a long time.
“Well, my friend, I’m afraid that you and the monk are wasting your gunpowder for nothing,” Prince Andrew said mockingly but kindly.
- Ah! mon ami. [A! My friend.] I only pray to God and hope that He hears me. Andre, - she said timidly after a minute of silence, - I have a big request for you.
- What, my friend?
- No, promise me that you will not refuse. It will not cost you any work, and there will be nothing unworthy of you in it. Only you will comfort me. Promise, Andryusha, '' she said, thrusting her hand into the reticule and holding something in it, but not yet showing, as if what she was holding was the subject of the request, and as if before receiving the promise to fulfill the request she could not take it out of the reticule It is something.
She timidly, beseechingly looked at her brother.
- If only it would cost me a lot of work ... - Prince Andrew answered, as if guessing what was the matter.
- You, what you want, think! I know you are the same as mon pere. Think what you want, but do it for me. Do it please! It was also my father's father, our grandfather, who wore it in all wars ... - She still did not get what she was holding from her reticule. - So you promise me?
- Of course, what's the matter?
- Andre, I will bless you with the image, and you promise me that you will never take it off. Do you promise?
“If he doesn’t pull back two pounds and his neck… To please you…” said Prince Andrey, but at that very second, noticing the distressed expression that took on his sister’s face at this joke, he repented. "I am very glad, really very glad, my friend," he added.
`` Against your will, He will save and have mercy on you and turn you to Himself, because in Him alone is truth and tranquility, '' she said in a voice trembling with emotion, holding in both hands in front of her brother an oval ancient icon of the Savior with a black face in silver riza on a silver chain of fine work.
She crossed herself, kissed the icon and gave it to Andrey.
- Please, Andre, for me ...
Beams of kind and timid light shone from her large eyes. These eyes illuminated the whole sickly, thin face and made him beautiful. My brother wanted to take the little icon, but she stopped him. Andrei understood, crossed himself and kissed the little icon. His face at the same time was tender (he was touched) and mocking.
- Merci, mon ami. [Thank you my friend.]
She kissed his forehead and sat down on the sofa again. They were silent.
- So I told you, Andre, be kind and generous as you have always been. Don't judge Lise harshly, ”she began. - She is so sweet, so kind, and her position is very difficult now.
- I don't think I said anything to you, Masha, so that I should reproach my wife for anything or be dissatisfied with her. Why are you telling me all this?
Princess Marya blushed with spots and fell silent, as if she felt guilty.
“I didn’t say anything to you, but they did tell you. And it makes me sad.
Red spots appeared even more strongly on Princess Mary's forehead, neck and cheeks. She wanted to say something and could not pronounce it. The brother guessed right: the little princess cried after dinner, said that she had a premonition of an unfortunate birth, was afraid of them, and complained about her fate, her father-in-law and her husband. After crying, she fell asleep. Prince Andrew felt sorry for his sister.
- Know one thing, Masha, I cannot reproach anything, I have not reproached and will never reproach my wife, and I myself cannot reproach myself for anything in relation to her; and it will always be so, whatever the circumstances. But if you want to know the truth ... you want to know if I am happy? No. Is she happy? No. Why is this? Do not know…
As he spoke, he got up, walked over to his sister and, bending over, kissed her on the forehead. His beautiful eyes shone with an intelligent and kind, unusual brilliance, but he was looking not at his sister, but into the darkness of the open door, over her head.
- Let's go to her, we must say goodbye. Or go alone, wake her up, and I'll be right there. Parsley! - he shouted to the valet, - come here, clean up. It's in the seat, it's on the right side.
Princess Marya got up and went to the door. She stopped.
- Andre, si vous avez. la foi, vous vous seriez adresse a Dieu, pour qu "il vous donne l" amour, que vous ne sentez pas et votre priere aurait ete exaucee. [If you had faith, you would turn to God with a prayer that He would give you love that you do not feel, and your prayer would be heard.]
- Yes, really! - said Prince Andrew. - Go, Masha, I'll be right there.
On the way to his sister's room, in the gallery that connected one house to another, Prince Andrew met a sweetly smiling m lle Bourienne, for the third time that day with an enthusiastic and naive smile he came across in secluded passages.
- Ah! je vous croyais chez vous, [Ah, I thought you were at home,] - she said, for some reason blushing and lowering her eyes.
Prince Andrew looked at her sternly. The face of Prince Andrey suddenly expressed anger. He said nothing to her, but looked at her forehead and hair without looking into her eyes, so contemptuously that the Frenchwoman blushed and left without saying anything.
When he approached his sister's room, the princess was already awake, and her cheerful voice, hurrying one word after another, was heard from the open door. She spoke as if, after a long abstinence, she wanted to reward the lost time.
- Non, mais figurez vous, la vieille comtesse Zouboff avec de fausses boucles et la bouche pleine de fausses dents, comme si elle voulait defier les annees ... [No, imagine, old Countess Zubova, with false curls, with false teeth, like as if mocking the years ...] Xa, xa, xa, Marieie!
Exactly the same phrase about Countess Zubova and the same laughter had already been heard five times in front of strangers by Prince Andrey from his wife.
He quietly entered the room. The princess, plump, ruddy, with work in her hands, sat on an armchair and talked incessantly, going over Petersburg memories and even phrases. Prince Andrew came up, stroked her head, and asked if she had rested from the road. She answered and continued the same conversation.
The wheelchair was in a six position at the entrance. It was a dark autumn night outside. The driver did not see the drawbar of the carriage. On the porch people were bustling about with lanterns. The huge house burned with lights through its large windows. In the hallway the courtyards crowded, wishing to say goodbye to the young prince; in the hall were all the household: Mikhail Ivanovich, m lle Bourienne, Princess Marya and the princess.
Prince Andrew was summoned to his father's study, who wanted to say goodbye to him face to face. Everyone was waiting for their release.
When Prince Andrei entered the study, the old prince in old man's glasses and in his white coat, in which he did not receive anyone except his son, was sitting at the table and writing. He looked around.
- Are you going? - And he began to write again.
- I came to say goodbye.
- Kiss here, - he showed his cheek, - thank you, thank you!
- What do you thank me for?
- For the fact that you do not expire, you do not hold on to a woman's skirt. Service comes first. Thanks! - And he continued to write, so that the spray flew from the popping feather. - If you need to say what, say it. I can do these two things together, ”he added.
- About my wife ... I am so ashamed that I leave her in your arms ...
- What are you lying? Say what you need.
- When your wife has time to give birth, send to Moscow for an obstetrician ... So that he was here.
The old prince stopped and, as if not understanding, stared with stern eyes at his son.
“I know that no one can help if nature doesn’t help,” said Prince Andrey, apparently embarrassed. - I agree that out of a million cases one is unfortunate, but this is her and my fantasy. They told her, she saw in a dream, and she is afraid.
- Um ... um ... - said the old prince to himself, continuing to finish writing. - I'll do it.
He crossed out the signature, suddenly turned quickly to his son and laughed.
- Bad business, eh?
- What's bad, father?
- Wife! - the old prince said shortly and significantly.
“I don’t understand,” said Prince Andrew.
- Yes, there is nothing to do, my friend, - said the prince, - they are all like that, you can't get married. Do not be afraid; I won't tell anyone; and you yourself know.
He grabbed his hand with his bony little brush, shook it, looked straight into his son's face with his quick eyes, which seemed to see right through the man, and again laughed with his cold laugh.
The son sighed, admitting with this sigh that his father understood him. The old man, continuing to fold and print the letters, with his usual speed, seized and threw the sealing wax, the seal, and the paper.
- What to do? Beautiful! I'll do everything. Rest assured, ”he said abruptly as he typed.

Grigory Alexandrovich Lyubimov, professor at Moscow State University

On February 8, 1945, pilot Mikhail Devyatayev performed an unheard-of feat - he organized the abduction of a German plane, lifted it into the air and took ten Soviet soldiers out of captivity.

In July 1944, the plane of an experienced pilot M.P. Devyatayeva was shot down by a German fighter behind the front line. By order of the commander, Devyatayev jumped out with a parachute and was captured. In November 1944 he was transferred to a special prisoner of war camp serving the secret military base of Peenemünde. New German missiles were tested here and the FAU-2 missiles were launched from here in the direction of England. At the base there was an airfield located on the seashore. The base and airfield were heavily guarded.

Usually, prisoners of war were entrusted with filling the craters at the airfield and restoring the runways. While performing this work, Devyatayev noticed that a Heinkel-111 twin-engine bomber, which belonged to one of the leaders of the base, was always ready for take-off. Dreaming of escape, he began to notice how the plane was being prepared for takeoff, and what actions the pilot took before takeoff. Gradually, a plan was formed in Mikhail's head to capture the plane and escape from captivity.

And on February 8, 1945, when all the personnel left the take-off field for lunchtime, Soviet prisoners of war kill the guard, start the plane and take to the air. Realizing that there will be a chase, Devyatayev leads his plane north towards the sea, and only then turns to the east.

Panic arose at the base. Fighters were thrown in pursuit. They were looking for a hijacked plane along the coast and ... did not find it.

Imagine for a moment the situation in which this escape took place, and you will understand how much courage, self-control, ingenuity and skill one had to have in order to carry out the plan. After all, Devyatayev was a fighter pilot and never flew in a heavy aircraft. In addition, it was clear that the movement of the aircraft across the field would be instantly noticed by the guards and unexpected actions on their part, etc. etc.

Having flown safely over the front line, the hijacked plane came under fire from our anti-aircraft artillery. At this time, Devyatayev realized that he must urgently sit down. However, there were only soggy spring fields around. Devyatayev decided to sit on his "belly" and successfully performed this maneuver.

It is easy to understand the amazement of the Soviet soldiers who approached the "crashed" plane when, instead of the expected German crew, they found ten "living corpses" in prison clothes on the plane, which could hardly move without assistance.

Having got to his own, Devyatayev told the command the exact coordinates and principles of camouflaging the Peenemünde base, and this made it possible to "level it to the ground" as a result of a five-day bombardment by our aviation and Allied aviation.

In terms of its design and complexity of execution, Devyatayev's feat hardly has analogues in military history.

Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev was born on July 8, 1917 in the working village of Torobeyevo (Mordovia) in a working class family. Graduated from the River Technical School and the Orenburg Aviation School. Since 1939 M.P. Devyatayev served in the army as a fighter pilot.

From the first day of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. pilot Devyatayev was on the front line. For military successes in 1941 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the second wound in September 1941, he was transferred by the medical commission to the "low-speed aviation" and until 1944 served in the air ambulance.

In May 1944, at the request of A.I. Pokryshkina Devyatayev was transferred to his regiment as a fighter pilot. Here he successfully fought until July 13, 1944, when, by order of the commander, he left the burning plane and was captured.

After a heroic escape from captivity on February 8, 1945, Devyatayev, suspected of espionage, ended up in a Soviet concentration camp, where he spent about a year. After the end of the war, Devyatayev was brought under guard to the former Peenemünde base to assist Soviet scientists and engineers who studied German enterprises that produced missiles and collected the remaining parts of the missiles for scientific analysis. Here he met S.P. Korolev, who later became the creator of Soviet missiles. It was at the request of S.P. Korolev in 1957 that the documents related to the heroic deed of M.P. Devyatayev, and he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and his fellow escapees were awarded orders.

Since 1957 M.P. Devyatayev lived in Kazan, drove river boats, became a respected person - an honorary citizen of Kazan. M.P. Devyatayev died in 2002.

This is the unusual fate of a simple Soviet soldier, one of those who bore all the hardships of the war on their shoulders and brought our country the Great Victory.