[烛光生存狂]-【卫国战争老兵回忆】马尔科夫·弗拉基米尔·普罗塔索维奇

http://www.iremember.ru/content/view/399/78/lang,en/

Markov Vladimir Protasovich

I was attracted to flying whilst still a young child. As a young lad I was active in a modellers' group and in an aeroclub. The instructors at the aeroclub were just like fathers to us. Their relationship with us was warm and friendly too. At the aeroclub we were kitted out with overalls and boots. We even got the 'Voroshilov' food allowance. We'd get up early in the morning, the dew still lying on the grass, the aeroplane standing ready for you. Do a flight and then off to the station - train to Moscow. That's how we learned to fly.

As I finished at the aeroclub at the end of 1939, a decision was taken to send me to the Serpukhov[谢尔普霍夫] Flying School. I disagreed with the decision to study there. Why? My sister's husband (later to die near Smolensk) was a fighter pilot who had graduated from the Kachinskiy flying school. He told me, "It's great that you've gone into flying, but I don't advise you going into the naval air service."

I went to work at the 'Red Proletarian' factory, but was soon called up. We ended up at Klyuchevsitsy aerodrome just outside Novgorod. To begin with we remained separated from the rest, but by the end of a month we had completed basic military training. After that the 36 of us were summoned to the commanding officer to discuss our progress. We went in and were told: "You've now become part of a splendid aviation division and your duties will be guarding air-force equipment." At that point one of us stood up and said, "Excuse me, but I graduated from my aeroclub and have a certificate to prove it". Of the 36 of us, 34 had a passing-out certificate, yet we were being sent on sentry duty!

In the spring of 1941 we were called before a medical board, and on the 19th June I found myself enrolled in Moscow Military Pilots' School №2, located at Izmailovo aerodrome. Our tents were already erected, headquarters was on sight and there was even a pilots' mess room.

On the 21st June we went to bed, but next morning we were surprised that there was no reveille. We went down to the mess for a bite to eat but learnt that war had broken out. There was no panic, we were already morally prepared for such eventualities. They started splitting us up into appropriate groups. I don't wish to boast, but I'd had a pretty good induction to flying. I was attached to the group transferred to Chertanovo aerodrome. I was promoted to flight leader, and our instructor, Lilya, was a pretty young lady with a strict code of conduct.

Within a month the first air raids on Moscow had begun but our training continued. One day I was sitting in the cockpit and Lilya approached me saying, "Volodya, what would you like to serve in?" "Fighters." "OK." It was the end of our training and postings were in sight. I was sent off to Pavletskii station to travel on to Krasnodar. It was there we began to fly Polikarpov I-16s.

When Rostov-on-Don surrendered in the summer of 1942, anyone who was a poor flier was transferred to ground forces and sent the front. Later on we were to see a column of wounded amongst whom were those who had been on our course.

Any remaining trainees were withdrawn from Krasnodar to just outside Saratov. There we were re-trained on 'Yaks' and sent to the 8th Reserve Air Regiment at Bagai-Baranovka. It was there that I had to prove the regiment's good name before an Air Force Committee. I had to fly a circuit, fly cross-country, fly blind and demonstrate flying expertise in the combat zone. There followed firing at a drogue, ground targets, and individual aerial combat. My drogue score was 9 out of 60. Pretty good. My flying skills were scrutinised and I was told, "The Chairman of the Committee will now lead take off. You are to fly into the operations' zone and demonstrate your reconnaissance abilities and carry out a search. Engage in a dogfight and we shall assess your fighting capabilities." We both took off in Yak-1s. I spotted his plane and moved up in formation with him. He began spinning this way and that. I closed up right behind him and wouldn't be shaken off. With some annoyance he said, " Right, keep up, and land with me."

After this I left for the front. I went to the 91st Regiment of the 256th Division. The Divisional Commander was Hero of the Soviet Union Gerasimov, a Spaniard and friend of Kamanin - a decent bloke. Our regiment had been formed even before the war. He had taken part in operations in Bessarabia. The war caught up with him in Shepetovka and it was there that the regiment suffered its first bombing raid. Hero of the Soviet Union Major Romanenko was appointed Regimental Commander. We were stationed on an airfield between Kozelets and Borispol'. Experienced pilots accompanied us, the reinforcements, over the whole of the front line, pointing out everything. So we began to provide air cover for our ground troops. I became wingman to the Squadron Commander Borkov, from Leningrad. When I reported to him, he was sitting there reading a map. "Reporting for duty, sir," I said. He looked up: "You'll be flying with me, and if you lose touch with me, you're for it..!" But since I was a competent pilot, he had no opportunity of carrying out his threat.

Soon afterwards the Kiev operation began, and real fighting followed. On the 6th there was a particularly tense situation. First away on operations was Romanenko with his group. With him flew my friend Reptsev. Both went missing. Flight commander Misha Shilov did not return from the next sortie. Two-three hours passed and at 7 o'clock that evening we were sitting in the mess when up came a rider on a horse, Shilov to all appearances, swathed in bandages. It turned out he'd shot down a Heinkel-111 but had been hit in the process. After he'd done a belly landing, some kids had come running up to him saying in Ukrainian, "Mister Pilot, get away from here, there's Germans all about". He was secreted to some woman who gave him a dress. He'd scarcely had time to get a bite to eat when there was a thump at the door. He instantly leapt up onto the stove and just sat still. In came some Germans. Shilov had decided that if anything happened he would start shooting and jump through the window. The Germans spread out across the room, giving it a thorough looking over. They saw Misha sitting on the stove with his back to them. But his hair was so long, just like a woman's. "Who's that?" they demanded. The houseowner said that it was a woman staying there on her own, going to see her sister and just passing through. The Germans calmed down and asked in broken Russian, "Got any eggs or milk?" They had something to eat and left.

Soon after the loss of Romanenko, Kovalev was promoted to Regimental Commander - a real pilot. What followed? On one occasion we flew out from Kopaigoraya on a reconnaissance mission and discovered some strange-looking haystacks. They were arranged in chessboard fashion, not like they are in the countryside. We descended a little and then even lower. We discovered that they were camouflaged tanks. Back at base we reported all that we had seen. The Germans, it seemed, were preparing a counter-attack. Soon after this reconnaissance flight our commander told Neokov, " You and Tsygankov fly over to Zhulyany, top up with antifreeze and get kitted out with your winter uniforms." This was at the end of November. We took off, arrived at Zhulyany, and had just dispersed for landing when we got the message: "As you were. Reform at such and such a coordinate. You'll be covering a group of 'Ilyushins'." Tsygan and I set off, he flying to my right. I lost touch with him in the clouds and began to search around. It was then that I saw my time was running out, fuel was low, and it was time to land. So I did. Tsygan was already down. I asked,

"Where were you?"

" Right there with you. So you didn't notice anything then? They almost got you. A 'Focke Wulf' came right up on your tail. Another few metres and he'd have got you."

"Thank you, Vanyusha," was all I could say. I hadn't seen anything in those clouds.

There were battles of all kinds at that time. We flew a lot of missions escorting 'Ils'. On the 23rd February I chased a "Peshka (Pawn)". It was one of our planes, but the Germans were flying it unmarked and without its stars. But I couldn't catch up with it - the oil temperature was already 120 degrees and the front line was nearby. I decided to break off and return.

In the spring we were dispatched to Kharkov to collect some new planes, Yak-9Ts. We didn't have long to fly them because by summer at Bagai-Baranovka we'd already got Yak-3's. I was given the first production model to test fly. Yes, a good machine, but the engine was sluggish. What was the matter? A test pilot was called in from the factory. He said to me, "You don't know how to fly it." "Well, you fly it then." He climbed in, took off and disappeared somewhere. Then we saw him coming towards us with smoke trailing behind. He said, "There's something wrong here. You're right, the engine 's not firing properly."

Then came a telegram that Golovatyi had bought the plane for Yeremin. We sent this "one off" to him. No doubt a new engine would be fitted and he would get it in perfect working order. We received the new machines on Monday, June 13th. The general staff and Yakovlev's deputy turned up. They wanted to take our photo. We all turned our backs, saying that it was Monday, and, whatsmore, it was the 13th - unlucky and a bad sign. Our photos weren't taken.

During the first two days of the Lvov operation the weather was bad and we were grounded. We were scrambled on the third day. Regimental Commander Kovalev led the flight. The ensuing battle was no joke: 22 of ours against 85 of theirs, all at an altitude of 1500 to 1700 metres. The fight went on for some 40 minutes then stopped unexpectedly. At the time I was already a senior pilot. I looked around trying to find Shilov, my flight leader. I'd only just seen his plane with number 69 on it. He was flying support to the regimental navigator. Borkov and I put down at a neighbouring airfield - our own was too far away. Even after we'd been refuelled Shilov still wasn't back. I said, "He's got to come back. I saw him." But we couldn't wait any longer for him. We got back to our airfield about 90 minutes later. There was still no sign of Shilov. A fitter suggested, "Happen he's had to make a forced landing." We found out later that he'd crossed the front line and come under anti-aircraft fire. He got a direct hit and his engine packed up. He thought that he was in a front line area so decided to land. He dropped his undercarriage, set his plane down and ran on until it came to a halt. He leapt out, but all around were Germans. He was captured. This was a great source of worry for us. I became flight leader in Shilov's place. Then the Lvov operation came to an end and we transferred to Trostyanets. There I shot down a '109'. Initially we had approached each other head on, but I did a 180? turn behind him and brought him down.

Just at that time our regiment was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitskii. For a whole month we tested out our Yak-3s under frontline conditions. For each sortie we wrote a report on how the machine behaved. And it turned out there was a range of designer flaws. Particularly serious were problems with lowering and retracting the undercarriage.

Our squadron was based at Dembitsy, just to the west of the Vistula. One day we were sitting around playing dominoes, and it was drizzling. A young woman came up to me and said, "I know you." "Where from?" "I'm Shilov's sister" -he had two sisters at the front- "You know, I'd like to collect his things so that they're not sent back to mum and upset her." All the lads fell silent. I said, "Come on then." I explained to her how only yesterday we had received a letter from a certain woman doctor. She wrote that, in a former prisoner of war camp in Przemysl where her medical unit was stationed, she had seen an inscription on the wall of one of the barracks. "I, Shilov Stepan Mikhailovich, eternally devoted to the Party of Lenin and Stalin, was shot down in a fierce dogfight over Ternopol on 16th July 1944. Whosoever reads this, please inform..." That was how we found out that he was a prisoner.

I remember flying one time with the deputy squadron leader to a neighbouring fighter group situated just 1? km from the front line. For that reason we had to come in at hedge-top height to avoid revealing its position. No sooner had we landed than we saw the Divisional Commander, Gerasimov, coming towards us. Cursing, he said,

"So, you figured on flying over in weather like this! Stay here till the morning. Today's the anniversary of the division's formation. There'll be medals, a concert and a supper. And that's for your efforts," he said passing out some spirits and we found some beer to go with it. What were we supposed to do with it? I said to the deputy Squadron Leader,

" Tol', let's take off our tunic tops, wrap it up and stow it behind the armour-plated seat. The main thing is to avoid getting into a dogfight en route."

"Right. Let's do it."

The next day a breeze sprang up. We set off at treetop height. Looking up we saw Germans above and squeezed right down to ground level, but there was a herd of something there and I picked up a bit of wool on my tail. We landed back at Zheshov (Strzyow). I set down but Tolya said,

"I can't land, my instrument are all haywire." He went round for a second approach, and made it this time. The commander saw this.

" Smarten yourselves up!" he barked - he was so angry. We immediately buttoned up our tunics. He went on:

" Why didn't you come back yesterday?"

"Gerasimov wouldn't let us fly in such weather."

"Well, you've brought something back with you, I hope?"

"Of course."

"Off you go, fall out."

In January 1945 we were part of the air cover provision for the troops fighting for Krakow. On the 20th we completed 5-6 sorties in a day, and as evening approached we arrived at Krakow airfield. The aerodrome had been mined and we had to land to the right of the landing strip. 'Lavochkins' were coming into land head on. Everyone just got down as best they could. The town was ablaze. We were billeted to a five-storey building and at about 10-11 o'clock we went back to the aerodrome for an evening meal. The commander was not there, he had remained behind at the previous base. His deputy had us sit down round a П-shaped table for de-briefing. We all had a drink, but realised something was wrong with it. The mess sergeant said, "Comrade pilots, don't worry, it's special rations, it's all above board, and thank you for your efforts." Next morning I got up feeling awful, but three others were still laid out and unable to get up. You felt hungry but the moment you ate anything your guts knotted up. We were baffled as to what had happened. No one went for lunch. That evening a girl suddenly came running in: "Comrade pilots, anyone who's been poisoned must get themselves to the first-aid post immediately." Off we ran and got checked over. It turned out one of our blokes had collapsed and the girl had gone blind. 26 pilots - the whole of the regiment had been poisoned! I've no idea how or to where we were then taken. We were lain two to a bunk. Nuns looked after us. A navigator and two other pilots died and several went blind. True, the mess sergeant died too - the stupid sod had served us methyl alcohol. I was laid up for ten days and only on 2nd February could I fly with my wingman, Vanya Kudenchuk, on a mission.

Spring was in the air, it was already warm and everything was thawing out. We set course for the allotted zone - south-east towards the small town of Gorlitz. Our task was to provide air cover for our tanks. The patrol zone was overcast, the broken cloud suggesting that it wasn't all that solid and thick. There were small breaks in it, at a height of about 1200-1300 metres. For some 35-40 minutes we patrolled giving cover in the target zone. When our operation time was up we turned about face and flew off in the direction of our aerodrome, hoping on our way to root out some enemy ground target and assault it. We flew on at a pretty good 500-550 km/hr. All quiet, it seemed. So I said to my wingman, "Vasya, let's find something to hit, it's not on returning to base with all weapons unused. At that very moment I happened to turn my head to the left and saw eight Me-109's coming up behind out of the cloud at high speed. Instantly I shouted to my wingman, " Vaska, eight of them coming up on our tail." The thought flashed through my mind - low on fuel, they'd obviously been stalking us.

To avoid being hit I had to veer steeply to the left and get into the clouds to gain the advantage. It's a good job we had the speed. I didn't climb, but Vasya, behind and drifting wide on the outside of his turn, picked up speed and plunged through the cloud. From the other side of the cloud cover he shouted that there were eight FW-190s. Their plan was clear: with our fuel about to run out, force us to climb high then shoot us down or at least force us to crash for lack of fuel. I did a U-turn in the clouds, flew a little further on then dived below the clouds. I saw, flying in line astern, two pairs of Me-109s. The leader of one of the pairs spotted me - he side-slipped into the cloud, but I managed to head off the leader of the second pair with a burst of fire from the clouds, then get him in my sights and loosed several more bursts at him. He rolled over onto one wing and went down. I too immediately dived into the clouds - almost out of fuel and no longer able to continue the fight. I reported in to an observer. Ground control told me, " No Soviet losses. Execute a 555 (return to base)." There was no way of finding my wingman. About five minutes later, breaking out from the cloud I saw a Me-109 ahead flying a parallel course. I ducked back into the clouds and when I emerged a few minutes later he had disappeared. I returned to base. At the very point of landing my propeller stopped. So I landed without power. The Yak-3 flies fine for 1? hours, but then you have to get down. Clearly we'd been flying all this time on petrol fumes! I crawled out of the cockpit and walked about in a daze. No wingman. They told me, though, that none of ours had gone missing. A couple or so hours passed. Then I heard the sound of an engine. Yes, it was № 75, Kudenchuk! As soon as he touched down his undercarriage gave way. "All right," I thought, "we can fix that, no problem." It turned out that he'd landed at Pokryshkino, had been refuelled but nobody had noticed that he'd been holed. We were lucky on this occasion, very lucky!

On March 31st we flew out to attack Ratibor (Raciborz) airfield. The group was lead by Regimental Commander Kovalev. We got into a dogfight. I suddenly found myself on the tail of a pair of FW-190s. My wingman Gena Smirnov repulsed an attack on me from another pair and gave me the chance to attack the FW-190s. I shot down one, but as I chased after my wingman, German flak began to cut me off. I sensed that I'd been hit, the plane began to vibrate. It was cloudy with mist about. In such circumstances it was impossible to look for my group. Gena and I withdrew from the action, swung round onto course "0" reckoning on finding a main road. Before us in the haze a pair of Me-109s were following a parallel course to their own airfield. I could not overtake them because my machine was vibrating and I could not put on speed. I said to Gena, "Attack if you can, I'm right behind you." The Germans appeared not to spot us. Gena turned slightly to the right and attacked. I followed, a little distance behind. He got one but the second 109 quickly went into the clouds when he saw the attack. Like it or not, though, we had to return home. The cloud ceiling kept us down to 300-400 metres. I just could not recognise the locality although previously I had lead groups into this area several times already. We kept to our compass bearing "0" but in reality the course was quite different. Fuel was running low. The plane was shaking, so I decided to find a landing strip and set down. All around appeared quiet and I spotted a suitable landing site below me. I informed Gennadii, " Cover me, I'm going down". I landed, ran on a little, but the wheels began to dig in. The plane threw its tail up into the air and came to a halt. I leaped from the plane and noticed a chap driving a cart. I dashed over to him, drawing my pistol. Seeing me, he said in broken Russian, " I'm a Pole." I asked him whose territory was I in and where was the nearest airfield. He replied that it was Polish territory, now in Russian hands but that the front line was some 10-15 km away (waving his arm in it's direction). He added that there was an airfield at such and such locality. The aerodrome was quite close by in the event. I dashed to the plane and told Gena over the radio where to fly. I said, "Land there and come and get me." He flew away but returned 7-10 minutes

later explaining over the radio, "I couldn't get down, the airfield's like a sponge, waterlogged and it's too dangerous to land." Following my suggestion he too landed alongside me as his fuel was about to run out.

It subsequently transpired that that there was magnetic distortion in this region. That's why the compass bearing was incorrect. Once we'd entrusted our aircraft to the local Polish authorities for safekeeping, we picked up our parachutes and with the help of the Poles made our way to a station. As it happened, we used to fly in overalls, and sometimes in sports clothes so that we wouldn't be taken for officers. That followed stories that officers were given rough treatment or shot when captured by the Germans.

From the station we travelled two stops and then got back to the airfield late at night on lorries from a motorised battalion that delivered ammunition and fuel to our troops. It was later revealed that six pilots, including we two, had not returned from the combat sortie. The Regimental Commander was pleased about our return especially since our aircraft were still intact. A team of fitters flew out to the site of our forced landing, they fixed my plane, refuelled it and flew it back to the aerodrome.

On 8th April our regiment was stationed at Grotkau. That morning the weather was fair, high cloud and a slight haze. My friend Misha Pyatak and I got orders to do a reconnaissance of the town's railway station and aerodrome located to the east of the town. Bypassing the airfield and the town itself, we approached from the west. At the station there were three fuel-tanker trains facing towards the front line. You got the impression that they had just arrived, although from the air there was no sign of them being unloaded. We reported our findings back to ground base. We immediately got orders to do two "dummy" runs to ascertain whether the Germans had any flak batteries. We did as commanded and reported that we had not been fired on. As it turned out the Germans had clearly not wished to give themselves away. We skirted the town and, setting a course towards the north-east, flew off in the direction of our airfield. We applied the 'scissors' manoeuvre as we flew, gaining speed to keep as low as possible and avoid ground fire. As we skimmed over an airfield we spotted a couple of airborne Me-109s which had just taken off. We were in a favourable position to attack with no need to deploy. We dived down to attack both. Lesha lead the attack, but after the first salvo his guns jammed. He shouted over the radio, "You continue the attack,"

which I did. One went down. We overshot the wingman, veered left and departed at hedge-top height for our airfield. We reported back to the commander who decided to send Tolya Malyshev and Vit'ka Alfonskii to attack the fuel train. We told them all we had seen. Malyshev approached his plane behaving in a somewhat unusual manner. I said,

"Tolya, what's the matter?"

"I've got a funny feeling. You know, it's stuck in my memory, being on fire whilst over the Kursk salient."

"Cut it out, Tolya! Good luck!" I retorted.

They flew out in their Yak-3s. An hour passed. The weather was getting steadily worse. A little while later there was the roar of an engine. One Yak came into land. It was Alfonskii.

He told us that they had flown off along our route towards the railway junction. They knew from us that there was no anti-aircraft fire. They had made their first approach on the trains at an angle to remain over the target as long as possible. But as they began to pull away, everything on the ground that could shoot opened up on them. A round hit Malyshev in the feeder tank. Alfonskii said he saw white, then black plumes of smoke coming from Malyshev's plane. Tolya began to be overcome by fumes and so he opened the cockpit canopy. (We flew with the canopy closed. We had been trained to. Incidentally, we also had to be trained in radio skills because initially radios weren't used. Only when the ranks of radio-operator 3rd, 2nd, 1st class and master radio-operator were introduced - and attracted extra pay - did we start using them.) So Tolya opened the canopy. I ought to say that we were flying in German gauze flying helmets. We had got our hands on them just outside Brzeg. Of course, when wearing flying helmets with integral headsets your head starts to sweat and your hair falls out. Even silk skullcaps were no salvation. Flames engulfed Malyshev's head. Alfonskii called out, " Tol'ka, hold on!!!" It was still about 15 km to the front line, but had only some 900 metres of altitude. Clearly he couldn't hold out any longer. He flipped the plane over on its back and ejected. He was captured but returned to the regiment on 13th May.

Breslau (Wroclaw) was taken on 7th May. We remained on combat roster as whole flights. The planes were kept supported on trestles alongside the landing strip. On duty with me were Lesha Pyatak, Yura Danilov and Gena Smirnov. It was approaching lunchtime. The weather was clear and sunny, real spring conditions. Suddenly we saw half a dozen Me-109s brazenly flying towards us along the landing strip at a height of 1500 metres. We were up into the air instantly as the alarm sounded. Following us up were two or three pairs of aircraft from another regiment based here alongside us at the airfield. A dogfight ensued. The group of German planes split apart. One Me-109 was attacking a Yak from a different regiment. It so happened that I was the nearest and best placed to attack the Messerschmitt. I gave one burst, then a second. I saw puffs of smoke from his engine, his flailing propeller halting, the face and expression of the German pilot - looking back over his left shoulder at me, the big white crosses on the wings of his plane. This image is burned into my memory. One more burst of fire, he flipped the plane over onto its wing and limped off towards the front line, trailing smoke.

As evening approached a group of Petlyakov Pe-2s supported by Yaks arrived, having carried out their mission. All the bombers landed and almost all the accompanying fighters. Just one Yak was on its third approach and dropped its undercarriage textbook fashion. Just at that moment a Me-109 attacked it at high speed, coming straight out of the sun at low level. We shouted, as if the pilot could hear, "Look out, there's a Me-109 on your tail!" He had been forewarned over the radio, it seemed. He banked sharply to the left and the Messerschmitt overshot at high speed. The attack failed. But that was not the only incidence of the Fascists coming to get their own back for their compatriots.

On May 8th we transferred to just outside Berlin. The weather was clear. The Regimental Commander ordered me up into the air: "Fly to area such and such..." I flew on and reported, "Prince, this is Swallow -8, carrying out a 204 (i.e. one of a foursome of planes), a mission, please." Came the reply, "Swallow-8, Markov, thanks very much for your work, execute a 555." That was the only number that signified return to base. I said, "Prince, you've made a mistake, other groups have been here, I've just arrived." I got a repeat message: "No mistake, execute 555, thank you for your work." As I was approaching the aerodrome, the regimental commander Kovalev chided me, " I'm serious about this, why has Swallow-8 returned?" I said I'd give a report after I'd landed. The fact of the matter was that our unit's anniversary was designated for the 5th May, but it had been rearranged for the 8th. Six pilots were ordered to remain on duty, the rest get ready for the party. I, though, had a sort of feeling deep inside about this, with everyone sprucing themselves up, so I didn't. And I was proved right, I heard the alarm going off. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon. The whole regiment dashed to the airfield and took off en masse in the direction of Prague. I brought back two holes in my plane - one bullet had hit the feeder pipe, a second had lodged in a wing spar. And with that the war ended. In all I had flown 139 combat missions and had brought down six enemy aircraft.

Interview: Artem Drabkin

Lt. Preparation: Artem Drabkin

Translation: Paul M. Roscow

Markov Vladimir Protasovich

弗拉基米尔•普罗塔索维奇•马尔科夫

当我还是个小孩的时候，就对飞行十分感兴趣。而在少年时代，则热衷于模型制作与航空俱乐部的各种活动。在航空俱乐部的老师们像慈父一样对待我们。他们与我们之间保持着温和且友好的关系。在航空俱乐部我们获得了全套的装备，甚至还有“伏罗希洛夫”食品补贴。当我们早上起床的时候，小草上还挂着露珠，而此时飞机已经准备好出发了。紧接着开始飞行并转向我们目的地—向莫斯科。这就是我们当时学习飞行的过程。

As I finished at the aeroclub at the end of 1939, a decision was taken to send me to the Serpukhov[谢尔普霍夫] Flying School. I disagreed with the decision to study there. Why? My sister's husband (later to die near Smolensk) was a fighter pilot who had graduated from the Kachinskiy flying school. He told me, It's great that you've gone into flying, but I don't advise you going into the naval air service.

当1939年底我在航空俱乐部的学习结束之后，我收到了去谢尔普霍夫飞行学校学习的调令。但我拒绝去该校学校，原因？我的姐夫（他后来在斯摩棱斯克附近阵亡）是个从卡钦斯基飞行学校毕业的战斗机飞行员，他跟我说，你当飞行员的决定我很支持，但我不建议你去海军航空兵服役。

I went to work at the 'Red Proletarian' factory, but was soon called up. We ended up at Klyuchevsitsy aerodrome just outside Novgorod. To begin with we remained separated from the rest, but by the end of a month we had completed basic military training. After that the 36 of us were summoned to the commanding officer to discuss our progress. We went in and were told: You've now become part of a splendid aviation division and your duties will be guarding air-force equipment. At that point one of us stood up and said, Excuse me, but I graduated from my aeroclub and have a certificate to prove it. Of the 36 of us, 34 had a passing-out certificate, yet we were being sent on sentry duty!

我当时去“红色无产阶级”工厂做了一名工人，但很快接到了征召的命令。我们最终来到了位于诺夫哥罗德市郊的克柳切夫斯基机场。在刚刚到那里的时候，我们这些学院在休息的时候都互不交流，但是在完成了一个月的基础军事训练之后，所有36名学院都会在指挥军官的召集下聚在一起讨论行动方案。我们在来到这里的时候就被告知：你们现在已经成为一个优秀的航空兵师的一员，你们的职责是保护好空军的装备。而我们中的一个人这时候站起来说，抱歉，但是我是从航空俱乐部毕业的，我获得了飞行证书。在我们这36个人中，有34个人都通过了飞行证书考试，但最后我们居然被派去站岗！

1941年春天我们在去体检以前被叫走，6月19日，我发现自己已经被位于伊萨梅洛夫机场的莫斯科第2航空飞行军校登记在册了。给我们准备的帐篷已经立好了，司令部就在附近目力可及的范围内，那甚至还有一间很脏乱的飞行员的房间。6月21日晚我们就寝之后，在第二天早上我们惊讶的发现居然没有吹起床号。在去食堂随便吃了点东西之后，我们才知道原来战争爆发了。没人感到张皇失措，我们已经对类似的突发事件做好了充分的心理准备。上级把我们分成了不同的小组。我并不是自夸，不过我在飞行的感觉方面确实很优秀。我所在的那个组被拍到了切尔塔诺夫机场。我被提拔为领航飞行员，而我们的教官莉莉娅，则是个在训练中严格执行条令的漂亮姑娘。

Within a month the first air raids on Moscow had begun but our training continued. One day I was sitting in the cockpit and Lilya approached me saying, Volodya, what would you like to serve in? Fighters. OK. It was the end of our training and postings were in sight. I was sent off to Pavletskii station to travel on to Krasnodar. It was there we began to fly Polikarpov I-16s.

在战争爆发一个月之后，莫斯科遭遇了第一次来自敌军的空袭，但我们当时扔在继续训练。有一天我正坐在座舱里，莉莉娅走过来跟我说，沃洛佳，你想做什么机种的飞行员呢？战斗机是吧，好的。当时我们的训练已经结束了，而我的意向也被记录在案。之后我就从帕韦利斯基站乘火车前往克拉斯达诺尔。在那里我们开始飞波利卡波夫I-16s型战斗机。

1942年夏天，当位于顿河的罗斯托夫失守之后，包括那些不太合格的飞行员在内，许多人都被搜罗进了陆军派往前线。不久之后我们就在长长地伤员队伍里看见了那些曾经和我们一起学习飞行的同学。

Any remaining trainees were withdrawn from Krasnodar to just outside Saratov. There we were re-trained on 'Yaks' and sent to the 8th Reserve Air Regiment at Bagai-Baranovka. It was there that I had to prove the regiment's good name before an Air Force Committee. I had to fly a circuit, fly cross-country, fly blind and demonstrate flying expertise in the combat zone. There followed firing at a drogue, ground targets, and individual aerial combat. My drogue score was 9 out of 60. Pretty good. My flying skills were scrutinised and I was told, The Chairman of the Committee will now lead take off. You are to fly into the operations' zone and demonstrate your reconnaissance abilities and carry out a search. Engage in a dogfight and we shall assess your fighting capabilities. We both took off in Yak-1s. I spotted his plane and moved up in formation with him. He began spinning this way and that. I closed up right behind him and wouldn't be shaken off. With some annoyance he said, Right, keep up, and land with me.

而剩下的飞行学员全都被从克拉斯达诺尔被疏散到了萨拉托夫郊外。在那里我们接受了雅克型飞机的换装训练，然后被分配到位于巴盖—巴达诺夫卡的第8预备队飞行团。在那里我给空军委员会留下了良好的印象。我完成了盘旋，穿越开阔地带和仪表飞行科目，并在战区证明了自己的飞行技术。接下来完成了射击空靶和地靶训练，以及独立空战科目。我的射击成绩是60次射击仅脱靶9次，成绩优异。在对我的飞行技术进行考核之后，我被告知，委员会主席现在要考核你，你们会进入战区，考察你的搜索和飞行侦查能力。然后你要通过“狗斗“训练，我们会评估你的空战能力。我和对方各自驾驶一架雅克1战斗机升空。我发现了对方的飞机，爬升到他的上方。他开始左右盘旋，但我仅仅跟在他的右后方，使他无法摆脱。在如是反复几次之后他说，很好，保持航向，跟着我返航。

After this I left for the front. I went to the 91st Regiment of the 256th Division. The Divisional Commander was Hero of the Soviet Union Gerasimov, a Spaniard and friend of Kamanin - a decent bloke. Our regiment had been formed even before the war. He had taken part in operations in Bessarabia. The war caught up with him in Shepetovka and it was there that the regiment suffered its first bombing raid. Hero of the Soviet Union Major Romanenko was appointed Regimental Commander. We were stationed on an airfield between Kozelets and Borispol'. Experienced pilots accompanied us, the reinforcements, over the whole of the front line, pointing out everything. So we began to provide air cover for our ground troops. I became wingman to the Squadron Commander Borkov, from Leningrad. When I reported to him, he was sitting there reading a map. Reporting for duty, sir, I said. He looked up: You'll be flying with me, and if you lose touch with me, you're for it..! But since I was a competent pilot, he had no opportunity of carrying out his threat.

此后我就被分配到了前方，进入第256师第91团。师长是苏联英雄格拉西莫夫，他参加过西班牙内战，是卡马宁—一个正派好人—的朋友。我们这个团在战争爆发以前就组建了。曾经参加过比萨拉比亚的战斗。在那场战争中这个团被派往舍佩托夫卡，在那里曾经首次遭到敌军的轰炸。苏联英雄罗曼年科少校被任命为团长。我们团驻扎在位于科泽列茨与鲍里斯波尔之间的机场上。那些经验丰富的前线老鸟们一直在我们这些菜鸟左右，告诉我们任何需要注意的事情。然后我们担负起为地面部队提供空中掩护的任务。我成为了中队长，列宁格勒人博尔科夫的僚机。我受命向他报告的时候，他正坐在那聚精会神的看地图。“向您报到，指挥员同志“我说。他看着我：”您以后就会跟我一起飞了，如果在天上您跟丢了的话，那你应该如此这般…..“但自从我成为了一名飞行员之后，他所说的那些诸如跟丢了的情况就从来没有发生过。

He'd scarcely had time to get a bite to eat when there was a thump at the door. He instantly leapt up onto the stove and just sat still. In came some Germans. Shilov had decided that if anything happened he would start shooting and jump through the window. The Germans spread out across the room, giving it a thorough looking over. They saw Misha sitting on the stove with his back to them. But his hair was so long, just like a woman's. Who's that? they demanded. The houseowner said that it was a woman staying there on her own, going to see her sister and just passing through. The Germans calmed down and asked in broken Russian, Got any eggs or milk? They had something to eat and left.

不久之后基辅战役爆发，而真刀真枪的空战接踵而来。6号那天的情况最不比寻常。首先是罗曼年科的编队升空执勤。他的僚机飞行员是我的朋友，列普谢夫。他们两出击后都失踪了。在下一次出击之后长机飞行员米沙希洛夫也未返航。大约两三个小时过去了，晚上七点钟我们当时散乱的坐在一起，此时一个人骑着马回来了，原来是希洛夫，还缠着绷带。他击落了一架亨克尔111，但也被对方击中了。在他以机腹迫降之后，有几个小孩跑过来，用乌克兰语跟他说，“飞行员同志，赶快逃走吧，这里到处都是德国人“。当地的农妇把他藏了起来，还给他找了几件便服。他还没来得及吃点东西，门外就传来了砸门的声音。希洛夫马上跳到了炉子旁边坐了下来。然后就进来了几个德国人，希洛夫当时心想如果有什么不测的话，他决心打上几枪然后从窗户跳出去。德国人走进来在房子里四下检查了一番。他们看到了米沙背对着自己。但是他的头发太长了，看上去像个女人。“那是谁？“德国人问到，房主马上说这是她的一个姐妹，只是路过这里来串门的。德国人马上放下心来，用蹩脚的俄语问,有没有鸡蛋或者牛奶？他们吃了点东西就走了。

Soon after the loss of Romanenko, Kovalev was promoted to Regimental Commander - a real pilot. What followed? On one occasion we flew out from Kopaigoraya on a reconnaissance mission and discovered some strange-looking haystacks. They were arranged in chessboard fashion, not like they are in the countryside. We descended a little and then even lower. We discovered that they were camouflaged tanks. Back at base we reported all that we had seen. The Germans, it seemed, were preparing a counter-attack. Soon after this reconnaissance flight our commander told Neokov, You and Tsygankov fly over to Zhulyany, top up with antifreeze and get kitted out with your winter uniforms. This was at the end of November. We took off, arrived at Zhulyany, and had just dispersed for landing when we got the message: As you were. Reform at such and such a coordinate. You'll be covering a group of 'Ilyushins'. Tsygan and I set off, he flying to my right. I lost touch with him in the clouds and began to search around. It was then that I saw my time was running out, fuel was low, and it was time to land. So I did. Tsygan was already down. I asked,

Where were you?

在罗曼年科失踪之后不久，科瓦廖夫继任成为我们团的团长。他是个真正出色的飞行员。后来发生过什么事？有一次我们在科佩格拉亚执行侦察任务，发现地面有几处很奇怪的干草堆。摆的有点像棋盘的样子，不像在乡村中普遍看到的模样。我们依次降低高度，在高度降得很低之后我们发现那是些经过伪装的坦克。在返航之后我们向上级报告了侦查结果。德国人有可能正在准备发动一次反击。在这次侦察飞行之后不久，指挥官告诉涅科夫，“命令你和齐甘科夫飞往朱利亚尼机场，加满防冻液并穿好冬装”那时已经是十一月底了。然后我们就奉命飞往朱利亚尼，当我们先后着陆以后，就得到了命令：任务和以前执行过的一样，为一批“伊柳申”飞机护航。齐甘和我驾机出动，他飞在我的右侧。在云层中我们俩失去了联系，然后我就开始四处找他。找了一会我发现时间太久了，燃油已经接近告罄，所以我不得不返航。等回到机场的时候我发现齐甘在我之前就返航了。于是我问他:

“你刚才在哪？”

Right there with you. So you didn't notice anything then? They almost got you. A 'Focke Wulf' came right up on your tail. Another few metres and he'd have got you.

Thank you, Vanyusha, was all I could say. I hadn't seen anything in those clouds.

There were battles of all kinds at that time. We flew a lot of missions escorting 'Ils'. On the 23rd February I chased a Peshka (Pawn). It was one of our planes, but the Germans were flying it unmarked and without its stars. But I couldn't catch up with it - the oil temperature was already 120 degrees and the front line was nearby. I decided to break off and return.

“就在你的右边啊，你难道不知道后来的事情么？德国人差点干掉你。一架‘福克沃尔夫’正好就在你的后方。就差几米差点击落你。”

“谢谢你，万钮沙“我说”我在云层中间根本什么都没看到“

当时我们几乎执行了所有类型的任务。经常是为伊尔攻击机护航。2月23日我在战斗中追逐一架波什卡（Pe-2）。那是一架苏制飞机，被德国人缴获之后抹掉了涂装和红星标志。但我还是没有追上对方—当时油温已经高达120度，而且我也已经接近了火线。因此我决定返航。

In the spring we were dispatched to Kharkov to collect some new planes, Yak-9Ts. We didn't have long to fly them because by summer at Bagai-Baranovka we'd already got Yak-3's. I was given the first production model to test fly. Yes, a good machine, but the engine was sluggish. What was the matter? A test pilot was called in from the factory. He said to me, You don't know how to fly it. Well, you fly it then. He climbed in, took off and disappeared somewhere. Then we saw him coming towards us with smoke trailing behind. He said, There's something wrong here. You're right, the engine 's not firing properly.

我们在春天被派往哈尔科夫接收新飞机，即雅克-9T。我们只用不太长的时间就熟悉了这款飞机，因为在那年夏天，我们在巴盖-巴达诺夫卡机场就驾驶过雅克-3型。我获得了首批生产型号，对其进行测试。总的来说是架号飞机，但发动机有些慢。问题是什么？飞机制造厂的试飞飞行员来到我们部队。他跟我说“你没有掌握驾驶这架飞机的技巧“”那好，你飞一个试试。“ 他就开着飞机上了天，一溜烟没影了。过了一阵我们看见他开着冒着烟的飞机回来了。他说”确实有些毛病，你是对的，发动机内的燃烧不充分。“

Then came a telegram that Golovatyi had bought the plane for Yeremin. We sent this one off to him. No doubt a new engine would be fitted and he would get it in perfect working order. We received the new machines on Monday, June 13th. The general staff and Yakovlev's deputy turned up. They wanted to take our photo. We all turned our backs, saying that it was Monday, and, whatsmore, it was the 13th - unlucky and a bad sign. Our photos weren't taken.

后来传来了戈洛瓦特买了一架飞机赠给叶廖明的消息（在斯大林格勒保卫战时期，苏联蜂农戈洛瓦特倾尽所有积蓄，为苏军捐献飞机，并指定他的同乡，叶廖明中尉驾驶—译者注）。我们也向他发去了一封电报。毫无疑问，他们会给飞机换装能够运转良好的新发动机。6月13日周一那天，我们接收了新飞机。总参谋部和雅克列科夫的副手都来了。他们提出要给我们拍一张照片，但大家纷纷都转过身去—在周一，尤其是13号拍照片可不是什么好的兆头。最终照片没有拍成。

There was still no sign of Shilov. A fitter suggested, Happen he's had to make a forced landing. We found out later that he'd crossed the front line and come under anti-aircraft fire. He got a direct hit and his engine packed up. He thought that he was in a front line area so decided to land. He dropped his undercarriage, set his plane down and ran on until it came to a halt. He leapt out, but all around were Germans. He was captured. This was a great source of worry for us. I became flight leader in Shilov's place. Then the Lvov operation came to an end and we transferred to Trostyanets. There I shot down a '109'. Initially we had approached each other head on, but I did a 180 turn behind him and brought him down.

在利沃夫战役开始的前两天由于天气恶劣，我们趴在地上没有出动。第三天在团长科瓦廖夫的带领下开始出击。接下来我们遭遇了一场恶战：我方22架飞机对敌人85架，战斗在1500-1700米空域展开。空战进行了40分钟，却以一种意想不到的方式结束了。当时我已经是个老鸟了，正在试着寻找我的长机希洛夫。我刚好能看到他座机上的编号69,他当时正在帮助团领航主任。博尔科夫和我在友邻机场降落了—我们当时飞的有点太远了。而在我们甚至已经补充燃料的时候希洛夫还是没有回来。我说，他应该已经开始返航了。我看见他了。但是我们不能继续等他了。90分钟以后我们回到了自己的机场。但还是没有希洛夫的消息。一个比较有利的消息是，他曾经经历过迫降，后来他穿越了战线，冒着防空火力回到了我们中间。当时他被直接命中，发动机受损。希洛夫考虑自己是在前线地带，所以决定降落。他放下了起落架，在地面滑行直到完全停下来。希洛夫跳出座舱却发现周围都是德国人，他被俘了。这个消息对我们来说可是非常糟糕。我代替希洛夫成为了长机。此后利沃夫战役接近尾声，我们奉命调往特罗斯佳涅茨，在那里我击落了一架BF109，当时我们俩头对头接近，但我在他背后转了180度，转过身把他打了下来。就在这段时间里我们团荣获了波格丹赫梅利尼茨基勋章。整整一个月间，我们的雅克-3都经受住了考验。每次出击之后我们都会报告飞机的机械运转情况。飞机有一系列设计上的缺点，而最显著的问题则是起落架的收放。

Our squadron was based at Dembitsy, just to the west of the Vistula. One day we were sitting around playing dominoes, and it was drizzling. A young woman came up to me and said, I know you. Where from? I'm Shilov's sister -he had two sisters at the front- You know, I'd like to collect his things so that they're not sent back to mum and upset her. All the lads fell silent. I said, Come on then. I explained to her how only yesterday we had received a letter from a certain woman doctor. She wrote that, in a former prisoner of war camp in Przemysl where her medical unit was stationed, she had seen an inscription on the wall of one of the barracks. I, Shilov Stepan Mikhailovich, eternally devoted to the Party of Lenin and Stalin, was shot down in a fierce dogfight over Ternopol on 16th July 1944. Whosoever reads this, please inform... That was how we found out that he was a prisoner.

我们的中队当时驻扎在登比茨，就在维斯瓦河以西不远。有一天我们正围坐在一起玩多米诺骨牌，当时还下着毛毛雨。一个年轻的女人进来找到我，跟我说“我认识你”“您从哪来”“我是希洛夫的妹妹”—他有两个姐妹在前线服役—“你知道，我得搜集一点我兄弟的东西寄回家去，免得我母亲胡思乱想。”所有人都沉默着不说话。我说“等会跟我来”。我跟她说恰好是昨天我们收到了一封一名女医生写来的信。那个女医生曾经被关押在普热特希尔战俘营，她曾经在一堵墙上看到了这样一行文字。“我，希洛夫斯捷潘米哈伊洛维奇，永远忠诚于列宁与斯大林的党，我于1944年6月16日在捷尔诺波尔空域的激烈空战中被击落。任何看到这段文字的人，请帮忙告知……”我们就此知道他现在已经被俘了。

So, you figured on flying over in weather like this! Stay here till the morning. Today's the anniversary of the division's formation. There'll be medals, a concert and a supper. And that's for your efforts, he said passing out some spirits and we found some beer to go with it. What were we supposed to do with it? I said to the deputy Squadron Leader,

Tol', let's take off our tunic tops, wrap it up and stow it behind the armour-plated seat. The main thing is to avoid getting into a dogfight en route.

我记得有一次，随副中队长出击，一同出击的还有另外一个分队，我们奔赴距离前线1公里远的机场。有鉴于此，我们不得不迅速从较高的高度冲下来，以避免暴露机场的位置。我们落地以后不久，就看到师长格拉西莫夫走了过来，他说

“我估计你们得在这种天气下出击了，你们恐怕得在这待到明天早上，今天是我们师成立的周年纪念日。到时候会有授勋仪式，音乐会和会餐，不过这一切可就取决于你们得表现了。”师长的情绪很高涨，我们发现他还带来了一批啤酒。

“我们应该怎么行动”我问副中队长托尔，“把外衣脱下来，包好放在装甲座椅后边，最重要的是避免在途中和敌人缠斗。”他说

Right. Let's do it.

I can't land, my instrument are all haywire. He went round for a second approach, and made it this time. The commander saw this.

“好，咱们出发吧”

第二天略有些微风。我们掠着树梢的高度低空飞行，看到上空有德国人，我们向右降下高度压了下来，但是却发现地面似乎有一群什么东西，后来我检查的时候发现尾部有一些羊毛。后来我们返回热舒夫机场。我落了地，但是托尔亚告诉我说：“我没法降落了，机械机构全都被缠住了”。他在机场上空转了一圈，第二次才落了下来。这时候指挥官看见了我们。

Smarten yourselves up! he barked - he was so angry. We immediately buttoned up our tunics. He went on:

Why didn't you come back yesterday?

Gerasimov wouldn't let us fly in such weather.

Well, you've brought something back with you, I hope?

Of course.

Off you go, fall out.

“看看你们的鬼样子！”他怒不可遏的吼道。我们立刻扣好了军上衣。他接着训斥道：“你们昨天为什么没有回来？”

“因为天气原因格拉西莫夫不允许我们起飞。”

“好吧，我希望你们不是空手而归，不是吧？”

“当然”

“很好，解散。“

1945年1月我们在克拉科夫附近，执行为地面部队提供空中掩护的任务。当月20号，我们在一天内出击了5-6次，在傍晚时分抵达了克拉科夫机场。因为机场附近是雷区，我们必须在降落的时候恰好落在跑道上。

'Lavochkins' were coming into land head on. Everyone just got down as best they could. The town was ablaze. We were billeted to a five-storey building and at about 10-11 o'clock we went back to the aerodrome for an evening meal. The commander was not there, he had remained behind at the previous base. His deputy had us sit down round a П-shaped table for de-briefing. We all had a drink, but realised something was wrong with it. The mess sergeant said, Comrade pilots, don't worry, it's special rations, it's all above board, and thank you for your efforts. Next morning I got up feeling awful, but three others were still laid out and unable to get up. You felt hungry but the moment you ate anything your guts knotted up. We were baffled as to what had happened. No one went for lunch. That evening a girl suddenly came running in: Comrade pilots, anyone who's been poisoned must get themselves to the first-aid post immediately.

Off we ran and got checked over. It turned out one of our blokes had collapsed and the girl had gone blind. 26 pilots - the whole of the regiment had been poisoned! I've no idea how or to where we were then taken. We were lain two to a bunk. Nuns looked after us. A navigator and two other pilots died and several went blind. True, the mess sergeant died too - the stupid sod had served us methyl alcohol. I was laid up for ten days and only on 2nd February could I fly with my wingman, Vanya Kudenchuk, on a mission.

“拉沃奇金“飞机一架接一架的降了下来，所有飞行员都尽其所能的落在恰当的位置。整个小镇都灯火通明。我们被安排在五人一间的宿舍里，10-11点的时候返回机场吃晚饭。指挥员不在这里，他还在之前的那个基地里。我们围坐在他的副手周围，靠着一张二层的桌子听取任务简报。我们都喝了酒，却发现事情有些不对头。但是一个稀里糊涂的军士说：“飞行员同志们，大家不必担心，这是特殊的配给饮酒，是符合规定的，为的是感谢大家的辛苦努力。“第二天早上我起来的时候感觉不是太好，但另外三个人更糟，躺在床上还没有醒酒。一个人饿的时候，不管什么难吃的东西都会狼吞虎咽的吃下去。但是我们当时就很困惑，到底发生了什么，没人去吃午饭。到了傍晚一个姑娘突然跑进来：飞行员同志们，有没有人食物中毒，如果有的话需要立即送急救站。

我们纷纷跑去检查身体。结果是我们中间的一个倒霉鬼和一个女孩子失明了。26个飞行员—也就是说整个航空兵团的飞行员都酒精中毒了！我不记得我们后来是怎么去的医院以及去的哪家医院。我们两人一组躺在病房里，有护士专门照料我们。有一个领航员和两外两个飞行员死了，还有许多人失明。当然，那个糊涂的中士也死了—就是这个笨蛋把工业酒精当成酒给我们喝。我在医院里躺了大约10天左右，直到2月2日，我才和自己的僚机瓦尼亚库丹丘克一起执行任务。

Spring was in the air, it was already warm and everything was thawing out. We set course for the allotted zone - south-east towards the small town of Gorlitz. Our task was to provide air cover for our tanks. The patrol zone was overcast, the broken cloud suggesting that it wasn't all that solid and thick. There were small breaks in it, at a height of about 1200-1300 metres. For some 35-40 minutes we patrolled giving cover in the target zone. When our operation time was up we turned about face and flew off in the direction of our aerodrome, hoping on our way to root out some enemy ground target and assault it. We flew on at a pretty good 500-550 km/hr. All quiet, it seemed. So I said to my wingman, Vasya, let's find something to hit, it's not on returning to base with all weapons unused. At that very moment I happened to turn my head to the left and saw eight Me-109's coming up behind out of the cloud at high speed. Instantly I shouted to my wingman, Vaska, eight of them coming up on our tail. The thought flashed through my mind - low on fuel, they'd obviously been stalking us.

随着春天的气息越发浓厚，气温开始回暖，大地万物复苏。此时我们的行动区域被指定在小镇格尔利茨的东南方向，任务是为坦克部队提供空中掩护。当时巡逻区域一直是多云的天气，不过云层中存在着缝隙，这表明云层并不是那么厚重。在大约1200-1300米的高度，云层有一个不大的裂缝，大约35-40分钟以后我们抵达了预定的作战区域，当行动结束的时候，我们开始驾机返航，在返回机场的路上，我们希望都在地面上找到点能打他一家伙的敌方目标。我们以500-550公里/小时的标准速度飞行，看上去一切正常，于是我对我的僚机说：“瓦尼亚，咱们得找找看有没有敌人，我可不希望在返回机场的时候一枪都没放过。”恰在此时我转向左边，看到有一队八架Me109战斗机正从我们背后的云层中高速穿出。我立即向僚机喊道：“瓦尼亚，尾部方向出现八架敌机。”此时一个念头在我脑海中闪过—油量不足了，敌人明显是有备而来。

I ducked back into the clouds and when I emerged a few minutes later he had disappeared. I returned to base. At the very point of landing my propeller stopped. So I landed without power. The Yak-3 flies fine for 1? hours, but then you have to get down. Clearly we'd been flying all this time on petrol fumes! I crawled out of the cockpit and walked about in a daze. No wingman. They told me, though, that none of ours had gone missing. A couple or so hours passed. Then I heard the sound of an engine. Yes, it was № 75, Kudenchuk! As soon as he touched down his undercarriage gave way. All right, I thought, we can fix that, no problem. It turned out that he'd landed at Pokryshkino, had been refuelled but nobody had noticed that he'd been holed. We were lucky on this occasion, very lucky!

为了避开敌机的射击，我被迫向左剧烈转弯，钻进云层以期摆脱不利局面。此时比较幸运的是我们的速度比较快，因此我没有爬升，但是瓦尼亚在我后边做了一个急剧的转弯，在加速之后穿出了云层，他穿到了云层的另外一端，我听见他大喊，这有八架FW190战斗机。敌人的意图十分明显：趁我们燃油不足的时候行动，迫使我们爬升高度，然后把我们打下来，或者是逼迫我们油尽坠落。我在云层里做了一个U型转弯，飞了一段以后向下飞到了云层下方。我看见有两组Me109双机正在编队飞行。第一个双机编队的长机发现了我，因而他一个侧滑躲进了云层中，但是我其实打算从云层里向第二个双机编队的长机打一个点射，之后我瞄准他打了几串子弹。然后那个家伙的飞机歪向一侧掉了下去。我得手以后也立即钻进了云层—现在燃油几乎告罄，所以我不能再恋战了。我像调度员报告，地面控制人员告诉我，我方飞机没有损失，（允许返航）。现在找不到我的僚机了。在大约五分钟以后，我曾云层中钻出来，看到有一架Me109正和我平行飞行。

我猛的钻进了云层中间，当过了一会我再飞出来的时候发现他已经不见了。我回到了基地，在刚刚降落的时候发动机就停转了，因此我是在没有动力的条件下着陆的。雅克-3的续航能力还算不错，但是什么飞机也不可能不靠烧油就能飞。我筋疲力竭的爬出了机舱，走路的时候腿都软了。他们告诉我说，僚机没有回来，都这么长时间了，除了我之外没有一架飞机返航。正说着呢我听到了一阵发动机的声音。编号75，没错，是库丹丘克！他很快就放下起落架降了下来。太好了，我想，我们又能并肩作战了。原来他曾经在波克雷什基诺降落，在那里补充了油料，但是却没人发现他的飞机油箱其实已经漏了。不过他还是安然返回了，应该说今天我们都很幸运，运气好极了！

On March 31st we flew out to attack Ratibor (Raciborz) airfield. The group was lead by Regimental Commander Kovalev. We got into a dogfight. I suddenly found myself on the tail of a pair of FW-190s. My wingman Gena Smirnov repulsed an attack on me from another pair and gave me the chance to attack the FW-190s. I shot down one, but as I chased after my wingman, German flak began to cut me off. I sensed that I'd been hit, the plane began to vibrate. It was cloudy with mist about. In such circumstances it was impossible to look for my group. Gena and I withdrew from the action, swung round onto course 0 reckoning on finding a main road. Before us in the haze a pair of Me-109s were following a parallel course to their own airfield. I could not overtake them because my machine was vibrating and I could not put on speed. I said to Gena, Attack if you can, I'm right behind you. The Germans appeared not to spot us. Gena turned slightly to the right and attacked. I followed, a little distance behind. He got one but the second 109 quickly went into the clouds when he saw the attack. Like it or not, though, we had to return home. The cloud ceiling kept us down to 300-400 metres. I just could not recognise the locality although previously I had lead groups into this area several times already. We kept to our compass bearing 0 but in reality the course was quite different. Fuel was running low. The plane was shaking, so I decided to find a landing strip and set down. All around appeared quiet and I spotted a suitable landing site below me. I informed Gennadii, Cover me, I'm going down. I landed, ran on a little, but the wheels began to dig in. The plane threw its tail up into the air and came to a halt. I leaped from the plane and noticed a chap driving a cart. I dashed over to him, drawing my pistol. Seeing me, he said in broken Russian, I'm a Pole. I asked him whose territory was I in and where was the nearest airfield. He replied that it was Polish territory, now in Russian hands but that the front line was some 10-15 km away (waving his arm in it's direction). He added that there was an airfield at such and such locality. The aerodrome was quite close by in the event. I dashed to the plane and told Gena over the radio where to fly. I said, Land there and come and get me. He flew away but returned 7-10 minutes

3月31日我们起飞向拉齐布日机场发起进攻。飞行编队由科瓦廖夫团长亲自带队。我们和敌机陷入了狗斗。我突然发现前方有两架FW190。我的僚机盖纳斯米尔诺夫击退了另外一个向我攻击的双机编队，为我制造出了发动进攻的机会。我当即击落了其中的一架，但当我追赶僚机的时候，我的座机被德军的高射炮击中了。我当时觉得自己可能是被击中了，因为飞机开始晃动。当时的天气是多云且有雾，在这种条件下我是基本不可能回到自己的编队了。盖纳和我撤出了战斗空域，转身向回飞，指望能找到一条公路干线作为路标。在我们前方，薄雾中两架ME109战斗机正平行飞行返回自己的机场。我根本就没法追上他们，因为飞机的发动机在颤抖，我没法加速。我告诉盖纳，如果可能的话由你进攻，我在你的右后方保护你。德国飞行员显然没有察觉我们在接近，盖纳稍向右转然后开始攻击。我紧随其后。盖纳很快就干掉了一架敌机，但当他打算接着干掉另外那架的时候，对方很快就钻进了云层里。不管我们是不是想，但我们必须返航了。我们紧贴着云层下方300-400米的高度飞行。尽管我曾经多次作为领航机引导编队通过这一空域，但我现在还是完全搞不明白方位。我们把罗盘指针拨到零度位置，但很难找到正确的飞行路线。油量也越来越低了，机身开始颤抖，于是我决定找个地方迫降。周围一片寂静，我在地面上找到了一个合适的降落场地。我跟盖纳说：“掩护我，我要下去了。“我落了下去，飞机滑行了一小段距离，但是起落架轮子已经陷进了土里。我的飞机现在尾巴高高翘起来停在地上，我跳下了飞机，看到旁边有个推着手推车的家伙。我拔出手枪冲了过去。“看看我“他用蹩脚的俄语说”我是个波兰人“。我问他这里是什么地方，然后距离最近的飞机场在哪里。他告诉我说这里是波兰境内，不过已经是俄军的控制范围了，但前线离这里很近也就10-15公里的样子（他边说边用胳膊指着前线的位置）。他接着说有一所机场在如此如此方位。那个飞机场里这里确实很近，于是我跑回飞机，用无线电跟还在上空盘旋的盖纳说，飞到那个机场去，然后让他们把我带走。他飞走了，但那是过了7、8分钟他又飞了回来。

later explaining over the radio, I couldn't get down, the airfield's like a sponge, waterlogged and it's too dangerous to land. Following my suggestion he too landed alongside me as his fuel was about to run out.

过了一会他用无线电告诉我，我没法在那个机场降落，地面太松软了，而且都是积水，降落太危险了。后来他听从我的建议，在油料耗尽之前把飞机降到了我旁边。后来我们才知道当地的磁场存在畸变，这才导致了罗盘失灵。我们委托当地的波兰行政当局帮我们保管飞机，后来我们摘下了降落伞，在当地波兰人的帮助之下返回了基地。

As it happened, we used to fly in overalls, and sometimes in sports clothes so that we wouldn't be taken for officers. That followed stories that officers were given rough treatment or shot when captured by the Germans.

因为有了这次事件的教训，我们此后经常在附近空域反复飞行，以熟悉航线，而且有时候我们会穿着作训服而不是军官的制服，因为有些消息称德国人会残酷的虐待被俘军官。我们搭了一辆运载弹药和油料和一个摩托化营的货运火车，在深夜回到了机场。有记录显示包括我俩在呢，有六名飞行员在战斗结束后未能立即返航。团长对我们俩能够归队显得特别高兴，特别是我们俩的座机还算基本完好。上级马上派了几名飞行员，驾机飞往我们的迫降地点，他们修整好我的飞机，补充燃料之后飞回了基地。8月8日我们团转场到了格罗德库。那天早上天气很好，云层很高，有一些薄雾。我的朋友，米沙皮亚塔和我奉命在该镇的火车站及位于该镇以东的机场执行侦察任务。

Bypassing the airfield and the town itself, we approached from the west. At the station there were three fuel-tanker trains facing towards the front line. You got the impression that they had just arrived, although from the air there was no sign of them being unloaded. We reported our findings back to ground base. We immediately got orders to do two dummy runs to ascertain whether the Germans had any flak batteries. We did as commanded and reported that we had not been fired on. As it turned out the Germans had clearly not wished to give themselves away. We skirted the town and, setting a course towards the north-east, flew off in the direction of our airfield. We applied the 'scissors' manoeuvre as we flew, gaining speed to keep as low as possible and avoid ground fire. As we skimmed over an airfield we spotted a couple of airborne Me-109s which had just taken off. We were in a favourable position to attack with no need to deploy. We dived down to attack both. Lesha lead the attack, but after the first salvo his guns jammed. He shouted over the radio, You continue the attack,

我们在机场和镇子上空绕了个弯，从西边接近目标区域。在铁路上有三列油罐车正在向前线方向行驶。我当时感觉到他们可能是刚刚抵达这里，尽管从空中看去没有任何给列车卸货的迹象，我们立即向基地方面报告了这一情况，上边很快就回复，命令我们做两次虚拟攻击，以探明德军在这里是否部署了防空火力。我们遵令执行后发现并未遭受德军的攻击，而且德国人显然没有逃避我们空袭的意思。之后我们沿着镇子的边缘转向东北方向，飞向了机场，在途中我们利用“剪刀”式机动，以保持速度，在低空飞行时躲避防空火力。掠过机场跑道的时候我发现地面上有几架刚刚降落的Me109战斗机。我们当时的位置非常有利，不用展开就可以直接实施进攻。我们向下俯冲，米沙在前，但就在马上要开火的时候，他的机枪卡壳了，他在无线电里冲我大喊“你来接着进攻”。

Tolya, what's the matter?

I've got a funny feeling. You know, it's stuck in my memory, being on fire whilst over the Kursk salient.

Cut it out, Tolya! Good luck! I retorted.

They flew out in their Yak-3s. An hour passed. The weather was getting steadily worse. A little while later there was the roar of an engine. One Yak came into land. It was Alfonskii.

于是我压低高度冲了下去，在扫射一阵之后转向左边，在仅有篱笆那么高的高度上返航。我们向指挥员报告了情况，他决定派托利亚马雷舍夫和维奇卡阿尔方斯基袭击油料车。我们向他们通报了所看见的一切情况。马雷舍夫在走向座机的时候表现得有点反常，我问他

“托利亚怎么了？”

“我有种很奇怪的感觉，你知道，上次有这种感觉的时候还是在库尔斯克突出部，那次我的飞机中弹了”

“别说了，托利亚！你会好运的！”我回答道。

他们驾驶着雅克-3出击，一个小时以后，天气开始渐渐变坏，又过了一小会，我们听到了一台发动机的吼声，一架雅克战斗机着陆了，那是阿尔方斯基的座机。

He told us that they had flown off along our route towards the railway junction. They knew from us that there was no anti-aircraft fire. They had made their first approach on the trains at an angle to remain over the target as long as possible. But as they began to pull away, everything on the ground that could shoot opened up on them. A round hit Malyshev in the feeder tank. Alfonskii said he saw white, then black plumes of smoke coming from Malyshev's plane. Tolya began to be overcome by fumes and so he opened the cockpit canopy. (We flew with the canopy closed. We had been trained to. Incidentally, we also had to be trained in radio skills because initially radios weren't used. Only when the ranks of radio-operator 3rd, 2nd, 1st class and master radio-operator were introduced - and attracted extra pay - did we start using them.) So Tolya opened the canopy. I ought to say that we were flying in German gauze flying helmets. We had got our hands on them just outside Brzeg. Of course, when wearing flying helmets with integral headsets your head starts to sweat and your hair falls out. Even silk skullcaps were no salvation. Flames engulfed Malyshev's head. Alfonskii called out, Tol'ka, hold on!!! It was still about 15 km to the front line, but had only some 900 metres of altitude. Clearly he couldn't hold out any longer. He flipped the plane over on its back and ejected. He was captured but returned to the regiment on 13th May.

阿尔方斯基告诉我们，他们两人沿着我们所说的路线飞到了那个铁路交汇点，他们根据我们告知的情况认为这里并没有防空火力。因此他们在接近列车的时候保持着一个比较小的角度，以便能够尽可能长时间的停留在目标上方。但是就在他们脱离的时候，突然地面上的德军所有火器一齐开火。马雷舍夫座机的发动机水箱被击中了，阿尔方斯基说他看到马雷舍夫的飞机开始冒烟，一开始是白色的，后来就变成黑色的了，托利亚为了避免被烟熏不得不打开了座舱盖（我们的飞机是封闭式座舱，所以接受过相关的训练，顺便说一句，因为最初我们不习惯使用无线电，只有当引入了一级、二级、三级无线电操作员和高级无线电操作员等级制度，并建立了奖励机制之后，我们才逐渐开始频繁的使用无线电台）我得说的是，我们当时都是戴着德式飞行帽驾机飞行。我们当时是在布热格外围地区弄到了这些东西。当然，戴着这种飞行帽，如果再加上无线电听筒的话，脑袋立马会出汗，头发也会被压住。甚至里边戴着便帽也解决不了这个问题。当时火焰已经吞没了马雷舍夫的头部。阿尔方斯基大喊“托利亚，坚持住！！！”那个地方距离前线大约15公里，但是高度只有900米。很显然马雷舍夫不能再坚持下去了，他把飞机翻了过来然后跳伞了。后来他被俘了，但是在5月13日的时候被释放，回到了我们团。

5月7日苏军解放了布雷斯劳。我们当时仍在进行战斗值勤。飞机停靠在跑道上，由三脚架支撑着。当时跟我一起值班的有来沙皮亚塔克尤拉丹尼洛夫和根纳斯米尔诺夫。当时我记得快到午饭时间了，天气晴朗，阳光灿烂，已经是一片春光灿烂的时节了。突然我们发现，有六架Me109战斗机，沿着机场跑道的方向，在1500米左右的高度大摇大摆的飞了过来。我们立刻在警报声中驾机升空。跟我们一起起飞的有两到三对另一个航空团的战斗机，他们和我们同处一个机场。双方立即在天上展开了缠斗。德军战斗机分成了几个小组四散而去。每架Me109都找一架来自不同团的雅克战斗机捉对厮杀。而我则碰巧处在距梅塞施密特最近也最有利于攻击的位置上。

I gave one burst, then a second. I saw puffs of smoke from his engine, his flailing propeller halting, the face and expression of the German pilot - looking back over his left shoulder at me, the big white crosses on the wings of his plane. This image is burned into my memory. One more burst of fire, he flipped the plane over onto its wing and limped off towards the front line, trailing smoke.

我瞄准敌机连续打了两次点射，看到对方的发动机冒出了一股浓烟，他的推进器螺旋桨慢慢的停转了，那个德国飞行员从左边转过头看着我，我能清楚地看见他脸上的表情，还有他飞机上冒出来的白烟。这一幕深深地印在了我脑海中，我又打了一个点射，然后对方的飞机就歪歪扭扭的向前线方向飞走了。

As evening approached a group of Petlyakov Pe-2s supported by Yaks arrived, having carried out their mission. All the bombers landed and almost all the accompanying fighters. Just one Yak was on its third approach and dropped its undercarriage textbook fashion. Just at that moment a Me-109 attacked it at high speed, coming straight out of the sun at low level. We shouted, as if the pilot could hear, Look out, there's a Me-109 on your tail! He had been forewarned over the radio, it seemed. He banked sharply to the left and the Messerschmitt overshot at high speed. The attack failed. But that was not the only incidence of the Fascists coming to get their own back for their compatriots.

当天晚上有一队Pe2轰炸机完成任务后在雅克战斗机的护航下飞抵机场。所有的轰炸机和大多数护航战斗机都在机场着落。而当一架雅克战斗机正在第三次进场，并且按照规程已经放下起落架的时候，正当此时一架Me109战斗机突然以高速从太阳的方向上低空杀了出来。我们朝那个飞行员大喊：“小心，你后边有一架Me109！”他可能是已经通过无线电得到了敌机来袭的警报，因而战斗机向左突然转向，那架梅塞施密特高速冲过来却打偏了，敌机未能得手，但是这些法西斯不止一次的袭击目的是为了要夺回制空权。

On May 8th we transferred to just outside Berlin. The weather was clear. The Regimental Commander ordered me up into the air: Fly to area such and such... I flew on and reported, Prince, this is Swallow -8, carrying out a 204 (i.e. one of a foursome of planes), a mission, please. Came the reply, Swallow-8, Markov, thanks very much for your work, execute a 555. That was the only number that signified return to base. I said, Prince, you've made a mistake, other groups have been here, I've just arrived. I got a repeat message: No mistake, execute 555, thank you for your work. As I was approaching the aerodrome, the regimental commander Kovalev chided me, I'm serious about this, why has Swallow-8 returned? I said I'd give a report after I'd landed.

在5月8日的时候我们转移到了柏林外围。那天天气晴朗，团长给我下达了出击的命令：目标是如此如此……我起飞以后向指挥员报告：“王子，这里是燕子8号，a204（也就是四机编队的一种）编队完成，请求任务”过了一会对方应答“燕子8号，马尔科夫，干得不错，执行555号任务。”这个任务代号的意思是返回基地。我回答道：“王子，任务是否有误，其他编队已经就绪，我刚刚进入编队。”回答是“任务无误，立即返回。”等我返回接近机场的时候，团长科瓦廖夫在无线电里狠狠地批了我一顿“这件事情的性质很严重。燕子8号为什么独自返航了？”我回答说着陆以后我会报告的。

The fact of the matter was that our unit's anniversary was designated for the 5th May, but it had been rearranged for the 8th. Six pilots were ordered to remain on duty, the rest get ready for the party. I, though, had a sort of feeling deep inside about this, with everyone sprucing themselves up, so I didn't. And I was proved right, I heard the alarm going off. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon. The whole regiment dashed to the airfield and took off en masse in the direction of Prague. I brought back two holes in my plane - one bullet had hit the feeder pipe, a second had lodged in a wing spar. And with that the war ended. In all I had flown 139 combat missions and had brought down six enemy aircraft.

后来弄清楚了，问题出在我们团的成立周年纪念日上，本来是在5月5日举办的，但是后来推迟到了8号。当时有六个飞行员执行战备值班，其他的人都在准备办纪念晚会。尽管我也是属于不需要值班的那群人中的一员，但是当所有人都换上了军礼服的时候，我却没有换。事实证明我的选择是正确的。大约下午两点左右，机场上响起了警报，全团的人都冲到了机场，全体起飞赶往布拉格。等出击返航以后我的座机上有两处弹洞—一枚子弹击中了输油管线，另外一枚则击穿了翼梁。而在此时，我得知战争已经结束了。在整个战争中我执行了139次战斗任务，总共击落六架敌机。

Interview: Artem Drabkin

采访：德尔布坎

Lt. Preparation: Artem Drabkin

Translation: Paul M. Roscow

翻译：保罗 M 罗斯科

-----------------------------------------
此贴已由管理员在 2010-11-28 10:35:00 执行 +300分 操作

新用户注册返回首页
首页上一页下一页尾页页次1/1 转到第页