Yelkin Biography

Annotation board in with. Pavino Yelkin Leonid Ilyich - squadron commander of the Separate Intelligence Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet Air Force, captain. Born on March 6, in the village of Maly Zavrag, now the Pavinsky district of the Kostroma region. From the year he lived with his family in the city of Veliky Ustyug Vologda province.

He graduated from aviation college in Moscow. In the Navy since the year. He graduated from the Yeisk Naval Aviation School named after I. Stalin in the year. Since December, the junior pilot of a separate marine reconnaissance squadron, since September, the Northern Fleet Air Force Middle Aviation Aviation Regiment. In years he took part in the Soviet-Finnish war as part of the GO aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet, made 85 sorties for reconnaissance of the enemy naval bases and communications.

Since the year - the link commander in this regiment, in April of the year he was reduced to the post of senior pilot. Member of the CPSU B from the year. At the beginning of World War II, senior lieutenant L. Yelkin - at the front. Since July, the link commander of the 4th squadron of the Separate Intelligence Aviation Regiment. During the war years, he made military flights, of which at night to bombing enemy troops and in the afternoon for distant and close intelligence of communications and naval bases of the enemy.

All military sorties of L. Yelkin were successful and were highly effective. According to his intelligence data, the Northern Fleet torpedo -bearing aircraft sunk a large number of enemy ships and transports. L. Yelkin flew to the completion of tasks for the transportation of the wounded, for the delivery of ammunition and food to special groups, who was in the deep rear of the enemy.

The pilot repeatedly met in the air with the enemy aircraft and came out of military clashes by the winner. When performing the task of the commander of the Northern Fleet to find new airfields in the New Earth area on July 27, in the lip of a small carmacules, the plane of L. Yelkin was fired by a German submarine. The pilot received severe wounds in the head, lost one eye.

After the hospital, he returned to his regiment and, despite the fact that he was recognized as worthless to flying service, he achieved permission to continue flights. Since March, the commander’s assistant, since September - commander of the Aviation Squadron of the Civil Defense of the Separate Intelligence Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Air Force. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 22, for valor and courage, manifested in battles with the Nazi invaders, for skillful education of subordinates and the exemplary leadership of the squadron, Captain Yelkin Leonid Ilyich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Hooping Order of the Golden Star.

The captain was awarded the Order of Lenin by the name of the hero named Street in the village of Pavino. The surname of Yelkin was knocked out on the memorial of the memory of pilots, navigators, shooters-radists of the Air Force of the Red Banner Northern Fleet, who died at sea in the year in the village of Safonovo. About Yelkin Leonida Ilyich: On September 12, the English air reconnaissance delivered invaluable information from Alten-Fjord about the place of basing and the Tirpitz batting system.

This disorders, telling further, formed the basis of a large underwater sabotage against the Tirpitz. And many, many pages about how this sabotage was performed. In fact, to conduct the operation "Bron", the British command used data in an exclusively difficult situation received by the captain Leonid Ilyich Yelkin, later by the Hero of the Soviet Union. The name of this outstanding air intelligence officer is hushed up in the writings of Western historians of the war.

Unfortunately, it does not enjoy due fame in our country, although it should rightfully be on a par with the names of Boris Safonov and Alexei Maresyev. At the end of August, from England to the USSR, to the port of Murmansk, a British air intelligence unit arrived on the destroyer. The three Spitfires, allocated at his disposal, soon landed at the airfield near Murmansk.

The aircraft were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The leadership of the BRO operation was carried out from London Rear Admiral Barry, commander of the underwater forces of the British fleet. This time, the hunt for the Tirpitz was served seriously: six ocean submarines and six dwarf submarines of the Miht type were involved in the operation, which were called “X” ships in operational documents.

Large boats were supposed to tow "Xsa" to the neck of Alten-Fjord, and then expect their return to the edge of the minefields. Each super -small submarine transported a separating two -ton charge of explosives. Obviously, the Iksa needed an absolutely accurate knowledge of the location of the Tirpitsa, since they were not allowed to search for the battleship and did not allow limited energy resources, they also needed an equally accurate knowledge of the system of anti -submarine protection in the parking lot.

But on the day of exit to the sea - I quote S. Roskill - "They still did not know which base they would have to attack."The British air intelligence special group could not fulfill the task and deliver pictures of Alten Fjord. All departures were unsuccessful. The operation was on the verge of failure. In London, they stepped over the pride, and then the British military mission in Polyarny turned to the command of the Northern Fleet for help.

The lower edge of the clouds hung at an altitude of meters, in places lower. The bald peaks of hills were hidden behind the continuous canopy of clouds. In order not to lose the orientation, the pilot had to conduct an airplane on a span. Snow charges several times caused icing of the aircraft. Many times the pilot risked to break on the slopes of the mountains. After 2 hours 45 minutes, the intelligence officer reached the goal.

The Alten-Fjord water area was closed by a powerful charge of rain and wet snow. Yelkin decreased to a height of 50 meters and went right over the masts over the ships to determine who was standing. It was not possible to see, photographing all the more useless. He could fly away, Captain Yelkin, with a clear conscience: who would reproach him and what? He reached the alten-fjord, and not his fault that the charge was raging over the fjord.

But Yelkin did not fly away, continuing to spin over the ships. The most amazing thing is that they did not shoot at it. The only explanation of this oddity: the Nazis could not determine what the plane was worn in the impenetrable darkness above the very heads of the anti -aircraft gunners. They did not shoot so as not to knock down their own. After 25 minutes! The coastal anti -aircraft guns and ship guns, which have long been made for shooting, immediately opened fire.

Now the stars on the wings of the aircraft were visible well! What is Yelkin? He is three times! When the photographs are printed, each gun, which beat the “Spitfire”, just didn’t point blank at the cover airfield, but not a single Hitler pilot, would not dare to get into the air in such weather. Yelkin landed, having stayed in the air for six hours and making almost impossible.

The British do not fly below intelligence meters. "The radiogram about the location of Tirpitsa urgently went to the headquarters of Rear Admiral Barry, and the Alten -Fjord photographs" flew "to London on the seaplane" Catalina ". As a result of their decryption, I quoted the final order again on September 15 of the year:" The boat. X-8 mines the X-9 and X boats "Sharnchorst"; A blow to kill him or at least force him to crack for the successful implementation of the intelligence floor on September 12, to Captain Yelkin, gratitude was announced before the formation.

This is explained very simply. At an altitude of more than five kilometers, Spitfire-exploration left any fascist fighter, he had an aerodynamics. And at the lower heights of the Messerschmitts caught up with him. That's the guess why on September 12, Yelkin completed the task, but the British did not.

We flew with them in the same sky, but only differently Leonid Ilyich Yelkin was fearless and highly talented pilot. He flew on 7 or 8 types of intelligence aircraft, from MBR-2 to Kittihaukov, each new plane mastered the faster in the regiment. He began to fight like a fighter-fighter back in the Finnish campaign, fought from the first days to the Great Patriotic War and had rewards for the enemy’s shot down aircraft.

He went into intelligence with great reluctance, obeying the order. Then, I think, he himself realized that his character was the best suited for intelligence: endurance, independence, instant reaction. We, intelligence, flew in the way, perhaps no one else flew in those days in the north. On a shaving, enveloping, as it is now customary to say, the terrain, on the belly, a simple thing crashed along the gorges: it was necessary to sneeze.

At an altitude, a kilometer or two can sneeze on health, as much as you like. And at a hundred meters for a second I lost its orientation, while you squint and shake your head, here is the dead man. I already said that Yelkin was the best scout of the regiment? Now I will say that few knew: Leonid flew, not seeing anything with his left eye. It happened on the New Earth, in the bay small carmacules.