Boris Panin is a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod (a resident of Gorky), drafted into the army for military service at the age of twenty. From October 1942 to August 4, 1943 he took part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. In less than a year, a twenty-two-year-old guy accomplished so many feats, defending his homeland from the Nazis, that he was awarded the Golden Star of a Hero.
Childhood on the Volga
Boris was born in 1920 on the banks of the great Russian river. What could be a boy who grew up in such expanse places? Of course, desperate, dexterous, physically hardened. And this was clear from the short biography of Boris Panin, whose relatives were all rivermen.
Until the age of six, he went with his parents on ships along the Volga, and when the time came, he entered school No. 4. This building still stands on Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street, on its facade Nizhny Novgorod residents fixed a memorial plaque in memory of the deceased countryman.
The boy devoted a lot of time to sports. His interests were varied. In winter, skates and skis, in summer - the river. But most of all he wanted to fly. Like many of his peers, he attended circles and chose, of course,parachute and glider.
To your dream
At the end of the seven-year period, the guy went to the famous factory in the city. Frunze. Here, before being drafted into the army, he worked as a mechanic.
Over the years, his dream has not disappeared, but, on the contrary, has come closer to reality. The biography of Boris Panin began at a time when the country was gaining strength in the construction and development of aircraft. Design bureaus worked on the creation of civilian and military vehicles, factories began to produce new series, the names of our hero pilots were known to the whole world. In almost every city, large enterprises created aviation circles, in which young people mastered the basics of flight technology and parachuting.
Of course, fellow countrymen Nesterov and Chkalov could not stand aside, and were among the first to create an air club based on the airfield in Shcherbinki. Boris spent all his free time there. In 1940, when the draft age came, in the military registration and enlistment office he asked for only one thing, to be sent to a flight school. His dream came true. He graduated from the country's best military aviation school in the city of Engels.
War
At the end of the summer of 1941, yesterday's cadet, and today military pilot Boris Panin, was sent to the town of Skopin, Ryazan Region, where an air regiment was formed. According to the memoirs of colleagues in their unit, people of different ages were gathered: those who were not allowed to retire by the war, and those who “had enough to shave once a week.”
The war years rallied people into a single force. The 82nd Aviation Regiment has come a long way in combat, was awardedrank of guards, awarded the orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov III degree, brought up nine Heroes of the Soviet Union. But not everyone survived to the end of the war.
First fight
The guys received their first baptism of fire in October 1942 on the Kalinin front. There were heavy battles to eliminate the Rzhev-Sychev grouping of the enemy, the result of the operation was of a variable nature.
The crew of the Pe-2 dive bomber, which, in addition to commander Panin, included navigator, junior lieutenant Dmitry Matveyevich Adamyants and gunner-radio operator, foreman Vasily Petrovich Yermolaev, quickly learned to fight. Many tricks of the battle had to be mastered during the flight.
For an incomplete year of service, the guys had a chance to defend the Soviet sky on the Volkhov, North-Western and Voronezh fronts.
Pe2 bomber
The dive bomber, popularly nicknamed the "Pawn", was developed by a group of designers led by V. M. Petlyakov shortly before the war. In tests, the aircraft showed high flight characteristics, its armament consisted of four machine guns, and a bomb load of 600 kg. The first vehicles began to arrive in parts in the spring of 1941.
"Pawn" was considered one of the most promising combat vehicles of the beginning of the war. Unlike other types, it was equipped with a full range of flight instruments, had powerful weapons, excellent visibility from the cockpit and modern engines.
Training of the crews on this plane took place at an accelerated pace. Features of the dive battle hadlearn along the way. Due to the lack of trained pilots, the Pe-2 was initially used for horizontal bombing, gradually the crews discovered all the new capabilities of the combat vehicle.
Mastering a new aircraft
The personal life of Boris Panin, a twenty-year-old guy, consisted in his great love for the sky, in an effort to master a new, difficult machine, in revealing its hidden capabilities. This meticulousness and desire to get to the bottom of the matter then repeatedly saved the lives of the crew. He quickly mastered the technique of piloting, was brave, but prudent, and therefore the command often gave him difficult tasks.
There is a testimony of a colleague who spoke about such an incident. Panin in the summer of 1943, checking the operation of engines after repair, performed a “barrel” in the air, an aerobatics figure. By all accounts, a heavy bomber could not have done this. On the ground, the commander lashed out with questions about what had happened in the sky. Accident? It turned out that Panin had a sheet of calculations in his pocket, after checking which the designers assessed the aerobatic capabilities of the aircraft in a different way. So the heavy twin-engine machine in the hands of Panin became multi-purpose.
Often, bomber crews returned to base dissatisfied with the results of their flights. It seemed that there was very little left for the complete destruction of the target, but the bombs were running out, and they had to head for their native airfield. Panin sat for several days at the calculations, and then asked the commander's permission to increase the bomb load from 600 to 1000 kg. Thisthe flight changed a lot in the military formation, the innovator had numerous followers.
Fight episodes
A good-natured and cheerful guy on the ground was transforming in the air, becoming something one with his car. He thought quickly, made the only right decision, was decisive and bold.
March 7, 1943, a group of our bombers on the way to the mission came under heavy fire from an anti-aircraft battery. The bombing operation was under threat. Boris Panin disabled the Peshek and covered the enemy battery with fire with a dive bombardment. The planes were able to continue moving towards their target.
On May 8, 1943, when performing reconnaissance photography of the Kharkov airfield, eleven attacks were made on Panin's plane. The crew managed to shoot down one of the fighters, hide in the clouds, and then, "impudently" returning back, complete the shooting.
In the summer of the same 1943, Boris Panin was attacked by four enemy fighters. His crew was returning from a mission and was forced to engage in combat with several enemy aircraft. Only skillful piloting and decisions unexpected for the enemy helped the guys get out of this battle alive, knocking out one of the enemy aircraft.
From a pilot's diary
A combat diary of a young pilot has been preserved, in which he described his battles, analyzed mistakes and rejoiced at victories. On its pages there are both calculations and discussions about the new capabilities of the Pe-2.
The last entry about one of the battles in the Belgorod region. Exploration was carried outthe gunner radio operator transmitted to the ground data about the detected enemy airfield. The Germans are trying to get the scout with anti-aircraft fire. Radio operator's voice: "Seven Messers from the east." Panin sees that his plane is being taken into a semicircle, cutting off the path to retreat.
The decision comes instantly, he turns west and hides in the clouds. Immediately changes direction, turning sharply to the north. After a few minutes, he takes the plane out of the clouds to orient himself. There are no Messerschmitts, they rushed further to the west to intercept the Soviet car there. The guys returned home calmly.
Awards and distinctions
For an incomplete year of the war, Boris Panin completed 57 sorties on combat missions. Among the awards that he received during his lifetime, the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War II degree. On July 26, an award list was signed for awarding Junior Lieutenant Boris Panin the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
A young pilot received permission to fly to Moscow for an award on his combat Pe-2. And then a visit home was promised, about which he informed his parents. This was the last news from Boris. A few days later, on August 4, while protecting the sky over Belgorod, his crew died. He received the title of "Hero" posthumously. The award list of Boris Panin, whose photo has been preserved, gives a complete description of the young pilot. He was buried in a mass grave in the village of Ilovka, Belgorod Region.
Revenge
Fellow soldiers were hard pressed by the death of desperate guys. For the Germansit became a real nightmare to see dive planes in the sky with frightening inscriptions: “Let's avenge our comrades!”, “Smash the enemy in Panin's way!”, “For Panin's crew!”. On December 27, 1957, the name of Boris Panin was permanently included in the lists of the 82nd Bomber Aviation Regiment.
In Nizhny Novgorod, not far from the military registration and enlistment office, in 1983 a monument to the pilot was erected. The bronze bust stands on a high plinth of red stone. A street is named after him. Hero Boris Panin was only 22 years old.
