Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich - Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Has multiple awards. During the battles he showed great skill and showed heroism and courage. He is an honorary citizen of the city of Gomel in Belarus. Let's take a closer look at the facts from the life of this outstanding person.
Biography
Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich was born on 1917-15-12 in a peasant family. He was born in the village of Koshelevo in the Gomel region. By nationality Belarusian.
In 1936 he graduated from the FZU school and acquired the profession of a turner. Today it is vocational school No. 56 of the city of Gomel. After graduation, he worked at a sawmill as a milling machine operator. He was fond of football and played in a team, demonstrating good results. At work, he had a reputation as a qualified specialist.
Perhaps he would have successfully developed further in this area. But not far from the place of his work was the flying club. Watching the planes fly, youngman dreamed of being in the cockpit of one of them. Having set a goal for himself, Pavel Yakovlevich set about achieving it. During the day he worked, and at night he studied aircraft navigation, the structure of the engine and aerodynamics. Soon he began to fly.
Start of war
In 1940, Golovachev graduated from the Odessa Military Pilot School with the rank of junior lieutenant. He had been sent there two years earlier. After studying, Pavel Yakovlevich was assigned to the Crimea. It was here, in the 168th regiment, that he served when the war began. Pilot Golovachev began participating in hostilities near the village of Yassy. He stormed the fascist troops on the I-16 fighter.
The first combat flights were not successful for Pavel Yakovlevich. He was unable to shoot down a single enemy aircraft and almost died himself. He was rescued by a comrade who hit the enemy with the first shot. Major Yaroslavtsev after the battle pointed out to him the lack of endurance, which caused the failure in the battle. On the second day, Golovachev shot down the first plane, but was seriously injured.
69th Odessa Aviation Regiment
Pilot Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich was present at the awarding of aviation heroes with the Order of the Red Banner. The event took place in Kirovograd. These were the pilots of the regiment under the leadership of the hero L. L. Shestakov. Golovachev got to know them, and later learned that he remained in this unit. The pilot swore that in the future he would be worthy of the high honor shown to him.
In October 1941 Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich was officially transferred to the 69thOdessa Aviation Regiment. He underwent retraining and acquired the skills to fly the LaGG-3 aircraft.
Heroic Deeds
In the summer of 1942, Golovachev almost died in an air battle with a Nazi Me-109 fighter. Attacking an enemy aircraft, Pavel Yakovlevich blew it up with the first burst fired. Carried away by the victory, he did not notice the new danger and was wounded in his right hand. The armored seat back proved to be a lifesaver for the pilot.
He hardly reached the airfield, but then it turned out that it was impossible to extend the landing gear. The system has been corrupted. Golovachev pressed the control stick with his knees and extended the landing gear with one surviving hand. Having landed the plane, the pilot got out of the cockpit with the last of his strength and was immediately sent to the hospital.
Golovachev took part in the battles for Stalingrad. The duty of the Soviet aces pilots, among whom was Pavel Yakovlevich, was the destruction of fascist equipment that delivered ammunition and food to a group of enemies surrounded. Golovachev successfully coped with the task.
The Soviet pilot showed exemplary courage and perseverance in battle. Having received an order to destroy the enemy FW-189, the pilot rushed to the attack. Having received a fierce rebuff, he did not give up. Under fire, risking his life, he made one after another attempt to deal with the enemy and retreated only when he saw that he had completed the task.
During the battle near Orekhovsky, pilot Pavel Golovachev flew into a column of enemy vehicles and shot down one Junkers. But the enemy managed to shoot the Soviet hero in the face. Pilotlost consciousness, and the plane began to lose altitude. Having come to his senses, Golovachev managed to level the car and crashed into the banks of the Don. Having lost its tail, the plane landed. As a result of the injury, the pilot lost the ability to see. Doctor Filatov restored his sight, and a month later the hero returned to his place of service. After the accomplished feat, Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and awarded a high award - the Order of the Red Banner.
He mastered the Yak-1 and took command of the flight. At the same time, Lieutenant Golovachev performed the functions of a leader for the first time. Shestakov, during one of the military operations, turned the course of the attack in such a way as to enable the new flight commander to try to lead the group. Golovachev successfully coped with the task and in the future often performed these duties.
In total, in the battles for Stalingrad, Pavel Yakovlevich made 150 flights, in which he independently shot down eight enemy aircraft.
Donbass and Dnieper region
As part of the famous 69th regiment Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich, a Soviet pilot, made a long military journey. He also participated in the battles for the Donbass. Here the pilot shot down six planes in fifteen battles.
In May 1943, Golovachev in a column of Yak-1 fighters entered the battle with a hundred enemy bombers and sixty fighters. Soviet pilots managed to show their martial art and destroy forty-two units of enemy equipment, while losing only three units of their own. Golovachev contributed to this by shooting down one aircraft.
In August 1943, a pilot destroyed a bomber and a fighter in one battle.
Crimea
In Melitopol, Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich fought on the "Aerocobra" and served as the leader of the group. He took part in thirteen air battles and destroyed six more units of fascist equipment. In October 1943, the pilot already had two hundred and twenty-five sorties, ninety-two battles and seventeen personally shot down aircraft. The statistics spoke of the high skill and great heroism of the military pilot and was the basis for awarding the highest title to Pavel Yakovlevich Golovachev - Hero of the Soviet Union.
November 1, 1943, he was awarded two awards: the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. In the same year, his native lands were liberated from the Nazi invaders.
End of War
In 1944, the hero Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich fought already in the skies of the B altic states and East Prussia. In December of the same year, while flying, he saw an enemy reconnaissance aircraft, which skillfully maneuvered and evaded the attack. The Soviet pilot was at an altitude of nine kilometers. Finally, he managed to aim at the enemy and shoot, but then a terrible thing happened. At high altitude, the guns froze and the salvo failed.
Golovachev, realizing the gravity of the situation, went to extreme measures. He decided to act as a tyrant. The pilot stepped on the gas and came close to the enemy, and then hit his tail with a propeller. The Nazi plane crashed, and Golovachev managed to straighten his trajectory andfly to the airport. It was one of the last rams in the history of the war, and it was executed with the highest level of skill. Pavel Yakovlevich was again awarded the Gold Star medal.
At that time, the pilot was already flying the La-7 and could appreciate all the advantages of the characteristics of this technique. Until the end of the war, he worked on this aircraft, after which he handed it over to one of the museums.
On the road to victory
1945 Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich met in the skies of Germany. On January 18, in two battles, he destroyed four aircraft in one day. In February 1945, the hero fought in the ranks of the 900 Fighter Regiment. On March 18, a group of Soviet attack aircraft led by Golovachev met with a well-trained Me-109 brigade. Soviet pilots forced the enemy to flee after losing two Messers. One of them was destroyed by Pavel Yakovlevich.
The pilot met the victory in Berlin, where he won his last combat victories. On April 25, he led a group of three aircraft. On the way they met twenty opponents. Soviet pilots covered the crossing, they could not allow the enemy to reach it. Without a moment's hesitation, Golovachev gave the command to attack. It was he who shot down the first enemy aircraft of the first six, after which the rest of the enemies fled.
The Soviet pilot turned to the next group and knocked out their leader. The rest, in a panic, dropped bombs on their own troops and fled. The pilot of the downed plane was taken prisoner by the Soviet soldiers. This was Golovachev's last fight. For all the time hedestroyed thirty-one enemy vehicles and participated in 125 battles.
After the war
With the advent of peace Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich continued to serve in the Soviet army. In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. The pilot studied many types of aircraft and held various positions in the command.
In 1959 Golovachev graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He spent the last years of his service in his native Belarus. He often met with young people and carried out military-patriotic work with them. Everywhere he was treated with respect and met with honor. Golovachev Pavel Yakovlevich ended his career with the rank of Major General of Aviation.
The Soviet hero died on July 2, 1972 as a result of a short illness. He was buried at the Eastern cemetery in the city of Minsk. In his small homeland - in the village of Koshelevo, a bust was erected in memory of the famous pilot who was born on this land. Monument erected in Gomel.
The museum of Hero of the Soviet Union P. Ya. Golovachev was opened in the same city. Objects such as a street, a school and a college are named after him. On the territory of OJSC Gomeldrev, where the pilot once began his career, you can see a memorial plaque.
