Čirkov, Andrej Vasiljevič

Andrey Vasilyevich Chirkov
Андрей Васильевич Чирков
Major Andrei Vasilyevich č Čirkov


He was born on the 10th of říjan 1917.
He learned to fly in an aeroclub, and joined the army in 1937. However, the following year he broke his leg and put his piloting career in jeopardy because he was at risk of amputation. But his leg eventually gave out and Čirkov was able to intervene in the Winter War. During the battle he was shot down once over Finland, but managed to avoid capture.


In June 1941, he served in the 158. IAP armed with Polikarpov's I-16. He received his first victory Čirkov two days after the start of the battleů, when he shot down one He 111. Následovalo přeřazení k 154. IAP, where he became čččččPeter Pokryshev. The unit at the timeě was protecting the "Road of žlife" to besieged Leningrad and on January 20, 1942, Čirkov was wounded when ž he rammed a Bf 109 fighter. It was the vůbec first taran carried out on a Tomahawk.


Upon its return, the regiment was renamed the 29th GIAP, armed with Yak-7 and later Curtissy P-40.


By čJune 1943, he had flown 389 combat sorties and earned 27 (18+7) victories.
This was followed by a promotion and assumption of command of the 196th IAP, which was armed with P-39 and P-40N fighters. At the same time, on February 4, 1944, he received the Hero of the Soviet Union.
On June 19, 1944, the pilots of the regiment led by him fought a group of Finnish fighters near Vyborg. čů. Čirkov one of the Finů shot down, but in turn became the victim of Hans Wind. Čirkov thus left his aircraft behind enemy lines, but he again managed to avoid capture and, moreover, brought two Finnish prisoners into his own lines!
He then joined the fight again, and by the end of the war had flown 420 combat sorties and won a total of 38 (29+9) victories.


He retired from the Air Force in 1949 and settled in Leningradě where he became čest citizen. Here he also died on September 10, 1956.



Prameny:
Polák, T. - Shores, C.: Stalin's Falcons, Part 1, Prague, 2003
Mellinger, G.: Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of WW2, Oxford, 2006
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Cirkov-Andrej-Vasiljevic-t50625#194320 Version : 0
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