Ivan Kozhedub

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Lore & Background

Kozhedub was born on 8 June 1920 to a Ukrainian family in the village of Obrazhiivka, in Chernigov Governorate. After graduating from his seventh grade in 1934 he completed two more years of school in Shostka, working as a librarian until finishing ninth grade in 1936. From 1936 to 1940 he attended the Shostka Chemical Technology College, and also trained at the local aeroclub, graduating in 1939. He joined the Red Army in February 1940, and in January 1941 graduated from the Chuhuiv Military Aviation School of Pilots, learning to fly the UT-2, UTI-4, and I-16. He remained as a flight instructor, even after the school evacuated to Shymkent in autumn 1941. Sent to Moscow in November 1942, he was posted to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment but did not reach the warfront until March 1943. He opened his tally on 6 July 1943 with a Ju 87 shootdown. By 10 October 1943 he had flown 146 sorties, engaged in 27 aerial battles, and totaled 20 victories, earning his first Hero of the Soviet Union on 4 February 1944. In July 1944 his regiment was renamed the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, and he was nominated for a second gold star for 46 victories across 256 sorties. Reassigned as deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, he flew the new Lavochkin La-7. In mid-February 1945, during a free-hunting mission south of Frankfurt with wingman Dmitry Titarenko, Kozhedub shot down an Me 262 jet, becoming the first Soviet pilot to do so. By the end of the war, he tallied 330 sorties, 120 dogfights, and 64 enemy aircraft shot down, all on La-5F, La-5FN, and La-7 fighters. He was made thrice Hero of the Soviet Union on 18 August 1945.

Reader's Guide

Kozhedub's significance lies in his status as the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II, with 64 confirmed victories. He developed a preferred technique of short, intense attacks from below, opening fire only when extremely close, which he used successfully against Ju 87 dive bombers, gaining an unsurpassed 18 shootdowns of that type. After the war, he graduated from the Air Force Academy in May 1949 and was assigned to the 324th Fighter Aviation Division, becoming its commander in November 1950. The division was sent to China to train Chinese and North Korean pilots, and though Kozhedub was strictly forbidden from combat sorties, his pilots claimed 216 aerial victories in Korea from April 1951 to February 1952, with 27 MiG-15 losses and nine pilots killed. He was promoted to major-general in 1953, attended the High Command Academy from 1955 to 1956, and later served as 1st deputy commander of the 76th Air Army, visiting Cuba from 1962 to 1963. He served as 1st deputy commander of the air force of the Moscow Military District from 1964 to February 1971, and as deputy chief of combat training of the air force from 1971 to 1978. He was promoted to Marshal of Aviation in 1985 and retired later that year, concluding 45 years of service. He also served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1946 to 1962 and chairman of the Federation of Aviation Sports from 1967 to 1987. Kozhedub lived in Moscow until he died of a heart attack on 8 August 1991, and was buried in Novodevichy cemetery.

Did You Know?

• Kozhedub is one of the few pilots confirmed to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so.
• He gained an unsurpassed 18 shootdowns of Ju 87 dive bombers, equal with Arseny Vorozheykin.
• Kozhedub was never shot down throughout the war, though he experienced several close calls and always managed to land his airplane.
• He was strictly forbidden from participating in combat sorties during the Korean War, but his division claimed 216 aerial victories.
• Kozhedub totaled 1,937 flight hours, piloting aircraft including the Yak-3, Yak-11, Yak-17, Yak-28, MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-21, Li-2, and Il-14, and the Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters.