2. 8. 1907 - 4. 7. 1941

Suprun Stepan Pavlovich fighter pilot; first twice Hero of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.

Born on July 20 (August 2), 1907 in the village of Rechki, now Belopolsky district, Sumy region (Ukraine), in a peasant family. Ukrainian. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1930. In 1913, he emigrated to Canada with his family. He graduated from junior high school in Winnipeg. In 1922, together with his brother Fedor, he joined the League of Young Communists. In 1924, Suprun's family returned to the USSR. Lived in Altai, then in Alma-Ata. In the fall of 1925, the family returned to Ukraine in Belopole. Stepan became an apprentice to a carriage maker. Then he worked as a carpenter in Sumy. In 1928, he got a job at the Sumy Machine-Building Plant. Being a pioneer leader, he almost drowned in the river while saving two pioneers.

In the Red Army in 1929. In 1930 he graduated from the school of junior aviation specialists in Smolensk, and in 1931 from the military aviation school for pilots. He served in Bobruisk and Bryansk, and was a flight commander. Since 1933 he worked at the Air Force Research Institute. In November 1937, he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st convocation from the Sevastopol district.

From May 1939 he fought in China. He commanded a group of fighters that covered important targets from Japanese air raids. In air battles he shot down 6 enemy aircraft.

May 20, 1940 for the courage and heroism shown in battles by Major Suprun S.P. awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 461).

After returning from China in January 1940, he again worked at the Air Force Research Institute. Tested new fighters I-21, I-26 (Yak-1), MiG-1, LaGG-1. In total he mastered 140 types of aircraft. In March 1940, he was a member of the Soviet commission chaired by I.F. Tevosyan, who visited aircraft manufacturing companies in Germany. Met with E. Heinkel and W. Messerschmitt.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun formed the 401st Special Purpose Fighter Aviation Regiment from test pilots. On the evening of June 30, the regiment flew to the front and became part of the 23rd Mixed Aviation Division (Western Front).

In the first battle on July 1, near the village of Zubovo, Suprun shot down an enemy reconnaissance plane. In the evening he flew out for the second time and shot down another reconnaissance aircraft. On July 2 and 3, the pilots of the regiment under his command shot down 8 enemy aircraft, carried out an assault on the crossing of the Berezina and on the enemy airfield, where they burned 17 aircraft, warehouses with fuel and ammunition.

On the morning of July 4, 1941, Suprun flew on reconnaissance. Then twice at the head of the group he accompanied bombers. At 13.00 I took off on a MiG-3 (board number 13) together with Lieutenant Ostapov for reconnaissance (this was the fourth combat sortie of the day). Ostapov noticed an enemy bomber and chased it, but was himself shot down. Left alone, Suprun, near the city of Tolochin, Vitebsk Region, entered into battle with 6 enemy fighters. In this battle he shot down an Me-109, but was also shot down. He landed the burning plane in a clearing at the edge of the forest near the village of Krupki, but did not have time to get out of the cockpit. There was an explosion and Suprun died.

On July 22, 1941, he was posthumously awarded the second Gold Star medal, becoming the first twice Hero of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.

Awarded 2 Orders of Lenin and a Chinese Order.

In 1960 he was reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

A bronze bust was installed in the city of Sumy. A stele was installed in the village of Rechki, and a bas-relief was installed in the city of Belopole. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the Sumy Engineering Research and Production Association. In the village of Chkalovsky (within the city of Shchelkovo, Moscow region), a memorial plaque was installed on the house in which the Hero lived. Streets in Moscow, Sumy, the city of Borisov (Vitebsk region, Belarus), the village of Chkalovsky (Moscow region) and the village of Rechki are named after him. In the city of Sumy, at the beginning of the street named after the Heroes of Stalingrad, an Alley of Glory was created, where portraits of 39 Heroes of the Soviet Union are presented, whose fate is connected with the city of Sumy and the Sumy region, among which is a portrait of twice Hero of the Soviet Union S.P. Supruna.

Booker Igor 08/13/2012 at 18:30

This is a story about the first twice Hero of the Soviet Union, who did not spend even a month in the Great Patriotic War. Stepan Pavlovich Suprun, an outstanding test pilot and military fighter pilot, whose courage bordered on recklessness, a close friend of the famous Soviet aces Valery Chkalov and Alexander Pokryshkin, died in early July 1941.

Stepan Suprun was born on August 2, 1907 in the village of Rechki, now the Belopolsky district of the Sumy region, in the family of the peasant Pavel Mikhailovich and his wife Praskovya Osipovna. At the beginning of the last century, a large number of Ukrainians settled in the New World in search of a better life. In 1910, trying to avoid punishment for participating in a strike, steam plow mechanic Pavel Mikhailovich Suprun emigrated to Canada, and three years later his wife and two children moved here. In Winnipeg, Canada, Stepan managed to complete seven years of high school.

As a teenager, together with his brother Fedor, on the advice of his father, he joined the League of Young Communists. And already in 1924, with the help of the Comintern, the family returned to the USSR and settled first in Altai, where his grandfather moved from Ukraine, and then in Central Asia, in Alma-Ata, which was destroyed after the earthquake. The next year, in the fall, the family again found themselves in their historical homeland. Styopa became an apprentice to the handicraft carriage maker Golomudka. After working in the Nepman's workshop for eleven months, the guy moved to Sumy. Here, a 19-year-old Komsomol member was helped to get a job as a carpenter in the Komborbez - the committee to combat unemployment.

In 1927, his father Pavel Mikhailovich Suprun was given a two-room apartment at the Sumy Machine-Building Plant, as an excellent specialist and communist social activist, and was later elected secretary of the Sumy Regional Executive Committee. In 1928, Stepan began working at a machine-building plant.

Drafted into the ranks of the Red Army in 1929, the very next year the future ace pilot graduated from the school of junior aviation specialists in Smolensk, and a year later from the military aviation school of pilots. The official biography of the hero says that since 1931 Stepan Suprun has been a test pilot. In 1933, he was recommended to the Scientific Testing Institute of the Red Army Air Force. Participated in tests of the “Vakhmistrov shelf” and various types of aircraft for an “inverted” spin.

In the ever-memorable year of 1937, Stepan Suprun almost fell under the hammer of Stalin’s repressions - he was expelled from the party in connection with the case of Gamarnik, who shot himself on the eve of his inevitable arrest in the Tukhachevsky case. Suprun could remember his stay abroad and his exclusion from the ranks of the CPSU (b) did not inspire optimism, however, thanks to the positive characteristics of his colleagues, he was reinstated in the party within two days. In November 1937, Suprun was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the first convocation from the Sevastopol district.

When his friend Valery Chkalov crashed, Stepan wrote a letter to People's Commissar Voroshilov: " For the XVIII Congress of our party, the second copy of the I-180 aircraft is being produced, on which the best pilot of our Motherland, Valery Chkalov, died. The first copy of this aircraft was to be tested: Chkalov - factory and I - state. Now people are afraid to trust me to carry out tests and be the first to fly on this plane just because I am a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Comrade People's Commissar! It has now become extremely difficult for me to work - all the bosses, for insurance purposes... are trying in every possible way to push me aside, as long as I don’t fly. All this is fundamentally wrong and extremely offensive to me. In my opinion, you personally know how I fly on a high-speed plane - in ten years of flying work I have not had a single accident, have not crashed a single plane...".

After participating in the national liberation war in China (June 1939 - January 1940), during which Suprun personally shot down six Japanese aircraft on an I-16, and the pilots of his group shot down 34 enemy aircraft, destroyed more than 20 aircraft and two large warehouses fuel and ammunition on the ground, having lost five of his aircraft, Stepan Pavlovich, as part of the commission for the purchase of aircraft, visited Germany. There he was able to fly on different types of aircraft, which he would soon have to face in air battles. On May 20, 1940, for heroism and courage shown in battle, Major S.P. Suprun was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In early July 1941, the 401st Special Purpose Regiment was formed on the Western Front, with Lieutenant Colonel Suprun appointed commander. The number 13 was painted on the fuselage of Stepan Pavlovich's MiG-3, but the officer demonstrated his contempt for superstitions. Of the 150 serviceable aircraft on the Western Front, 52 were fighters. The front command decided to use the available aircraft to strike two groups of Guderian's tank forces. On the first day of his arrival at the front, Stepan Suprun personally destroyed two Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. In total, Suprun's squadron managed to shoot down four Messerschmitts on July 1, 1941.

"According to the memoirs of the commander of the first squadron V.I. Khomyakov, - V. Fadeev reports in his book, - In four days of fighting, there were two cases when Stepan Pavlovich Suprun alone fought with six and four German fighters. The first time 15 MiGs went to accompany three nine twin-engine SB bombers, Stepan Pavlovich, going ahead, was surrounded by six Me-109s. The second time, also flying out to escort bombers, Suprun found himself among the four Messerschmitts. Suprun's confidence in his skills and the new Soviet MiG-3 aircraft seemed excessive to some. He personally flew reconnaissance missions, each time taking to the skies with his pilots, leading them to escort bombers or into battle with fascist fighters".

On the Fourth of July 1941, after his partner, Senior Lieutenant Ostapov, was shot down by German fighters, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun, left alone, decided to continue the flight. A German bomber appeared through a break in the clouds Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor".

The version of the death of the lieutenant colonel is set out in the book by V. Fadeev: " Not seeing the accompanying fighters because of the flying wisps of clouds, Suprun rushed to the attack, made a turn to the left, opened his chest and was wounded by a shooter’s bullet. He could not have received such a wound from a fighter! The Messerschmitts arrived immediately. The Nazis immediately felt that they were dealing with a Soviet ace. A MiG attacked and set fire to one German aircraft. But then the MiG caught fire from an enemy shell. Straining his strength and will, Suprun took his plane to a clearing near the forest and managed to land it, but at the last moment the tanks with remaining fuel and ammunition exploded. The three Messers accompanying the burning plane, making sure that it was engulfed in flames, soared upward. But the fascist, who was walking behind the MiG, fired another burst at the back of Suprun’s head. The armored back, found at the Suprun landing site, is kept in the museum of the city of Sumy. Traces of bullet dents indicate that the German was unable to penetrate Stepan’s body with this burst.".

On July 22, 1941, regiment commander S.P. Suprun was posthumously awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union.

The feat of Stepan Suprun.

A total of 154 people (out of 293 million Soviet citizens in 1991) were twice awarded the title of Hero, of which every fourth was Ukrainian (Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Sidor Kovpak, Akhmet-Khan Sultan, Petr Koshevoy, Andrey Kravchenko, Pavel Taran, etc. ).

The first twice Hero during the Second World War was a Ukrainian, the famous fighter pilot Stepan Suprun.

Agree, it’s a lot to become the first aviator during the Second World War to be awarded the title of twice Hero in the devastating July of 1941. How did this become possible?

Later, another 153 people (out of 293 million Soviet citizens in 1991) were also twice awarded the title of Hero, of which (Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Sidor Kovpak, Alexander Molodchiy, Pavel Rybalko, Akhmet-Khan Sultan, Pyotr Koshevoy, Andrey Kravchenko and etc.).

Agree, it’s a lot to become the one because of whom the USSR changed the criteria and traditions of evaluating the Hero. How did this become possible?

Stepan Suprun was a famous and renowned pilot even before 1941., working since 1933 as a test pilot at the Central Research Institute of the Air Force, and before the war his name was on a par with other famous aviators, such as Valery Chkalov, Mikhail Gromov, Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Nikolai Kamanin, Mikhail Vodopyanov and others. So, Stepan Suprun

1936 - was awarded the Order of Lenin for testing new models of USSR fighter aircraft;

1937 - became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from Sevastopol;

1940 - became a Hero of the Soviet Union for 6 shot down enemy aircraft in the skies of China in 1939 and was awarded the Order of China (in total, the pilots of his air group shot down 34 enemy aircraft, losing five of their aircraft).

After June 22, 1941 and the defeat of the Soviet Air Force in the first days of the war Stepan Suprun is tasked with forming an elite fighter regiment consisting of test pilots from the Air Force Research Institute and the Air Force Academy, capable of fighting on equal terms with fascist aces. Within a few days, the task was completed, and his 1st (later 401st) special purpose fighter aviation regiment (401st IAP), each pilot of which was fluent in piloting various types of fighters, went to the front.

During 3 days of fighting (from July 2 to 4), Stepan Suprun personally shot down 3 enemy aircraft, and his regiment shot down another 8 aircraft in the air and 17 aircraft at the enemy airfield. In July 1941, not a single air regiment of the Red Army Air Force had such results. Stepan Suprun died on July 4, 1941 in a battle with 6 Nazi fighters, shooting down an Me-109. The 401st regiment was headed by Suprun's student and deputy Konstantin Kokkinaki, who later became one of the most famous test pilots of the USSR.

Perhaps the story would have ended there, Suprun, at best, would have been awarded a posthumous order, his name would have been lost among the thousands of other USSR aviators who died on the war fronts, but chance intervened, namely Goebbels’s propaganda.

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Born into a peasant family. Ukrainian. In 1913, he emigrated to Canada with his family. Lived in Winnipeg. Graduated from junior high school. In 1917, his father joined the Communist Party of Canada and participated in the founding of its Russian branch in Winnipeg. In 1922, on the advice of his father, Stepan, together with his brothers Grigory and Fedor, joined the League of Young Communists.

In 1924 he returned to the USSR with his family. For some time the Supruns lived in Altai, then in Alma-Ata and Pishpek, and in the fall of 1925 they moved to Ukraine, to Belopole. There Stepan got a job as an apprentice in a handicraft carriage workshop. Soon his father was elected secretary of the Sumy Regional Executive Committee. Stepan moved to Sumy and began working as a carpenter in the komborbez (committee to combat unemployment). In 1928, he got a job at the Sumy Machine-Building Plant. In the summer he worked as a pioneer leader. Once he almost drowned in the river while saving two children.

In the Red Army since 1929. Member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1930. In 1930 he graduated from the school of junior aviation specialists in Smolensk, in 1931 - the military pilot school.

His description stated: “He has all the data to be not only an excellent fighter pilot, but also a thoughtful researcher and experimenter in flight.”

After graduating from aviation school, he served in Bobruisk. He was a flight commander of the 7th separate fighter aviation squadron named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky.

Once, during aerial shooting training, a towing aircraft, having made an unsuccessful turn, caught its wing with the target’s tow rope. The pilot tried to throw the loop off the wing, but nothing worked. The target pulled the wing to the side, turning the plane over. Somehow holding in the air, he began to quickly lose altitude. The pilot was about to jump out with a parachute. Seeing this, Suprun flew up to the towing vehicle and with a wave of his hand ordered the pilot to level the plane in any way. Quickly turning around, he caught up with him, carefully approached the wing and cut off the cable with a screw, preventing an inevitable catastrophe.

But there were more difficult trials in his life. One autumn day, technician Strizhev, who was sitting in Suprun’s plane and checking the operation of the engine, unexpectedly taxied from the parking lot to the start and took off, climbing to the west. The alarm was sounded at the airfield, and a plane was scrambled in pursuit. But it was too late.

Strizhev crossed the state border and landed in Poland, near the city of Lida. Some time later, the Poles returned the plane, but refused to return the equipment. Soon, the Bobruisk air brigade announced an order from the People's Commissar of Defense to bring to trial before the Military Tribunal the squadron commander, the squadron engineer and the detachment engineer, whose subordinate technician turned out to be a traitor to the Motherland. Suprun, whose plane was used to escape, was also put on trial. All four, sentenced to different terms, were imprisoned in Bobruisk prison...

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From July 1933 he served as a test pilot at the Red Army Air Force Research Institute. Participated in tests of the “Vakhmistrov shelf” and tests of aircraft for an “inverted” spin. Desperate courage, a great desire to master a new specialty and efficiency helped him join the ranks of the best aviators of that time.

In May 1935, as part of an aerobatic team, he took part in an air parade over Red Square. For his masterful handling of the aircraft, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense, he was awarded a gold personalized watch.

In the summer of the same year, Suprun rested in the Air Force sanatorium on the Black Sea. There he accidentally met a young man. The next day, going out to sea together on a boat, they talked for a long time. Suprun listened carefully to the young man, who frankly admitted that he, an aircraft technician, was being refused transfer to the flight crew. “Don’t be discouraged,” said Suprun. - Believe me, I didn’t manage to rise into the sky right away. I had to endure a lot. But he got up! I believe you will rise too! The main thing is not to lose your dream.”

Later, Suprun’s interlocutor graduated from pilot school. During the Great Patriotic War, he shot down 59 fascist planes personally and 6 in a group. About 15 more downed planes were not officially counted towards him for various reasons. Alexander Pokryshkin became three times Hero of the Soviet Union and Air Marshal.

On May 1, 1936, during the air parade, Suprun led the aerobatic team.

On May 26, 1936 he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

On August 18, 1936, he was awarded a Moskvich passenger car for excellent aerobatics.

His certification stated: “Disciplined on the ground and in the air... In flight work, he is hardy and tireless. Flies on all types of fighters. He is good at the elements of air combat of high-speed aircraft. Ideologically stable. There are no accidents or breakdowns. He works with great interest to improve his knowledge, masters new techniques and is indispensable in this regard.”

In 1937, he was elected as a deputy of the USSR Supreme Council of the 1st convocation from the Sevastopol district.

However, the wave of repression that swept the country in these years almost covered Stepan Suprun.

Test pilot 1st class I.I. Shelest says: “Lipkin is presiding. Colonel Romanov is sitting nearby. Leaning both hands on the table for greater stability, Lipkin declared in a crackling voice:

So... There was a proposal to expel Suprun from the party for his connection with the enemy of the people Gamarnik. Whoever is in favor of this proposal, please raise your hands!

Petrov felt a sickening lump in his throat. He glanced sideways to the right, to the left... someone... began to raise his hand, and then little by little others reached up. The terrible silence was distorted only by the barely audible creaking of chairs.

So... - said the chairman.

Petrov looked around and saw a forest of hands. It looked like the vote was unanimous.

Please lower it! – suggested Lipkin.

“Why is this being done?!” – Petrov was horrified. “...What is this happening to us?!”

Who's against?..

Abruptly leaning back in his chair and fixing his gaze on Lipkin, Petrov raised his hand up...

Are you... comrade... pro-t-tiv?.. – Lipkin exhaled somehow, looking as if a board was breaking under him.

Yes, I am against the expulsion of Stepan Suprun from the party,” Petrov said in a very high voice, not recognizing himself... Petrov saw Colonel Romanov, sitting next to Lipkin, turning pale before his eyes. He began to rise up somnambulistically.

Explain your position,” he spoke in an icy voice, ignoring the chairman, “why are you voting alone, contrary to the opinion of the entire team?”

Brigade commander Petrov held the post of head of the aircraft department at the institute; he could not be ignored. Petrov stood up...

I believe in Stepan Pavlovich Suprun, I believe in his honesty as a person and a communist. He did so much for our Air Fleet, showing courage and heroism as a test pilot and defender of the Motherland many times, proving his selfless devotion to the party, that I cannot help but believe him. That’s why I vote against expelling him from the party. As for his “connection with the enemy of the people,” I will say this: we are all military people here, and if we are sent somewhere and with someone in the same carriage, like Suprun, we will go, not allowing the thought that such a high-ranking boss with whom we go on a business trip may turn out to be an “enemy of the people.” This is my position and it is unshakable.

For several moments the hall was shackled in oppressive silence. Everyone around Petrov was now sitting with their eyes downcast - everyone must have felt disgusted in their souls. And only Petrov and Romanov gazed intensely into each other’s eyes. And then, in the first row near the aisle, a reclining seat slammed, and Suprun, a tall, strong athlete, stood up, and when he turned and walked towards the exit, Petrov saw tears rolling down his cheeks. His steps could be clearly heard in the hidden hall... Then everyone began to rise, without looking at each other.

Two days later, the commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks overturned the decision of the meeting and reinstated Stepan Suprun in the party.”

On 12/15/38, Valery Chkalov crashed during testing of a new fighter.

Suprun wrote a letter to Voroshilov: “For the 18th Congress of our party, the second copy of the I-180 aircraft was released, on which the best pilot of our Motherland, Valery Chkalov, died; tests were to be carried out on the first copy of this aircraft: Chkalov - at the factory, and I - at the state level. Now people are afraid to trust me to carry out tests and be the first to fly on this plane just because I am a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Comrade People's Commissar! It has now become extremely difficult for me to work - all the bosses, for insurance purposes... are trying in every possible way to push me aside, as long as I don’t fly. All this is fundamentally wrong and extremely offensive to me... You personally know how I fly on a high-speed plane - in ten years of flying work I have not had a single accident, have not crashed a single plane... I have dozens of facts that I could I would like to bring you here to prove to you how much they don’t trust me. I will not distract your attention with a number of small facts, I will indicate only the most basic ones: for a number of years I have been asking to be sent on a business trip to China or Spain to gain combat experience. All my efforts remain in vain.

On my personal advice, 5 lightweight (red) I-16 aircraft were built, on which in 1937 the five of us showed aerobatics on August 18, Aviation Day. Now all these planes have been taken away from us, even the plane on which I flew the five, maintaining my piloting technique, air combat and aerial shooting, was taken by people who acquired combat experience. Soon it will be six months since I conducted any testing; during this time I have flown no more than 5 hours on a high-speed fighter, and there is no aircraft on which I could train.

Together with test pilot Stefanovsky, we personally wrote a report to you so that you could help us obtain permission from our government to set a world record - flying around the world without landing. The Air Force Military Council approved our proposal, but, in my opinion, this was not reported to you personally, since we never received a response from you...

I ask you to give an order that I be allowed to test the I-180 aircraft and make the first flight on it. I am sure that you will not refuse my request. Test pilot of the Air Force Research Institute, Major Suprun.”

The I-180 fighter had great speed, powerful weapons, and the necessary range and altitude. A big war was approaching and the country needed high-class aircraft. Suprun achieved his goal. The flight on the I-180 was allowed.

While testing the I-180, the pilot performed thousands of aerobatic maneuvers on it. Having not yet completed the test program, in a conversation with the Air Force command, Suprun praised the Polikarpov fighter. After this, an order was placed for one hundred cars at once! However, Suprun continued to fly the plane into the sky, looking for the reason that killed Chkalov. And I didn’t find it. The chassis broke. The plane crashed at high speed. When Suprun was removed from the rubble, he was unconscious. When the pilot came to his senses, he was taken to the Botkin hospital. But this time fate was favorable to him.

Brigade commander Suzi was tasked with completing the tests of the I-180. During spin tests, the plane lost control. Suzi managed to jump out, but the parachute did not open. After this, the tests were stopped.

Journalist Brontman recalls: “Senya Suprun was with me... The last time I saw him was the day after Chkalov’s death... Then he was testing a second copy of the same machine.

What happened to her?

Yes, you probably heard that I kissed her and toppled over. He was in the Botkin hospital. Well, what happened to the car - it was archived. Look: Valka was killed on it, Suzi was killed, I crashed, another pilot jumped out with a parachute. There is nowhere to go further, and even if she were fit, she still couldn’t be allowed into the unit. Can you imagine, this car comes to the unit, a pilot who graduated from school a year ago gets on it, and they tell him: Chkalov was killed on it, Suzi died, Suprun fought on it. Yes, they will take him to the hospital before he gives gas. No, a car with such a biography cannot be allowed.”

When Suprun left the hospital, he was called to the Kremlin and offered to volunteer to go to China, which had been fighting Japanese invaders for several years.

Participated in the national liberation war in China in June 1939 - January 1940. In total, during the fighting in China, he personally shot down 6 enemy aircraft.

Suprun's group was entrusted with protecting the skies over the city of Chongqing. It consisted of two divisions. The I-15 squadron under the command of Konstantin Kokkinaki was intended to combat bombers. Squadron I-16 - to fight fighters.

The young, untested pilots performed their first battle brilliantly under the leadership of Suprun. Observation posts made it known that Japanese bombers were heading towards Chongqing. First, three flights of I-15 Kokkinaki took off. A couple of minutes later, Suprun’s group is on I-16. The "Fifteenth" immediately rushed at the leading nine bombers. The "Sixteenths" left with a climb, into the sun. They were supposed to pin down the Japanese fighters covering the bombers. One of the leading nine bombers, pierced by a fiery path, began to smoke and sharply began to descend. The Japanese formation, however, was not broken. At these moments, having dispersed the fighters, Suprun’s group struck the enemy from above. Within seconds, two more bombers were shot down. One I-15 was shot down by rifle fire, but the battle was already won.

At the initiative of Suprun, heavy machine guns began to be installed on fighters. The firepower of our aircraft has increased many times over. Very soon the Japanese pilots felt this.

In January 1940, Suprun was recalled from China and flew to Moscow. During the battles, the pilots of his group shot down 34 enemy aircraft, destroyed more than 20 aircraft and two large fuel and ammunition depots on the ground. Their losses amounted to 5 aircraft.

At this time, the Air Force Research Institute was in full swing testing new fighters - MiG-1, Yak-1, LaGG-1.

In the winter of 1940, Suprun became acquainted with the Yak-1 fighter.

In the early spring of 1940, as part of the commission for the purchase of aircraft, Major Suprun went to Germany. The delegation also included representatives of the Red Army Air Force, who were instructed to get acquainted with the modern weapons of the Luftwaffe and select aircraft for purchase. Suprun had already flown a Messerschmitt Bf.109 before and could, if necessary, sit in the cockpit of other German aircraft.

The famous pilot of the First World War, Ernst Udet, introduced the Soviet delegation to the products of German companies, thanks to whom our delegation was shown almost all the achievements of modern German aviation technology.

At the airfield in Rostock, the commission was presented with a new Heinkel He.100 fighter. Suprun, having examined this aircraft, asked for permission to fly. Representatives of the Heinkel company tried to dissuade the pilot, but, making sure that Suprun was well versed in the matter, they allowed him to fly.

Aircraft designer Heinkel recalls: “He was a tall, stately man. Before his first flight in the Xe-100, the fastest aircraft he had ever flown, he had a ten-minute consultation with one of my best test pilots. Then he lifted the car into the air and began to throw it across the sky, performing such figures that my pilots were almost speechless with surprise.”

When Suprun landed, technicians, mechanics, and engineers picked the pilot up in their arms and carried him to the airfield casino. German pilots admitted that on this flight they saw such high performance capabilities of their aircraft for the first time.

During our delegation’s stay in Germany, a captured English Spitfire fighter was transported to one of the German airfields. Suprun received permission to fly on it. Pierced by several bullets, the battered Spitfire behaved obediently in the sky. Stepan Pavlovich shared his thoughts about this plane at the institute. Reporting on flights on the Messerschmitt and Heinkel, Suprun added a description of the Spitfire: “The plane is very easy to take off and land due to its low speed. Easy to perform aerobatics, has good durability. Fuel reserves are low. The propeller is not automated, there is no heavy machine gun or cannon. Not very cleanly made, insufficient horizontal speed.”

On May 20, 1940, Major Suprun Stepan Pavlovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Gold Star Medal No. 461.

06/15-27/40 Suprun, together with Stefanovsky, conducted state tests of the LaGG-3 aircraft. As a leading test pilot, he became convinced that the fighter was unstable in flight and landing on it was dangerous.

After landing the plane, he walked up to the lead engineer and said: “Landing on this thing is like kissing a cobra: dangerous and no fun.” Suprun was witty and precise in his expression of thoughts. And I didn’t really like writing paper reports.

In May 1941, Suprun began testing the modernized Yak-1M fighter. Having completed the flight cycle, he was brief: “A wonderful fighter! In war we will shoot down Messerschmitts with Yaks.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found Suprun while on vacation in Sochi. Already at dawn on the 23rd he was in Moscow. On the way home, he had the idea of ​​​​creating combat regiments of test pilots. Having obtained Stalin's permission, he urgently began to form them. The latest aircraft were requested from the factories: Mig-3, LaGG-3, Il-2, TB-7.

In the process of creating regiments, Suprun did not forget about the fate of the Yak-1M, continuing its testing. The front needs the Yak!” - this is his review of this fighter. By this time, Suprun had flown about 140 aircraft. But he failed to fight on the Yak.

On June 27, 1941, a decision was made to form six special-purpose regiments.

It was difficult to fit into the three days allotted for formation. The shelves were about half full. Leaving his deputy at the farm, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun urgently flew to the front with an incomplete regiment.

Participated in the Great Patriotic War in July 1941.

On July 1, 1941, thirty fighters of the 401st Special Purpose Regiment appeared on the Western Front under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun. Immediately after landing at the front-line airfield, they were discovered by a fascist Junkers Ju.88 reconnaissance aircraft. Without wasting any time, Suprun lifted his MiG-3 into the air. The German, noticing the Soviet fighter, began to leave with a climb, creating ideal conditions for Suprun to attack - the MiG-3 was created precisely as a high-altitude fighter. Therefore, Spepan Pavlovich easily caught up with the Junkers and shot him in several bursts. Having landed, Suprun ordered to load the machine guns and refuel his plane as quickly as possible.

The Germans will no longer wait for the first scout,” Suprun looked keenly at the sky, “we must intercept the second.” They will definitely send it.

In front of his subordinates, almost over the airfield, he shot down the second plane.

On the same day, an order was received to destroy enemy crossings across the river. Berezina. Suprun proposed an attack by fighters. The sudden raid by two squadrons caused panic among the German troops. In a matter of minutes, the crossing was destroyed, but during an attack by anti-aircraft artillery, the plane of Senior Lieutenant Kruglikov was shot down and exploded in the air. On the same day, Alexey Kubyshkin did not return from a reconnaissance flight.

Suprun raised his squadrons several times on July 1st. On this day, we managed to shoot down 4 enemy Messerschmitts. One of them became a personal victory for the regiment commander.

According to the memoirs of the commander of the 1st squadron V.I. Khomyakov, during four days of fighting there were two cases when Suprun alone fought with six and four German fighters. The first time, 15 MiGs were accompanied by three nine SB bombers. Suprun, having gone forward, was surrounded by 6 Bf.109s. The second time, also covering the bombers, he found himself among the four Messers. In both cases, Suprun was confident in himself.

They'll shoot you down, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel! - Khomyakov told him at the airfield.

No, I won't be hit! You see, this is the second time I’m fighting a numerically superior enemy, and both times the Germans couldn’t do anything to me,” Suprun answered.

Suprun personally led his pilots into battle, flew reconnaissance missions, and provided cover for bombers.

07/03/41 The 401st Regiment bombed two crossings and blew up a railway bridge. On the same day, a raid was carried out on a large German airfield, where Suprun's pilots burned 17 aircraft, warehouses with fuel and ammunition.

On the morning of July 4, 1941, Suprun flew for reconnaissance, then twice led his regiment to escort bombers. Before the fourth flight, he approached squadron engineers N.S. Pavlov and A.A. Manucharov, shrugged his shoulders and said sadly:

Guys, I don’t recognize myself today. This is the fourth time I’ve flown out, and I haven’t shot down a single enemy plane yet.

The sixth flight on July 4, 1941 turned out to be Suprun’s last. Together with senior lieutenant Ostapov, he went on reconnaissance. Ostapov noticed an enemy four-engine long-range bomber Focke Wulf Fw.200 in the sky, attacked it, but was shot down by enemy fire. He returned to the regiment on foot two days later.

Lieutenant Colonel Suprun, left alone, decided to continue the flight. Soon he discovered a second Condor in the clouds. Without seeing the fighters accompanying the bomber, Suprun rushed to attack. While exiting it, a bullet from a German marksman hit Suprun in the chest.

At this time, six Messers fell out of the clouds. Already wounded, Suprun did not leave the battle and spun such a carousel in the sky with the Germans that they realized what kind of Soviet ace they were dealing with. From the very first attack, a burst of “Mig” pierced the fascist plane and it, catching fire, sharply went to the ground. Already losing consciousness from loss of blood, Suprun missed the attack of a German fighter. His fire was accurate. Suprun's fighter caught fire. Straining his last strength, trying to save himself and the car, Suprun managed to land the plane in a clearing near the forest...

07/04/41, in the afternoon, many residents of nearby villages - Monastyri, Pankovichi, Surnovka, as well as soldiers who were in Drutsk Castle witnessed an air battle between a lone Soviet fighter and six German aircraft. Women herding cows saw: three Messerschmitts, surrounding the burning “moment”, followed it as if on parade. Our plane landed at the edge of the forest. It seemed that the Soviet pilot would jump out of the cabin of the burning car, but the plane suddenly burst into flames and something exploded in it. One of the “Messers” descended and once again fired at the burning “moment”. Local residents tried to help the pilot, but the merciless flames did not release him from their captivity. Wearing a smoking blue tunic, he sat motionless in the open cockpit, the fingers of his left hand squeezing the control lever. Near the charred, caked wound on the chest, the hero’s star flickered...

On July 5, 1941, he was buried by local residents near the village of Monastyri. Having dug a shallow hole, covering it with sheets of the plane's skin, they carefully laid the pilot's body on the bottom, covered it with tin, and covered it with earth and turf. And the very next day the Germans entered the village.

After the death of Suprun, the regiment was headed by Konstantin Kokkinaki. By the end of the month, the regiment already had 54 downed aircraft. German propaganda declared Suprun to have surrendered. In this regard, Stalin personally ordered to clarify the cause and place of death. It became known that on July 9, 1941, a peasant came to the division headquarters and brought the badge of a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Gold Star medal No. 461, burnt documents and a TT pistol...

A note from the commander of the 23rd Air Division, which included the 401st IAP, Lieutenant Colonel V.E. Nestertsev’s statement about Suprun’s nomination for a government award says: “At the head of a group of high-speed MiG-3 fighters, he smashed fascist monsters and showed himself to be a fearless commander; leading the group, Suprun immediately discouraged vultures from walking at low altitude, which certainly deserves the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union.”

On July 22, 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun Stepan Pavlovich was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Nineteen years have passed since the death of Suprun, but the place and details of the drama that unfolded remained unknown. Local residents who participated in the burial of the famous Soviet pilot died during the occupation.

In 1960, Colonel F.P. Suprun resumed the search for the place where his brother died. A report was found in the archives from the commander of the 23rd Aviation Division, which included the 401st Special Purpose Fighter Aviation Regiment: “S.P. Suprun died near the city of Tolochin, Vitebsk region.”

With the help of employees of the Tolochin military registration and enlistment office and local residents, the search area was determined. And soon, under the wreckage of the MiG, in the grave, the remains of the famous pilot were found. Based on the results of the search, an act was drawn up, which is now stored in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

In July 1960, the remains of S.P. Suprun were taken to Moscow and buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. The red granite block was delivered from the quarries of the Zhitomir region with the assistance of three times Hero of the Soviet Union Pokryshkin.

A bronze bust of the Hero was installed in Sumy. Streets in Moscow, Borisov, Sumy, and the village of Rechki are named after him. A stele was installed in the village of Rechki, and a bas-relief was installed in the city of Belopole. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the Sumy Engineering Research and Production Association. The museum of the city of Sumy houses an armored back from the MiG-3 Suprun, found at the site of the emergency landing.

I'm interested in relatives
Maria Chabanyuk 04.03.2008 03:10:14

I, too, was Suprun (on my father’s side), we lived in the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk, Dnepropetrovsk region. Born in 1973. I would like to know all my relatives.

* * *

Stepan Suprun is a man of truly extraordinary destiny. He was born on August 2, 1907 in the village of Rechki, now the Belopolsky district of the Sumy region, in a peasant family, becoming the second son of a young Ukrainian couple, Pavel Mikhailovich and Praskovya Osipovna. It so happened that, by the will of fate, Stepan lived a third of his life away from his homeland - in Canada.

From an early age, his father worked as a laborer for local farmers and German colonists. There were many people like him in Ukraine in those years. Some, due to overwork, left overseas in search of a better life. In 1910, Stepan’s father, having left his native place, went overseas in search of happiness - to distant Winnipeg. Three years later, when Stepan was barely 6 years old, she came to Canada with her children, and there were three of them, and her mother.

Living in a foreign land turned out to be difficult - without knowing English it was difficult. They made do with temporary jobs. But as the years passed, the children matured. From 1915 to 1924, Stepan attended schools in Howardville and Winnipeg. In 1917, his father joined the Communist Party of Canada and helped found its Russian branch in Winnipeg. In 1922, on the advice of his father, Stepan, along with his brothers Grigory and Fedor, joined the League of Young Communists.

In 1924, Suprun's family returned to the USSR. For some time the Supruns lived in Altai, then in Alma-Ata and Pishpek, and in the fall of 1925 they moved to Ukraine, to Belopole. There Stepan got a job as an apprentice in a handicraft carriage workshop. Soon his father was elected secretary of the Sumy Regional Executive Committee. Stepan moved to Sumy and began working as a carpenter in the komborbez (committee to combat unemployment). In 1928, he got a job at the Sumy Machine-Building Plant. In the summer he worked as a pioneer leader. Once he almost drowned in the river while saving two children.

Many young men in those years dreamed of aviation and exploits. Stepan was no exception. When the time came for conscription into the Red Army, he asked to join the air force. In 1930 he graduated from the school of junior aviation specialists in Smolensk, and in 1931 - from the military pilot school. Already there his extraordinary flying abilities were revealed. This is evidenced by the review of instructor Kushakov, who wrote in the description:

“Cadet S.P. Suprun has all the potential to be not only an excellent fighter pilot, but also a thoughtful researcher and experimenter in flight.”

The mentor was not mistaken. This is exactly what Stepan Pavlovich Suprun later became.

After flight school, he served in combat units in Bobruisk and Bryansk. He was a flight commander of the 7th separate fighter aviation squadron named after. F. E. Dzerzhinsky.

Once, during aerial shooting training, a towing aircraft, having made an unsuccessful turn, caught its wing with the target’s tow rope. The pilot tried to throw the loop off the wing, but nothing worked. The target pulled the wing to the side, turning the plane over. Somehow holding in the air, he began to quickly lose altitude. The pilot was about to jump out with a parachute. Seeing this, Suprun flew up to the towing vehicle and with a wave of his hand ordered the pilot to level the plane in any way. Quickly turning around, he caught up with him, carefully approached the wing and cut off the cable with a screw, preventing an inevitable catastrophe.

In July 1933, he was transferred to the Air Force Research Institute for flight test work. Participated in tests of the “Vakhmistrov shelf” and various aircraft for an “inverted” spin. Desperate courage, a great desire to master a new specialty and efficiency helped him join the ranks of the best aviators of that time. In one of the characteristics of the command of the Air Force Research Institute on S.P. Suprun it is written:

"Disciplined on the ground and in the air... In flight work, he is hardy and tireless. He flies all types of fighters. He is fluent in the elements of air combat of high-speed aircraft. He is ideologically stable. He has no accidents or breakdowns through his own fault. He works hard to improve his knowledge interest, masters new technology and is indispensable in this regard.”

I-16 type 5 S.P. Suprun.

In May 1935, as part of an aerobatic team, he took part in an air parade over Red Square, where he flew an I-16 type 5 aircraft painted blue.

For successful testing of new technology and its mastery, he was awarded a gold personalized watch of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR (1935), the Order of Lenin and an M-1 passenger car (1936).

In 1935, Suprun rested in an Air Force sanatorium on the Black Sea. There he accidentally met a young man. The next day, going out to sea together on a boat, they talked for a long time.

Suprun listened carefully to the young man, who frankly admitted that he, an aircraft technician, was being refused transfer to the flight crew. “Don’t be discouraged,” said Suprun. “Believe me, I didn’t manage to rise into the sky right away. I had to endure a lot. But I rose! I believe you will rise too! The main thing is not to lose your dream.”

Later, Suprun’s interlocutor graduated from pilot school. During the Great Patriotic War, he shot down 59 fascist planes personally and in a group. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin became three times Hero of the Soviet Union and Air Marshal.

In December 1937, Stepan Pavlovich Suprun was elected as a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Sevastopol district.

Amazingly quickly, Suprun made a steep rise to skill and fame, becoming one of the country's best pilots and a member of the government.

However, first he had to go through a very unpleasant period in his life. This happened while still serving in the Bobruisk brigade. Then, one autumn day, technician Strizhev, who was sitting in Suprun’s plane and checking the operation of the engine, unexpectedly taxied from the parking lot to the start and took off, climbing to the west. The alarm was sounded at the airfield, and the plane was scrambled into the air to catch up. But it was too late; it was already impossible to catch up with the fugitive.

Strizhev crossed the state border and landed in Poland, near the city of Lida. Some time later, the Poles returned the plane, but refused to return the equipment. Soon, the Bobruisk air brigade announced an order from the People's Commissar of Defense to bring to trial before the Military Tribunal the squadron commander, the squadron engineer and the detachment engineer, whose subordinate technician turned out to be a traitor to the Motherland. They also brought to trial... Stepan Suprun, whose plane was used to escape. All four, sentenced to different terms, were imprisoned in Bobruisk prison...

Suprun was soon released from prison, but this episode still played a negative role in his future career - he became the only one among the pilots of the Heroes of the Soviet Union who was not awarded a single early assignment of military rank.

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began. Suprun was one of the first to come to Voroshilov with a report: “Please send me as a volunteer!” But the report turned into a rather peculiar order: Spain and not quite Spain... A city in the Soviet south, a rocky airfield field with rare islands of dry grass, guys with bronze bodies naked to the waist, a temperamental tongue twister in which no, no, and even pronounce the word distantly reminiscent of English: “Comrade”... “Gloria!”

These were young Spaniards who were thrown to the Soviet south by the Pyrenees tornado. The People's Commissar's resolution to Suprun's report fulfilled the pilot's wishes, but only partially. Here in Kirovograd, Stepan did not spare either himself or his students, giving them all the knowledge and skills accumulated over the years of flight work. One of his best students was José Maria Bravo. And yet Suprun soon had to fight...

On December 15, 1938, Valery Pavlovich Chkalov crashed during testing of the new I-180 fighter. Suprun wrote a letter to Voroshilov:

“By the XVIII Congress of our party, the second copy of the I-180 aircraft was released, on which the best pilot of our Motherland, Valery Chkalov, died; the first copy of this aircraft was to be tested: Chkalov - factory and I - state.

Now people are afraid to trust me to carry out tests and be the first to fly on this plane just because I am a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Comrade People's Commissar! It has now become extremely difficult for me to work - all the bosses, for insurance purposes... are trying in every possible way to push me aside, as long as I don’t fly. All this is fundamentally wrong and extremely offensive to me. You personally know how I fly a high-speed plane - in 10 years of flying work, I have not had a single accident, have not crashed a single plane... I have dozens of facts that I could cite to prove to you how I don’t trust. I will not distract your attention with a number of small facts, I will indicate only the most basic ones: for a number of years I have been asking to be sent on a business trip to China or Spain to gain combat experience. All my efforts remain in vain.

On my personal advice, 5 lightweight (red) I-16 aircraft were built, on which in 1937 the five of us showed aerobatics on August 18, Aviation Day. Now all these planes have been taken away from us, even the plane on which I flew the five, maintaining my piloting technique, air combat and aerial shooting, was taken by people who acquired combat experience. Soon it will be six months since I conducted any testing; during this time I have flown no more than 5 hours on a high-speed fighter, and there is no aircraft on which I could train.

Together with test pilot Stefanovsky, we personally wrote a report to you so that you could help us obtain permission from our government to set a world record - flying around the world without landing. The Air Force Military Council approved our proposal, but, in my opinion, this was not reported to you personally, since we never received a response from you.

I ask you to give an order that I be allowed to test the I-180 aircraft and make the first flight on it. I am sure that you will not refuse my request. Test pilot of the Air Force Research Institute, Major S.P. Suprun."

The I-180 fighter had great speed, powerful weapons, and the necessary range and altitude. A big war was approaching and the country needed high-class aircraft. Suprun achieved his goal. The flight on the I-180 was permitted.

Experienced fighter I-180 (2nd version), which was tested by S.P. Suprun.

While checking the I-180, the pilot performed thousands of aerobatic maneuvers on it. Having not yet completed the test program, in a conversation with the Air Force command, Suprun praised the new Polikarpov fighter. After this, an order was placed for 100 cars at once! However, Suprun continued to fly the plane into the sky, looking for the reason that killed Chkalov. And I didn’t find it. The chassis broke. The plane crashed at high speed. When Suprun was removed from the rubble, he was unconscious. When the pilot came to his senses, he was taken to the Botkin hospital. But this time fate was favorable to him.

Brigade commander Suzi was tasked with completing the tests of the I-180. During spin tests, the plane lost control. Suzi managed to jump out, but the parachute did not open. After this, the tests were stopped and production of the aircraft was curtailed (only about 10 pre-production aircraft were built).

When Suprun left the hospital, he was called to the Kremlin and offered to volunteer to go to China, which had been fighting Japanese invaders for several years.

In June 1939, 50 Soviet volunteer pilots flew their planes to the temporary capital of China - Chongqing. Suprun's group consisted of two divisions. The I-15 squadron under the command of Konstantin Kokkinaki was intended to combat bombers. Squadron I-16 - to fight fighters.

The young, still untested pilots performed their first battle brilliantly under the leadership of Suprun. Observation posts made it known that Japanese bombers were heading towards Chongqing. First, 3 flights of I-15 Kokkinaki took off. A couple of minutes later, Suprun’s group is on I-16. The "Fifteenth" immediately rushed at the leading nine bombers. The "Sixteenths" left with a climb, into the sun. They were supposed to pin down the Japanese fighters covering the bombers. One of the leading nine bombers, pierced by a fiery path, began to smoke and sharply began to descend. The Japanese formation, however, was not broken. At these moments, having dispersed the fighters, Suprun’s group struck the enemy from above. In a matter of seconds, 2 more bombers were shot down. One I-15 was shot down by rifle fire, but the battle was already won.

A group of fighters, commanded by Major S.P. Suprun, quickly restored order in the sky above the city. Losing their planes with every raid, the Japanese began to fly mainly at night from July. Suprun began to raise his squadrons in the dark, destroying enemy bombers, and then landing the vehicles under the bat-light lights and the light of the headlights of airplanes stationed at the airfield. At his request, large-caliber machine guns were installed on several I-16s, which significantly increased the power of fire. By the end of July, he personally shot down 2 enemy aircraft and several more in the group.

Suprun's aviation group (up to 50 fighters) soon became one of the main "deterrent forces" of the Japanese. In December 1939, the group was transferred to the south, where the fighting in Yunnan province became increasingly fierce. There, the pilots protected airfields and communications from enemy raids. In January 1940, Suprun, who, according to various sources, won from 6 to 8 victories, was recalled to Moscow. By that time, the pilots of his group had shot down 34 enemy aircraft in air battles, and on the ground destroyed more than 20 aircraft and 2 large fuel and ammunition depots. Their losses amounted to 5 aircraft.

Stepan Suprun was popular not only among Soviet pilots, but also among many pilots around the world. After the signing of a non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany on August 23, 1939, a trade agreement was also concluded, according to which the Soviet Union pledged to supply Germany with certain types of raw materials and grain in exchange for German equipment and machinery, including aircraft. To implement this agreement, a trade delegation, which included Stepan Suprun, left for Germany in March 1940.

Stepan Suprun in the cockpit of the Non-100, 1940.

The famous pilot of the First World War, Ernst Udet, introduced the Soviet delegation to the products of German companies, thanks to whom our delegation was shown almost all the achievements of modern German aviation technology.

At the airfield in Rostock, the commission was presented with a new He-100 fighter. Suprun, having examined this plane, asked for permission to fly. Representatives of the Heinkel company tried to dissuade the pilot, but, making sure that Suprun was well versed in the matter, they allowed him to fly. With his amazing flight, he captivated everyone present at that moment at the airfield. In his memoirs, Ernst Heinkel recalls this episode with great warmth:

"He was a tall, stately man. Before the first flight of the He-100, the fastest aircraft he had ever flown, he had a 10-minute consultation with one of my best test pilots. Then he lifted the car into air and began to throw it across the sky, performing such figures that my pilots were almost speechless with surprise.”

Experienced German fighter Heinkel He-100. S.P. Suprun flew this one.

When Suprun landed, technicians, mechanics, and engineers picked the pilot up in their arms and carried him to the airfield casino. German pilots admitted that on this flight they saw such high flight performance capabilities of their aircraft for the first time.

S. P. Suprun in Germany.

During our delegation's stay in Germany, a new English Spitfire fighter, captured somewhere, was transferred to one of the German airfields. Suprun received permission to fly on it. Pierced by several bullets, the battered Spitfire behaved obediently in the sky. Stepan Pavlovich shared his thoughts about this plane at the institute. Reporting on flights on the Messerschmitt 109 and Heinkel 100, Suprun added a description of the Spitfire: “The plane is very easy to take off and land due to its low speed. Easy to perform aerobatic maneuvers, has good durability. Small fuel reserves. The propeller is not automated, there is no heavy machine gun or cannon. Not very cleanly made, insufficient horizontal speed."

On May 20, 1940, Stepan Suprun was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Gold Star Medal No. 461.

Upon returning from Germany, he worked hard to test the new MiG-3 and LaGG-3 fighters. So, on June 15 - 27, 1940, together with Stefanovsky, he conducted state tests of the LaGG-3 aircraft. As a leading test pilot, he became convinced that the fighter was unstable in flight and landing on it was dangerous. In May 1941, he began testing the modernized Yak-1M fighter. Having completed the flight cycle, he was very pleased with this machine.

During this period, Stepan Suprun was twice recommended for the position of commander of an aviation division, as well as an assistant to the commander of a fighter brigade or an assistant to the head of the Air Force Research Institute for the flight unit. He promised to think about these proposals, but the war ruined all plans for the future...

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found Suprun while on vacation in Sochi. Already at dawn on the 23rd he was in Moscow. On the way home, he had the idea of ​​​​creating combat regiments of test pilots. Having obtained Stalin's permission, he urgently began to form them. The latest aircraft were requested from the factories: MiG-3, LaGG-3, Il-2, TB-7.

On June 27, 1941, it was decided to form 6 special-purpose regiments (2 fighter air regiments on the MiG-3, 2 bomber air regiments on the Pe-2, an attack air regiment on the Il-2, a long-range bomber air regiment on the TB-7) and a separate reconnaissance squadron.

It was difficult to fit into the 3 days allotted for formation. The shelves were about half full. Leaving his deputy at the farm, Lieutenant Colonel S.P. Suprun with an incomplete regiment urgently flew to the front.

Arriving at the Zubovo forest airfield in the Bobruisk region, the regiment, as they say, immediately began combat work. Immediately after landing at the front airfield, they were discovered by a German Ju-88 reconnaissance aircraft. Without wasting any time, Suprun lifted his MiG-3 into the air. The German, noticing the Soviet fighter, began to leave with a climb, creating ideal conditions for Suprun to attack - the MiG-3 was created precisely as a high-altitude fighter. Therefore, Spepan Pavlovich easily caught up with the Junkers and shot him with several bursts. Having landed, Suprun ordered to load the machine guns and refuel his plane as quickly as possible.

The Germans won’t wait for the first scout,” Suprun looked keenly at the sky and smiled. Then he said sternly: “We need to intercept the second one too.” They will definitely send...

Soon the second Junkers appeared. In front of his subordinates, almost over the airfield, he shot down the second plane.

The next day, an order was received to destroy enemy crossings across the Berezina River. Suprun proposed an attack by fighters. The sudden raid by two squadrons caused panic among the German troops. In a matter of minutes, the crossing was destroyed, but during an attack by anti-aircraft artillery, the plane of Senior Lieutenant Kruglikov was shot down and exploded in the air. This was the first loss of the regiment.

In just the first 4 days of fighting, the pilots destroyed 12 enemy aircraft in air battles (4 of them were on the commander’s account), a lot of manpower and equipment. Almost all combat missions of the regiment were carried out under the direct leadership of Suprun. All this time he constantly flew a MiG-3 fighter with tail number "13".

Commanding the 401st Fighter Aviation Regiment, he taught his subordinates the art of combat and encouraged them to use the high-speed capabilities of the MiGs, luring the enemy upward. He was the first to use fighters to attack crossings, oriented the regiment to fight single low-flying aircraft, and introduced strict order and discipline - the pilots on duty were ready to take off on alert at every moment.

According to the memoirs of the commander of the 1st squadron of the regiment, V.I. Khomyakov, during these 4 days there were two cases when Stepan Pavlovich alone fought with 6 and 4 German fighters. In both cases, Suprun was confident in himself and his combat vehicle. This confidence then seemed excessive to some. But the regiment commander turned out to be true to his principles to the end. He personally flew on reconnaissance missions, each time taking to the skies with his pilots, leading them to escort bombers or engage enemy fighters.

Here is a brief chronicle of the regiment’s actions during these days:

July 30 - on the very first day of arrival at the front, Suprun personally shot down 2 enemy reconnaissance aircraft.

July 1 - assault strikes on crossings across the Berezina. In air battles, 4 enemy aircraft were shot down, 1 of which (Me-110) was personally shot down by Suprun. Its losses - 1 aircraft, the pilot of which died.

He spoke about his victory over the Me-110 multipurpose aircraft as follows:

“The Germans didn’t come up with anything new either in tactics or in aviation technology... As for my meeting with the Me-110, I won’t hide that it was not an easy battle. I felt from everything that I was dealing with an experienced pilot. I attacked him from behind . However, in the first attack I missed and slipped past. He chased after me, opening fire from the cannons. I had to go up. I knew that the Me-110 would not keep up with the MiG in its climb. But the enemy, in all likelihood, I didn't know this and climbed headlong upward. Without descending, I turned a little to the right. Carried away by the attack, he also began to roll the car in the same direction. And then, having lost speed, he fell on the wing, which is what I needed. came at him from below and dealt a fatal blow."

July 3 - destruction of 2 crossings across the Berezina, a railway bridge and a lot of enemy equipment and manpower. During the attack on an enemy airfield, 17 aircraft, warehouses with fuel and lubricants and ammunition were burned on the ground. 4 aircraft were shot down in air battles.

July 4 - in the morning, together with Lieutenant Ostapov, Suprun flew for reconnaissance, then 2 times to escort bombers. After noon - 4th flight to the Borisov area, again for escort. Before this flight, he approached squadron engineers N.S. Pavlov and A.A. Manucharov, shrugged his shoulders and said sadly:

Guys, I don’t recognize myself today. I’m already flying out for the 4th time, and I haven’t shot down a single enemy plane yet.

The fourth flight turned out to be Suprun’s last. Returning to the airfield, together with Ostapov, he carried out reconnaissance of the combat situation. Ostapov noticed an enemy four-engine long-range bomber FW-200 in the sky and attacked it, but was shot down by enemy fire (returned to the regiment on foot after 2 days).

Suprun, left alone, decided to continue the flight. Soon he discovered a second Condor in the clouds (as our pilots called the FW-200). Without seeing the fighters accompanying the bomber, Suprun rushed to attack. While exiting it, a German marksman's bullet hit him in the chest.

At this time, six Messers fell out of the clouds. Being already wounded, Suprun did not leave the battle. The MiG's burst pierced the fascist plane, and it caught fire and abruptly went to the ground. Already losing consciousness from loss of blood, Suprun missed the attack of another Me-109. His fire was accurate. The fighter caught fire. Straining his last strength, trying to save himself and the car, Suprun managed to land the plane in a clearing at the edge of the forest...

On July 4, 1941, in the afternoon, many residents of nearby villages - Monastyri, Pankovichi, Surnovka, as well as soldiers who were in Drutsk Castle witnessed an air battle between a lone Soviet fighter and six German aircraft. Women grazing cows saw: 3 Messers surrounded the burning MiG and followed it as if on parade. Our plane landed at the edge of the forest. It seemed that the Soviet pilot would jump out of the cabin of the burning car, but the plane suddenly burst into flames and something exploded in it. One of the Messers descended and once again fired at the burning MiG. The armored back, found at the site of Suprun’s landing, is now kept in the museum of the city of Sumy. Traces of bullet dents indicate that the German was unable to pierce the body of Stepan Pavlovich with this burst.

Local residents tried to help the pilot, but the merciless flames did not release him from their captivity. Wearing a smoking blue tunic, he sat motionless in the open cockpit, the fingers of his left hand squeezing the control lever. Near the charred, caked wound on the chest, the “Golden Star” of the Hero flickered...

On July 5, he was buried by local residents near the village of Monastyri. Having dug a shallow hole, covering it with sheets of the aircraft's skin, they carefully laid the pilot's body on the bottom, covered it with tin, and covered it with earth and turf. And the very next day the Germans entered the village...

The personal example of the regiment commander always helped the pilots to successfully defeat the enemy. His death resonated with pain in the hearts of all his fellow soldiers, and soon inscriptions appeared on individual planes: “For Suprun!” Already without him, they continued to successfully solve all the combat missions of the command.

After the death of Suprun, the regiment was headed by Konstantin Kokkinaki.

By the end of the month, the regiment already had 54 downed aircraft. Examples of courage and bravery were shown by Konstantin Kokkinaki, Valentin Khomyakov, Leonid Kuvshinov, Vladimir Golofastov and many other air fighters.

German propaganda declared Suprun to have surrendered. In this regard, Stalin personally ordered to clarify the cause and place of death. It became known that on July 9, 1941, a peasant came to the division headquarters and brought a badge of a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Gold Star medal No. 461, burnt documents and a TT pistol.

A note from the commander of the 23rd Air Division, which included the 401st IAP ON, Lieutenant Colonel V. E. Nestertsev, on Suprun’s nomination for a government award reads: “At the head of a group of high-speed MiG-3 fighters, he smashed fascist monsters and showed himself to be a fearless commander; group, Suprun immediately discouraged vultures from walking at low altitudes, which certainly deserves the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union."

On July 22, 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Suprun Stepan Pavlovich was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

19 years have passed since the death of Suprun, but the place and details of the drama that unfolded remained unknown. Local residents who participated in the burial of the famous Soviet pilot died during the occupation. Official documents about his death, prepared by the commander of the 23rd SMAD, Colonel Nestertsov, to the chief of staff of the Western Front, were lost...

In the summer of 1960, the hero’s brother, Colonel Fedor Suprun, resumed the search for the place of Stepan Pavlovich’s death. A report was found in the archives from the commander of the 23rd Aviation Division, which included the 401st IAP ON: “S.P. Suprun died near the city of Tolochin, Vitebsk Region.”

With the help of employees of the Tolochin military registration and enlistment office and local residents, the search area was determined. And soon, under the rubble of the MiG, in the grave, the remains of the famous pilot were found. Based on the results of the search, an act was drawn up, which is now stored in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

In July 1960, the remains of S.P. Suprun were taken to Moscow and buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. The red granite block was delivered from the quarries of the Zhitomir region with the assistance of three times Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Pokryshkin.

* * *

In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about other aviators bearing the glorious surname Suprun - the brothers of Stepan Pavlovich.

In one of his interviews, Stepan Suprun said: “My father raised us children as communists, and my brothers as pilots.” And it was true. Brothers Fedor and Alexander, following the example of Stepan, became military pilots. Fyodor Pavlovich, having graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School named after A.F. Myasnikov, flew on 23 types of aircraft.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found Fyodor Suprun a student at the engineering faculty of the Air Force Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky. Having learned that his brother Stepan had died in battle, Fyodor Pavlovich immediately wrote a report in which he asked permission to go to the front. But the academy command did not satisfy his request.

After graduating from the academy in 1942, Fyodor Pavlovich was appointed to the position of leading engineer and test pilot at the Air Force Research Institute, that is, where Stepan served before the war. There he was mainly involved in testing combat aircraft of our allies, supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease.

In December 1943, the Bell company announced the creation, taking into account all the comments of the Air Force Research Institute on the Airacobra, of its new combat vehicle.

At the same time, the Americans asked to send them a pilot and an engineer to conduct control tests of the P-63 Kingcobra fighter. This work was entrusted to the leading test pilot Andrei Grigorievich Kochetkov and the leading engineer Fedor Pavlovich Suprun.

On February 17, 1944, the Li-2 aircraft took off from the M.V. Frunze Central Airfield and flew to the USA. There, in Buffalo, on the banks of Niagara, Kochetkov, as a pilot, and Suprun, as an engineer, began testing a new machine. One day something happened that often happened in battles on the Soviet-German front - the plane did not come out of a tailspin, Kochetkov was forced to leave it with a parachute.

P-63A Kingcobra fighters from the Soviet Air Force, 1945.

The task of testing the new machine was completed brilliantly, and in the same 1944, new P-63 Kingcobra fighters began to enter service with the Soviet Air Force. Despite all the improvements, these machines retained many of the shortcomings of their predecessor, the P-39 Airacobra fighter, so these machines almost did not take part in combat operations. They were supplied only to the rear air defense regiments.

After serving at the Air Force Research Institute, Fedor Pavlovich served as head of the faculty at the Kiev Higher Aviation Engineering School.

The younger brother, Alexander, also became a fighter pilot. Having graduated from the military aviation school just before the war, he soon proved himself to be an excellent air fighter. Defending the skies of Moscow, he shot down 6 enemy aircraft (3 personally and 3 in a group), and was wounded.

In the famous book “The Country's Air Defense Forces in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, on pages 151 and 163 there is mention of him:

"On September 26, 1942, pilots of the 16th IAP (6th IAK Air Defense), senior lieutenant A.P. Suprun and foreman Kravchenko, having flown out to intercept an enemy Ju-88 aircraft in the area of ​​​​Vereya station, entered into battle with it. Kravchenko’s aircraft was shot down and he had to use a parachute. Left alone, A.P. Suprun still destroyed the Junkers...

On November 7, 1942, a large group of Moscow Air Defense soldiers were awarded government awards. Guard junior lieutenant V. M. Pomogalov was awarded the Order of Lenin, captain G. S. Bogomolov,... senior lieutenant A. P. Suprun... - the Order of the Red Banner."

After the war, Alexander Pavlovich continued the work of his brother Stepan, working as a test pilot at the same Air Force Research Institute.

But in the Suprun family, not only men connected their lives with heaven, but also women. Anna Pavlovna, the younger sister of Stepan Suprun, became a famous parachutist.

In 1930-1940 she worked as an instructor in one of the flying clubs. Trained dozens of paratroopers. Then she became a candidate of chemical sciences and went into science.

Such glorious aviation traditions were in this large and friendly family...