Photo of Hero of the Soviet Union I.K. Somov

The original photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 53*80 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Ivan Konstantinovich Somov (September 21, 1921, Nizhny Novgorod District, Nizhny Novgorod Province — June 26, 2011, Moscow) was a Soviet officer, participant in the Great Patriotic War, during the war he was deputy squadron commander of the 86th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 240th Fighter Aviation Division of the 3rd Air Army of the Kalinin Front, Guard Lieutenant. Hero of the Soviet Union (1944). Colonel (USSR). Major General.

He was born on September 21, 1921 in the village of Starolikeevo, now in the Kstovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Member of the CPSU since 1945. He graduated from three courses of the Gorky Municipal Construction College. In 1940, he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1941, he graduated from the Engels Military Aviation School of Pilots. In the battles of the Great Patriotic War since February 1942. He completed the first 166 combat missions on the U-2 as a pilot of light bomber aircraft, and later achieved a transfer to fighters. From June to September 1942, he served in the 744th Fighter Aviation Regiment; until November 1942, in the 161st Fighter Aviation Regiment; until January 1943, in the 21st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment; then, until the end of the war, in the 744th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought on the Western, Northwestern, Leningrad, Kalinin, 3rd and 1st Belorussian fronts. He was wounded and shell-shocked in the battles. By October 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 86th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant I. K. Somov, had flown 276 combat missions, 110 of them by fighter, and personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft in 35 air battles and 3 in a group. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On awarding the title Hero of the Soviet Union to the officers of the Red Army Air Force" dated February 4, 1944, for "exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and bravery and heroism", he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold medal. A star."

He made his last combat mission on April 28, 1945, in the skies of Berlin. The squadron commander of the 86th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Captain I. K. Somov, made 399 successful sorties, and personally shot down 20 enemy aircraft in 71 air battles. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, he continued to serve in the USSR Air Force. In 1950, he graduated from the Air Force Academy[3]. He was Deputy Commander for Flight Training and commander of the 982nd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 126th Fighter Aviation Division of the Transcaucasian Military District. He has mastered many types of jet aircraft. In 1976, he joined the reserve with the rank of colonel. He lived in Kiev. He worked as the head of the Department of the State Committee for Agricultural Machinery of the Ukrainian SSR. By decree of the President of Ukraine dated May 5, 2008, he was awarded the military rank of Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the 2000s, he moved to Moscow. He died on June 26, 2011. He was buried in Moscow at the Dolgoprudnensky Central Cemetery.