Photo of Red Army Air Force Captain Orlov Ya.N. – Hero of the Soviet Union

The original photo is in excellent collector's condition. The size is 80*116 mm. From the personal file of the Hero. Rare. Guarantee of authenticity.

Yakov Nikiforovich Orlov (1917-2009) — major of the Soviet Army, participant of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). Yakov Orlov was born on November 25, 1917 in the village of Nesterovka (now the Karasuksky district of the Novosibirsk region). After graduating from the seventh grade of school, he worked as a sailor and a bricklayer. Later he graduated from a mining college and worked as an electrician. I studied at the aero club. In 1940, Orlov was drafted to serve in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In 1942, he graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation School of Pilots. Since August 1943, he served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. By November 1944, Senior Lieutenant Yakov Orlov commanded the 11th Separate Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment of the 3rd Air Army of the 1st Baltic Front. By that time, he had made 154 combat sorties for aerial reconnaissance and aerial photography of enemy concentrations of military equipment and manpower, had been shot down several times, and had come under fire from anti-aircraft artillery and fighter jets. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 23, 1945, Senior Lieutenant Yakov Orlov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for "exemplary performance of combat missions of the command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and his courage and heroism." After the end of the war, Orlov continued to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1952, he graduated from the Higher Tactical Flight Courses. In 1957, with the rank of major, Orlov was discharged into the reserve. He lived and worked in Tambov. He was actively engaged in social activities. He died on June 8, 2009, and was buried at Vozdvizhenskoye Cemetery (Tambov). Honorary citizen of Tambov. He was also awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and a number of medals.