Photo of Red Army Air Force Captain P.G. Sgibnev, Hero of the Soviet Union, with a comrade

The original wartime photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 50*80 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Pyotr Georgievich Sgibnev (born August 25, 1920, Shevelevo, Kashinsky District, Tver Province, RSFSR — crashed on May 3, 1943, Vaenga, Teribersky district, Murmansk Region, RSFSR, USSR) was a Soviet fighter ace of the Northern Fleet Air Force during the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union (1942). Captain of the Guards (1942).

In the Soviet Navy since October 1937. In 1940, he graduated with honors from the I. V. Stalin Naval Aviation College in Yeysk. From August 1940, he served as a junior pilot in the 12th Separate Fighter Aviation Squadron of the Baltic Fleet Air Force.

He participated in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941, having met the war in the Baltic Fleet as part of the same squadron. The first sorties were carried out to cover the fleet bases from the air, and on June 26, together with the squadron, he flew to the Kagul airfield on Saaremaa Island and further defended the islands of the Moonsund archipelago from the air as part of the Baltic Coastal Defense Air group. Flying an I-153 fighter, he won his first victory on July 12, 1941, shooting down a German Me-109 over the island of Mon. In June-August 1941, he completed 186 sorties in the Baltic, conducted 14 aerial battles, shot down 1 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group, and sank an enemy patrol boat. There, in the Baltic, he was awarded his first award, the Order of the Red Banner. In an air battle on August 28, 1941, his plane was badly damaged, and Peter Shibnev himself was wounded. He managed to bring the damaged car to his airfield and land it.

By May 25, 1942, the squadron commander of the 78th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Peter Sgibnev, had flown 260 combat missions, conducted 21 air battles, and personally shot down 10 enemy aircraft according to the award list (in fact, according to the regiment's accounting and operational documents, his combat score by that time was 7 personally shot down and 4 in a group of enemy aircraft). For these exploits, he was presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It was filmed in the documentary film "War Day", Central Newsreel Studio, 1942.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 23, 1942, "for exemplary performance of combat missions of the Command at the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time," Captain Peter Georgievich Sgibnev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

In October 1942, Guard Captain P. G. Sgibnev was transferred as squadron commander to the 2nd Guards Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment named after B. F. Safonov, and in January 1943 he became commander of this renowned regiment. By that time, Chibnev was already flying an Aerocobra fighter, having won his last three victories on it in 1943.

On May 3, 1943, the commander of the 2nd Guards Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment, Captain Peter Sgibnev, made a mistake during a training flight and crashed at his airfield. In the Great Patriotic War, fighter pilot P. G. Sgibnev flew 355 combat missions, conducted 24 aerial battles, shot down 16 personally and 4 German aircraft in a group.