Photo of Red Army Air Force Captain V.D. Panfilov– Hero of the Soviet Union

The original photo is in good collector's condition. The size is 75*115 mm. There are traces of pasting into the album on the back. Guarantee of authenticity.

Vasily Dmitrievich Panfilov (29.3.1915, village of Pochinok, Vladimir Province, Russian Empire — 26.11.1945, Soviet occupation zone of Germany) was a squadron commander of the 225th short-range bomber Aviation Regiment, lieutenant colonel. Hero of the Soviet Union.

He was born on March 29, 1915 in the village of Pochinok, now in the Kineshemsky district of the Ivanovo region, into a peasant family. Russian. He graduated from the 4th grade of an elementary school in the village of Velizanets, then continued his studies at a secondary school in Kineshma (now the D. A. Furmanov Lyceum). He graduated from the 9th grade in 1931 and from the Planning and Economic College in 1934. He worked as a planner and economist at the Kineshma Regional Consumer Union.

He served in the Red Army since 1935. In 1937 he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation School of Pilots. He participated in the liberation campaign of Soviet troops in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus in 1939. For active military operations on the Karelian Isthmus in the 1939-1940 war with Finland, Lieutenant Panfilov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Since 1940, he served as a flight commander in the 225th high-speed Bomber Aviation Regiment. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1941.

He served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. He fought with his regiment on the Southwestern Front. He soon became a squadron commander. In a difficult situation, it was necessary to make up to 6 flights per day. On the eighteenth sortie, his SB was shot down, and Panfilov himself was wounded, but he brought the damaged car to his airfield. In July, he retrained for the new Pe-2 aircraft and from August 1941 fought on the Volkhov front, defending the approaches to Leningrad. In a month and a half, his squadron flew 560 sorties, shot down 6 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. By December 1941, Lieutenant Panfilov had carried out 124 combat sorties to bomb enemy personnel and equipment, and his crew had shot down 5 enemy aircraft.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 17, 1941, Lieutenant Vasily Dmitrievich Panfilov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for his exemplary performance of command tasks and for his courage and heroism in the battles against the Nazi invaders.

In early 1942, the 225th Bomber Regiment was reorganized into an assault regiment, and the pilots quickly mastered the Il-2 attack aircraft. In the autumn of 1942, Panfilov fought as part of his regiment at Stalingrad. Then there were combat sorties to attack the enemy in the skies of the Battle of Kursk, Belarus. From June 6, 1943, Guards Major Panfilov commanded the 58th Guards Assault Don Red Banner Aviation Regiment. He led groups of stormtroopers of his regiment in the battles for Warsaw and Poznan. He ended the war in Berlin.

Lieutenant Colonel Panfilov V. D. died in a plane crash on November 26, 1945. He was buried at the Soviet Military Cemetery on the forecourt of Wittstock, located 90 kilometers northwest of Berlin, the capital of Germany. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, 4 Orders of the Red Banner, the Orders of Suvorov, 3rd degree, Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Red Star, and medals. A street in the city of Kineshma is named after him. A bust was erected near the school building where he studied, and in 1974 a monument was erected on the grave of the Hero. His name is immortalized on a memorial plaque to the graduates of the Kineshma aero club.