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Andrey TrudFighter pilot
Date of Birth: 20.08.1921
Country:  Ukraine |
Content:
Biography of Andrei Trud
Andrei Ivanovich Trud, a fighter pilot of the Guards and a lieutenant, completed 314 combat missions on the MiG-3, Yak-1, and "Aircobra" aircraft. He personally shot down 18 enemy planes and 1 enemy plane as part of a group in 71 aerial battles. On April 13, 1944, for his courage and military valor demonstrated in battles against the enemy, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Early Life
Andrei Trud was born on August 20, 1921, in the village of Ingulo-Kakmenka, currently in the Novgorodkovsky district of the Kirovograd region, in a peasant family. He completed 7 grades of an incomplete secondary school and an aero club. In 1940, he joined the Red Army and a year later graduated from the Kachinskaya Military Aviation School for Pilots. On the day the war began, he passed his final exam at the Kachinskaya Military Aviation School and two weeks later was assigned to the 55th IAP (later the 16th Guards IAP) in A.I. Pokryshkin's squadron. Trud later recalled that Pokryshkin had often come to his aid in aerial combat and had saved him from death. Perhaps it was the same in July 1941 when the 19-year-old pilot arrived in the combat unit. Pokryshkin did not immediately allow him to go into battle, and Trud spent many hours in his dugout, which he called the "design bureau". The knowledge did not go in vain, and in his very first aerial battle, he achieved victory when, coming out from under a "barrel roll" attack, he found himself behind the enemy aircraft and managed to press the trigger.
War Experience and Achievements
Andrei Trud's flying talent fully revealed itself during the Battle of Kuban, where Lieutenant Trud was the wingman of another outstanding Soviet ace, Vadim Fadeev. By September 1943, when his nomination for the title of Hero was submitted, Deputy Commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, Southern Front) Guards Lieutenant A.I. Trud completed 314 combat missions on the MiG-3, Yak-1, and "Aircobra" aircraft. He shot down 18 enemy planes personally and 1 as part of a group in 71 aerial battles. On April 13, 1944, for his courage and military valor demonstrated in battles against the enemy, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Post-War Life
Few people knew that this tall and broad-shouldered pilot, a joker and prankster, a brave fighter and a subtle tactician, a favorite student of Pokryshkin, was also a talented pianist. He fought in Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia during the war. By the end of the war, he had more than 600 successful combat missions and 26 aerial victories to his credit - 25 enemy planes shot down personally and 1 as part of a group with his comrades.
Andrei Ivanovich continued to serve in the Air Force after the war and was one of the first in his renowned unit to master jet fighters. In 1955, he graduated from the Military Air Academy. He flew supersonic aircraft until his retirement from the reserve in 1972. Colonel of the reserve A.I. Trud served as the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Committee of DOSAAF in Rostov-on-Don. In his final years, he lived in the city of Sumy. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (three times), the Patriotic War 1st Degree (twice), the Labor Red Banner, the Red Star (twice), and various medals.
