Igor Pahomov Red Navy veteran, WWII veteran Country: Russia

Biography of Igor Pakhomov

Igor Pakhomov, a naval sailor and World War II veteran, was born in 1928 in Northern Ossetia. After the death of his mother and the disappearance of his father, he was sent to live with his aunt. Eventually, his father reached out and called him to join him. However, the war prevented their reunion as Igor's father was drafted into the army.

Unable to establish a good relationship with his stepmother, Igor eventually ran away from home and became a homeless child. He ended up in the city of Poti, where he befriended sailors on the patrol ship "Storm". During the ship's downtime, they took care of Igor and provided him with food. Later, Igor also befriended submariners from the submarine "Shchuka". However, this uncertain state of living couldn't last for long, as the authorities noticed him and took him into custody.

Igor had no interest in studying in school; he was drawn to combat actions. However, due to new laws prohibiting children from joining the navy, he was unsuccessful in joining the Black Sea fleet. He managed to secure a place on the monitor "Red Azerbaijan" on the Caspian Sea before being sent back to continue his education. He didn't stay long in school and decided to try his luck once again on the Black Sea, where he finally became a junior sailor on one of the armored boats in Batumi. This marked the beginning of his military career.

Despite his daring nature, Igor was well-liked by the crew. He took on various roles, such as a cook, assistant machine gunner, sentry, and assistant radio operator. As the war progressed, Igor participated in several important operations, including the capture of Vukovar, the attack on Esztergom (by that time, he had been appointed as a regular machine gunner), the advance to Vienna, and then to Bratislava. His unit settled in the city of Linz, where they stayed until the end of the war.

After the war, Igor, who was still of conscription age, decided to continue his service. Despite having only completed five years of education, he became an electrician, a skill that proved useful in civilian life. He compensated for his lack of education with diligence. After some time, he was transferred to the Baltic Sea, serving on a minesweeper, before finally being demobilized.

Following the advice of a fellow countryman, Igor obtained some information and was able to locate his father, who had remarried and was living near Maykop. Throughout the war, Igor was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner.