Trofim Litvinenko Navigator of the 191st Fighter Wing Date of Birth: 18.10.1910 Country: Ukraine

1. Trofim Litvinenko - A Hero of the Soviet Union
2. A Story of Courage and Perseverance
3. A Career as a Fighter Pilot

Trofim Litvinenko - A Hero of the Soviet Union

Trofim Alexandrovich Litvinenko was born on October 18, 1910, in the village of Stepantsy, in what is now the Kanevsky district of the Cherkasy region, in a peasant family. After completing elementary school, he worked as a fitter. In 1932, he graduated from the 2nd course of the Communist Technical School. Since 1932, he served in the Red Army, and a year later he graduated from the Odessa Military Tank School, in 1934 - the Odessa Military Aviation School, and in 1935 - the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation School for Pilots. He served as a pilot in fighter aviation units, taking part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 and the Great Patriotic War from the first day. In September 1941, Major T.A. Litvinenko, a navigator of the 191st Fighter Aviation Regiment (257th Mixed Aviation Division, 7th Air Army, Karelian Front), was severely wounded. Despite being declared unfit for flight and military service, he managed to return to duty and continued to fly. By November 1944, he had completed 167 combat sorties and shot down 20 enemy aircraft in 41 air battles. On November 2, 1944, for his courage and valor shown in battles with the enemy, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. From 1946, Lieutenant Colonel T.A. Litvinenko - retired. He lived in Leningrad and was awarded the Orders of Lenin (twice), the Red Banner, and Alexander Nevsky, as well as medals. He passed away on September 14, 1963.

A Story of Courage and Perseverance

When he was found, he showed no signs of life. Three days earlier, on September 28, 1941, Trofim Litvinenko, along with his squadron, provided cover for a squadron of bombers attacking an enemy airfield. It was his 38th combat flight on the MiG-3 fighter. During the attack by the attacking Messerschmitts, a shell hit the cockpit, and a whole swarm of shrapnel embedded itself in his hands and legs. Before parachuting out, he did everything he could to save the plane and bring it back across the front line. But he failed to extinguish the flames with a sharp dive.

The parachute canopy got caught in the ancient pines, and Trofim, all wounded and almost lifeless, hung without food and water for three days. After receiving first aid, on the way to the hospital, he encountered new misfortune - a group of German planes bombed the medical train. Trofim was found under the embankment, where he was thrown out of the carriage by the blast wave. Hot metal struck his fresh wounds, adding new ones. ...Behind him were 16 months of treatment in the hospital. "Unfit for military service" - that was the final conclusion of the medical commission. His leg did not bend in the shattered knee, his right hand did not function properly... But Litvinenko defied fate and the verdict of medicine. Overcoming excruciating pain, he trained and rehabilitated his crippled joints. Then he personally appealed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and, as an exception, was granted the right to fly. However, only in the rear and only on a slow-moving "cornfield" - the training biplane U-2.

A Career as a Fighter Pilot

Finally, in 1944, Major T.A. Litvinenko achieved his goal and became a navigator in a fighter aviation regiment. He was eager to fight, as the war was coming to an end, and his personal tally of enemy aircraft had remained at 5 since September 1941. The fury and strength of an air warrior had accumulated in him during his time in hospitals. In January 1944, in his first battle after being wounded, he shot down 3 aircraft - 2 FW-190 fighters and a Ju-87 dive bomber. In March-April, he took part in 17 air battles, shooting down 10 enemy aircraft. In one of the summer battles, he shot down two "Morane" - Mk-410.

By November 1944, Major T.A. Litvinenko, the navigator of the 191st Fighter Aviation Regiment, had completed 167 combat sorties, participated in 41 air battles, and shot down 20 enemy aircraft. At that time, the pilots of this regiment fought on American P-39 "Aircobras". In early 1945, Litvinenko was appointed the commander of the regiment. In total, from the moment of returning to duty until the victorious May, he shot down 18 enemy aircraft! By the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This was a remarkable achievement for someone who was once deemed unfit for service.