Viktor Nagorniy Fighter pilot Date of Birth: 26.10.1922 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Viktor Nagorny

Viktor Sergeyevich Nagorny was born on October 26, 1922, in the village of Ugroedy, now the settlement of Krasnopolsky district in the Sumy region, in a working-class family. He completed 7 classes of primary school and worked as a fitter at a factory in Sumy. He was also involved in an aeroclub.
In 1940, Viktor joined the Red Army and a year later graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation School for Pilots. He served as an instructor at a flight school for a year and only in August 1942, as part of the 297th Fighter Aviation Regiment armed with La-5 aircraft, he began his combat work on the North-Caucasian Front. In September 1942, he fought as part of the 27th IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment), but was soon transferred to the 193rd IAP. Flying on a Yak-1, he participated in battles near Stalingrad, where he shot down a German ace in his 3rd battle. As a gift from infantrymen, Viktor received a fragment of the tail section from a downed Me-109 with 13 red rectangles - symbols of victories achieved by the German pilot.
In the skies of Stalingrad, it was not uncommon for one of our pilots to encounter several enemy aircraft, engage in battle with them, and emerge victorious. This was the case, for example, with Lieutenant Viktor Nagorny, who, in an unequal battle with 4 Me-109s, shot down two of them and forced the other two to flee. The same force ratio and the same results were achieved by Grigory Gultyayev, who also later became a Hero of the Soviet Union. Viktor Nagorny, a native of Sumy Oblast, a fighter pilot, made 67 combat sorties in the skies of Stalingrad. This brave Komsomol member destroyed 10 enemy aircraft with accurate fire.
Later, Nagorny fought in the Kuban, Belarus, and the Baltic States, participating in the liquidation of the Courland Pocket. He fought on a Yak-9. By February 1944, Senior Lieutenant V.S. Nagorny, the commander of the 293rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (11th Mixed Aviation Corps, 15th Air Army, 2nd Baltic Front), had made 169 combat sorties, participated in 59 aerial battles, personally shot down 19 enemy aircraft, and 6 more as part of a group. On June 1, 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage and military valor in battles with the enemy.
By the end of the war, Viktor Nagorny had completed over 250 successful combat sorties, bringing his personal victories to 25. After the war, Viktor continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1950, he graduated from the Higher Officer Aviation Tactical School. Since 1960, Lieutenant Colonel V.S. Nagorny served in the reserve. He lived in the city of Sumy and worked at an electron microscope factory. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (twice), Alexander Nevsky, the Patriotic War 1st Class, the Red Star (four times), and various medals. Tragically, he died on July 12, 1964.