Two stories from a local RKKA cementary

[Al-muell]

This one may seem simple... if You live in former USSR or in the West and have an acces to certain books.
This are things I have noticed before, but I was unable to find any detialed info on it.
Here's the first story:
There is a grave on the RKKA officers' cementary here in Wrocław that differs from others.
It is surrounded by anonymous graves ("oficier krasnoy armii"), but it has an unusual metal plaque attached on standard marble one (covering it compleately). I am sure this plaque swoned up after 1987, and probably in late 90. (it looked quite new, and the whole grave seemed well kept in 1999 and seems to be a bit neglected now). So I think he was i8dentified long after the war (And there wasn't even an exhumation!!). To make it more weird the plaque says he is (was) a HSU (awarded in 90.!?).
Here's all I know on him: ml. lieitienant Aleksandr A. Nazarow born 15.03.1926, died 7.02.1945.
Can Anyone find the info on him? And when did he got HSU (posthumously?)?

And the second - easier:
He is even mentioned in some works on the siege of "Festung Breslau" that I found, but there's no info on what he did (apart from the fact that he "died in an air fight").
Double HSU Ivan S. Połbin
27.01.1905-11.02.1945.
same question.
Thanks in advance.

[Taz]

27.1.1905 - 11.2.1945


1. HSU - 23.11.1942 , #758
2. HSU - 06.04.1945 , #?

Bomber Pilot Ivan Semenovich Polbin. Was born on January, 27th (14), 1905 in village called Rtishchevo-Kamenka in the Majnskogo area of the Ulyanovsk region. His family were Russian peasants.
Became a member of the CPSU in 1927.
Joined the Soviet Army in 1927.
In the autumn of 1918 the thirteen-year old teenager Ivan Polbin left his native village. For some years he worked on the railway in a brigade of repairmen.
In 1922 he joined Komsomol. And was the secretary of the volost Komsomol organization, a member Ulyanovsk ukoma Komsomol.
In 1931 he graduated from the Orenburg military school for pilots.
1933 - 1941 He served in various airservices of the Soviet Army in the Far East.

In 1939 he became Commander of a Bomber Squadron. For active participation in fights at Halhin-gol he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

In WWII he was in the field from July, 1941.
He served on the Western Front, Stalingrad, Bryansk, Voronezh, 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts.
He commanded the 150th Dive Bomber Squadron (?), then the 301st bomber Squadron.
Divisional Commander (since 1942), 1 (2 gv., 6 gv.) Div. (since 1943).
He flew 157 fighting sorties. He developed and introduced in practice a tactic of flying operations for group attacks of dive- bombers called the ("revolving plane").
He was awarded many awards and medals. And he is on the honours list of the Guards Bombing Squadron in which served.

The rank of the Hero of Soviet Union with an Order of Lenin and a " Gold Star " to the commander of 150th high-speed dive bombing Squadron ( Stalingrad Front) to lieutenant colonel Polbinu Ivan Semenovichu is appropriated on November, 23rd, 1942.

"Gold Star" To the commander of 6th Guards bomber Squadron (1st Ukrainian front) General-major of aircraft Polbin is awarded with the second medal on April, 6th, 1945. Posthumously.

The Guards general-major of aircraft I.S.Polbin was killed in a dogfight over Breslau on February, 11th, 1945. On the last combat mission before the war ended.

He was awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, 2 Red Banners, Suvorov 2nd class, Bogdan Khmelnitskiy 1st Class OGPW 1st Class, and the Red Star.

I.S.Polbina's name has been given to the Orenburg maximum aviation school of pilots. His bronze bust stands in his native village ( the village now carries his name). Streets are named after him in Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Vrotslave.

Eddie.

[Taz]

In the village Polbino, Majnskogo area of the Ulyanovsk region.

[Taz]

15.3.1926 - 7.2.1945


1. HSU - 27.06.1945.( Star not awarded postum?)


Second lieutenant Alexander Aleksandrovich Nazarov, was a platoon commander in 1st battalion of the 243rd Volga Rifle Regiment of the 181st Rifle Division.
He was born in 1926 in the Small Village of Lopuhovka Volsky (byvsh. Cherkassk) area of the Saratov region.
A Russian National. He didn't finish high school in Kaspijske where he moved to before the War before war.

In 1942 he voluntary joined the Red Army, studied in infantry school. From 1943 until he was killed (on February, 7, 1945) He fought on 1st Ukrainian front.
Took part in the clearing of Dnepr, Ukraine and Poland.
For Bravoury fighting on January, 20th, 1945 he was awarded the Red Star.

The rank of the Hero of Soviet Union to Alexander Aleksandrovichu Nazarov was given posthumously on June, 27th, 1945 for the high level of self-sacrifice as a result of which an enemy counterattack had been stopped.

In Kaspijske, Dagestan is a monument of A.A.Nazarov, his name is given to the high school N 2 in which he studied before leaving for the front.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the end of January, 1945 the Regiment in which Nazarov served, took the Oder severo-to the west of Breslavlja and has stopped in a jump-off area on the left bank of the river. The Division started preparation for advance in the direction of the city of Lignits - the district center of Silesia and a strong point of enemydefence. The Operation was supposed to be begin on February, 8th, but on the eve of the 7th the enemy counter-attacked the defences 243rd Regiment.
There followed intense, bloody fights during which Nazarov became a Hero.

Nazarov's platoon took up defensive position on a small hill facing the enemy and his unit took the full force of the enemy attack on February, 2, 1945.
The Platoon positions were shelled and underwent intensive Artillery and Mortar fire before the attack. When the German advance came close the soldiers under Nazarov's command opened fire with rifles, automatic weapons and machine guns. The enemy lines quickly thinned, The Germans retreated back to their original positions.

Nazarov knew, that the opponent would not give up, and prepared for the repelling of any repeated counterattacks: They restocked their Ammo and Grenades, he placed two MG'S on the left flank, doubled the watch and requested the Artillery and morters to protect the right flank.

The Germans began repeated counterattacks with the same objective and always the same way. Ranks of fascists with MP's were randomly firing at the Soviet defences covering the battlefield with corpses, they climbed the height, but having been unsuccessful retreated again.
They attacked two more times with the same result.
In front of the position the platoon counted 60 dead Germans. Although the Soviet losses were less the platoon was now down to half-strength.

After midday the enemy launched the fith and last very heavy counter-attacko. Against a handful of the Soviet soldiers they attacked with two tanks and three self-propelled guns carrying submachine gunners.
Nazarov called on his comrades to hold the position at all cost.
They were pushed forward on line with the armoured advance and when they came in range they opened fire and threw Grenades. Two self-propelled guns were destroyed by Nazarov's fighters, one tank was set alight by artillery fire. But one tank and a self-propelled gun with a group of submachine gunners managed to reach the position. Nazarov well knew, that the enemy could not be allowed to advance further the whole flank of the battalion was in danger.

The brave officer with two anti-tank grenades in his hands ducked under the tracks of the enemy tank. A Huge explosion rocked the air and the tank burst into flammes. The self-propelled gun made a hasty retreat.
The Heroic Death of Nazarov stopped the enemy advance.

Eddie

[Taz]

Pe-2 "Peshka" Dive-bomber Tactics
------------------------------------

In the summer of 1942 pilots began to speak about the incorrect Tactics used for the new Petljakova "PE-2" Dive-Bombers.
From the plans of aviation designer Vladimir Mihajlovicha Petljakova, they were intended for the attack and destruction of small pinpoint targets from a high dive to the ground at an angle of 60-70 degrees.
However they were often being used in the old manner, as a low level horizontal Bomber.
Here and there the aircrew even began to remove the automatic dive devices , brake lattices and other equipment that provided accuracy when bombing. This spoke for the fact that many pilots were not trained in the art of Dive-Bombing.

To prove, that the "PE-2" was in every respect a fine machine, It was necessary to change these Tactics. The Aircraft demands from the pilot and the other crew member attentiveness, concentration and discipline, in order to attain the best results.
To get all these qualities it is only possible by laborious study and perseverence in training.

Such intense study in these qualities, was conducted at the beginning of WWII in a Boming Squadron commanded by, then major Ivan Semenovich Polbin.
Design features of the "PE-2" were carefully studied, training in Dive-bombing was practised over and over again by single crews, then pairs, and then whole flights of the Squadron.
Only after that Combat flight training at Squadron level begun.
During training and preparation the commander persistently brought up boldness, endurance, resource and other qualities without which it was impossible to have success in the "PE-2 ". Problems needed to be solved at all levels of rank.

Ivan Semenovich Polbin proved to be a good commander, skillfull tutor and a skilled leader. Setting an example through personal bravery and courage.
He tought that it was not only the force of the aircraft, but first of all the force of reason that brings success.
During the heavy fighting period of WWII, from July, 16, till August, 2, 1942, Squadrons under his command made about 3000 fighting starts, from them at 829 at night.

In November, 1941 when the Germans attacked Moscow, the group of IA-2 dive- bombers led by Polbinym, struck a concentrated blow on a congestion of enemy tanks and artillery in a group at Volokolamsk. 27 planes took part in the attack. Here is how this dive-bomber strike was carried out.

Polbin directs nine bombers to attack at an angle of 60 degrees to suppress the fire of the anti-aircraft batteries, and they are soon silenced.
After that the other flights attacked one after the other and the enemy anti-aircraft batteries are destroyed.
The enemy was taken completely by suprise by the tactics of the Soviet aircraft which appeared unexpectedly.
Polbin attacks in the second wave and is met by heavy MG fire from six batteries of large-caliber machine guns. Shell fire bursts around the planes but from different directions the bombers continue the attack and confidently carry on with dive-bombing runs on the enemy tanks and artillery.

The Bombardment proceeded for more than 12 minutes. The tanks and self-propelled artillery installations of the Germans were pounded by fragment and incendiary bombs. The mission was a success and the enemy was in part destroyed. In this attack Polbins Squadron did not lose any planes only four aircraft received bullet holes from anti-aircraft shells.

In November, 1942 Polbin was appointed commander of the aviation division fighting on the Stalingrad front.
Being the commander of the Division did not stop Polbin from flying, he took any opportunities he could to fly his "PE-2", together with subordinates he frequently took personal command of combat missions.
He developed the most effective tactical aspects of group dive-bombing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Front-line Pilots now knew the "revolving plane" Tactic and in WWII was used by all dive-bomber Squadrons.


This tactic consisted of the following:
Having sighted the target, the bombers turn a sharp curve and then one after the other, with a distance of 500-600 meters between planes, they attack with a dive angle of up to 70 degrees.
Thus they achieve the following sequence:
When the first plane, having dropped its bombs, is pulling up, the second has already started its angled dive, the third enters into a dive while the second is still diving. Thus, planes continuously attack the target with bombs and onboard canon fire.

The history of the "revolving plane", actually, began from failure. Pilots of Polbins Division bombed in horizontal flight a railway bridge and ferry located behind the enemy lines, unsuccessfully three times. The bridge remained intact and the ferry remained afloat.
Fighting conditions on the battlefield, however demanded that the target by all means and at all costs to be destroyed.

Sometime in the evening after the third failed attack Polbin confronted his officers and said to them:

"Give, everything friends, together search for a solution to this problem".
After a while Polbin said, "Please be quiet" and among murmours from his Junior Officers said, "I have somthing to say".

Ivan Semenovich grabbed a piece of Chalk and drew on the board an intricate figure similar to the outlines of a woman.

"Here we are looking at the... "Revolving plane, I could not think of a better name for this future Tactic" proceeded Polbin.
"But the name is not important, we should be thinking now of how to protect our Bombers during an attack".

And immediately offers began to come in from his Junior Officers. One advised that the main attention of fighters be given to the cover of the top and bottom of the formation and to peel off when the Bomber starts its dive; others specified necessity of the protection of the flanks of the formation.

Polbin listened closely to the ideas, views and judgements of his pupils and officers and, having analised them, drew on the board one of the variants of the interaction of bombers with fighters. Covering, in his opinion, should consist of several groups: one shock and two-three groups of direct support.

"The first group", he says, "flies a little bit higher than the "peshkas" and protects them from an attack from enemy fighters from above. Groups of fighters give direct support cover to the "revolving plane" from the flanks and continues to cover the bombers during the attack of the enemy target".

[Taz]

Soon after that memorable conversation, the new tactic thought up by Polbin and his men, was put into practice. Polbin himself led some of his squadrons on the targets. Having made two bombing runs, they were successfully destroyed. The ferry was destroyed by the direct hits of bombs.

Below Stalingrad in a bend of the Don two Squadrons of Polbins Division frequently lost planes to enemy fighters whilst attacking enemy trains, columns of tanks, motor vehicles, Airbases and Troop movements.
In the beginning of August bombers of a Squadron in Polbins Division put in a bombing attack on an enemy airbase in the Millerovo area. About 200 German planes were concentrated there. The attack was again led by Ivan Semenovich Polbin.

The crews led by the fearless commander broke through the barrage of anti-aircraft fire. The bursts of the exploding shells was still in the air as the second wave of four PE-2s started their attack. The crews of the dive-bombers met heavy flak and MG fire and during the attack the navigators/radio operators beat off several enemy fighter attacks. The Squadron bombed the airbase and was able to return to base with no losses. Flying near to Polbin was one of his best pupils, flight-commander L.V.Zholudev who became subsequently a Hero of Soviet Union and with the rank of general-lieutenant of aircraft a long time deputy minister of civil aircraft of the USSR.
When Polbins dive-bomber landed, the aircraft mechanics counted on his wings and fuselage over 70 holes from flak and MG fire.

Through the war years crews of Polbins PE-2 dive-bomber Squadrons used the "revolving object" tactic to great effect by destroying some of the most important and strongly protected military German targets. And this tactic was used by all the soviet air arms on the front line.

Polbins tactics showed new qualities of the PE-2 dive-bomber and this plane will always be connected to his name.
When the Soviet armies conducted offensive actions in the Western Ukraine, there was such an episode.
Pilot V.Panin, having returned with the Squadron after a mission, was not in a hurry up to make his landing, and unexpectedly began to carry out aerobatic manoeuvres which was not authorized for the PE-2. The Squadron commander severly remanded Panin for his actions. This case became known to the commander of the Division I.S. Polbin. Polbin himself, in a long and detailed interview asked Panin how on Earth he could carry out aerobatic manoeuvres on a multi-ton bomber.

After the conversation general Polbin sent Panin to serve time in the guardroom, and ordered the engineer to carefully check up on the condition of Panins plane.

Soon the engineer reported back to the commander and said:

"The plane is serviceable. No damage or deformations of any parts have been noticed".
Some days later Ivan Semenovich took off and above the airbase executed a cascade of aerobatic manoeuvres. With everybody observing for flight in admiration.

After landing Polbin, clinbed out of his cockpit and said:

"You know this machine is a miracle. We can now carry out Combat Missions without fighter escort. Here we have a fighter and a dive-bomber", describing the "PE-2".

After that episode the "PE-2" became a multi-purpose plane in the Division. In which its pilots freely maneuvered, not having to be carefull of overloading. And separate crews finished bomb loading with 1100 and more kgs instead of 600-700, stipulated by the instruction manual.

... Dangerous problems arose for the bombers with the armies of the 1st Ukrainian front in the Breslau area. The troops faced heavy opposition. Understanding the necessity of infantry support from the air, general Polbin solved personally requests of the young pilots of the task force. Before the start he was vigorous, and cheerful.

At the appointed time a powerful column of enemy troops appeared above Breslau. Beyond the Oder a large forest began. This was already in the hands of the Soviet armies.
Polbin led a column of planes ten degrees more to the left. Having peeled away from the main formation they passed over the southern surburbs of Breslau taken by the Soviet armies, and at once have came across dense protecting fire of enemy anti-aircraft batteries.

Manoeuvring between shell bursts, general Polbin saw a target. A big congestion of tanks and motor vehicles. The leader took his leading plane into a dive. The Black images of tanks and motor vehicles raced towards him increasing in size by the second.

"Bombs are reset!" The navigator reports.

Explosion! The second... The third! The plane as if it was a boat on a crest of a wave, smoothly left the dive. The Earth, overturning, slowly departed downwards.
Behind the cockpit glass the sky appeared. Suddenly the machine was violently shaken, and the caustic, suffocating smell of sulfur rushed into the cockpit with a roar. It became dark with nothing to breathe...

"Comrade general! Ivan Semenovich!" Lieutenant Belash cries, Polbin dived right

The young pilot was usually at the top of the "revolving plane". This time an enemy fighter took this position and went for the leader. At the start of his dive Belash saw, the plane of the general shrouded in smoke and as it then hit the the ground he shuddered for an instant.

In these seconds it seemed to the pilot, that his heart has stopped. The strange silence had deafened him. He did not hear the whistle of wind behind the cockpit glass, the rumble of the plane engines. He only saw the burning machine as it carried away the favourite commander further and further into a bottomless precipice...

"Comrade commander! Ivan Semenovich!" Belash continued to shout, knowing that he is powerless to do anything to help the general, the city flew by, don't hit a roof he prayed and hoped.

The plane suddenly leveled, and soared up above the lifeless ruins of the burned down houses on the East bank of the Oder. "There, more likely there, the young pilot screamed, there is a flat space to crash land on the bank, there it is close by the... "

Belash had caught up the plane of the general, flied above and watched it. He saw, how the "PE-2", trailing two black plumes of smoke, limped across the city sky.
The pilot was ready even to count the houses which needed to be flown by, he begged, and prayed that Polbin would make it....

Ahead the area opened up on the horizon. On it, the walls of a multi-storey building, and on the roof anti-aircraft guns.

The left motor suddenly burst into flames, and the plane, having lost the wing, went down. Skidding on the asphalt, it ran into the base of a house and exploded. Above the area, high into the sky a cloud of a smoke and dust has shot up.

So before the final victory the life of the fine pilot-innovator, the valorous general of the aviation guards has gone. He was lost, carrying out the last, 157th fighting mission.

Pe-2 "Peshka" Dive-bomber

[Taz]

Al,

I hope these articles help solve your questions.

Eddie.

[Al-muell]

Great info!
Thanks.
I will check Nazarov's date of birth during the weekend, but I am almost sure I have written a proper one directly from his grave.
And btw. do You knw where's Polbin buried? I mean - the plate is on the central monument, but someone told me he is actually not buried there.

[Taz]

Al,
Is this the central monument you are talking about?
If so in an article I found it says that his body has never been found.

Here is a discription and what it says:

This memorial plate in a Soviet officers cemetery is in the southern part of Vrotslav (Poland) on a street fork between Vyshchigovoj and Karkonoshskoj avenues. The plate is mounted at the bottom of a pentagonal rotunda.

The text in Polish on the left part of the plate, in Russian on the right part reads:

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union the general-major of aircraft Polbin, Ivan Semenovich.
27. II.1905-11. II.1945
Died a heroic death in a dogfight with fascists during the clearing of Vrotslava.
Eternal memory and glory to the brave hero.

It is known that his Pe-2 dive-bomber crashed behind the German lines and that Polbins body has never been found.

Eddie.

[Al-muell]

Yes, that's the monument.
I have tried to make a good pic of the plate with writtings visible, but couldn't - the old gold paint from the letters faded and now finger is more helpful in reading this than eye...
Here's the pic from the main (west) entrance.