Timofey Khryukin
Encyclopedia
Timofey Timofeyevich Khryukin ' onMouseout='HidePop("42534")' href="/topics/Yeysk">Yeysk
19 July 1953, Moscow
) was a Soviet
aviator, Spanish Civil War
volunteer, and colonel-general of the Soviet Air Force
. Emerging from an impoverished working-class background, he rose to command the 8th Air Army and 1st Air Army
during the Second World War, being twice decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union
before his death following a period of illness caused by a road accident.
in the Kuban Oblast (present-day Krasnodar Krai
) of Imperial Russia
into a poverty-stricken family. Khryukin's father worked a mason; his mother assisted supporting the family as a laundrywoman working for petty wages.
At the age of eight, Khryukin began working for well-off cossacks, but eventually ran off, spending several years wandering the countryside in the years preceding the Bolshevik Revolution. His formal education, which did not began until at age 15 in the midst of the socialist campaigns to eradicate illiteracy; around this time he found employment in various jobs involving manual labor, including as a porter and railway depot employee. After joining the Komsomol
at age 16, the young Khryukin made his way to regional secretary of the organization and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
in 1929. Following a brief stint at a school of agriculture he joined the Soviet armed forces in 1932 and was sent to for training to an army aviation school in Luhansk
, which he completed the following year.
Khryukin went to Spain
as a volunteer for the Spanish Republican Air Force
in August 1936. There he participated in the Spanish Civil War
as a Tupolev SB
bomber pilot, remaining until March 1937 and receiving the Order of the Red Banner
upon his return to the Soviet Union. The following year he went to China
to lead a squadron of Soviet-piloted Tupolev SB-2 with the Chinese Air Force
, sent by the Soviet Union to aid the Chinese forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War
. Khryukin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
on February 22, 1939. He served as the Air Forces commander of the 14th Soviet Army during the Soviet Army's Finnish campaign
in 1939-1940 before being named Assistant General Inspector of the Air Force in 1940.
In May 1940 Khryukin was promoted to division commanderbecoming Major-General Khryukin of the Air Force when the classic generals' ranks, abolished following the October Revolution
, were brought into the Red Army the following month.
. Khryukin was placed in charge of the air units attached the Karelian Front
in August 1941: these were tasked with securing the Murmansk Railway
and the Kirov Railway, significant to the Soviet military and war effort as the connection between Karelia
and the rest of the European territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
. In June 1942 he was reassigned to the Soviet Southwestern Front
, just in time for the Nazi
advance against Stalingrad. The Air Force units of the Southwestern Front were subsequently reformed as the Eighth Army Airmy under Khryukin, as announced by the People's Commissar for Defense
on June 9.
Khryukin's Eight Army participated in the Battle of Stalingrad
from the very beginning of the German assault. Stalin
personally ordered General Vasily Gordov of the Stalingrad Front
to instruct Khryukin to launch a massive aerial assault against the Germans to the right flank of the Soviet forces during a conversation by direct wire on July 23, 1942. A less-than-desirable number of aircraft translated into insufficient resources for aerial reconnaissance, while Il-2 Shturmovik units had to fly without fighter escort. Although it could not stop the German forces from advancing into the city, the Eighth Air Army would continue to provide key support during the Stalingrad Battle until the battled turned in the Soviets’ favor. In early October Khryukin decided to form an Eighth Air Army unit of elite fighter pilots, to be led by World War II ace Lev Shestakov
, fellow Spanish Civil War veteran. By the end of 1942, Khryukin increased the count of enemy aircraft pilots had to destroy in order to attain the status of ace; simultaneously, he promised a recommendation for the Hero of the Soviet Union
title to each of those who could succeed in doing so. On December 30, 1942 the Eighth Air Army became part of the Southern Front; Khryukin’s efforts turned in the direction of Rostov
and the Donbas (Donets Basin), where major Soviet victories followed the surrender of Germany's Stalingrad forces after the success of the Soviet counterrattackOperation Little Saturnin early 1943.
With successful Soviet advances in the Donbas, Khryukin's airmen won praise from Stalin, who called for artillery salvoes to commemmorate the Soviet triumph in Moscow
in September 1943. After supporting the Red Army
on the Mius River
and in the retaking of the Donbass (Donets Basin) region of eastern Ukraine, the Eighth Air Army lent air superiority to the Soviet liberation of the Crimea
in April 1944.
Khryukin took charge of the 1st Air Army
from Colonel-General Mikhail Gromov
's command in July 1944, following his promotion to colonel-general in May. Its performance under the freshly transferred Khryukin during Operation Bagration in Belarus
was noted as "excellent" by Marshal of the Soviet Union
Vasilevsky
, an eyewitness, in his memoirs, The Matter of My Whole Life (1973). Khryukin commanded the 1st Air Army for the remainder of the war, leading it for the remainder of the war and commanding it during the key Battle of Königsberg
in the last stages of the war (6-9 April 1945). His second Hero of the Soviet Union title was awarded on April 19, 1945, ten days following the Soviet victory in the offensive.
in 1946-1947 and under Vershinin's successor Pavel Zhigarin in 1950-1953.
Khryukin's health was seriously undermined after a post-war car accident following the Second World War, although his life was saved by a successful surgery. He died on July 15, 1953, after to a sustained period of illness.
His body was laid to rest at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery
.
Yeysk
-External links:* *...
19 July 1953, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
aviator, Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
volunteer, and colonel-general of the Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
. Emerging from an impoverished working-class background, he rose to command the 8th Air Army and 1st Air Army
1st Air Army
The 1st Air Army was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942 within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on January 10, 1949 in the Belorussian Military District....
during the Second World War, being twice decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
before his death following a period of illness caused by a road accident.
Early life
Khryukin was born on June 21, 1910 in the southern town of YeyskYeysk
-External links:* *...
in the Kuban Oblast (present-day Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai
-External links:* **...
) of Imperial Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
into a poverty-stricken family. Khryukin's father worked a mason; his mother assisted supporting the family as a laundrywoman working for petty wages.
At the age of eight, Khryukin began working for well-off cossacks, but eventually ran off, spending several years wandering the countryside in the years preceding the Bolshevik Revolution. His formal education, which did not began until at age 15 in the midst of the socialist campaigns to eradicate illiteracy; around this time he found employment in various jobs involving manual labor, including as a porter and railway depot employee. After joining the Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
at age 16, the young Khryukin made his way to regional secretary of the organization and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in 1929. Following a brief stint at a school of agriculture he joined the Soviet armed forces in 1932 and was sent to for training to an army aviation school in Luhansk
Luhansk
Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
, which he completed the following year.
Khryukin went to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as a volunteer for the Spanish Republican Air Force
Spanish Republican Air Force
The Spanish Republican Air Force, , was the air arm of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939...
in August 1936. There he participated in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
as a Tupolev SB
Tupolev SB
The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB , and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934....
bomber pilot, remaining until March 1937 and receiving the Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
upon his return to the Soviet Union. The following year he went to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to lead a squadron of Soviet-piloted Tupolev SB-2 with the Chinese Air Force
Republic of China Air Force
The Republic of China Air Force is the aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The ROCAF's primary mission is the defense of the airspace over and around Taiwan...
, sent by the Soviet Union to aid the Chinese forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
. Khryukin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
on February 22, 1939. He served as the Air Forces commander of the 14th Soviet Army during the Soviet Army's Finnish campaign
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
in 1939-1940 before being named Assistant General Inspector of the Air Force in 1940.
In May 1940 Khryukin was promoted to division commanderbecoming Major-General Khryukin of the Air Force when the classic generals' ranks, abolished following the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, were brought into the Red Army the following month.
World War II years
Khryukin was appointed commander of the Air Forces of the 12th Soviet Army (based in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's Kiev Special Military District) on 27 May 1941, twenty six days before to the German invasion of the Soviet UnionOperation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. Khryukin was placed in charge of the air units attached the Karelian Front
Karelian Front
The Karelian Front was a Front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia.- Wartime :...
in August 1941: these were tasked with securing the Murmansk Railway
Murmansk Railway
Murman Railway is a broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Murman Coast and Murmansk city and Saint Petersburg...
and the Kirov Railway, significant to the Soviet military and war effort as the connection between Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
and the rest of the European territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. In June 1942 he was reassigned to the Soviet Southwestern Front
Soviet Southwestern Front
The Southwestern Front was a name given to a Front by the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War, by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the Russian Civil War, and by the Red Army during the Second World War.The Southwestern Front in this article describes several...
, just in time for the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
advance against Stalingrad. The Air Force units of the Southwestern Front were subsequently reformed as the Eighth Army Airmy under Khryukin, as announced by the People's Commissar for Defense
Council of the People's Commissars
The Council of People's Commissars , was a government institution formed shortly after the October Revolution in 1917. Created in the Russian Republic the council laid foundations in restructuring the country to form the Soviet Union...
on June 9.
Khryukin's Eight Army participated in the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
from the very beginning of the German assault. Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
personally ordered General Vasily Gordov of the Stalingrad Front
Stalingrad Front
The Stalingrad Front was a front of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River....
to instruct Khryukin to launch a massive aerial assault against the Germans to the right flank of the Soviet forces during a conversation by direct wire on July 23, 1942. A less-than-desirable number of aircraft translated into insufficient resources for aerial reconnaissance, while Il-2 Shturmovik units had to fly without fighter escort. Although it could not stop the German forces from advancing into the city, the Eighth Air Army would continue to provide key support during the Stalingrad Battle until the battled turned in the Soviets’ favor. In early October Khryukin decided to form an Eighth Air Army unit of elite fighter pilots, to be led by World War II ace Lev Shestakov
Lev Shestakov
Lev Lvovich Shestakov was a Soviet military aviator and the Red Air Force's leading ace in the Spanish Civil War.-Career:Upon graduating from military college in 1936 he applied for combat in Spain, joining a Spanish Republican Air Force fighter squadron in 1937...
, fellow Spanish Civil War veteran. By the end of 1942, Khryukin increased the count of enemy aircraft pilots had to destroy in order to attain the status of ace; simultaneously, he promised a recommendation for the Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
title to each of those who could succeed in doing so. On December 30, 1942 the Eighth Air Army became part of the Southern Front; Khryukin’s efforts turned in the direction of Rostov
Rostov
Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...
and the Donbas (Donets Basin), where major Soviet victories followed the surrender of Germany's Stalingrad forces after the success of the Soviet counterrattackOperation Little Saturnin early 1943.
With successful Soviet advances in the Donbas, Khryukin's airmen won praise from Stalin, who called for artillery salvoes to commemmorate the Soviet triumph in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in September 1943. After supporting the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
on the Mius River
Mius River
Mius is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It starts in the Donets Range of Donetsk Oblast and flows through Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine and Rostov Oblast, Russia into the Mius Firth of the Sea of Azov, west of Taganrog...
and in the retaking of the Donbass (Donets Basin) region of eastern Ukraine, the Eighth Air Army lent air superiority to the Soviet liberation of the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
in April 1944.
Khryukin took charge of the 1st Air Army
1st Air Army
The 1st Air Army was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942 within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on January 10, 1949 in the Belorussian Military District....
from Colonel-General Mikhail Gromov
Mikhail Gromov (aviator)
Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov was a famous Russian aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union.On 12-14 July 1937, Mikhail Gromov, A. B. Yumashev and S. A...
's command in July 1944, following his promotion to colonel-general in May. Its performance under the freshly transferred Khryukin during Operation Bagration in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
was noted as "excellent" by Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
Vasilevsky
Vasilevsky
Places with the name Vasilevsky:*Vasilievsky Island, an island in Saint Petersburg in the delta of the river Neva bordered by the Gulf of FinlandPeople with the surname Vasilevsky:...
, an eyewitness, in his memoirs, The Matter of My Whole Life (1973). Khryukin commanded the 1st Air Army for the remainder of the war, leading it for the remainder of the war and commanding it during the key Battle of Königsberg
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
in the last stages of the war (6-9 April 1945). His second Hero of the Soviet Union title was awarded on April 19, 1945, ten days following the Soviet victory in the offensive.
Post-war
Khryukin held various positions after the war. He graduated from the Soviet Army's Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR and was appointed to oversee the training of the Soviet Air Force under Air Force chief Konstantin VershininKonstantin Vershinin
Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin was the Soviet Chief Marshal of Aviation from 1959 to 1972. He was a commander in World War II, and for his actions, in 1944 he was awarded the distinction of Hero of the Soviet Union...
in 1946-1947 and under Vershinin's successor Pavel Zhigarin in 1950-1953.
Khryukin's health was seriously undermined after a post-war car accident following the Second World War, although his life was saved by a successful surgery. He died on July 15, 1953, after to a sustained period of illness.
His body was laid to rest at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....
.