Turzhanskii, Boris Aleksandrovich

From OnAirpower.org

Name:	Turzhanskii, Boris Aleksandrovich (Туржанский, Борис Александрович)
Years:	1900-1948
Rank:	Bgde. Cmdr.
Nationality:	Soviet
Remarks:	Soviet fighter pilot, participant in the Spanish Civil War, and the first to receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union for action in combat

[edit] Biography

Turzhanskii joined the Red Army in March, 1918 and served during the Russian Civil War as a telephone operator and driver^[1].

In 1921 Turzhanskii completed the Egorevsk Military Aviation Theory School, and in 1922 the Kachinsk Military Pilots School. He attended the Moscow Advanced Aviation School and the Serpukhovsk Aviation School of Air Gunnery and Bombing in 1923^[1].

Turzhanskii then served as a flight instructor at the Kachinsk Military Pilots School (1923-24), followed by a tour of duty in an air force unit in the Kiev Military District (1924-25), and then again as a flight instructor at the Zhukovskii Military Air Academy (1925-27). He then went back to serving in operational units as assistant chief of staff in an aviation brigade, commander of an aviation unit, the 7th Independent Aviation Squadron (starting January 1, 1933)^[2], and later of an aviation brigade. In March, 1936, he began studies at the Zhukovskii Military Air Academy^[1].

From October, 1936 to February, 1937, Turzhanskii served as a volunteer pilot in the Spanish Civil War, commanding a fighter squadron of I-15s. On December 20, 1936, Turzhanskii was injured during air combat and lost an eye. For his service during the War, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1936--the first to receive the award for action in combat^[1].

After returning from Spain, Turzhanskii resumed flight duties as an inspector pilot. From 1937-39, he served as an inspector in Aviation Factory No. 1 (Moscow), testing I-15bis and I-153 aircraft. From 1939-41 he served as chief of the Flight Inspection Station at Aviation Factory No. 1, which was now responsible for testing I-153, MiG-1, and MiG-3 fighters produced at the factory^[1].

After the start of Operation Barbarossa, Turzhanskii briefly served in the 1st Independent Fighter Aviation Squadron in the Moscow Air Defense forces. He then returned to inspector duties at Aviation Factory No. 301 (in the city of Khimiki) testing Yak-1 and Yak-7s from July to December, 1941. He moved to Aviation Factory No. 153 in Novosibirsk and tested Yak-7 and Yak-9s until 1943, and then moved to Aviation Factory No. 82 in Tushino and continued testing Yak-7 and Yak-9s for the remainder of the war^[1].