Alexander Yevgeniyevich Golovanov (; 7 August 1904 – 22 September 1975) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

pilot. On 3 August 1943, he became a Marshal of Aviation (the youngest person in the history of the USSR to hold that rank) and on 19 August 1944 he was promoted to the rank of

Chief marshal of the aviation Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

(the second after

Alexander Novikov Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov (; – 3 December 1976) was the chief marshal of aviation for the Soviet Air Forces during the Soviet Union's involvement in the World War II, Second World War. Lauded as "the man who has piloted the Red Air F ...

World War II

At the start of the

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

(June 1941), Golovanov commanded the 212th Heavy Bomber Regiment; then he became commander (in office: August to December 1941) of the , subordinated to the Supreme Command Headquarters. The division led by him bombed, with his personal participation, enemy military facilities in Berlin (August to September 1941),

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

(1 September 1941),

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

(Danzig), Ploieşti and other cities. During the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

(October 1941 to January 1942) his "long-range aviation hit powerful blows on artillery positions, tank formations and command posts." From February 1942 he commanded the

Red Army Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

's long-range bomber force (ADD; ), which transformed into the

18th Air Army Soviet Long Range Aviation (, literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'' and abbreviated DA) was a sub-branch of the Soviet Air Forces responsible for delivering long-range nuclear or conventional strikes by aircraft (rather than missiles). The ...

on 6 December 1944. The 18th Air Army's units delivered air strikes against the Axis' deep rear, supported ground forces during the East Prussian, Vienna and Berlin operations and fulfilled tasks to help the Partisans of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. As commander of the Soviet Long Range Aviation (ADD), Golovanov received orders to destroy Helsinki in early 1944, in order to force Finland to accept Soviet-dictated terms of peace. Due to deception and skilled use of radar, Finnish anti-aircraft artillery succeeded in saving the city (February 1944). When Stalin later in 1944 found out that he had been mis-informed of the bombing results, ADD was dissolved (6 December 1944) as a punishment. This failure hampered Golovanov's career.

Honours and awards

*Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

*Three

Orders of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of Sovi ...

*Three Orders of Suvorov 1st class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

* Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st class *

Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" The Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" () was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union. Medal history The Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" was established on December 22, 1942 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet o ...

Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" The Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" () was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union awarded to military and civilians who had participated in the Battle of Moscow. History The Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" was established on May ...

* Medal "For Courage" * Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg" *

Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" The Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" () was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union established on June 9, 1945 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to satisfy the petition of the People's Commissariat for Defe ...

Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" The Medal "For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union established on May 9, 1945, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to denote military partici ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golovanov, Alexander 1904 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from Nizhny Novgorod People from Nizhegorodsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Second convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Soviet Air Force marshals Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class