Alexander Alexandrovich Kazakov (Kozakov, Kosakoff) (russian: Александр Александрович Казаков) (2 January 1889 – 1 August 1919) (British

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

and

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

and the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

) was the most successful Russian

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

and fighter pilot during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Pre World War I

Born to a Russian noble family in

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (also ...

, Kazakov graduated from

Yelizavetgrad Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast. Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its na ...

cavalry school in 1908. He did his stint in cavalry, but in 1913 he began formal training as a pilot and graduated at the beginning of World War I from

Gatchina The town of Gatchina ( rus, Га́тчина, , ˈɡatːɕɪnə, links=y) serves as the administrative center of the Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway whic ...

military aviation school.Kulikov, p. 15.

World War I

Alexander Kazakov flew on Morane-Saulnier, Spad – SА2,

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge i ...

and

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Ni ...

planes and is alleged to have the largest number of victories over enemy aircraft among Imperial Russian Air Force pilots. Unofficially he shot down 32

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

planes, although his official tally is only 20 because only planes crashed in Russian-held territory were counted. Russian military aviation tradition during World War I was different from that of its Western allies and rivals and the individual scores of pilots were considered to be of lesser value compared to their contribution to the overall war effort. On 31 March 1915 Alexander Kazakov successfully repeated the

aerial ramming Aerial ramming or air ramming is the ramming of one aircraft with another. It is a last-ditch tactic in air combat, sometimes used when all else has failed. Long before the invention of aircraft, ramming tactics in naval warfare and ground warfare ...

attack first attempted by Pyotr Nesterov, using a

Morane-Saulnier G The Morane-Saulnier G was a two-seat sport and racing monoplane produced in France before the First World War.Taylor 1989, 648"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", 2539 It was a development of the racing monoplanes designed by Léon Morane ...

as his piloted projectile. For this bit of daring, he was awarded the Order of Saint Anne, first in the Fourth Class, then in the Third. He was appointed to command of 19th Corps Fighter Detachment in September 1915. Here he had

Nieuport 10 The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) was a French First World War Biplane#Sesquiplane, sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. Design and development In January 1914, d ...

s and

s to fly. Between 27 June and 21 December 1916, he racked up four more victories to become an ace. Five months later, Kazakov resumed his winning streak with his sixth victory on 6 May 1917, which was shared with Ernst Leman and

Pavel Argeyev Capitaine Pavel Vladimirovich Argeyev (russian: Па́вел Влади́мирович Арге́ев) (March 1, 1887 – October 30, 1922), also known as Paul d'Argueev and ''The Eagle of Crimea'', was a Russian-born flying ace of World War I, ...

. By 25 May, with his eighth win, he switched to a

, which he used henceforth. Between 1915 and 1917 he fought on the Russian front as well as in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and participated in the Brusilov Offensive as a commander of 1st Combat Air Group. In January 1918, in the wake of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, Kazakov resigned his Russian commission.

Russian Civil War

During the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

Kazakov joined the Slavo-British Allied Legion in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ...

and fought against the Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet. On 1 August 1918 Kazakov became a major in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and was appointed to be commanding officer in charge of an aviation squadron of the Slavo-British Allied Legion made up of

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the be ...

planes. After the British withdrawal from Russia which left the Russian

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

in a desperate situation, Kazakov died in a plane crash during an air show on 1 August 1919 which was performed to boost the morale of the Russian anti-Bolshevik troops. Most witnesses of the incident, including British ace Ira Jones, thought Kazakov committed suicide.

Honours and awards

* Order of St. George, 4th class (31 July 1917, Russian Empire) *

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer ...

, 4th class (7 September 1916, Russian Empire) * Order of St. Anne, 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes (respectively, 27 April 1917, 4 February 1915, 27 January 1916; Russian Empire) *

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poni ...

, 2nd and 3rd classes (4 July 1916, 18 August 1913, Russian Empire) *

Gold Sword for Bravery The Gold Sword for Bravery (russian: Золотое оружие "За храбрость") was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished ...

(28 July 1915) *

(UK, 1918) *

(UK, 1919) * Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom, 20 March 1919) * Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France) *

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

(France)

Citations

References

* Franks, Norman (2000). ''Nieuport Aces of World War I.'' Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing. , . * Kulikov, Victor (2013) ''Russian Aces of World War 1''. Osprey Publishing *

External links

The Aerodrome Aleksandr Kozakov
- in English
Military History of Russia - Kazakov Aleksandr
- in Russian.

- in Russian.

- in English and Russian {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazakov, Alexander 1889 births 1919 deaths People from Kherson Governorate Russian untitled nobility Russian aviators Aerial warfare pioneers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Russian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Imperial Russian Air Force personnel Royal Air Force officers Russian World War I flying aces Russian people of Ukrainian descent Pilots who performed an aerial ramming Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1919 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union