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 ...

Konstantin Andreevich Vershinin (; 3 June 1900 – 30 December 1973) was commander-in-chief of the

Soviet 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 ...

from 1946 to 1949 and from 1957 to 1969. He was commander of the

4th Air Army Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and for his actions, he was awarded the distinction of

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

in 1944. At the outbreak of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Revolution, he left his work in a sawmill to enter the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. In 1929, he was sent to the

Zhukovsky Air Force Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Aerospace Forces. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the fol ...

located in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1946 — as Commander-in-chief of Air Force — Deputy Ministry of Defence of the USSR, he supervised the Air Force transition to the jet era. He was promoted to

Marshal of Aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; ) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the former Soviet Union's armed forces. However, at that time, marshal of ...

(3 July 1946). In September 1949 unexpectedly lowered in grade and appointed chief commander of Baku PVO Region. He was commander of the

14th Air Army The 14th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II and the Cold War and of the Ukrainian Air Force in the early Post-Soviet period. Soviet period The Army was first formed from the Air Forces of the Volkhov Front in J ...

in the Ukrainian SSR from February to September 1950.http://generals.dk/general/Vershinin/Konstantin_Andreevich/Soviet_Union.html and Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new From June 1953 until May 1954 - commander PVO Forces. He served as Commander of the Soviet Air Force from January 1957 to 1969 and was a Deputy Minister of Defence of the USSR. On 8 May 1959 he was promoted to Chief Marshal of Aviation. From March 1969 he was an inspector of the Group of Inspectors General of Ministry of Defence of the USSR. Member of

CPSU The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

from 1919. Candidate for TsK KPSS in 1952–1956. Member of TsK KPSS from 1961. Deputy of

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

II (1946–1950), IV—VII (from 1954) convocations. Vershinin died after a long illness on December 30, 1973, in Moscow, and was buried at

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

Awards and decorations

;Soviet Union ;Foreign

References

*
Generals.dk
*"The Soviet Airforce at war", "Time Life books", p. 142" 1900 births 1973 deaths People from Kirov Oblast People from Yaransky Uyezd Candidates of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Second convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Fourth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Fifth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Soviet Air Force marshals Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Commanders of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st class {{USSR-bio-stub