Lev Lvovich Shestakov (; 28 December 1915 – 13 March 1944) was a Soviet flying ace who participated in

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and later

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 ...

Career

Upon graduating from military college in 1936 he applied for combat in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, joining a

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

fighter squadron in 1937. Flying

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 () is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it is a low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear, and the first such aircraft to attain operational status. It "in ...

s he claimed two solo plus one shared aerial victory over the span of 36 sorties. Shestakov joined 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment in September 1939, and was at the time one of the most famous Soviet aces. At the time of the German invasion of the

Soviet Union 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 ...

in June 1941, Shestakov was serving with 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment on the Odessa front, and became the Regiment Leader on 16 July 1941. During the battle for Odessa, 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment pilots achieved 94 air victories. The losses inflicted on the

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five air bases, a logistics base, an air defense brigade, an air defense regiment and an ISR (Intel ...

above Odessa in 1941 by Shestakov's fighter pilots compelled the Romanian High Command to withdraw its entire air force from the Eastern Front. At the end of 1941, 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment received the

LaGG-3 The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the S ...

to replace the outdated I-16 and relocated to the Stalingrad area. Over the next three years he held other commands in various regions, including

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

. On 9 August, Shestakov was engaged by fourteen

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

s of II./

JG 77 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 (JG 77) ''Herz As'' ("Ace of Hearts") was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II. It served in all the German theaters of war, from Western Europe to the Eastern Front, and from the high north in Norway to the Mediterr ...

escorting

He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

s of KG 27. 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment claimed nine Bf 109s shot down without loss (II./JG 77 reported one damaged Bf 109E). Shestakov eventually flew more than 450 missions during his career, took part in roughly 100 aerial combats and was credited with 18 solo plus nine shared shootdowns before being killed in action on 13 March 1944. On 13 March 1944 (other sources state 12 March), he intercepted German bombers but was never seen again.

Fate

After the war, fellow ace Vladimir Lavrinenkov wrote a book about Shestakov called ''His Call code - Sokol (Falcon) 1''. According to Lavrinenkov's book, Shestakov fought a private war with a well-known Stuka ace - a 'Kurt Renner', who was awarded 'the Golden Knight's Cross'. No such Stuka ace existed, although the Stuka ace

Hans-Ulrich Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Gol ...

- the only person to be awarded the Knight's Cross with the Golden Oak Leaves - flew over the same operational area as Shestakov. Shestakov apparently tried to shoot him down during the first months of 1944, and reportedly searched for a Ju 87 with a viper painted along its fuselage, assuming that this conspicuous aircraft was flown by Renner/Rudel. After his death, it was rumoured that he died seconds after shooting at Rudel's plane, but given that Rudel was never shot down by enemy aircraft in his career, Shestakov could not have done any serious damage to Rudel's aircraft had he in fact ever attacked it. Rudel himself speculates in his autobiography:

Was he shot down by Gadermann udel's rear gunner or did he go down because of the backwash from my engine during these tight turns? It doesn't matter. My headphones suddenly exploded in confused screams from the Russian radio; the Russians have observed what happened and something special seems to have happened... From the Russian radio-messages, we discover that this was a very famous Soviet fighter pilot, more than once appointed as Hero of the Soviet Union. I should give him credit: he was a good pilot.

According to Sergei Kramarenko, Shestakov was killed when his cannon shells detonated the bombs of a Stuka at close range, damaging his plane. Shestakov bailed out but did not have time to open his parachute.

Achievements

His decorations included

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 ...

Order 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 ...

Order 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 S ...

, and

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

. A 1999 book by Tomas Polak and Christopher Shores claimed Shestakov to be the Soviet Union's highest-ranking ace by number of total kills (including shared), crediting him with a tally of 23 solo 42 shared victories; however, such claims are not supported by any Soviet or Russian sources.

References

Bibliography

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shestakov, Lev Soviet World War II flying aces Soviet World War II pilots Soviet Air Force officers Heroes of the Soviet Union 1915 births 1944 deaths Soviet people of the Spanish Civil War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II People from Avdiivka Military personnel from Donetsk Oblast Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Spanish Civil War pilots Ukrainian flying aces