Early life
Pokryshev was born on to a Ukrainian family in Hola Prystan. After completing his fifth grade of school in 1929 he worked in ship construction at a collectively owned facility in his hometown before moving to the city of Kharkhov in 1930. There, he attendedWorld War II
Within the first month of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Pokryshev scored his first aerial victory - a shared shootdown of a He 111. It was the only aerial victory he scored during the war while flying the I-16. He soon began flying the Yak-1, and in July he scored shot down a Ju 88 flying it. He subsequently scored a shared kill on it before he was transferred to the 154th Fighter Aviation Regiment as a squadron commander and the deputy regimental commander in October. The unit was honored with the guards designation and renamed the 29th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in November. In December, Pokryshev gained his first aerial victory while flying the P-40 when he shot down a Bf 109. Throughout the first half of 1942 he rapidly increased his tally of victories, and on 10 July 1942 he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union for flying 211 missions and scoring several solo shootdowns, which was awarded on 10 February 1943. Many of the missions he flew were against the blockage of Leningrad. In June 1943 he was made commander of the 159th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which used the Yak-7B; that month he scored his last three confirmed aerial victories. The next month he was nominated for a second gold star, which he was awarded on 24 August 1943. That day, he was badly injured in a plane crash during a training flight. Due to the extent of his injuries he was unable to fly sorties for the remainder of the war. In total he had made 305 sorties, engaged in 38 dogfights, with 18 individual and 9 shared confirmed shootdowns; other sources credit him with more unconfirmed kills. Initially he continued to serve as a regimental commander, and in September 1944 he began he studies at the Air Force Academy in Monino, which he graduated from in August 1945.Postwar
After graduating from the air force academy in 1945, Pokryshev was made deputy commander of the 7th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. In December he was made deputy commander of the 12th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. In May 1947 he was appointed as deputy commander of the 229th Fighter Aviation Division. He left the position in 1949 to become commander of the 44th Fighter Aviation Division. In 1952 he relinquished command of the unit, and in 1954 he graduated from the Military Academy of General Staff, after which he became deputy commander of the Minsk Fighter Aviation Corps. He was sent to China in 1956 as a military advisor, where he remained until 1959. That year, he became the chief of staff of an Air Army in Leningrad. He retired from the military in 1961, after which he worked at the Leningrad Airport. During his career he flew the Yak-3, Yak-9, La-7, MiG-15, and MiG-17. He died from drowning while swimming during a vacation on 22 August 1967.Awards and honors
* TwiceReferences
Bibliography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pokryshev, Pyotr 1914 births 1967 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet World War II flying aces Soviet major generals People from Taurida Governorate Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Soviet Air Force generals Deaths by drowning in Russia