Vasili Yanchenko
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''Kapitan'' Vasili Ivanovich Yanchenko (1 January 1894 – August 1959) was a World War I
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
credited with 16 aerial victories. He graduated his secondary education as a
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
in 1913, with an interest in aviation. He learned to fly shortly after graduation. As his native Russia became embroiled in World War I, Yanchenko volunteered for military aviation duty on 22 November 1914. After being trained as a pilot the
Imperial Russian Air Service The Imperial Russian Air Service () was an air force founded in 1912 for Russian Empire, Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года приказом по военному ведомству вопросы воздухоплавания ...
way, he was posted to fly
reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
in combat on 4 September 1915. Undaunted by an onboard fire on his first combat mission, he continued to fly his missions despite burns. Reassigned to fighters after additional training, he was sent to a unit commanded by an officer with whom he had a personality clash. His career as a fighter pilot did not take off until his reassignment to the prestigious 7th Fighter Aviation Detachment. He would score 13 aerial victories with the 7th, rise from the enlisted ranks to become an officer, and garner numerous decorations. He would also befriend fellow Russian aces Donat Makijonek, Juri Gilsher, and Ivan Orlov. After they became
casualties A casualty (), as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, missing, capture or desertion. In c ...
, he transferred units. He would score three more victories in his new unit as the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
sapped the will to fight from the IRAS. As a result, Yanchenko defected to the White Russian forces and fought the
Bolsheviks 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, ...
from August 1918 to August 1920. After the
Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...
's defeat, Yanchenko emigrated to the United States to forge a life's work as an engineer.


Biography

Vasili Ivanovich Yanchenko was born 1 January 1894 in the
Nikolsk-Ussuriski Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...
Region of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. He received his secondary education at the
Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...
Technical School; he graduated early in 1913 as a
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
. He became interested in flying while still at school, and learned to fly soon after graduation. He volunteered for the
Imperial Russian Air Service The Imperial Russian Air Service () was an air force founded in 1912 for Russian Empire, Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года приказом по военному ведомству вопросы воздухоплавания ...
on 22 November 1914, and was assigned to the Guards Aviation Detachment. On 10 February 1915, he began courses in general aviation subjects at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute. On 16 April, he moved to begin pilot's training at the Military Flying School at
Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
. He soloed in a
Morane-Saulnier L The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a sin ...
on 4 September 1915. The next day, he was posted to the 12th ''Korpusnoi Aviatsionniy Otryad'' (Corps Aviation Detachment) as a '' Starski Unter-Officer'' to fly
reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
missions. By the morning of 15 September, he was ready to take his first mission with his new unit. A few minutes into this maiden flight, Yanchenko's airplane engine exploded and started an inflight fuel fire. As he struggled to land the flaming machine within friendly lines, he mentioned to fan flames away from himself. However, he suffered second degree burns on the right side of his face, as well as his right arm. He also continued to fly his daily
sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...
s despite his burns. He was awarded the Cross of Saint George for his calm courage.Durkota et al 1995, p. 134. On 19 November 1915, he began advanced training on the
Morane-Saulnier H The Morane-Saulnier H was an early aircraft first flown in France in the months immediately preceding the First World War; it was a single-seat derivative of the successful Morane-Saulnier G with a slightly reduced wingspanTaylor 1989, p.648"The ...
fighter at the Moscow Air School. He graduated on 5 January 1916, and was assigned to the 3rd ''Korpusnoi Aviatsionniy Otryad'' (Corps Aviation Detachment) with a rank equivalent to
sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...
. His personality clashed with that of his new commander. As a result, he was demoted back to sergeant on 23 January 1916. By March, he had flown only ten missions. He applied for transfer to the forming 7th ''Aviatsionniy Otryad Istrebitlei'' (Fighter Aviation Detachment) in early March, and was posted to them on 7 April. His promotion was reinstated. By the end of May, he had flown almost 40 sorties with his new unit. When he and Ivan Orlov shared a victory on 25 June 1916, Yanchenko showed that he had the audacity to close to pointblank range before opening fire at the enemy. Yanchenko's first aerial victory brought him the Second Class Cross of Saint George. He would fly 40 more missions before his second victory. In the meantime, he picked up two promotions in short order—to ''
Podpraporshchik Podpraporshchik (, ) was a Russian non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank ( rus, у̀нтер-офице́р ранг, , ˌunʲtʲɪr ɐfʲɪˈtsɛr rank), originally below the Sergeant and Feldwebel. From 1826 to 1884 it became the highest NCO rank ...
'' on 8 July, and then to full-fledged officer status on 21 August with a boost to ''
Praporshik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...
''. The latter promotion was granted specifically in recognition of his valor. He also split his second win with Orlov, on 4 October, but scored on his own on the 18th. it was at about this time that Yanchenko's commanding officer, Orlov, recommended Yanchenko for training on fighter aircraft. The recommendation noted that he oversaw maintenance on the unit's machines. The end of 1916 saw his departure on
furlough A furlough (; from , "leave of absence") is a temporary cessation of paid employment that is intended to address the special needs of a company or employer; these needs may be due to economic conditions that affect a specific employer, or to thos ...
s; consequently, he spent little time in combat during this period.Durkota et al 1995, p. 135. Yanchenko was awarded the
Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...
on 3 January 1917, in recognition of an unsuccessful air fight on 2 October 1916. The award came with ten days mandatory leave. A subsequent landing accident in
Nieuport 9 The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) is a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. Design and development In January 1914, designer joined the '' ...
s/n 285 destroyed the machine and injured Yanchenko. During his recovery, he became friends with Donat Makijonek; the two of them especially enjoyed discussing aerial warfare and its tactics. After Yanchenko's recovery in late February 1917, the pair began flying together.Durkota et al 1995, p. 136. On 7 March 1917, they teamed up to down an enemy two-seater, attacking it eight times.Kulikov 2013, p. 54. On 13 April, Yanchenko would use a Morane-Saulnier H to share a couple of victories with Makijonek and Juri Gilsher. A week later, Yanchenko was brought down by artillery fire inside the Russian lines; his Morane-Saulnier H was ruined, but he suffered only a slight leg wound. Despite this, he went on to fly 84 sorties over the next two months, though with only one victory.Durkota et al 1995, p. 137. He used a Nieuport 17 for that seventh win on 27 June 1917.Franks 2000, p. 87. By now, Yanchenko's unit, the 7th AOI, was heavily involved in supporting the Brusilov Offensive. On 4 July 1917, his friend and commanding officer Ivan Orlov was killed in action. Yanchenko's other friend, Juri Gilsher, succeeded to the command, only to be killed on 20 July. Yanchenko and Makijonek were with him when he fell in a battle against 16 enemy airplanes.Durkota et al 1995, pp. 137-139. Yanchenko disengaged from the clump of Germans attacking him by faking an out-of-control spin,Kulikov 2013, p. 55. and landed near the wreckage. He removed Gilsher's body from the smashed plane, and forwarded it to Tarnopol as a last service for his friend. He also wrote Gilsher's father, giving details of the loss. Yanchenko and Makijonek attacked and downed an enemy plane on 5 August 1917. However, Makijonek was severely wounded in the fight; he was medically evacuated. Yanchenko was left as the 7th's only ace. Bereft of his friends and fellow warriors, he was depressed and solemn.Durkota et al 1995, p. 139. He transferred to the 32nd ''Korpusnoi Aviatsionniy Otryad'' (Corps Aviation Detachment) 20 September 1917, and used
Nieuport 23 Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...
s/n N3374 for his last three victories. His final victory came on 14 October 1917. By then the effects of the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
were being felt in the 32nd, and operations dwindled to a halt by month's end because of
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, ...
influence on the military. As the Soldiers Committees began to advocate violence against their officers, Vasili Yanchenko fled the 32nd KAO in November 1917. It took him until early 1918 for him to reach
Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...
and the
Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...
of the
White Movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...
. Once there, he was granted command of their Second Air Squadron in August 1918; he would lead the squadron during the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
for the next two years. He would be recommended for the Order of Saint Nicholas Thaumaturge for his courage in battle on 20 June 1920. By August 1920, he had risen to the rank of ''Kapitan''. He evacuated Russia with the White Russians shortly thereafter. Having scored 11 of his victories flying the
Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', is a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in 1 ...
, he was the most successful pilot in the type. After the White Russian defeat, Yanchenko found his way to the United States during the 1920s. He became an American citizen in the late 1920s. He worked a short while for
Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construc ...
as an engineer. That developed into a career as a design engineer in
Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...
, New York during the 1930s. He retired from that work in 1952. He died in Dade County, Florida in August 1959.Kulikov 2013, p. 57.


List of aerial victories

See also
Aerial victory standards of World War I During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories. For various reasons, all belligerents engaged in overclaiming aerial victories to a greater or lesser degre ...
, List of World War I flying aces from the Russian Empire Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically.


Honors and awards

*
Order of Saint George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...
Fourth Class *
Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...
Fourth Class with Sword and Ribbon: Awarded 3 January 1917 per Order 2028 of the Southwestern Front Armies *
Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...
Fourth Class inscribed "For Bravery": Awarded 8 October 1916 per Order 1273 of the 7th Army * Cross of Saint George Fourth Class: Awarded 20 September 1915 * Cross of Saint George Third Class: Awarded early November 1915 per 12th Order 477 of the Army Corps * Cross of Saint George Second Class number 10528: Awarded 21 July 1916Kulikov 2013, p. 53. * Cross of Saint George First Class no. 11362: Awarded 21 July 1916 *
Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...
* Romanian Military Medal Second Class * Military Pilot: Awarded 10 October 1916 per Order 1328 of the Supreme Chief CommanderKulikov 2013, p. 53.Durkota et al 1995, p. 134 caption.Durkota et al 1995, pp. 135-136.


Sources of information


References

* Allen Durkota. ''The Imperial Russian Air Service: Famous Pilots and Aircraft and World War I.'' Flying Machines Press, 1995. , 9780963711021. *
Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (1940 – 21 May 2023) was an English militaria writer who specialised in aviation topics. He focused on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography Franks published his first book in 1976. H ...
''Nieuport Aces of World War I.'' Osprey Publishing, 2000. , . * Norman Franks; Russell Guest; Gregory Alegi. ''Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI''. Grub Street, 1997. , . * Victor Kulikov. ''Russian Aces of World War 1: Aircraft of the Aces''. Osprey Publishing, 2013. , 9781780960616. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanchenko, Vasili 1894 births 1959 deaths Russian World War I flying aces Imperial Russian Air Service personnel Ukrainian people of World War I Ukrainian Air Force personnel Ukrainian aviators People from Ussuriysk Recipients of the Order of St. George Recipients of the Cross of St. George Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir