Golovanov Alexander Yevgenyevich (August 7, 1904, Nizhny Novgorod — 1975) was a Soviet military commander and Chief Marshal of Aviation, the initiator of the creation and first commander of Long-Range Aviation (ADD) during the Great Patriotic War. A native of Nizhny Novgorod, he was one of the most significant aviation commanders in the country in the 1940s.[1]
Origins and early years
He was born into the family of a tugboat captain and an opera singer, the daughter of the Narodnaya Volya member Kibalchich.[2] On his father's side he was a descendant of the Narodnaya Volya member Ivan Solovyov, and on his mother's side a distant descendant of Vice Admiral Vladimir Kornilov, the leader of the defense of Sevastopol in 1854.[1] At the age of eight he was sent to the Alexander Cadet Corps.[2] In October 1917, at the age of thirteen, he joined the Red Guard. In 1919 he volunteered for service in the Red Army (RKKA) and fought as a scout in the 59th Rifle Regiment on the Eastern and Southern Fronts; he was shell-shocked in September 1920 and, after demobilization, returned to Nizhny Novgorod.[1][2] In 1924 he graduated from the secondary Yakov Sverdlov School in Nizhny Novgorod.[2]
Service in the security organs and the start of his aviation career
From October 1924 he served in the OGPU, which he joined on the recommendation of L. N. Zakharov, his sister's husband. He served in special departments in Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, rising to head of a section. He took part in the arrest of Boris Savinkov, twice went on assignments to China (Xinjiang Province) in 1930 and 1931, and also traveled to Mongolia and France. In 1929 he joined the VKP(b), the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).[2] In 1932 he graduated from the flying school of Osoaviakhim and tied his fate to aviation.[1]
From 1933 he worked in the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (GVF), "Aeroflot": as a pilot, then as commander of a special aviation detachment of heavy aircraft of the Central Asian Directorate (Ashgabat), and from January 1935 as head of the East Siberian Directorate of the GVF (Irkutsk). This directorate was the largest in Aeroflot: it covered Krasnoyarsk Krai, Buryatia, Yakutia, and the Irkutsk and Chita Regions, and included 11 air routes, more than 35 airports, and six aviation detachments. In Chita, on Golovanov's initiative, an aviation flight of five P-5 mail and passenger aircraft was created, and the first regular air routes were opened from Chita to Tsipikan, Kalakan, and Nerchinsk; in 1936 the flight was reinforced with a detachment of G-2 heavy cargo aircraft, which made it possible to open the Chita–Khapcheranga route. An airport building was constructed in Irkutsk.[1] In 1936 Golovanov was appointed to the Council under the head of the GVF of the USSR.[2]
In 1937 he was mistakenly expelled from the Party and moved to Moscow, where, after being reinstated by the Party Control Commission, he took a job as a pilot with the Moscow detachments of the Civil Air Fleet (GVF). By 1938 he had become chief pilot of a special-purpose squadron and one of the best civil aviation pilots — newspapers wrote about him as a "millionaire pilot" who had flown a million kilometers; he was awarded the badge "Excellent Worker of Aeroflot" and the badges "For Accident-Free Flying" for 300,000 and 500,000 km.[2] From May to October 1939 he took part in combat operations at Khalkhin Gol, transporting command personnel and evacuating severely wounded men; he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. He also took part in the Soviet-Finnish War, with about 400 hours of combat flying time.[2]
Creation of Long-Range Aviation and wartime command
In January 1941, on the advice of Yakov Smushkevich, Inspector General of the Air Force, Golovanov sent a letter to Stalin on the need for special training of long-range bomber pilots to fly in bad weather and without visibility of the ground. After a personal meeting with Stalin in February 1941, he was enrolled in the regular ranks of the Red Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed commander of the 212th Separate Long-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment — the unit that became the basis for the creation of all of Long-Range Aviation.[1][2]
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War he personally took part in combat sorties as an aircraft commander. From August 1941 he was commander of the 81st Long-Range Bomber Aviation Division, and from December 1941 commander of the 3rd Long-Range Aviation Division. On March 5, 1942, by a resolution of the State Defense Committee, Long-Range Aviation (ADD) was created, subordinate directly to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command; Golovanov was appointed its commander.[1]
According to the assessment of Lieutenant General of Aviation (ret.) Mikhail Oparin, chairman of the Council of Veterans of Russian Long-Range Aviation, Golovanov was one of the talented aviation commanders who led long-range aviation during the most difficult period of its formation (1942–1948).[1] He nominated many ADD airmen for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, yet Golovanov himself was never awarded this title.[1]
Postwar period
At the air parade in Moscow on August 18, 1947, he personally led a detachment of production Tu-4 bombers. In 1948 he was relieved of his post as commander of long-range aviation and sent to study at the Military Academy of the General Staff, which he graduated with distinction and a gold medal in 1950, after which he completed the "Vystrel" courses.[1] In Golovanov's memory, one of the Tu-160 strategic bombers was given the name "Aleksandr Golovanov."[1] In August 2024, the 120th anniversary of his birth was marked.[1]
Sources
- redstar.ru — In the Same Skies We Flew… — "Krasnaya Zvezda"
- kvrf.org — Chief Marshal of Aviation Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Golovanov (1904–1975) — Military Leaders Club of the Russian Federation (archive)
- stuki-druki.com — Aleksandr Golovanov (Chief Marshal of Aviation) (archive)