In August of 1942, Klubov entered front-line duty as a fighter pilot. In one of very hard battles over Mozdok, his I-153 suffered heavy hits. The plane caught fire, and Klubov was forced to bail out, but not before flames had badly burned his face and hands. Despite many weeks in the hospital, Klubov's skin remained scarred. In the autumn of 1942, Klubov was awarded the Red Flag Medal. By early 1943 he returned to front line duty with the 16 GvIAP, commanded by famous Alexander Pokryshkin . The unit entered battle 9 April 1943 and by the end of that month, had been in 28 air battles, in which Soviet pilots downed 79 aircraft of the following types: 14 Bf 109E, 12 Bf 109F, 45 Bf 109G, 2 FW 190, 4 Ju 88, 1 Do 217, and 1 Ju 87. The most successful pilots of this period were: Cpt. A. I. Pokryshkin - 10 Bf 109, Sen. Lt. V. I. Fadieyev - 12 Bf 109 and Sen. Lt. G.A. Rechkalov - 7 Bf 109 + 1 Ju 88. Under Pokryshkin's leadership and with daily exposure to heavy combat, the young pilots got a lot of experience (or died...).
The following is an excerpt from Alexander Pokryshkin's book "The Sky of War", devoted to young Soviet pilots. This is an episode during the fierce Battle of Kuban in the summer of 1943, when the 16th GvIAP flew P-39 D Airacobras.
""...They flew their sorties without interruption, with heroism and battled with great
skill. Klubov, Trofimov, Sukhov, Lukianov, and Zherdiev. Not long ago, they were new
and inexperienced. Now they lead big formations and successfully fulfill combat missions
in extremely difficult conditions. Especially distinguishing himself with courage and
total control of his aircraft, was Alexander Klubov. He was calm, and a little phlegmatic
on the ground, but in the air he totally changed. He was brave, determined, and full of
initiative. Klubov did not wait for the enemy, he tried to find him. He had the
special "spirit" of a fighter pilot.
One day, we got very nervous about Klubov. It was sunset, his flying limit had surely been reached, but Klubov had not returned from a reconnaissance mission. Following my radio call, he simply replied: "I am in combat!" After that, the radio went silent. I was worried that something could be wrong.
Suddenly his aircraft appeared, having been so long awaited by us. But he flew in a very odd way. He flew down, then rapidly climbed again. It was obvious that his steering system was damaged and only his will and excellent piloting kept his plane in the air. I ordered him, by radio, to bail out, but he did not hear me. His radio was damaged.
When his fighter began the landing maneuver, I was really terrified. I was sure, that his "swinging" flight would end with a ground crash. But Klubov kept the machine in control and landed successfully without his landing gear down. Aviators, standing on the runway, rapidly ran to help him, but Klubov climbed as calm as ever out of his cockpit. He walked around his plane, wondering over all the many bullet holes and said to his aircraft, "You fought very well, my friend!"
Klubov said nothing about his duel with six Messerschmitts, nor that he had shot down two of them."
