Civil War in Spain 1936-1939 indelibly affected the fates of a whole generation of Soviet fliers. They wrote very remarkable pages in the history of the air war over the Pyrenees, one of them particular. Not least in the aces list of this war is Mikhail Nesterowich Yakushin - who achieved the first victory at night in the history of Soviet aviation.
Mikhail Yakushin was born on 20 March 1910 near Moscow. Like many Soviet youths at that time, he decided to become a military flier. After graduating from the military pilot training school, he was assigned to the 70th Separate Detachment based in Baku. There he flew Polikarpov I-I6 fighters with M-22 and M-25 engines. As his colleagues remembered, Yakushin was by nature a restrained man accustomed to expressing his thoughts succinctly and clearly.
In spring of 1937, the second volunteer group sent to the war in Spain left Baku. Besides Yakushin, the group consisted of I. Eremenko, L. Rybkin, I. Trophimov, M. Petrov, S. Shelyganov and I. Karpov; they traveled through France with Dutch passports - they didn't speak either foreign language fluently!
Not without adventures the Soviet fliers arrived at their destination in May 1937. Like all volunteers in the group, Mikhail was accorded a pseudonym under which he was known in Spain, Carlos Castejon. (Some sources often state another pseudonym, Rodrigo Mateo. The point is that pseudonyms are a complication lasting for a long time and especially when materials about actions of Soviet volunteers are researched. Spanish advisers and Yakushin's friends, including Spaniards, called him as Carlos Castejon and they remembered it. Rodrigo Mateo was a Serov's pseudonym).
After arrival, an escuadrilla of I-I6 fighters, designated 1/21, was organized under the command of I. Eremenko. Primary this unit performed defensive duties over Cartagena and Alicante covering ship and transports from insurgent air raids. During a period of forced inaction in June 1937, half of the group was sent to Los Alkazares airfield, where it was re-equipped with I-I5 biplanes. The escuadrilla was accorded a new appellation -1/26.
The escuadrilla had ready become operational two days after the Brunete campaign began and where aviation played considerable role. The insurgents increased their presence in the air battles by using German and Italian units armed with the newest aircraft. But, Soviet fliers gained considerable success there, claiming numerous enemy aircraft shot down. On 1 July, Yakushin opened his score there by claiming an Italian Fiat CR.32 fighter destroyed. On that day, the escuadrilla was ordered to conduct a recon flight over all of the enemy highway roads coming to Madrid from the west. In the morning, they started the planned flights, however, no results were gained at first.
A day was tending to the evening, the command resolved to conduct the last flight of the day by the whole escuadrilla. Twelve aircraft took off along a road to Avila. Some 30-40 kilometers from the front line, over the region of Toledo, they met an equal number of CR.32s and the battle was on!
The escuadrilla obtained six victories without losses, but none of the Soviet pilots could put a claim for two of the shot-down Fiats because of the confusion of the dogfight. (Shingarev writes that Commissar of Soviet volunteer pilots, Felipe Agal'tsov, visited them on the afternoon of 30 June (his pseudonym in Spain was Colonel Martin). Shingarev mentions the date of that combat as 1 July 1937, and that it was their first combat over Toledo - they were attacked by a group of Fiat CR.32s. Together, Eremenko and Kuznetsov shot down three Fiats. They saw Yakushin shot down another Fiat.)
The basic task of the escuadrilla task at this stage opt the operations was capital cover for which they were based at Campo Soto airfield. With that assignment, Yakushin gained the following victories: on 6 July 1937 he, together with Serov, knocked down an Italian Fiat CR.32 over the region of Brunete. And after the following two-day operation Soviet fliers counted two enemy aircraft shot down. Singarev gives the detailing description of air battle that took place on the next day (7 July 1937) when Yakushin gained his next victory. In early morning, Yeryomenko was ordered to fly towards the city of Madrid to unite with Lakeyev's escuadrilla in the air. The escuadrilla of Aleksandr Minayev, meanwhile, was flying over the front line. The antiaircraft defence opened fire upon the Republican fighters over the Delicias railroad station. Fiat CR.32s appeared from Princess Bridge side. Dog-fights began over Delicias railroad station, Andalusia Bridge, and Tobacco Manufacture. A group of Ju-52s and Do-17s appeared from the western side. Minayev's escuadrilla flew to intercept the bombers, but Fiats attacked the l-l5s and dispersed them. Jose Redondo, the Spanish pilot of one of the 1-15s, was wounded; Rybkin shielded him, but both were forced to fight nine Fiats. One Fiat collided with another and was set on fire. Rybkin and Redondo joined with Petrov and Karpov who had flown to help. At that moment, Yakushin, Eremenko, and Serov attacked the leading group of Fiats from above. One Fiat was shot down and the pilot bailed out. Pilots of 1-15s and 1-16s had seen four Bf-109s, but they did not attack the Republican fighter. The 1-15 of Austrian Walter Korrows was attacked by Fiat and was shot down; immediately the 1-15 of Yakushin attacked this Fiat and destroyed it in the air. Commenting on this battle, the Spanish Civil War researcher Victor Turon from Barcelona, states that the Fiat unit involved in this combat was the Italian 23 Gruppo, led by Maggiore Zotti; they claimed three l-l5s and three 1-16s for the loss of two Fiats: Gino Passeri (killed) and Alfonso Mattel (parachuted safely).
Activity of the Republican aviation forced the insurgents to switch to night actions. With basic tactics, they began bombing Republican airfields and positions by single-seat aircraft. Nothing was done in response to these raids except for passive-defense measures such as masking and darkening. Even the suggestion of Soviet fliers to use their fighters at night was not supported at first. Only after a conference in the superior General Staff did Spanish Colonel Vincente Rojo allow night actions to be permitted. It had to be turned and, at last, it was! A patrol flight of night fighters led by Victor Kuznetsov (pilots Yakushin, Serov, Rybkin, and Sorokin) had been formed by Eremenko's escuadrilla at Alcala de Henares aerodrome by the beginning of the Brunete operation.
The aerodrome was bombed by one Ju-52 on the night of 14 July 1937. Serov's fighter was damaged while making its landing, pilot slightly wounded in the head. On 15 July, one Ju-52 again bombed the aerodrome; Rybkin tried to takeoff and intercept it, but could not start the engine. No airplanes were damaged.
On the night of 18 July, an I-I5 (pilot Yakushin) met a Ju-52 bomber and tried to intercept it. The Ju-52 opened fire and slightly damaged the I-I6, which landed successfully,
On the morning of 18 July, Kuznetsov and Sorokin left for the USSR.
Night operations were not easy because airfields did not have the necessary infrastructure such as beacons, searchlights, etc. They set up some car headlights and lit bonfires along the runway, which the ground personnel covered over at the first sign of the enemy's presence. Training began at Alcala de Henares which was the most suitable airfield. Then, Yakushin became a night "Chato" flight leader. (Some sources mention Serov as a leader).
The experiment was put into practice on 25 June. Yakushin took off first to patrol at 3,000 meters altitude, followed by Serov at 2,600 m. Yakushin sighted an enemy three-engined aircraft heading for Madrid. Closing in from the east, he let go with his four machine guns almost at point blank range, about 40 meters, and exhausted his ammunition. Bullets hit the target, but the aircraft did not go down - it altered the course and speed off. Back on the ground, a disappointed Yakushin discussed the unsatisfactory result with Serov. They decided that if they were to set the Junkers alight they would have to concentrated their fire on the fuel tank located at the junction the right wing with the fuselage.
On the night of 25-26 July 1937, when enemy aircraft were reported bombing the Republican lines over the area around the Escorial, they headed for the front flying over it at night for the first time. Aided by the glow from the fires, they found the patrol zone. This time Yakushin was lucky and he soon spotted an enemy bomber. Turning through 180 degrees he closed in from the east at the same height towards the enemy's starboard. Closing in as near as he could, he opened fire and instantly flame appeared along the Junker's fuselage. (It was 1:42 a. m.) The enemy gunner tried to fight off the attack, but Yakushin continued firing, following the aircraft down until it hit the ground beside the El Escorial on the Robledo de Chavela highway. Four men from the Ju-52's crew were killed in the air, the fifth baled out and was taken captive. The crew (all from 3.K/88 and flying Ju-52 22+76) were: Lieutenant Leo Falk, Fieldwebel George Ubelhack, Unteroffizier Friz Berndt, Unteroffizier Walter Brotzmann and navigator Unteroffizier Heinz Bottcher who was captured.
Smirnov also states the date of that action as 27 July; perhaps the flight began before midnight. Shingarev fixes the date before the midnight. This confusion often appears with dates of night flights, the calendar date being reported inconsistently. This was the first Republican night victory during the Spanish civil war.
Next night, Serov destroyed a Ju-52 from I.K/88,with one killed (August Heyer) and four captured (Johannes Remling, Rolf Pirner, Walter Schellhorn and Bruno Thielebein).
In regards to the shooting down of two German bombers by Yakushin and Serov, a recent book published by Patrick Laureau and Juan Arraez Cerda has some new information. They had access to lists of German crewmen sent to Spain in 1936-1939 and they confirmed that two bombers were destroyed: there was one survivor from the first and four survivors from the second, giving a total of 5 killed and 5 captured. This confused the historians for many years because the German lists published previously contained just the names of the killed, and many authors believed only one German bomber had been shot down. It is now clear that Yakushin and Serov accounted for two Ju-52s in two consecutive nights and almost over the same area.
On the early morning of 27 July, Ptukhin and ground crew found the wreckage of the Ju-52 shot down by Yakushin. They took maps and flight logs from their dead pilots; it was ascertained that the Ju-52 had been part of a bomber squadron based on Avila aerodrome and had the "Black Dragon" emblem on fuselage and fin. For these night patrol flights, the Republican government awarded Mikhail Yakushin and Anatoly Serov golden watches and personal cars, they also were awarded the Red Bunner order by the Soviet government.
These first victories elevated spirit of all of the fliers. Not only on the Central front. Other areas began being organized groups of 1-15 night fighters. Business went on.
On 14 September, over the region of Sarihena, Ivan Eremenko was flying I-I6 when he shot down a Ju-52 bomber from 2.G/22. This Ju-52 was coded 22+61 with a Spanish crew consisting of Jose Muntadas Prim (some sources say Captain Carlos Muntadas Salvado-Prim), Carazo Calleja, engineer Sergeant Romero, radio operator Corporal Apricio Velasco, and gunner Jose Ramon Blasco Lavfn. The 2nd pilot was a Russian, Lieutenant Vsevolod Marchenko. Only Blasco survived to reach his lines after bailing out; Marchenko also parachuted safely, but was executed by Republicans. It was an unique occasion; thousands of kilometers from their mother country a Russian had shot down another Russian!
[V. Marchenko was a Ukrainian who graduated from the Russian Naval College in 1911 and during the First World War he transferred to aviation. During the Russian Civil War hp served with the White Russian Army of Admiral Kolchak and was awarded the St. George Cross. He left Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, going first to Yugoslavia and then joining the Spanish Legion serving in Los Aicazares as a Captain. He became a pilot with the Madrid-Paris airline, and then during the Spanish Civil War he was a pilot on Ju-52 bombers for Nationalist forces.]
Sometime later, Sobolev gained another night victory over the front area. After those actions over Sarihena, the insurgents did not make any more night raids for two months
In the region of Barcelona, Eugene Stepanov and llya Finn increased counting of night victories, for this flamed an Italian aircraft In the region of Valencia, Spanish airmen also did well at night, so night bombardments rapidly ceased.
On 14 August, Mikhail Yakushin gained over a Ju-52. As it was again a transport aircraft, it seemed they might be easy opponents for fighters. However, in accordance with reports of Soviet fliers, this type of bomber possessed excellent speed, strong air-frames, and motors covered by 5-mm of steel plate on the cowlings. Besides, it was impossible to pursue it for any prolonged time because of powerful defensive armament which included dangerous dorsal and two side machine gun positions. These large-caliber machine guns allowed the gunners to provide an effective zone of fire However, after several ineffectual attacks against this type of bomber, Republican fliers learned to attack from the front and above. Such tactics could cause the petrol fumes in the carburetor to burst into flame almost immediately
In all in Spanish skies, from May to October 1937, Mikhail Yakushin had gained six aerial victories (five personally and one shared) thus becoming the ace.
All Russian pilots flying the 1-15 were to serve only 6 months of combat in Spain. It was recognized that many fliers did not endure aerial battles for long. Mostly because of the psychological stress of combat, especially after the appearance of the Bf-109 German fighter Very frequently they fell seriously ill after having been exposed to nervous shock, hemorrhage of the brain, and physical exhaustion from overwork. Many of them couldn't endure the climate, they did not eat, only drinking table water because of the constant heat. Weariness was often reflected on eyes.
Yakushin return to Russian from his "official business trip, in October 1937 and went on to service in the Soviet Air Force As with other participants of that war, their experience was used to prepare the Soviet Air Force for the enevitable future war with Germany. They also participated an aerobatic unit with 1-16s formed under the command of Yakushin's friend A. Serov to take part in many exhibitions including parades on the Red Square. Later in 1938, Eugene Yakushin was promoted to Chief of the Air Inspectorate of the Soviet Union.
On 22 June 1941, Mikhail Yakushin, being a member of the inspection group of the General Staff, arrived by air at one of the airfields of the 11 th Mixed Aircraft Division in the region of Stariy Dvor. On hearing of the attack on the USSR by German troops, Yakushin ordered to the Regiment Commander to shift a half of his aircraft to a reserve air field in the region of Lidda. His school-mate from flight school, 9th Mixed Aircraft Division Commander Brigade-General Sergey Chernikh (also a participant of the war in Spain) had little time -almost all of his aircraft were annihilated on the ground (Hero of the Soviet Union S. Chernikh was executed on 27 July together with a group of other commanders blamed for the failures in the early period of the war).
Even then, when many of Soviet aircraft had already been burnt on the airfields, some commanders still did nothing because of the threat of severe penalties for any provocations against the Germans. Any display of personal initiative by a commander or voluntarily-made orders were forbidded under threat of tribunal These proabitions also applied to Yakushin, who nowithstanding orders, risked his own life attempting to save aircraft.
In July 1941, Major Yakushin was appointed a superior of one of AF sectors of Moscow and later he became Deputy Commander of the 6th Fighter Aircraft Regiment He finished the war as commander of the 215th Fighter Aircraft Division This division was included in composition of the 8th Fighter Aircraft Regiment under the command of another hero of Spain, A S Osipenko The fliers of the 215th FAD operated over East Prussia during 1944.
After the war, he served in responsible command posts Mikhail Yakushin retired from Air Force with the rank of Major-General. He passed away on July 5, 1999
M. Yakushin claimed five victories (and one shared) in Spain
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2003.09.07, © WW II Ace Stories.