Mikhail Devyatayev Михаил Девятаев | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 8 July 1917 Torbeyevo, Russia |
| Died | 24 November 2002 Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation |
| Nationality | Mordvin |
Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev was a Soviet Air Force pilot.[1]
Early life
Devyatayev was born in 1917 and was the youngest of 13 children in a Mordvin peasant family.[1]
Great Patriotic War
After Devyatayev bailed out of a burning aircraft into German-occupied territory, the Nazis captured him and sent him to the Łódź concentration camp in Poland. They transferred him to the Sachsenhausen camp in Germany and later to the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea. On 8 February 1945, he and nine other Soviet prisoners killed a guard and stole a plane to escape from the camp.
Devyatayev landed in Soviet territory and provided classified information about German V-2 rockets to Soviet authorities. He was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union in 1957.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Saluting anti-fascist heroes on the anniversary of Victory Day" (2022-05-09). Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-12. Retrieved 2022-10-15.